Saturday night was rainy and dreary but e was wise and knew we had to persevere and leave the house. We stopped by a half-hearted art opening for the free booze and cheese cubes and an old Creole-Jamaican man took a shine to us. He took us up to his studio, expertly opened a bottle of wine with a screwdriver, and sang us songs from the Underground Railway in an operatic baritone he inherited from his great-grandfather. His art was raw and beautiful. He was vulnerable ("If you tell me my work is terrible it will stab me in the heart. But go ahead. Be honest."), and cocky ("I have 27 children. I told my best friend to send me his wife after they spent $80 000 on in-vitro. He isn't my best friend anymore").

His stories strained credulity: "I was in Vietnam. I was the killer elite. I killed 2590 people and I know that because I counted their bodies before I bulldozed them. I was dead inside. I could shoot you in the head and lick your cunt at the same time, if you'll excuse my language" . He was playing a part (eccentric lecher artist) and so were we (gullible liberal do-gooders), but if his stories were even 10% true...

I guess if you've even killed one person in war, 2589 more doesn't matter.

He gave me his cowboy hat in exchange for a promise to return. I have a long history with cowboy hats.

*
I am on 2 antibiotics and 2 antifungals to combat various infections currently raging in my body. I spent the last week trying all kinds of natural remedies for my yeast infection (garlic and yogurt pessaries, endless litres of unsweetened cranberry juice, "y*ast fight*r" supplements, aloe, hydrocortisone, apple cider vinegar). I finally caved last night and went over-the-counter when I was considering throwing myself under a train. Natural remedies have never worked for me and I always spend a nightmare week trying them out... maybe next time I will learn.

Have any natural remedies ever worked for anyone's yeast infections? Everyone I talk to ends up on d*flucane, can*st*n or m*nistat eventually. I'm hoping this gives me my life back because I have been mis.er.able.

*
I just overheard a harried, well-dressed woman trying to figure out which of her kids had purchased stuff on i-tunes this morning. None of the kids looked over the age of ten. I tried to picture how that goes... your 6-year-old has unfettered access to a computer, or an i-phone, or both. And your credit card. And they can just buy stuff online in the morning while they're eating their cheerios? And presumably they all have ipods? Or maybe they can order stuff from their personal cellphones and credit cards? These are not the oatmeal and public radio mornings of my childhood. It's a whole new world out there.

Speaking of whole new world, I greatly enjoyed this hilarious entry which encapsulates my current dating life. I am exactly the right age to have experienced dating before and after the technology explosion (cellphones/icq/msn/facebook/lavalife/whatever) and I do occasionally pine for the old days, encapsulated in this line: "In MY day, you met someone in a bar, and if you liked him, you slept with him and if he liked YOU, you got taken out to breakfast the next day. Simple, clear lines of communication". Well said.

12:15 p.m. - 2009-03-16