She's Alive!

Actually, she's not that triumphantly alive--though she does count herself lucky to be crawling out of the abyss that is the flu that has kept her, her Mr. Man, and their new roommate, Miz D, out of commission for the last week. Slowly but surely, the copious quantities of garlic, ginger, emergen-C, aspirin, hot water, and all manners of spicy, have chipped away at the fevers, the aches, the exhaustions...though they've not yet managed to touch the nighttime can't-stop-coughings. Boo. The devil virus didn't manage to send any of us to the hospital, but this crazy dancing guy sent me an email blaming Rouge for our prolonged illness (and his, too) anyway, and I did happen to spend an unplanned evening on her couch during a recent trip to NYC, just before I got sick. Coincidence?

That's right--we got a new roommate. Those of you who know us may be surprised--both of us being so recently scarred by nightmare-ishly cuh-razy roommate situations. But rest assured, D is an old friend of Mr. Man's and freakishly nice and sane (compared to the old, bad roomies. compared to us, she's totally normal) and has good movies and plays Tom Waits songs on her accordion. So. So far, so good.

And yes, that's right, Mr. Man and I went to NYC for a few days the week before last. It was ridiculously good to be back there and to see our NY friends...it was even good to be back in my old office on Lexington Avenue--though that's not a surprise, since I'm no longer working for my old devil boss and in fact, good seems to have triumphed over evil (though there is a certain cuh-razy consultant I'd like to have whacked). Highlights included hiring a singing telegram in the form of a chicken, dinner with one of the smartest and most charming food bloggers I know, and the kick-ass Union Square Greenmarket which was a welcome reprieve from crappy old Whole Foods, at least for the few days that our sunchokes, stripey beets, edamame, mustard greens and cheese held up.

Since then, though, it's been pretty bleak around here...not much going on. But nighttime can't-stop-coughings or no, we're bound and determined to rejoin the living. This weekend, we're looking forward to attending our first Charm City Kitty show (Fri and Sat nights, at the Patterson), and next weekend we'll check out the much-anticipated Sex Workers' Art Show (Feb. 6th at the Patterson, but likely making a stop in your town, too). Woot!

Sometimes--not very often, but sometimes--it pays to live in Highlandtown.