First and foremost, I had a migraine last week. For those of you not "up" on migraines, let me clue you in on the experience. Take a spike. Heat it white hot. Then drive it through your eye until you feel brain. Turn three half-turns (or a full turn and a half). Apply electrical current.

Then, wait.

It was blindingly, sharply painful. Lying in the apartment, I cowered away from any light source and whimpered. (Can you guess why I didn't look at any computer screens last week, and why I didn't update? Goooooood.) The pain meant, among other things, I couldn't sleep.

Not "I had trouble sleeping." I couldn't sleep.

From about three a.m. on Wednesday morning, until Friday night. I could not sleep. About a total of fifty-two hours with about three hours sleep to spread between them. All I could do is feel pain. Oh, and dizziness when I walked. And nausea at the end. And about 20% normal vision in my left eye.

It was not unlike torture, really. At least, by the end I was willing to sell out God, King and Country for the privilege of relief. By the same token I wanted to have a drill so I could drill a hole in my head and let the demon out before he caused any more damage.

After all of this, we ran into Friday and Saturday, which was Parent's Weekend, so I had to be here. So I was, sunglasses in hand against the evil light. (Once I walked out of the Estrabrook after lunch, got hit suddenly with the sun, and felt like I'd taken a bullet to the head. It was about as unpleasant as I could imagine. And I was blind. Mason led me back to the building. No darn fun.

Parent's Weekend went well, though. I was originally scheduled to drive to Newton and pick up Andrea after I finished on Saturday, but -- well, see the "no sleep" comments above. I went home and slept for a good long time. At nine at night, I woke up and went out with Van and Mason and got food.

Andrea and I did hook up yesterday, when she finished up work. We ended up wandering Cambridge, and ate Vietnamese food (which I'd never had. I had some spring rolls that acted like Sushi, and tasted about as horrid as Sushi does, but I put enough peanut sauce on them to drown a goat. Then I had some beef with broccoli which was excellent. It had a far more delicate flavor than Chinese food would have.

Harvard Yard and Cambridge remains really cool, and it's all worth five hours worth of driving for four hours worth of date. Really. I'm liking the direction this is all going in.

Writing wise, things are looking really good for getting Steve Jackson Games to slip me a token payment for some text. We'll see what happens, but I'm very sanguine about my chances. Which would be an excellent thing -- I've role played just long enough that I'd deeply enjoy the "paid to write" part, even if it's just something I'd hang on the wall and grin about every now and again.

And now, work.