I am definitely coming down with something.

My throat’s all scratchy, I’m burning up, my nose is running (quick, someone catch it!), my muscles are stiff and achy, I am lightheaded and slightly nauseous, and I have that overall feeling of malaise that I associate exclusively with my immune system going to war.

And it’s happening right before the weekend, and I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, my adult side is glad I probably won’t miss any class because of this bug. But the kid in me kind of wishes he got some sick days and nurturing attention out of the whole thing.

We never really grow up.

Today was fun at school. I had Short Script course, and today was the day we presented our three ideas for short scripts.

Here were mine :

1. A jury-room drama in which average citizens argue the case of the People versus the SNAP corporation, the makers of the pill that cures boredom. Take a pill, and for four hours, you are immune to boredom’s effects. You can do damned near anything and not get bored at all. The pill is, of course, a massive success, especially after SNAP gets the pill rated safe for over-the-counter sale without a prescription. It is extremely psychologically addictive and overuse leads to people becoming increasingly dull of wit as they no longer have boredom to spur them into mental activity. It’s gotten to the point where hospitals are starting to fill up with victims of what the media calls “grey brain syndrome”, or greyheading, which causes severe addicts to burn out completely and lose all desire to do anything at all. Understandably, it did not take long for a massive class action suit to be launched, and that’s the case our jurors are deciding. SNAP insists that the drug is harmless “when used as directed” and they are therefore not liable for what happens when people abuse it. The prosecution argues that abuse was easily predictable by anyone with a grain of sense, and that SNAP is both criminally negligent and actionably liable for the millions of people losing IQ points, possibly permanently, to this insidious and dangerous substance. Unbeknownst to the jurors, one of them is actually a plant from the SNAP corporation who is being paid a lot of money to make sure the company is not ruled against no matter what it takes, and is sabotaging all attempts to reach a verdict.

Pretty exciting stuff, huh?

2. A man wakes up after a night of hard partying and many exotic substances ingested wakes up completely sober and with no hangover, but now has the ability to look into people’s souls. At first this ability frightens him, but he soon figures out how to use this ability to manipulate people, make lots of money, and live out his most avaricious fantasies. As this happens, though, a curious phenomenon emerges. Increasingly, when he looks into people’s souls, he only sees…. himself. Eventually, despite his new wealth and power, he loses his mind as he descends into a solipsistic nightmare where nobody but him is real and he feels so alone that it drives him mad.

And finally, last but the opposite of least (most?)….

3. An American Intervention. A short film in which the rest of the world stages an intervention to tell America how worried we all are about it and how we are all willing to pull together to get it the help it needs in order to keep it from harming itself or others. Works well with the international roster of student at VFS!

And just think, there was ten of us, with three ideas to present each, each idea pitch to be two minutes max… it was fun but exhausting. And then we workshopped them!

Then, I might have found it exhausting because I am ill. My tonsils are beginning to hurt and the ache in my throat is solidifying. I am doing my best to stay hydrated and positive. This is just some stupid bug. It will suck, but then it will over and life will go on just like all the other times I have been sick in my life.

I wish I had thought to get OJ when I was shopping earlier, though. I have chicken soup, but the thought of eating anything hot right now repulses me. I will eat extra helpings of fruit when I can manage it in order to boost my immune system, and maybe a granola bar here and there because I am sick and sick people get nice foods to eat so they don’t feel so bad.

Oh, and of course, today of all days is the day I got caught in the rain without my jacket on the way home from the Skytrain stop at Richmond-Brighouse. Luckily, it was very light rain for the majority of the two blocks home, and I took advantage of every awning and overhang I could find.

I really need to get a summer jacket. Preferably made of something nice and light so having it in my schoolbag all the time won’t be a huge drag.

Oh, I forgot to mention : the point of bringing in three ideas is so we could get feedback on them that would help us pick the one we wanted to write.

And for me, there’s no contest. I am writing the American Intervention one. That thing is going to be fun to write. And even though we’re only expected to write the thing, not get it made, I am going to try to get it made anyhow as I think it could go majorly viral online, and at the very least, it’s the sort of thing I could really enjoy doing.

I would, of course, direct, and possibly produce.

Oh, and of course, the moderator of the intervention is…. Canada! After all…. nobody knows more about the lunatics to the south than we Canadians.

We’re the mouse in bed with the elephant, after all.

I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.