dizzy girl

Today has been the worst day since I got sick. Not only do the Zombie Wounds throb angrily and require redressing several times a day, but the itching still has not stopped, and the Cipro is making me quite dizzy and exhausted. However, my mom sent me presents in the mail. The first was a box filled with Hallowe’en candy. The second was a box with William Shatner’s “Has Been” CD as well as the Barenaked Ladies’ holiday CD. So those cheered me up a bit. And the Red Sox won. And I saw the beautiful lunar eclipse. I wish there would be some clear improvement to my health situation. My dermatologist reported that no bad bacteria showed up in the culture she took Monday, which could be a function of the dicloxacillin I was taking,...

Read More
Posted on 27 Oct 2004 | 6 comments

life’s an itch

The following is an email I sent to my family, updating them on the health situation. Since I am entirely unoriginal and lame, I’m pasting it here. So I’ve taken two Cipro pills thus far, and the only thing I can tell it’s doing is making my Zombie Wounds weep significantly more. I think that’s a good sign, though, if it’s pushing out the bad stuff. I am doing creative visualization to help my healing process: the Cipro symbolizes everyone voting for Kerry, and we’re forcing Bush (a/k/a STAPHYLOCOCCUS) out of office! Yeah! My face and parts of my body are entirely covered in what I can only term “pre-pimple” rash: red bumps that look like they’re going to turn into whiteheads. Great, so on top of...

Read More
Posted on 26 Oct 2004 | 8 comments

a small wish

So we’re back to the abject itchiness. My face is red and splotched, as are new parts of my body that were once calm. Right now I’m washing the MSG‘s bedsheets and towels, just in case there are leftover baddies that are attacking me that way. I have an appointment with a dermatologist soon, but I don’t know if it can wait. I have enough antibiotics (and acidophilus) to last me a little while longer, but I don’t want any of this interfering with our anniversary, one week from today. Either I push through, or I go back to the doctor and complain a bit more, for more uncertainty in return … I just no longer know what to do, and I’ve become depressed. The MSG and my family and friends are all so worried about me, and I...

Read More
Posted on 24 Oct 2004 | 1 comment

paper airplanes

There was a pigeon on my ferry this morning, walking around. I tried to take a picture of him, but the light coming in the windows was too bright and then he wandered off and I couldn’t find him again. Someone in the library was tossing paper airplanes down at the circulation desk from the second floor. When I unfolded the papers, I saw that one was a printout of a search for books on baseball, which reminded me of watching the Cubs lose last year, huddled up in bed, in front of MLB.com on my laptop. My friend Patrick brought me homemade chocolate chip cookies that I had to wait an hour to eat because I had just taken a bright turquoise pill. He always transports the cookies in 32-ounce yogurt containers. I found out today that’s because he eats a...

Read More
Posted on 22 Oct 2004 | Comments Off

Swan at Swan

Swan at Swan

The MSG took this photo of me with my Sidekick II outside of Swan Oyster Depot last Saturday. (We were in line for a very long time and got a bit bored.) I like this shot of me because I look just as happy as I felt. My goal is to be smiling again like this very soon.

Read More
Posted on 20 Oct 2004 | 2 comments

current D&D stats

STR: Zombie Wounds have de-improved. Fever yesterday of 102. Back to doctor, back on antibiotics, four times a day instead of three, anti-fungal cream added to the mix of fun, just in case. INT: Grad school can be summed up with a hearty “whatever”, but my writing life has been remarkably wonderful. I have ideas and I’m writing them down and I so don’t get it. WIS: Craptastic. Really, really, really do not understand why I cannot see the gaping pothole of my insecurity before I step right in it and do something utterly, inexcusably reprehensible. DEX: Zombie Wounds make me limp, but I did not fall over in the driving rain and wind this morning. That this is a good stat right now is bewildering. CON: It was up for a little while there. ...

Read More
Posted on 19 Oct 2004 | 2 comments

gravatars and grad school

In case you’re wondering about the little domokuns that have invaded your comments, they’re the default Gravatars here. You can blame Meredith. I do, because it’s her fault she knows about all the cool toys. I can’t believe how great my Zombie Wounds look today! My ankle is well enough for me to wear my boots again, with tons of gauze and other padding, of course. I take my last Cephalexin pill tonight. Now if only I could get the impetigo itchiness to cease. I spoke up in my Christian and Muslim Faith seminar last night, to no avail, because as it turns out I really do have no idea what’s going on in that class. I do all the reading, I listen attentively to the discussions, and I take a ton of notes, but I must be missing some...

Read More
Posted on 15 Oct 2004 | 4 comments

Balm

I left my usual lip balm in my other purse, the one I didn’t take on my date with you: our first date. The one that started with me on a street corner, confused, and ended with me on the Golden Gate Bridge, shaking. The next day I drove into the city again and bought lip balm at the Walgreens by the Transbay Terminal. A pearlescent tube, this balm only lasted a day in my purse. It was greasy, and the ingredients Natural Vitamin E, Jojoba, Mango Butter, Beeswax & Candelilla smelled like a mosquito-hating candle, making my lips the scent of summer barbecues and calamine lotion, a season before I met you. Every day at work I open my desk drawer, and every day this lip balm rolls around inside. I should throw it away, but instead I put it on and never kiss...

Read More
Posted on 13 Oct 2004 | Comments Off

health concerns

My friend Stephanie is going through hell right now. Please pray ‘em if you got ‘em. My own health is great, compared to hers. Though the impetigo may be excruciatingly painful at times — when every single movement either triggers itching or soreness or both, plus antibiotic-induced nausea and headaches — at least I have some control over my health. Stephanie doesn’t deserve the horrors she’s experiencing right now, and all she can do is ride them out. I’m so scared for Stephanie and I just want her to be okay.

Read More
Posted on 12 Oct 2004 | 1 comment

back to work

It’s terrific to be back at work today. The library is still standing, plus it’s all decorated with Hallowe’en goodies, which has me in a bright mood. I love the autumn, especially October in San Francisco, warm days with lots of blue sky. Before work, I straightened up the MSG‘s place this morning so he doesn’t have to worry about it this week. We made plans to go out of town for our anniversary weekend, and I can’t wait. My health is improving, albeit slowly, with a minor setback last night of barely sleeping due to the extreme itchiness of all of my limbs. The MSG and I took it easy over the weekend, and I was grateful for that. We saw “1984″ on DVD, which was a subpar adaptation of one of my favorite books,...

Read More
Posted on 11 Oct 2004 | 5 comments