Speaking of Super...

I'm taking a break from the Superhero Symposium. Granted, I think there's an overall break going on now...would have to check the schedule. There was a talk going on in the gallery, going over Comic Art, but my nose started running and the Sneezes came (and I really do mean Sneeze with a capital S), and it was a good time to take a break.

Honestly, I kind of panicked last night that I wouldn't make it at all. This conference has been on my radar for about three weeks, and when my head cold started being obnoxious...I wasn't happy.

But Nyquil last night (tastes like Simple Green, and don't argue with me) allowed me some sleep, and 12-hour decongestant got me through the morning. Though now, I think it's wearing off, and I'm showing signs of going through my box of Puff's Plus.

(Note: I didn't bring the box, but the contents. I had a brilliant moment this morning when I pulled all of the tissues out, put them in a plastic ziplock, and pulled out the top one so that, theoretically, it would operate like a tissue box without the box. Does that make sense? Hard to say.)

That said, it's been a great morning. As a woman, I'm definitely in the minority. No one wore a cape. I'm a little disappointed. But everyone's very serious about the ideas and concepts that supers provide, so that more than makes up for it. The keynote lecture an hour from now is "Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero."

Okay. My mom just okay'd another dose of decongestant. Hope springs eternal...

Notes on Illness

I guess I jinxed myself. In my last blog I boasted of being healthy again.

Hah. Whatever. I just had all of the kleenex wads thrown away from the last bout (granted, some were Danny's), when I woke up with a tonsil twenty times it's normal size.

Seriously. It's like it took a cue from the Grinch's heart (that grows until the magnifying glass breaks, if I remember right). And my lymph node on that side is all huge and swollen. Hasn't been this big since I had mono, which was the last time I blogged about such a topic.

I hold to my previous statements (which can be found on my old blog at www.myspace.com/hillary_on_writing), such as the fact that Progresso soups are the best. They still are. In fact, the times I've tried some of the Campbell's (recently, their Italian Wedding soup), I've been kinda grossed out. The bits o' pasta were so far from al dente that it makes me queasy just thinking about it.

Puff's plus - still my favorite tissue, although the most recent set of four I've purchased feels like an entirely different tissue, and not in a good way. I may set out to pick up a box of Puff's Plus Lotion, Aloe, and whatever other deluxe options they throw in. It's like buying a car, I guess, and the baseline model just isn't acceptable.

I had hoped I'd be lucky. I found a white patch on my tonsil and thought, "woo hoo! I'll go to my doctor, get antibiotics, get better, bada bing, bada boom."

No dice. White patch went away, strep test was negative, it's a viral throat infection that basically means my throat is trying to strangle me from the inside out. I get to drink tea. Lots of tea. Tea every hour.

I'm trying to figure out how to spice up some of the chicken soups. I added crushed red pepper to the last one, but I couldn't really taste it. I don't know if that's because I can't taste much - I only have one working nostril presently - or if I didn't add enough. I'm thinking of adding some curry to my creamy chicken corn chowder. Any ideas to mix it up? I don't think I'll be eating anything but soup, applesauce, and pudding for a while. Threw some cinnamon and ginger into the applesauce and warmed it up...that was yummy. I'm a little heartbroken because I've been to the grocery store twice, and I keep forgetting to pick up tapioca. Warm tapioca pudding would be good.

Anyway. Hoping this somehow manages to blow over fast. Most of my shopping is done but there are a couple stragglers. Wrapping is still nil, but worst case scenario I have quite a lot of gift bags and even more white tissue (referring to the wrapping kind, although I do have a lot of the blowing kind). The one upside is that when my head's not entirely fuzzy, I'm getting some good writing in. It's like writing late at night - fewer inhibitions.

Hopefully I'll get better soon. And until then - there's soup!