Ideally, my blood is not thicker than water

I drink a lot of water. I mean a lot of water. Compulsively. To the point where I sometimes have to eat salt to avoid intoxication.

I also have extremely low blood pressure and am prone to fainting if I'm not careful. When I was a kid, I had trouble with my hands and feet swelling and tingling, but it's been a long time.

Turns out drinking all that water raises my blood pressure measurably and makes it less likely that I faint, swell, etc. It also activates my sympathetic nervous system. Who knew? Hooray for water.

Press release for the study I'm talking about, which focuses on weight-loss effects because that's where the grant money is right now.

A week's worth

Last Monday: Did laundry and a light bathroom/kitchen clean. Interacted with my neighbors. (We are often not awake and home at the same time.) Kristina in from out of town; we went to the Pearl Cup and split a cinnamon roll. (She had a mocha; I had a lavender italian soda.) We ran into a high school friend who has both a metal band and a jazz band that are doing very well. I read her tarot. (When I read tarot, I say basically the same things I say when I'm not reading tarot, but with visual aids. It's helpful.) Afterwards, met with James to discuss Hayseeds production design further, and to hand off the completed braided rug. He liked it. Relief.

Tues: Errands. Met with potential AD* for Hayseeds; she is now AD. Went to dollar store; discovered dollar store is a dangerous place full of many intriguing things, but escaped with my life. Wrote a bio for Ciro, since it's always easier to write someone else's bio than your own. Dropped things at Goodwill.

Made brussels sprouts for the first time (with pork and apple sausage, mustard, and red grapes. I felt very Baltic, although reading this it sounds more Alsatian.) As a kid, I assumed I violently disliked brussels sprouts. I think I misread one of those "stick this piece of chemically-treated paper on your tongue" tests from early elementary school science classes and thought they would trigger a gag reflex. I do not recall ever actually trying them. It's only in the last year I've eaten some and discovered I quite like them. We are also eating much more meat than usual because Ciro's trying to bulk up slightly for the film.

After I ran out of food last week (there is a span of four consecutive days a week when my work schedule makes it impossible for me to go to the grocery store), I went a bit overboard this week and massively overstocked us. Or not massively, but slightly. I will get to all of it in due time. Anyway, it's exciting. I prepped another batch of pickles, both because they're good to eat and because it gives me great satisfaction to open the refrigerator and see homemade pickles.

Ciro is reading a book on the samurai and we are both amused to find the tone and style of the stories (translated from ancient Japanese) to be very similar to a certain type of story I write. (Examples: "Outlaw Story." The Christmas story about Rum Punch the sheep. Innumerable comic plays.) I take this to mean my work is timeless and cross-cultural.

Wed-Sat: Worked. Got pulled off bull riding and assigned to Tennis. Captioned a fairly adorable public television program about a new children's museum in Delaware. (I am convinced. I want to go. Another one in Philadelphia also looks amazing.)

Sun: With Ciro, continued post-production on New Mexico photos. (What do you call darkroom processing when it's done on a computer? "Digital Photo Editing" sounds like sticking someone's head on someone else's body, when what I'm doing is choosing to print certain images in black and white, to push an underexposed photo a stop, to crop out a telephone wire.) Researched sound equipment and talked through the Hayseeds budget. Sent many e-mails. Dinner with Rex, who sent us home with a gross of pork chops. Had a letter to the editor published in the Boston Globe Sunday magazine.

Today: Raised the limit on my credit card. It takes me a long time to psych myself up to make a phone call like that, even though I know they're going to say yes. (I've been with the company more than 10 years and never raised the limit from the introductory one, even though I have flawless credit and have not once missed a payment. I don't even carry balances month to month; I just find it more convenient to carry plastic than cash.) I had to promise myself a pork chop sandwich. And I called! And now I don't have to stress out about buying film equipment too close to the end of the month.

I am finally clear of enough looming deadlines that I have space to do things like think about mopping, or prepping some manuscript submissions I've pushed back and back. It's a huge relief. It's also left me at loose ends, because I can't remember what it's like to have time, or what I do when I have it. If I can just get rid of this lingering post-nasal drip, I feel like the world could be pretty swell -- at least so long as I sit directly under a ceiling fan.

* AD = Assistant director.