Dry Armpits

This past summer was the hottest season of my life. It almost certainly wasn't the highest temperature I've experienced but it felt like it. I think I had too many internal stresses, pushing, pulling and radiating heat along with the humid, brothy atmosphere. The past three months wrecked havoc on a typically optimistic outlook of summers in general and my attitude towards pretty much everybody. A particularly bitter lens was slid in front of everyone and everything Korea. Alas they weren't my problem. Sometimes you need to look at yourself first and then your unsightly pit stains.

I've never thought of myself as a sweaty fellow. Sure I was one of the kids who tried hard in gym class and ended up sweaty but that was different. I was exercising my right to dominate you in dodgeball. Now however, just being awake and standing up outside is enough to create delightful halos of sweat beneath each arm.

I learned to deal with it as best I could. 2 shirts was mandatory if I was in an establishment that frowned on the party tank, otherwise that was my summer uniform. This past weekend I had a wedding to attend and had no appropriate summer clothes. I was left with very few options.

I owe it all to my friend. Anthony had been in my ear about his secret to beating the heat since I met him. He too had experienced an overwhelming surge of sweat since arriving and the constant "Ewww Dirty Teacher!" was enough for him to make a change. Anthony's secret was DriClor. It's the anti-perspirant to end all anti-perspirants! I was 100% sure it had cancer in it, so I avoided it for nearly a year but couldn't hold out any longer. I bought it the night before my friend's wedding. Bought it, applied it, and prayed.

That is past sweat not present sweat

That ladies and gentleman is a new man. Improved, confident, and dare I say sure? Sure of himself, sure of his new outlook on life, and sure that he may have cancer. But I ask myself is it worth it? Is it worth smoking cigarettes and being cool knowing what lies ahead? Is it worth eating that whole entire pizza just to prove it to...well nobody? Is it worth immediate gratification for long term heartache? I have no idea but I don't sweat when I stand outside anymore. Boom.


Dry Armpits, check

Migraine

I have two memories of migraines. Neither of them affected me directly, rather it was a friend and family member. I started to notice my friend Chad was not on the morning school bus, usually for a few days at a time. I was shy but observant and eventually asked about my friend's whereabouts. "He has migraines," a boy said. "Oh that's a headache," I thought to myself. "Chad baby."

My Aunt also had episodes. My mother too, but her sister's experiences I remember more vividly. She is a very quiet person, who could easily slip into the background of a raucous family gathering. When that was the case, often times it was because of a migraine. "Your aunt went to lie down upstairs," my grandmother would say. "Oh she gets to take a nap," I thought to myself. "Big baby."

Welp, last week I had my first migraine. Just Tried It Out cause I heard how much fun they were! And before I continue and forget, I want to apologize for my thoughts of apathy toward all migraine sufferers in years past. They suck.a.lot.

I was teaching my last class of the day, tutoring a 12 yr old girl, when I looked up toward the ceiling at my room's air conditioning unit. I caught a quick glimpse of the lights overhead and they stayed in my vision like staring at the sun too long. As they normally do I expected it to dissipate. Walking home I couldn't shake the hollowed out center of my vision, and I started to feel ill. By the time I got home the headaches had sunk in above and behind my eye sockets. Walking, seeing, talking, and hearing made everything worse. At this point Stephanie didn't know what was happening and I wanted to punch her every time she asked me a question.

I needed complete darkness and silence. I needed space. I needed an empty room in an empty house. I wanted this to stop. It was bad enough that work consumed my days, now it was creeping into my nights. I barely remember dinner and scarfing down two tacos under a dim, table lamp. Immediately I retreated to the bedroom and prayed for silence. When that did not work, I defied my logic and used my voice to ask Steph to search for remedies, cures, and potions. A long, hot shower later, the pain was subsiding and I had dozed off to sleep.

When I woke the next morning, my vision and head still felt off. Like a projector that's been bumped askew, I wanted nothing more than to be realigned. I tiptoed through the morning, knowing I had an 8 hour teaching day ahead of me. The thought of imminent and loud chaos was enough to put me back in I thought. However, I can safely say the migraine never returned and I hope it stays away. It made it's slow and debilitating point. I imagine the early stages of a python constricting your skull to be similar to a migraine. But maybe I'm just a big baby.

Migraine, check.