Ugh. I have been stricken with the plague. I am not sure how my head can produce several times its volume in snot every hour, or how phlegm and nastiness was able to migrate from its stronghold behind my cheekbones down to my lungs in two days, but it has happened. I am sick. Big time. I sound like a thirty-year smoker. And it feels about as good as you might imagine. Like someone's playing that claw game with my internal organs.
But I'm back at work. Two days quarantine is about all I can stand. Now, I'm back at the office and drugged up and trying to get stuff done. I say trying, because of course we're having systems issues that are fighting me every step of the way. Yay.
While I was sick, I did a Jane Austen movie marathon - the BBC "Pride & Prejudice," "Emma" with Gwyneth Paltrow, "Persuasion" with that chick whose name I can never remember (NOT the horrible BBC version filmed in that horrid soap opera lighting style, but the one filmed during the '90s costume-drama boom), and then my absolute favorite, the "Mansfield Park" with Jonny Lee Miller and Frances O'Connor. That film contains a line that I feel certain must be pure Austen, though I don't remember it from any of her books (which isn't to say it's not there): "Life seems nothing more than a quick succession of busy nothings."
I *so* relate to that.
On and on it goes, chances everywhere
Like the train you took, the rain that fell on the summer air
On and on it flies, like the time we've lost
It's either running out or covering all our dreams in rust
Every night the TV shows one more bad day's news
A world away from what I know and what I do
But I could save a stranger's life if I had a clue
On and on it goes, attention must be paid
Before it seems we're one soul short and a second late
On and on it flies, across the stratosphere
At the speed of love, if you stop and feel it, you will hear
- "On and On It Goes," Mary Chapin Carpenter
(That Make Me Happy or Closer to Living By My Values)
1. Didn't buy a thing. Yep, that's right. I walked into a store, looked around, and then walked out because I didn't need anything being sold, even if it was the Best. Deal. Ever. Although that one double-breasted short-sleeved peplum jacket in the awesome gray pinstripe action was cute as hell...I didn't need it, the money is better spent on something else, and someday it will go on clearance for way less then they're asking now. So, good on me for not spending. Instead, I...
2. Altered something I already owned but hadn't worn. I had this cute dress that was too long to wear over pants, but too light and clingy to wear on its own. So, I got out the sewing kit, cut off a foot, and hemmed it into the cutest top. It's now rocking as a layer in my no-longer-summer-but-too-hot-for-fall wardrobe.
3. Picked up some OTC drugs. As a rule, I hate taking medicine. I prefer to let my body's natural defenses do the work, that way they don't atrophy into a wuss-tastic immune system that can't fight anything off without prescription assistance. However, in having the plague....I decided to go ahead and get some drugs to help things along. And wow, has it ever helped things along! I'm way better than I was a couple days ago, and I might even get rid of this yuck over the weekend!
4. Took the extra day off work. When I'm sick, I tend to miss one day of work and then head back, sick or not. This time, I took two days. Look at me, not pushing myself to the absolute limit of endurance for once!
5. Gave away stuff I wasn't using anymore. Freecycle is my friend, and I used Freecycle to rid my house of a bunch of stuff I'm not using anymore. And you know what? It was AWESOME. I am so doing it again, and soon. I have recently decided that less clutter and less stuff would be good for my peace of mind...and I think this is the start of a big movement. Woo hoo!!
6. Wrote a new song, even when I didn't have a voice. Sometimes I get attached to perfecting the performance aspect of a new song, without really recognizing that the song itself can be written without any ability to perform it. But, while I've been sick and voiceless, I managed to crank out a couple new ones. That's progress.
7. Wrote some letters, and mailed them, too! I'm so spoiled by e-mail and cell phones and all the other instant communications possibilities.
8. Found a local supplier for asian pears! Which means I can stop lusting after them so much and thinking I'm killing the planet every time I indulge. I can get 'em local, and organic, and from my local farmer's market. Anything is possible, if that's possible.
9. Found chandelier CFLs! I finally found a reasonably priced chandelier CFL bulb that works with a dimmer switch, which allowed me to swap out my regular bulbs for energy-efficient and long-lasting ones that make me so much happier....but without losing that whole flame shape that's so important with a chandelier. Apparently. Anybody who isn't swapping their bulbs out, I have to tell you it's a good call. My energy usage (even with the crazy heat) has been significantly lower (almost 5 kwh a month - which is practically a third of my overall usage!) this year over last, since I started really being energy conscious and trading out almost every bulb in my house.
10. Used a Neti Pot. This was a challenge, 'cause running water up my nose totally taps my claustrophobia and my fear of drowning, and it is NOT comfortable...but I think it did help my sinuses in their recent contributions to my plague-enhanced state. So that's something.
Today's Playlist:
"Closer and Closer Apart" - Mary Chapin Carpenter
"Broken" - Lifehouse
"Belief (Acoustic)" - John Mayer
"Never Yours" - Tracy Chapman
"When Will I Be Content" - Dan Bern
"Across the Universe" - Fiona Appel
"You Can Close Your Eyes" - James Taylor
Recent entries...
27 December 2007: 2007: Finis.
17 December 2007: A ruse, a rant, and a poem. It's short.
11 December 2007: Music & falling....story of my life.
08 December 2007: Briefly...ish.
29 November 2007: A poem, a rant, a lesson.