Illin'

Day of NaNoWriMo: 10
Words written: 23,482

Days non smoking: 42
Cigarettes not smoked: 615

Days in bed with fever: 8
Episodes of Friends watched: 23

Stellar shows missed this week due to illness: 3
Number of slits on each wrist: 5

Andrew Bird, my light, my love -- please forgive me for not being able to swoon in your presence Thursday night at the Mid E… I was swooning alone in my bed delirious with fever and nightmares about macaws in my parakeets' cage.

Despite my brain and heart ravaged with illness all week, I have been showing up daily for my desperate dedication to National Novel Writing Month. I'm not saying the chapters these past few days are totally coherent, but they exist and this, my friends, is the most important part.

I did make it to Newbury Comics on Tuesday on my way home from work (I showed up pale, sweating and confused and was immediately sent home) to buy the most recent Los Halos CD, Leaving VA, which brought me to tears of gratitude for the existence of such flawlessly beautiful music.

I missed the Wrens show, which I was almost more disappointed about than Andrew Bird, having seen Andrew several times in recent months, and the Wrens not touring a whole lot as of late. I made an attempt, but standing in the hallway in front of my mirror, realizing I had put my clothes on backwards and looking like a junkie with a bad make-up habit, I crawled back into the darkness of my livingroom to cuddle with the DVD player and a gallon of orange juice.

Upcoming consolation prizes this week (recovery pending) include: Ani DiFranco in Rhode Island and Jump, Little Children at the Paradise. And…

• Francine -- TT's 11/21
• Fooled By April -- TT's 11/23
• Vendetta Red (!!!!) -- Axis 11/28
• Chauncy -- Mid E Upstairs 12/5
• Calla -- Bowery Ballroom, NYC 12/6
• Fire Theft -- TT's 12/22

I have a headache. More to follow.