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August 22, 2001
Vacation, Part 2
So. Where was I? Oh -- the Radiohead show was good. We were exhausted when we got home. We managed to stay awake for an hour or so, then staggered off to bed and collapsed. Wednesday, PlaidRabbit had to head for home, so we got up and made our way to the airport. Once there, we discovered that, when Plaid's flight to Boston was cancelled, his return trip had been cancelled too. They were able to book him on a flight in the afternoon, but not late enough for us to go anywhere, so we just hung around the airport, talking and reading magazines for a while. (We would have wandered more, but every time we had to go through security, Plaid set off the metal detectors, and had to empty the 50 pounds of stuff he seems to carry in his pockets and be gang-probed by security. After the third time, we decided to stay in the gate area.)
Once the flight left, Joanne and I headed off to Harvard Square, where we shopped like mad. We stopped in to Charlie's Kitchen, where a friend of mine works -- she has a lovely habit of mixing me yummy drinks and charging very little for them. Joanne and I each had a few such yummy drinks, and were flirted with by construction workers, and talked and laughed like mad, and then went off to do more shopping. Lucky for us, the tattoo parlor in Harvard Square was closed, or we might have ended up with some interesting body art... the drinks had made us a bit silly.
Thursday, we went to the mall to get Joanne's glasses fixed (they had broken the day before). The shopping continued, of course -- I bought new sunglasses, which were on sale and also have frames that match my hair. We also bought a ton of blank CDs, so we could swap music before Jo headed for home. After the mall, we went to the Museum of Science -- we hit the planetarium, and played with all the gadgets in the Electricity exhibit, and mocked the Big Dig exhibit, and were squicked out by the gigantic spiders in the Live Bug exhibit. We were also mesmerized by the kinetic sculpture in the lobby, and the musical staircase.
After the museum, we headed off to meet Columbine for dinner. We ate and drank and talked at the Parrish Cafe in downtown Boston, then wandered off to the Trident Cafe (one of my favorite places, even though I rarely go there) for cake and coffee. Columbine and Joanne talked about Canadian politics (which did not bore me, though Columbine apologized for it later) and I wandered in post-migraine haze. Once thoroughly stuffed with cake (which we had to eat, it was Joanne's birthday week and all!) Columbine headed for home and Joanne and I went off to the T. The trains were all stuffed with people -- there had been a Red Sox game. Argh. We waited for a train that had three square inches we could cram ourselves into, and went home, where we stayed up until the wee hours copying CDs for each other.
Friday, Joanne's last day, we went back downtown to get her photos developed. We went to a CVS drugstore that had a one-hour photo place -- at least, the sign said it was one hour. The clerk told us it would be at least an hour and a half, and, when I protested that it was supposed to be an hour, he said there were people ahead of us, and since Joanne wanted three copies of each picture, it would take longer. We had little choice but to leave the film there, though. We then went to F.A.O. Schwartz and bought candy (most of which is still languishing in my fridge) and then went back to Harvard Square to meet up with Patrick and Lee. We sat by the T station and people-watched (mostly watching drunk people picking fights with each other) until they arrived.
The four of us went to see Ghost World and then to dinner -- the movie was excellent, and dinner was good in spite of the waiter, who managed to mix up just about everything we ordered. A good time was had by all, I think -- much talking and laughing and eating, which is always fun.
Once we got home, Joanne and I stayed up far too late copying CDs for each other. We headed off to bed around 3 a.m. -- I got into bed, settled in, and pondered the strange glowing static on the ceiling. Another migraine! Joy. Luckily, I was able to just fall asleep, and was pretty much okay by morning. I still felt spacey (well, more so than usual) and my head hurt a lot if I laughed too hard or coughed, but I was okay. Joanne and I had breakfast, and headed off to the airport so she could (alas!) go home. We hung around the airport for a couple of hours, got lunch from the Surliest Man Alive, and people-watched -- the terminal she left from is possibly the most boring place on earth, so people-watching was all we had to do. All too soon, her flight boarded, so we said goodbye, she got on the plane, and I wandered off to the train. And with that, vacation was over -- I had Sunday left, sure, but that was spent cleaning and packing and watching TV with Patrick and Lee. (Not that watching TV with them isn't fun, of course, but it was the last night before going back to work, and I was sullen.)
So. I am back at work. I have a doctor's appointment Friday, to see about the migraines -- I have realized that I have woken up on several mornings thinking that I dreamed of having a migraine during the night -- now I'm wondering if I've really been dreaming, or if I'm having them much more frequently than I thought. The headaches aren't so bad -- it's the visual crap that sucks. It starts with blank spots in my vision -- I look at things, and bits are missing. Then, I get a small patch of what looks sort of like TV static. The patch grows until it circles my vision, and then everything goes staticky and blurry, and I can't see much at all. It's scary, and I can't function while it's happening, and it just makes me want to curl up and cry. The medication I currently have is useless -- it makes my vision come back, but my head still hurts, and it has a powerful sedative, so I can't do anything but sleep. If I get one of these headaches at work, I can't exaclty go have a nap. I need better medication, and I would love to know why this is happening.
In other assorted medical news, my mom has a bug bite that looks frighteningly like Lyme disease. It's got the bullseye rash and all... it may just be a spider bite, but it may not. She's on antibiotics. She's not reading this, so I can confess -- I am scared to death. She has lupus. Lyme disease on top of lupus... that could be bad. That could kill her. Send her good wishes, please? And if you pray, spare one for her. I hate it when she's sick, and I can't even think of her having something serious.
My brother has also had bad bug luck -- he got a bite on his leg that got infected, and turned to cellulitis (?). It's all infected, and he's on IV antibiotics. So, you see, evil bugs are after my family -- they're coming for me next, I'm sure.
And a bit of bitching... I keep getting emails from sites like ecrush.com and hugecrush.com, telling me that someone out there has a crush on me. I'm assuming it's a joke, but I am annoyed, because since I have started getting these messages, the amount of spam in my inbox has increased dramatically. It's very nice to think that someone out there might like me, but giving my email address out, to be snapped up by spammers, just isn't nice! And, you know, if by some freak of nature it is a real crush, I'd rather just know, instead of guessing!
On a lighter note, here are some pictures!
I really like this picture Joanne took of me -- one of the few I actually don't cringe at the sight of!
Joanne and Plaidy, in scenic Chelsea (outside my laundromat, in fact)
Little blue penguins!
I like this picture too, but only because it looks like I'm shooting electricity from my hand!
Posted by Mary Ellen at August 22, 2001 09:32 PM