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A few months ago I decided to go ahead and join the book club that a few of my coworkers started. I figured the worst that could happen is I would not like any of the books, and just stop reading them. We read 1 book a month and meet over lunch to discuss it. I'm really glad I joined! So far, for the club, I've read:

• The Greatest Trade Ever, by Gregory Zuckerman
• Another Day in the Frontal Lobe, by Katrina Furlik
• Just a Geek, by Wil Wheaton
• Player Piano, by Kurt Vonnegut

We're currently reading American Gods, by Neil Gaiman.

In addition, I've managed to squeeze in a book of my own choosing: Daemon, by Daniel Suarez (thanks for the recommendation, Baz!) and picked up the sequel, Freedom (TM), for when time allows… However, I'm starting to realize that my addictive personality is taking over again. My to-read list is growing at an alarming rate. Here are some books that I have either already bought or intend to pick up for myself (if I don't get them for Christmas — you'll have to check my wish list to see which is which) for my soon-to-be pleasure reading:

• At Home: A Short History of Private Life, by my favorite author, Bill Bryson
• Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society, also by (my favorite author) Bill Bryson
• Escape, by Carolyn Jessup — Story of a woman who "escaped" from a Polygamist community & marriage
• The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams (6 book collection)

Now more than ever, I'm starting to think investing in a Kindle would be a great idea…

Splashin':

Tossin' Rocks:

So, I guess I have some splain'in to do.

There is an inherent risk — of embarrassment, at least — in self-diagnosis. I hope you can understand my thought process:

• Camping trip involving dozens of deer ticks crawling all over me, day and night.
• Doctor wants to hedge against possibility of Lyme, puts me on the meds.
• Circular rash develops.

Having no past personal experience with Lyme — not even a friend or fellow Boy Scout, after more than 10 years going camping and such, if you can believe it — I jumped straight to the conclusion of Lyme. What else could it be, right? Right?! Wrong, I guess.

I have Ringworm — not to be confused with Tapeworm or Pinworm, as has already been the case with others I have informed (those are actual parasitic worms, Ringworm is just fungus). The doc says that the most likely cause is that Dylan brought it home from day care and gave it to me. Luckily, so far, he's not showing any signs of developing it himself.

The prognosis for Ringworm is much better than that for Lyme. Lyme is treatable, for sure, and if I did have it, my uneducated guess is that we caught it early enough to avoid any significant side effects; though untreated it can be a significant detriment.

The treatment for Ringworm is also much simpler: just a topical anti-fungal cream, twice a day. Wash your hands well, and don't touch it. But of course, not just any anti-fungal cream. This one:

That's right, JOCK ITCH cream. I tried hard to find a generic alternative, hoping that it might not be covered in the words "JOCK ITCH", but sadly, there didn't seem to be any alternative with the same active ingredients. So I picked up what I imagined to be a giant sign reading "I HAVE JOCK ITCH BECAUSE I DON'T WASH MY JUNK" and marched to the front of Rite Aid to pay for it. If I had a hat and dark sunglasses available, I would have tried hard to hide my face.

So now, in addition to my regular pills, I'm taking antibiotics as a hedge against Lyme, I'm on jock-itch cream for the fungus growing on my back, and some other prescription-strength Cortisone-like cream to deal with the localized allergic reactions from the tick bites.

But I don't have Lyme.