--etoufee, jambalaya, beignets, egrets--the full Louisiana, that's all. I highly recommend a Louisiana open house, especially one with loads of dancing. So much fun!
And then on Monday we had to get on a plane at ridiculous o'clock to come back to our regular lives. I was beyond ecstatic, then, to find myself, after having fallen asleep on the plane--miracle!--as the instigator of a sneeze-fest, which indicated the onset of, yes, wait for it, the after-the-holidays-winter-cold, my beloved annual guest.
I can only imagine how thrilled the people sitting around me on the plane were. The guy with the aisle seat (I was at the window) said bless you! several times, but then, he stopped saying it. I'm assuming his inner monologue was more like PLAGUE! CONTAGION! OUT OUT DAMNED SNEEZLE! And who could blame him? I was more inclined to blame the virus than the vir-ee--that's a thing--aka ME--in this case, but still. DAMMIT.
My supercharged plan--it seems like there's really no other kind--was to get off the plane, go home and grab another bag and hightail it back to the Arthouse Convergence conference-stroke-SLFS Board meeting. Which I did, with a short Mucinex pause. You'll be glad to know that watching a panel discussion, and then a 60s era Taiwanese wuxia martial arts film whilst riding the Mucinex high, made it extra special. And also driving up to Midway, be-Mucinex'd, in the not-quite-snowing-but-kind-of-death-defyingly-foggy weather was rather thrilling.
I helped with the strategic planning today, but last night, even though I could have watched The Last Days In the Desert starring Ewan MacGregor as both Jesus and the Devil, and even though Ewan MacGregor himself was apparently there to introduce the film, I stayed in. I watched nothing in particular on television. The historian came all the way up to Midway to watch me as I lay there and let the cold medicine have its lurgy way with me.
The upside? I actually do feel quite a bit better today. I am sure you would like my analysis of the whys, the wherefores, the what have yous of my illness, my decline, and my eventual recovery. Here they are:
My Analysis of the Whys, the Wherefores, the What Have Yous of My Illness, My Decline, and My Eventual Recovery.
1. Early flights: they are terrible. Don't do that.
2. Supercharged plans, where you get off a plane and have to do something immediately: the worst. Don't do that.
3. 60s era wuxia films for no good reason? Fine. Go ahead.
4. Mucinex? As a friend of mine once said, in the winter you might as well take it as a prophylactic measure. Truth.
5. Driving on a snowy day through mountain passes? Dicey. Probably shouldn't do that, especially hopped up on cold medicine.
6. Ewan MacGregor? I love him. But when the weather is below freezing and the cold is battling your immune system for your very soul, better stay in.
7. Sleeping in a foreign bed in another county? After three nights in a foreign bed in another state? Who do you think you are, a superhero? Go home already! Sleep in your own bed!
