Friday, May 16, 2014

How I Can Tell I've Been Sick


The first sentence in the post below is one long paragraph!  A boa constrictor sentence, a sentence you cannot read without drawing in more breath, a monster of a sentence.

I write short, succinct and sarcastic (though with a gentle femininity), so the fact of that monster sentence, together with it not being edited by me is a sign of ill health.

And thank you, I am pretty recovered now, except for blips in the writing and some fatigue.  When I used to do karate I could tell an oncoming head cold or something similar by my sudden inability to do as many pushups or kicks or punches, even when the other daily stuff was still perfectly AOK.  Now I can tell similar stuff from a sudden inability to remember what "fist" is in Finnish ("nyrkki") or what the real word for"magnamonious" might be.

My divine theory about all that is this:  We have a fixed total amount of energy of all sorts.  When we get ill or contemplate getting ill, some of that energy is channeled to the immunity system and whatever parts of our bodies are hurting.  So there's less for other stuff, including grammar, pushups and being nice to people.  You can try that explanation next time people call you grumpy.  Maybe you are coming down with something?