Afternoon in Boston: bright sunshine, forty degrees.

The street outside is full of the Tall and the Beautiful. Sleek, shiny-haired euro-girls in tall boots and leather blazers and little Louis Vuitton bags with big Mediterranean boyfriends in tow. Tourists blocking the sidewalks in huddles as they check out the brownstones and try to figure out where the Public Garden is from here. Streams of kids on skateboards shuttling between skating in the empty fountain at Copley Square and hanging out at JP Licks and Starbucks. And one couple with an enormous cotton-white standard poodle whose grooming bills must be astronomical. The city is happy today.

I, on the other hand, have been shut in my dark apartment with a brutal headache for most of the day. (insert expletives here)

I ducked out to the Yuppie Mart to pick up the early edition of the Sunday paper and, against my better judgment, an ice-cream sandwich. (I love ice cream, but it hates me. More than a few bites and I get miserably sick.)

While I was perusing the ice cream and considering my options, a tall euro-girl came over to the cooler with an aggressive, almost angry gait, her high heels cracking like gunshots. I know this move; it's a city thing. It's designed to intimidate the person in the way and get them to move without having to speak. I've done it myself. But I just stood there, which startled her; she clattered to a halt just inside my personal space. Then I stepped aside politely, at which point she decided she didn't want ice cream after all. Heh.

One of the checkout girls called me over from a longer line; like any other store, Yuppie Mart's staff gives priority to regular customers, and they all know me in there. Ice-cream euro-girl hopped in line behind me, clearly annoyed that she hadn't jumped in front of me. I could feel her superior glower boring into my back. I found myself feeling kind of sorry for her; it must be tiring to be so angry all the time. Ah well; not my problem.

I've treated the headache with Tylenol, a caffeine pill, and a banana, and I'm feeling slightly more human. I should go to the gym for a quick workout, but I probably won't. Best not to poke at the headache when it's just starting to back off. It's a dangerous beast.

And Risa is out of town this weekend. What should I do tonight?