Been sick for the past 6 days because of my flu shot. Unfortunately, the standard flu shot (the only one that is widely available) is incubated in egg, and so for some reason my body always reacts like I've just had about a dozen eggs injected into my body simultaneously. Given the fact that 3 eggs in a week is enough to make me a bit ill for a couple days, the flu shot just sends my digestive system into complete panic for ages. But CWC is such a petri dish of germs (seriously, it's like a pre-school) that I prefer to get the flu shot, not only for my own protection but also so that I won't contribute to the spread of plagues at CWC. Shannon points out that once we've moved to Hawaii & I'm not going to CWC anymore, I might want to just stop getting flu shots, because they make me sick enough that it just might not be worth it.

Feeling annoyed at my mom. The last time she & Nally came to visit (a couple years ago), she said this would be their last visit—that I would always have to be the one flying out to visit them from now on—because she couldn't afford it anymore now that she's retired. And then she keeps telling me about her various travels around the East Coast since then. Today I got email telling me all about her recent trip to New York, Vermont, and Maine, and mentioning that she's going to Ireland for a week in March. You can afford to go to Ireland, but you can't afford to visit your own fucking daughter? I mean, it wasn't like she said, "I won't be able to visit as often." She said she wouldn't be coming to visit me EVER AGAIN.

I feel weird about being ticked about it, because Shannon & I are planning a trip to the U.K. next year, and so it seems sort of hypocritical to be annoyed with my mom for going to Ireland. But it's not her trip to Ireland that ticks me off: it's the fact that she said she wouldn't come to visit ME anymore because she can't AFFORD it, but she can apparently afford all this other traveling. I just feel like it was a lame excuse, that she loves to travel but doesn't give a shit about me.

But in her email today she also mentioned that Nally is growing his hair out because right now it's too short to dye it & he wants to dye it blue like mine. That made me smile the biggest smile in ages. It made me feel connected to him & kinda like "Oh, my little brother looks up to me & wants to be like me" & that was really nice. He & I had a phone date a couple weeks ago & it was great to talk with him. He seems to be doing pretty well.

While I've been sick, I've become obsessed with Tumblr, which never interested me before. There's an active fan community there for these two British YouTubers I've been following obsessively, AmazingPhil (Phil Lester) and danisnotonfire (Dan Howell). Tumblr (and Twitter, which I've also been tentatively exploring for mostly the same reason) sort of puzzles me, but I've been having fun. Here's one of Dan's most recent videos (with a bit of Phil featured, because they're housemates & were heading out on tour together in the story related in the video), which I really liked:



And a recent Phil video, to show his endearing vloggy style:



Must admit, I'm more of a Phil fan, though I love them both. Dan's very articulate and often thought-provoking, but Phil's a Hufflepuff, like me. His totally unself-conscious dorkiness just makes me smile.

I need an icon with my bue hair. Perhaps I'll go make one for this post.