Test Driving a Cold

Well, it's not always a picnic test driving life, is it? I'm experiencing a New Year's cold.

I could feel it coming on a few days ago but I hoped that a positive attitude and plenty of fluids (some containing alcohol) would do the trick, but they didn't. Thanks to NyQuil and DayQuil I'm semifunctional but I am spending the day reading a very thick book on the Beatles that I got for just over 11 bucks at Barnes & Noble.

I'm drinking large mugs of tea and taking frequent nibbles at the leftover assorted nuts and M&Ms from our New Year's Eve party. Sometimes, I'm supplying myself with a soundtrack by playing the relevant Beatles album on my iPod to accompany the book text. We're at the making of the White Album now.

I am lucky enough to be infrequently ill, so I can remember and connect with previous rare bouts of sickness whenever I'm under one. I will never forget the serious stay-in-bed flu that brought me my my first Spider-Man comic book--number 8--which started me on a long read of Spider-Man comic books (long since abandoned). In Beatle history, that was when She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand were both on the AM radio.

Flashing up to early 1968 I had another cold. This time, I climbed on the flat roof of our house and surveyed the neighborhood moodily. For some reason, Dionne Warwick's rendition of Theme from the Valley of the Dolls is connected with this moment in time. I have a tape recording of songs and talk off KFRC 610 AM from January 26, 1968. Number one that week? Love is Blue (remember that?).

I look forward to test driving something more pleasant tomorrow.