Where's my placebo effect?!?

I truly hate being ill. It saps my creative energy, and my ability to sleep. I've taken enough of a combination of pills to kill a healthy horse, drank so much tea I've absorbed an English accent, and all to no effect. Not even a placebo effect.
The problem is, I rarely get sick, I'm normally quite healthy (physically, anyhow), so I have no need to stockpile the necessities of cold-sufferers. I will not go buy cans of sodium-laden chicken soup, Mentholatum, a humidifier or anything else used in the treatment of the occasional bug.
I can't afford to not work, so I rick the possibility of spreading it amongst my co-workers, which may have happened already. I definitely can't go to the gym, they see me sneeze or cough on something and I'm out of there. Why can't they just invent an illusion drug that makes you feel fine while your body still fights your illness? Or maybe I could get some hypnotherapy, like Peter did in Office Space.
Going on with day six of this affliction is starting to wear me down. I've slept so little I'm starting to see things. I'm not seeking pity, just empathy. Give me a big 'harumph' if you feel the same way. Thanks for listening, cyber-peoples.

Marlin Tacos and Margaritas

It's a well known fact that food on cruises is usually quite varied, plentiful and delicious. But we went to Mexico, so of course we needed to try the local fare. Our first stop was the verdant and sultry Puerto Vallerta, the southernmost stop on our trip. We got off the boat and just started walking, running into a small clan of wild iguanas on our way downtown. It was hot, but the walk was worth it, we ran into a very friendly and helpful Information lady, who pointed us to a 'clean' restaurant right on the boardwalk.
The place was small, but the food smelled good and they had an assortment of liquors so this satisfied everyone. It was called Malecon. Me and my only male travel companion ordered the marlin tacos, and of course, they were AMAZING. Wahoo's may have just gotten knocked down as my favorite fish taco. Me and someone I will refer to as my 'drink buddy' got the two for one margartia's and proceeded to get a nice healthy buzz. These things were the size of my face, like 20 oz easy and loaded with alcohol. Drink buddy didn't have anything but tortillas, and we both managed to walk out of there under our own power. Our group proceeded down to a river island covered with shops and gardens, purchasing nothing, but having an interesting chat with a shop owner about our new president and the economy, while drink buddy played with his dog.
We wandered back to the tip of the boardwalk, the other two took a cab back to the ship and me and drink buddy went back to Malecon and got some Jack Daniel's shots, then took our own cab back to the ship, stopping at the bar across the way for one more shot. Within minutes, drink buddy turned from friendly- to mean-drunk, striking me repeatedly without provocation. So I dragged drink buddy back onto the boat and put said buddy in their stateroom. Drink buddy then slept for most of the next twelve hours. But it was still worth it. I can't want for a chance to head back to that beautiful town and have some time to really learn the area. Beautiful.

Back from the Salty Seas

I only know of one person whom actually noticed my absence, but only because she is obsessed with my pointless rantings and sub-par poetry. But for anyone else who didn't notice, I was on a Mexican cruise for a week, breathing the clear sea air and overeating in prodigious amounts. Puerto Vallerta is an amazing place, and Cabo is quite beautiful for being so barren. And although I miss it and wish I was still out there, I'm glad to be back, and I have plenty of stories and general complaints to record upon this virtual tome.

*Irony Alert*

'Shopaholic Dies in Avalanche of Clothing' sounds just too amusing to actually be true, right? Not according to a story picked up from the UK, where an old-maid shopaholic was found buried under three feet of unopened goods in her home, after being reported missing. She had so much stuff here garage was apparently filled to the rafters. Why would someone buy so much stuff they didn't use or even really need? Well, it appears that 'compulsive spending' is actually an addiction, which is usually classified as a mental disease. People spend money and acquire goods to fill some hole in their being, or as a temporary cure for another problem. For these people, spending money feels good, relieves stress and temporarily fills whatever void is in their life.
This can lead to other obvious problems, among the more obvious is massive debt and the ruination of personal relationships. We all like spending a little money now and then, usually to get something we desire, or to achieve some arbitrary goal that boosts our self-esteem or confidence a degree. But where do we draw the line? How do we draw ourselves out of a spending addiction? I'll be damned if I know, I just re-post and comment on this stuff, I don't have all the answers. Join Shopaholics Anonymous or something.

American Sin

Once again, the scourge against music known as "American Idol" has returned fro it's eighth season, and people once again lined up, so desperate for their fifteen minutes of fame (or infamy) that I an again reminded why I believe this show is a condensed and apt epitome for much of what is wrong with America.
There is this idea that something in American culture must be like a shooting star (although far too often it turns out to be a comet, returning periodically), brilliant and shining for a few minutes, then dissipates and vanishes, leaving public consciousness forever. This disposable idea of our culture is what churns out these top-forty one-time wonders, who change as often as their styles. The music is banal and uninteresting, recycles top hits from past decades and creating more safe, non-thought provoking tunes to be heard for the next six to eight months, only to end up in rotation on the budget pop radio stations for the rest of their miserable lives, perfect for people who have no taste in music and don't care to develop it.
It's always the next new thing, leaving nothing to chance, crafting an image they can sell instead of letting creativity flourish naturally. Many talented singers/musicians/songwriters carved out a piece of popularity for themselves, it wasn't given to them on a Primetime platter. And they have staying power. The Rolling Stones and AC/DC still rock (and are still rocking) today, decades after they began. Does anyone remember what happened to the first winner of American Idol? The second? Last year's? The only reason Claiken is still in the news is because he finally came out of the closet, and now he will wash away into the sewers of has-been's and disposable stars.
The only thing sadder than the people who become obsessed with this show are the ones who try out, so deluded with the belief that they belong on the show that they will risk mass public humiliation at the hands of Cowell and his talentless cronies for a chance at some invisible means of success.
The only reason me or anyone I know watches the show is for the morbid curiosity of the impending train wrecks of the first episode. After that, it's all a pointless joke, a bunch of basically talentless ids with stars in their eyes ruining classic songs for the sake of FOX's ratings and some royalties for aging musicians, if they ever own the rights to their songs anymore.
And now I will have to avoid our local FOX affiliates almost daily story's about Idol and "Idol Mania," a nefariously bad term and idea. With so much going on in the world, is it truly necessary to have weekly segments about a popular TV show? Is it so important that we can put off talking about the important, harder things in life to expend time and energy on a fluff piece that makes me feel ill just thinking about it? Apparently so, when you feel you need something safe to draw in viewers.
I really hope that and fence-sitters on the Idol 'phenom' will please consider this and not waste another moment of your life on such a waste of airtime. There is nothing I would like more than to see this thing go away, resigned to the annals of TV history as another pop show finally deemed boring and useless by the American public. I better hope I live a long, long time.