Dedicated to Matt Benjamin.

I promised Matt Benjamin that  I'd write him a poem.  This is it.

ODE TO MATT(RESS) BENJAMIN

Oh, what space-age magic is in you, friend
that you conform and comfort, relax and mold
around the contours of my body?
What mad god crafted you from the loam
and illicitly shared you with the world?

What thaumaturgy forged your spongy edifice?
What alchemy yielded your potent soporific?

The range of my dreamscapes nor the eyes of my lover
compare
to your sympathetic skin.

Whence you came and what you are is clouded in mystery
and yet,  I trust your nebulous hands to catch me as I
fall and
cradle me in your generous bosom.

Even now lying here, your siren song echoes in my skull
and I am confronted with the inferiority of my station.

And while your memory will be impressed upon by scores
of  admirers,
I have only one special memory of you.

I got I got I got the Remedy. Ugh.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no greater substance on earth than Nyquil.

I love the way it tastes and I love the way it makes me feel.  It has a slightly sharp metallic taste to it, but if you wash it down with a beer, it goes down smooooth.  I'm joking.  Really.

I would never ever take Nyquil unless I were sick, though I'm sure it would be helpful.  Just as Dayquil would probably be beneficial to a totally healthy person.  What's wrong with preventing coughing?  So you don't HAVE a cough - who cares?  Be proactive!

I just took my dosage for the night and I cannot wait for it to start working.  I love anything with a slow, creeping soporific effect.  It's like the post-Thanksgiving feast food coma.  Or the late Sunday night football games (the ones that start at 8:30PM[!!]) in Atlanta and end at 12:30AM.  In LA, the midday nap happened  around the middle of the second set of NFL games on Sunday, right around 2:45-3:00PM.  And what a glorious nap it was. Glory. Us.

Nyquil sleep is pretty extraordinary.  I could sleep on a fence.  Nyquil makes any body arrangement, any awkward neck angle comfortable - or at least bearable.  It's  a pretty special tonic.  I admit, I have a very small desire to take twice the required dosage just to see what the hell would happen.  I've heard from reliable sources that drinking an entire bottle results in some serious mushroom-trippy shit, and I've had enough of that experience in my life.  That's not the goal.

Both of the quils have attributed to my slow rise to health again, along with a ridiculous amount of honey, tea, hot water, random juices, and most recently, oregano oil.   I was told by a friend of mine that oregano oil is the cure all (I really thought that was one word - cureall - but it's not. Weird.) for sicknesses, so I endeavored to try it out.  It tastes very strongly of oregano.  I don't know why I didn't assume it would be strong, since it's basically extracted from the really really small oregano leaves, but I was shocked when I sipped my tea and it tasted like an italian sauce.  It took some getting used to, and it could just be good timing, but my health has improved since adding the oil into my diet.  

There's a pretty definitive way to tell how far along my healing is going.  I figured this out today, driving home from my late class.  Of the last four days, not including today, I basically spent 72 hours worth on the couch or in bed sleeping or trying to sleep.  When in the car, either going to class this morning, or going to the grocer's several days ago for the quils, I play music.  Usually, if I'm sick, it's slow music, like Cat Stevens or a good Jason Mraz mix.  (I say "good" Jason Mraz mix, because it's just his live stuff.  I abhor his studio shit.  It actually makes me mad.  I sort of hate him since he's a sellout and makes awful music now, but I can't part with his live stuff from Java Joe's.  It's THAT good.)  So anyway, the one thing this music has in common is that it's all singalongable.  If I feel like shit, the last thing I want to do is speak to anybody, let alone sing along to songs.  Well, today, I started slowly, but I sang along to some Cat Stevens and Mraz.  So that is a clear sign that I'm getting closer to 100%.  Once I'm belting out Hootie again, I will be free and clear from this dirty old disease.

I do not like being sick.  It's impossible being creative because I require energy to be creative.  I don't want to jinx it because I'm not free of the mucus monster yet.  A few more rounds of the quils and I should be good to go.

Psychosomatic Addict Insane!

So yesterday I had the opportunity to go to the symphony, this time with Nigel and while I was feeling a little like I was getting sick, I figured fuck it, lets have some fun.  It was an amazing time, both in symphonic excellence, food yumminess and most excellent company.   Unfortunately, my immune system wants to cash the checks that my body has been writing, and I fear I may have severely overdrawn the account.    (I'd like nothing more than to extend the metaphor into including $35 overdraft fees, but I'll just get depressed.)

What typically ends up happening when I start to feel like I'm getting sick is that I focus on healthy foods and tea and honey and other liquids and stuff - which is good.   But I also focus on being SICK.  Which is not good.   I'm attacking this...experience differently this time.   I think the more I ignore the phlegmy lump in the back of my throat, the better.  Essentially, I need to convince my body that I'm completely healthy.  Is it going to work?  I doubt it.   We'll so how it goes tomorrow when I try to work out and run and sweat it out.

That's part of the reason that I'm writing this blog right now - to NOT focus on my sore throat that's required two doses of tylenol.  I've resisted the temptation to say AH and examine myself in the mirror.  It's too dark anyway, but inevitably, I'll unsuccessfully try and find the right angle where the light manages to sneak past my teeth.   While I write this I am not thinking about the sinus pressure that is slowly creeping up the back of my skull or my narrowing nasal passages, becoming more and more corroded like copper piping.  I'm not thinking about the increasing frequency that I am clearing my throat because my uvula feels like it's choking me.  Nope.  I'm focusing on writing. 

I felt amazing last night, during the symphony.  It was a packed house because Izhak Perlman was the guest conductor.  So evidently, he doesn't have legs.  Or maybe he has Polio.   This requires Wikipedia. Checking...Yep.  Had Polio when he was 4.  He walks with supports.   I had no idea.  I also had no idea that the first piece for the evening was Mozart's 25th symphony, one of my favorites.  I listen to a lot of classical music - well, I listen to the same classical pieces a lot - and the 25th is one of them.  I'm getting better at making the connection between the "names" of the pieces and what they sound like, so I didn't know at first glance, that the 25th was a symphony that I really liked until it started.    It's harder with classical music.  "Pour Some Sugar On Me" is easy to remember because they sing, "Pour some sugar on me" about five thousand times in the song.  Not so with classical music.  Obviously.

Anyway, it was surreal watching one of the most famous violinists to ever live play (and conduct simultaneously) one of my favorite symphonies.  It was brilliant.  

After the short intermission, in which everyone basically takes extra large wine and champagne shots, they played a Dvorak piece that completely blew me away.  It was his "New World Symphony" and I thought it was going to be lame - I mean, how can you beat Mozart?- but it was outstanding.  Parts of the symphony sounded like it was from the Native American scale, others like a cowboy movie soundtrack, and others reminded me of High Holiday songs.   And yet, it all worked.  It was REALLY good.  I ended up enjoying the Dvorak more than the Mozart.  I couldn't believe it.  I still sort of can't.  But if you have a moment, download "The New World Symphony" and you'll see what I'm talking about.  It's a wonderful piece.

I'm going to do my best to get back to writing the blog more often.  It's an important part of my creative experience and it's definitely going to take my mind off of being sick these next couple days.  Oh dammit, there I go again. Fuck.