The Madwoman's Journal
Copyright 1998 New Moon
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  Prev 30 August 98
Sunday
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  Sunday and I've got a headache. It's tension, of course. I'm feeling overwhelmed.

On my kitchen table there is a list. It's written on a sheet of college ruled notebook paper. There are 19 items on the list, each with a check box next to it in the lefthand column. The items are not frivolous, and they run the gamut in terms of the complexity of the tasks involved, ranging from "Make a list of things to do" through "Call Denny," through "Write movie," to the cryptic and ominous "New roof." I made the list last weekend. I have reviewed the list each day since. Only the box next to "Make a list of things to do" has been checked. Tomorrow I will redistribute all the items among five smaller lists, stacking them one atop the other so only one short list is visible. I hope it helps.

This week, though I didn't accomplish much, I did discover something very useful that has improved the quality of my life. For the past month I have been plagued by the bites of "noseeums." These bites are nasty. The culprits are not mosquitos, not deer flies, not even fleas. I have never felt the bite happen, nor seen any bug or insect I could blame. The bites appear suddenly, a tiny red spot that swells the next day into a big bright red welt that itches like bedamned. These bites last for two weeks. And they were driving me crazy until the memory of something learned years ago in chemistry suggested a cure: Soak the pad of a bandaid with white ammonia and put it on the bite, leaving it on until the ammonia evaporates. Voila! The bite is now reduced to small red spot which doesn't itch. Better living through chemistry-- whose slogan was that? Westinghouse?. (This cure doesn't work on mosquito bites. I tried.) To get rid of the red spot, keep putting spit on it. (Spit, according to scientific study, works wonders for chicken pox and facial acne, too: it prevents scarring. Really. You can look it up.)

I'll let you know how I make out with my lists.

 


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