Pardon me - I'm in a bit of pain today.

My head itched a little bit in Seoul. I thought I was just indulging, scratching a bit. I stopped, and it went away. Then in the last few days since I landed, a constellation of nasty painful bumps has appeared on my forehead. My vanity is saved by hair, but as time goes on they get increasingly painful.

I'm not sure if these bumps are related. I'm definitely not scratching them. I thought about putting some kind of ointment or aloe vera on them (sweet, cool aloe. You know they have aloe-flavored carbonated drinks in Korea? With chunks of Aloe floating in them! Mmmmm.) But as my roommate Austin said, I'm best off not messing with it.

Until I can see a doctor, that is. I leave for London in a week. I haven't been to see a doctor in about five years. Deffered maintenance I guess. I'll have to call up my $50/month health insurance provider and get them to recommend me someone I can see in a hurry.

While I was musing over this I realized two things - one, maybe I'm stressed out and my body is telling me. I could surmise that these bumps are the result of a relationship ending and two and a half months out of the last four spent on the road. I'm trying to figure out how to relax. I've made some plans to visit a ranch in Texas and go hiking in California. I'm not sure what relaxing is exactly - I love processing, thinking, making media, wherever, whenever.

Anyhow, before I get caught up in all that, I was admiring my roommates pierced ear, and poking around at my own lobes when I felt a large bump under the skin near my left ear. I rubbed at it a bit, it moves under the surface of my skin. There's nothing like it on the other side of my head - symmetry would be comforting. The bump began to hurt as soon as I rubbed it, and it's continued hurting ever since.

As it so happens, Austin has a cyst in that spot, next to his right ear. I wondered if I was developing a sympathy cyst? "If it hurts, it's not a cyst," he intoned. Well, it hurts too. So I got two different kinds of painful bumps on my head and I'm not happy about it. I'm going to go buy some bacon.

I'm posting some pictures of my visible bumps beyond this link; if you have any idea what I might be dealing with, please comment. Thanks.

When I was in Korea, I had drinks with a Korean friend and his girlfriend. She didn't speak much English; he translated between us. She asked for my impressions of Korea, I shared them (as I will on my site in the next day or so). He asked for my impression of her - it was very cursory, of course, since we couldn't directly communicate. But I said she seemed to have some strong sense of herself, some pride, and she was very attractive. He translated her impression of me - he said, "she says you are like Harry Potter." I'd heard this in Japan, when I was wearing my glasses. Dorky looking white guy with glasses - a visual match. I laughed. He looked surprised, "In Korea, Harry Potter stands for loyalty and intelligence and he's handsome." I was to take the comparison as high praise.

Well it looks like I'm developing a sort of lightning bolt made of zits on my forehead - I'll have to send her the picture.