july 4, 2001. I went home early today because I just couldn't concentrate on that damned computer course one second longer. That, and I'm miserably sick. It's really hard to quickly dial between 2 templates and one ungodly mess of a file directory with yo' head is full o' cotton. Which brings me to my point: gawd, I'm fallin' apart heah. I woke up this morning (insert blues riff) with a pounding headache and a scratchy throat, thus ending my pathetic delusion that a nice meat-and-potatoes dinner and an early night would end my slight misery. Hah. I have a summer cold; there's no way around it. I'm dry & hot and my lips could refinish a small piece of furniture. (This is why I eventually threw in the towel at work: I ran out of bottled water at 1 p.m. and I knew that the day wasn't going to improve without a steady supply of clear liquids.) I also noticed this morning that my nose has started to shed the layer of sunburn that has glowed on my skin ever since Stan Fest, making me resemble a snake in the early stages of molt. Now I understand how the Boy feels every day (he has eczema). Between my nose peeling like a Brazilian stripper and my summer-cold lips flaking like - uh - a well-cooked salmon steak, there's precious little beauty & grace in these parts. I don't want to overstate my case. I'm not dying or anything. I can still cook for myself, update my resumé and clean the house...I just can't stare at coding any longer. And really, so what. It'll all be there for me tomorrow. (Joy.) this time last year: the balcony of first kisses