Reality Bites

(all ready for my first day of 20th grade this morning)

Today was a much more stressful first day of school than I had expected, despite the happy arrival of my new TV this afternoon, despite the delicious cherries I ate, and despite the sausage-leek-pasta I made tonight.  I don't know why, despite all these marvels, the day still produced an unsettling feeling.  That's why I am ending the evening reading about mosquito bites (abscesses in particular) and listening to rain noise.  Two of my favorite things to do to pass the time.  It was in all this googling about mosquito bites-

(Sidebar: Somehow, sleeping over Nish's immaculate, air-conditioned, 8th floor apartment in September, I managed to get 2 mosquito bites on my hands.  Needless to say, they are inconvenient, itchy, and abscess-y.  I haven't even scratched it.  The bites, being inconveniently placed, just keep brushing up against things that irritate.  So much so that I considered buying $70+ worth of herbal ointments from Hong Kong.)  

It was in all this googling about mosquito bites that I realized that I never told you about the Living Mosquito Bite that so marred my Malaysia trip last year.  I can't believe I never mentioned it. It only occupied 60% of my mind the entire trip.  Maybe Last Year Me didn't want to gross you out.  Present Me doesn't care.  

I won't show you any pictures.  What you imagine will probably be more horrifying.  I will say that my mosquito bite gone wrong reached such a point that when Dwight and I were touring the herbal garden, a woman who worked there pointed at it and animatedly discussed it with another man.  I thought she'd recommend some medicinal salve.  Instead, she just said, "You need to see a doctor."  

Malaysia: 0  Mosquito: 1  Moi: -3938