For breakfast yesterday I had rotini and faux italian sausage in a jalapeño jack sauce; for lunch I had a veggie burger with cheddar; for dinner I had french bread pizza topped with faux italian sausage; for my first healthy snack I had a clementine; for my second healthy snack I had pumpkin seeds.

I got in plenty of exercise with a non-direct cigar walk to Stop & Shop.

Success.

I regularly look up at the sun. Directly. I've done so all my life. When I was in elementary school I was not as cautious and would actually stare. I've even directly observed an annular eclipse of the sun. Now, I just look for a few seconds at a time.

I do it simply to keep in touch with Sol, who brings us warmth and light and life. I talk to Sol, I have a relationship with Sol.

I'm not recommending that anyone go out and do this. There is definitely risk involved – Sol is enthralling and invites stares of awe. People do go blind sungazing, it may just be luck that I have not.

My eyesight has degraded over the years, though not too significantly – from 20/15 when I was a teenager to 20/20 now, and at least some of that is attributable to an increase in static (even with frame comparison compensation).

Yesterday, in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton proclaimed, "We liberated you. We got rid of Saddam Hussein for you. We are not going to babysit a civil war."

Gotta love that attitude: The Iraqis owe us for invading their country, dismantling their stable government, destroying their infrastructure, raiding their treasury, firebombing their cities, and stealing their oil. If their country is a mess, it's their own damn fault. Why can't they just grow up?