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11/12/2003: "Gesundheit!"

I have been sneezing. The last few days I started getting the early warning signs: I was vaguely distracted, my sleep patterns changed, I sweated and shivered and went back to normal. Then, today, my face got itchy, my nose threatened to run, and I got the sneezes. I am softspoken, but my sneeze will rattle the windows; I actually enjoy sneezing in the proper venue because the sound resounds so remarkably. I wonder how it is that we come to recognize a person by the qualities of their sneeze. Why should such an involuntary act be so distinctive? And, often, it reflects their personality: the genteel person sneezes genteelly, the slob sneezes sloppily, the inhibited person represses it. Or it reveals hidden depths, as in my case, where the pacific surface is belied by the violent explosion. Anything for attention, I guess.