Pride goeth before a fall

**Warning: this post probably contains "too much information!" Feel free to skip to the paragraph that starts with "However."**

I gloated.

I gloated, and now I'm paying for it. Ohhhh, am I paying for it.

I gloated because I thought I had twice beaten chicken pox; first, when I was little and my sister had it, and second, about two and a half weeks ago when my vaccinated son had it.

This is SO gross. I have a LOT on the top of my head. My scalp is constantly crawling, and when I run my fingers through my hair I can feel all these little bumps. This afternoon I found the first crusty one. And you should see my hair: I look like Jimmy Neutron. No, I'm not posting any photos!

There's a really large one about one inch south of my belly button that for some reason hurts like hell. It's bulbous, and you can tell there's liquid inside.

And, even worse, I don't know how to say this politely, but I have new sympathy for sufferers of venereal disease. Oh, how it burns!

However, I wouldn't be a true Bookworm if this situation didn't lead me to a book. Strange mental association, perhaps, but my painful scalp reminded me of the John Christopher science fiction trilogy about the Tripods. The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire. (Oh my! When I went to Amazon for the link, I discovered there's a prequel now. Okay, not a trilogy. But it used to be a trilogy.) Anyway, I still have my copies of the original trilogy so I spent some happy hours recuperating and reading while my dear hubby chased after the toddler. I got through the first two, and am partway through the third. Yes, I was skimming; I have read these books before, though it's been many years.

So the painful scalp association was as follows: these books take place in a future where aliens have taken over Earth. Humankind is kept under their subjection by means of metal mesh caps which are implanted onto the skull of every adolescent in a "coming-of-age" ceremony. The main character runs away from home before he is Capped and, along with a few others who managed not to get Capped, overthrows the evil aliens. The really cool gimmick about this series is the Tripods. The aliens cannot breathe our air, so they travel around in Tripods. They are tall as a skyscraper, with a little dome on top, and three long legs on the bottom. They walk across the countryside and can be seen from miles away. I wouldn't be at all surprised if these were inspired by Tripods. Another thing that has stuck with me all these years, aside from the mental image of these menacing Tripods stalking across the fields, is the writing style. It's very stilted and formal, not at all what you'd expect from a kids' book written in 1967. It's almost Jules Verne-y. Weird, but I like it.

Okay, time for another Aveeno oatmeal bath. Yuk. I don't even like to take baths when I'm well.

Some more clerihews would sure cheer me up, though.