mimi smartypants
Seriously, though: what's with the penguins?

a coarse heavy plain-woven fabric usually of jute or hemp

I have the sickness. No, it is not cancer. I do not have the cancer. (A friend of mine used to be very, very fond of using the word “cancer” with the definite article, as in “the cancer,” which usage seems to have a faint David Letterman quality about it (hey kids, do you like the rock and roll?), so I mention “the cancer” in her honor, not because it has anything to do with anything.)

Where was I? Oh yes, I'm sick. I feel like I've swallowed burlap. Like some maniac (and a very maniacal maniac he would have to be) accosted me on the street and forced me at gunpoint to eat some burlap. Does burlap even exist anymore? One so rarely hears about it. However, my spellchecker knows it so it must exist.

I just looked up “burlap” in the dictionary and after a brief stop at “butt hinge” (definition-wise, it's not as funny as it sounds) found that the word “burlap” is origin unknown but its first usage was circa 1696! Who knew!

But back to the sickness. It's an interesting virus, because I mostly have an incredibly sore throat but not so much the drippiness or stuffed-up-ness. Perhaps that's next. I hope not.

Today is LT's birthday.We plan to go out to our “local” for sushi. Maybe some fishy protein will take my sickness away. Maybe I can take the life force of the eel into myself and thus be healthy again.

Take care, readers, and stay away from burlap-wielding maniacs.

—mimi