A Molding Experience

This was going to be two posts but I decided to just continue on the first one and change the date.

There are moments in your life that are fleeting and barely memorable. Maybe that moment, a couple of nights ago, when you stumbled to the bathroom at 3 AM and tripped over the cat. The next day, it seems to only be a dream. But it does explain why Eddy keeps giving me the cold shoulder.

There are moments when the time stretches out and that 60 second episode seems to be more like 60 minutes or even 60 years. Like the afternoon I walked down 5th Street and a man suggested I might want to check my skirt.

"Why?" I asked. He just smiled and walked away.

A few seconds later my face was as red as the skirt I had accidentally tucked into my nylons.

And then there are those moments when you take the experience and learn something from it.

I've had a few such moments in my life. One, of course, would be the Fish Hook Saga. Lesson learned? Do Not Put Fish Hooks In Your Mouth! Your fishy brethren will not appreciate your sacrifice. And many people will laugh at you.

Another moment? The Tale of the Blue Stiffy comes to mind. Lesson learned? Besides the fact that male appendanges aren't actually blue, I also learned that there are some people who will lie and hurt you just for the fun of it.

And then there was this Friday. The day started out badly, my alarm clock decided to completely die and Keem was not overly pleased with me. I had a bad headache that wouldn't go away and decided to take a half day. I went and got my hair cut (this, fortunately, turned out well. It's really cute, if I do say so myself (and I do)) and the shampoo helped relax me and make the headache go away somewhat.

Beth picked me up and we headed off to Manny's, looking forward to an exciting evening filled with great conversation and wondrous food.

Here is where I had the opportunity to make a choice and, once again, made the wrong one.

It's time to order at Manny's. They have a salad that Beth and I both like. They take a tomato and slice it up and take an onion and slice that up. Beth eats the tomatoes. I eat the onions. On the side of the salad is a block of bleu cheese. I love bleu cheese. I take a nice big chunk of it.

Beth: I can't believe you eat that stuff.
DM: But I love it.
Beth: Dana. You're allergic to it.
DM: I'll be fine. I've had it before.

Yes, that's true. And yes, I am allergic to bleu cheese. Mainly because I'm allergic to mold. And I've had it before and nothing has really happened to me. So why not live a little, right?

Why indeed. The chunk I have chosen is veinier than the bleu cheese I've normally had. Plus, hey, our wedge salad is served with bleu cheese dressing. Why not pour a whole bunch of it over the salad and the bleu cheese chunk and then add some creamy garlic dressing for flavor (yummy)?

It was delicious and wonderful. And also a huge mistake.

Two hours or so go by, Beth and I are driving back to her place. I am not feeling good at all.

DM: Ohhhhhh.
Beth: Are you okay?
DM: I don't know. Ohhhhhh. That doesn't feel so good.
Beth: You know, I will take you to the hospital but then you're going to have to tell them that you willingly ingested something that you know you're allergic to.
DM: But it's so good! Ohhhhh.

We get back to her place, Beth does some homework, I sit next to her and she puts in a DVD of this show she's been watching, Fruits Basket. It is anime that her cousin sent to her. It is quite possibly the oddest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. It doesn't help that the first episode I watch is episode 22 about Prince Yuki's fan club and the lengths they will do to prevent another girl from being around him. "Oh, Prince Yuki, I am blessed and cursed to see your face." It was a little over the top. Fortunately the episodes did get more interesting and I fell a little bit in like with Kyo, one of the main characters.

Sarah comes over because Beth is helping her with her homework. We go outside to wait for her. Beth is talking to Sarah, guiding her to a parking spot. I stand there, my face pale, my stomach in turmoil and then it happened.

I stumbled over to the nearest bush and released some of the evil bleu cheese that was torturing me. As I'm wandering off, I hear Beth say:

Beth: Dana? Are you ok...Oh. Okay (To Sarah). Dana's throwing up now.

I head back over towards Beth and then turn quickly back around. The bush is blessed with a lot of steak. And, of course, the bush is also right next to a window so I'm sure that Beth's neighbors were thrilled to hear me yack. It was great fun.

When I was finished, Beth asked me if I was going to be all right.

DM: I think so. And the best part of this was that I didn't have to throw up in the bathroom and that means my knees aren't going to be really sore.

Of course, for the rest of the weekend, I felt as though I had broken a rib or two. That was some violent vomiting. I'm not going to mention the other side effects.

And I did not get a lot of symphathy at karaoke on Sunday when I told James, Bryan and Liz about the experience. I believe the general consensus was "Well, hello, you're allergic to bleu cheese. What were you thinking?"

Yet another lesson for the ages. Bleu cheese is bad. Yummy. But bad.