Okay, I've been ill enough to have missed a month or so of
rehearsals and had to ask for groceries to be brought to me.
But the way this story is supposed to go, the day I have a gig
I'm supposed to somehow find a hidden reserve of energy, perhaps
inspired by the ghost of Harry Houdini[1], enough
to stubborn my way past my symptoms and make it to the gig
without wrecking the car and put on a good show despite how
wretched I feel, right?
Okay, not absolutely giving up yet -- I've taken
a second dose of pain meds, which should start working about
the time I get out of the shower, and then I'll see whether
I feel like I can drive safely. I really hate missing a gig.
But given the last few weeks ...
Anyhow: tonight, at the Greenbelt Arts Center, with or
without me, enjoy the rousing, foot-stompin' Celtic music
of The Homespun
Ceilidh Band
[1] The way the tale is usually told, Houdini died
pretty much as a result of "the show must go on" syndrome.
Instead of getting medical treatment that might have saved
his life after an injury in his dressing room, he did his
show that night despite his pain, and when he did finally
get to a hospital, it was too late. But being cautious, I
consulted Wikipedia before finishing this footnote, where
it says he had already been ill before the famous incident
in the dressing room, so it may be as much as general not
wanting to go to the doctor as the show-must-go-on mindset
that kept him from timely, life-saving treatment.