For some of you wondering what's been up with my Twitter & Facebook feeds as of late being all about how sick I am...I'm on the path to recovery, not 100% yet, but I'm getting there.

To all of you who don't know, over the last three weeks, I had been fighting off the flu. At the tail end of the flu's reign, it became pneumonia...and I had horrible bronchitis-like coughing that led to some sore muscles on my left side. Things started to get better, as I had two trips to the Emergency Room that ended where they gave me some pretty potent antibiotics for pneumonia and Vicodin, which they told me to take sparingly for the pain if I could manage it.

This last Sunday, while getting ready for going to church with my mom, I had another coughing fit. Suddenly, something on my side popped like when you crack your knuckles...and a lot of pain followed. I spent the next day and a half curled in a ball on my bed or sitting in a chair, refusing to move anything below my shoulders...because when I moved...the muscles on my side screamed in pain. And with the pain came muscle spasms...which only were made worse by a sloshing around of some fluid in the area when that happened.

I made a third trip to the Emergency Room, where after several hours of waiting, I got told by the doctor on shift that my coughing had torn a muscle, and that there was some internal bleeding...explaining the feeling of liquid moving around. They bumped up my Vicodin from a "take sparingly" to "take it, because it's going to hurt like hell otherwise".

I've been in and out of classes because of this whole ordeal...mainly coming into class to take the tests or catch up on the lectures while turning in some assignments...but this pain has left me drained. I've had students and professors alike ask me if I was in good enough shape to even be in class...but it wasn't a matter of being well enough to be there...I had to be there...otherwise I'd lose everything this semester.

I'm actually pretty terrified of the midterms right now...as the muscles that have been in such dire straights...are the same ones I have to use to sing classically for the midterms. I don't want to start the problem all over again...but I can't just up and quit on the class that I need for my major. And while I've done what I can to keep up to date on what's going on in class for Music Theory IV, the text book is riddled with bizarre methods of explaining the chapters, and the professor has been explaining the chapters while going to alternate sources to explain how the atonal 12 tone series works, Serialism, and beyond. I'm not completely confident in what I've read to take a test on it all.

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On the bright side, I did get a midterm done today for Afro-Cuban Percussion, where I wasn't the best in the class, but I had the bare bones of what was required. But there's been kind of a recommendation in the class targeted mainly at girls and the guys who wear shorts to class...and it's to wear pants, as bongos and congas are not the best friends of exposed legs. Well, everyone pretty much shrugs this off, as it seems pretty obvious to them or they're willing to take that chance to mess up their legs...but there's this one girl, who forgot to wear pants. It was a bit...ironic in its timing after watching the "The Importance Of Wearing Pants" from Counter Monkeys.

Instead, she's wearing this short dress that really makes her look cute and accentuates her features...but the moment she goes to use the bongos, the class is going to get a view of what's under the skirt. I'm just glad that I've been in the habit of wearing a jacket whenever I have a clean one on hand, even on blistering hot days, to class...and in this case, I had it on me (literally). So when she finally had to perform in front of the class and the problem became apparent, I offered her my jacket...so nothing got exposed.

I was kind of amazed no one else came to the conclusion of "Hey, I'm wearing a second article of clothing on my top half that's only there to be fashionable, she's in need of something to cover up, I should do something" besides myself. The professor thought about music stands, but they were too tall for the problem at hand. Needless to say, I offered her my jacket and she was able to do her midterm without being embarrassed.

After all of this, I know it sounds like bragging "Hey, I'm totally chivalrous"...but it just felt good to know that coming to class actually affected someone besides my friend having someone to talk to about the rhythms and music in it. Plus, I'm no longer just another classmate to that girl...I'm a nice guy to her...and in my opinion, the best thing to see a girl wear is an honest to God smile.