Homemade Gatorade

Henry's grocery store has a hell of a sale on Santa Cruz Organic Lemonade right now. The sale includes lemonade varieties and limeade, too. The price the store is asking is four 32-ounce bottles for $5. The juices are perfect for gearing up for an extended period of fasting, since sugar energy is important for brain function.

In the longer fasts I've tried (three to five days), I've found that drinking juice feels a lot better than a straight water fast. A little bit of sugar clears the fogginess of the mind and allows one to pick and choose the moments in which you want to be alert. In the past, not only have I created my homemade Gatorade with lemon juice and maple syrup, as in the standard fast recipe, but modified the recipe to include the juices from grapefruit, oranges, kale, spinach, lettuce, and carrots. Those additions brought a complexity to the juice and provided more nutrients. I plan on continuing one-day fasts once or twice, at most, a week. These juices will make those days pass without notice.

The timing of Henry's sale is impeccable; I received a letter from the state today stating my unemployment benefits will be stopped retroactively back to June 12. That means I will receive one more check of approximately $300. Add that to the $7 in my checking account and my worth is $307. Quite an honor for someone with an advanced degree in history. I write that sarcastically but maybe it actually is. Who knows? The bigger issue is to liquidate some assets, and quickly. That means I'll be taking a trip to the Nevada desert exactly one year to the day, to do the same thing, for the same reason. If this is a moment for personal evaluation, the only comment I can offer is, 'huh?'

Things are getting tight. My friends are falling off, leaving the area, going to jail, and working, of all things. Luckily, summer is here and along with it comes a strong thirst for good Irish whiskey, Jameson only, budget-mindedly purchased at Traders Joe's for $19.99 per one liter. A bottle that size will last at least a month. The whiskey provides clarity and relaxation, but it is a powerful drug. Like all alcohol, it kills you a little bit each time. But at this point in life and at my age, the line graph is showing that it won't be the alcohol that gets me; rather, approaching midlife, old age will take me first. I'll take the odds on this bet.