Today I feel like Ms. Gloria Estefan in �Coming Out Of The Dark,� how she reemerged into the plasticine limelight in a glorious convalescent black and white celluloid cloud after that harrowing back injury. She always seemed very stiff to me, before and after. Of course I didn�t suffer a major physical blow�I�ve only just had a very bad cold but yesterday, (even though the music reference is far superior to any Estefanian), I felt about up to the limp sentiment of Jarvis Cocker�s quiet spoken part in �Ciao!� by Lush: �Eating vegan meals with the blinds closed,� only there was tuna fish involved.

Speaking of tuna fish. There�s something so Coney Island about using tuna fish�s full name.

Tuna fish. As opposed to tuna bird or tuna mammal. There�s a big menu sign by the Lechmere T station for Tuna Fish (among other things)�apparently there�s some sort of snack bar there, which in itself is sort of odd. Mayo, fish, trains, dirt, and exhaust�a bad combination. Why not write �Sandwiches� on there instead, emphasizing the bread�something neutral and dry? Why conjure some fish oil, dairy, dirt soup in the mind and stomach of the commuter? Anyway.

I always picture teachers eating tuna fish out of Tupperware.

Yeah, nobody said I couldn�t take another dose of cold medicine today, for good measure. And I really am still sick. I�m just so glad it�s sunny and 60 DEGREE!!! You may say HO MY GOD!

Last night Wil and I did a karaoke gig at the B-Side for one of the waitresses� birthdays�a real dish named Courtney. It was a blast. I wore my hot fringy black skirt, pink satin camisole, crazy gold Cuban dance heels, pearls, and a butter-colored insane Tom Jones ruffly tuxedo shirt with weird gold under-the-sea mermaid scene cufflinks�a look I like to call �I caroused with a Cuban dancer last night, slept with him, and then stole his shirt for the walk of shame.� It�s important to keep one�s perspective, though, with a look like that because it�s easy to go too far. The point is to look good, to look sexy with a frenesi twist, not to play the part so wildly that you put lipstick on the collar, smear your mascara and dab on some Agua Florida Colonia. A few years ago I was a ladybug for Halloween. My sister Nancy kept trying to convince me to stuff my butt (oh, I�m going to get Google hits for that), and I�m all �Girl, I already got back. I�m playing on the lady part of the ladybug so that I can look hot. There will be no butt stuffing. There will be a slinky black satin dress, pearls, wings and tentacles.� Or antennae even. Anyway. I go on and on.

I�m all for reckless dedication to costuming as well, of course. Amy Sedaris is the queen of costume/transformation dedication and has been since she was a child. She is unbelievable. According to her brother David�s writing, she wore the bottom half of a fat suit while visiting her father just to drive him and muss his old fashioned �my daughters must be thin to get married to live a decent life� schema. She purposefully ate mayo with a spoon in front of the fridge to taunt him. She is my hero. I wish she were my gal pal.

Now I must go back to watching Eliza Dushku and David Boreanaz kick each other�s asses. Hot.