My Immune System Sure Does Like To Work

I haven't been sick since my encounter with Flu. But now Flu has sent his cohort, who I'll name "Stu." "Stu" isn't quite as strong as Flu, but he did make me cancel tennis for Saturday and Sunday, which sucked because I've been playing well, and am currently on a three-match winning streak (I'll credit my new Andy Roddick serve that I've been working on.)

Thankfully, Stu isn't nearly as bad as Flu. Still, Stu has made me feel like I started my day by banging my head against the wall 10 or 15 times, and then going about my day. But I did manage to drag my ass out the door and escape the layer of germ infested air in my apartment to meet teahouseblossom for brunch! It was very exciting for me to meet another blogger. Plus, she literally lives a hop, skip, and a jump away from me, so we really didn't have an excuse NOT to hang out.

So I did my best today to not look too sick (in fact, I wore my new Rag & Bone shirt jacket, a line co-founded by Natalie Portman's hottie new boyfriend, Nathan Bogle), but also not to look too healthy, which is harder than it sounds.

It's a delicate balance you need to maintain – the balance of appearance and actual degree of illness. I've given it a lot of thought (apparently) and can say that the trick is that you want sympathy; you want people to lower their standards and say, "Oh that's ok. You don't have to do anything. You're sick." But if you take it too far, you run the risk of being “that asshole who got me sick”, or worse, “that gross guy with the snot on his shirt.” You need to be clean, but not dressed in your best clothes; awake, but still slightly groggy; and, above all, you need to come off as though you are battling through your sickness for the greater good of humanity and for that shred of human dignity that won’t let a little mucus get the best of you.

So I did my best today to look a little grungy, but not too grungy, as I was meeting someone for the first time, after all. And I did my best to not be too gross with all my tissues and blowing my nose every five minutes, and yet still maintain my dignity (not that I've really EVER been that dignified.) And I think I managed to maintain the delicate balance required since I think I made a good impression, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself today at brunch, and meeting someone new for my future superhero troupe.

Now it's almost midnight and time for bed. But I'm going to bed realizing what an idiot I am, because I just learned that the Advil Cold & Sinus medicine that I've been taking all weekend expired in October.