Half a barbecued brisket sandwich (light on the filling, eaten very slowly). Much gratitude that there were no more food scenes than there were. Pondered why there hasn’t been a movie with Edward Norton and Sean Penn as brothers.

Most importantly, by the time a main character was shown in the throes of cholera (including loss of essential fluids orally), the worst of my pistachio episode had diminished.

See, I still can’t deal with that word yet.

Would I recommend this movie for a sick person? Well, no, I can think of better ones. A movie about a cholera epidemic is not going to be uplifting. But don’t go renting ‘Horseman on the Roof’ either if you’re queasy. While the disease there might not be the cholera of The Painted Veil, although it’s referred to as such, there are several scenes to cause much distress to the nauseous viewer.

Tonight, two family members who never, ever bring home food unbidden, showed up bearing goodies. One brought a large amount of barbecued pork brisket, the other had a box full of Beard Papas. I had horrible gastrointestinal symptoms (see previous post).

On a normal day, I would have been ecstatic. I could smell the fine aroma from the pork as I headed to the bathroom in fear and trembling.

Much of the food remains in the fridge, and I have it to look forward to tomorrow, when I just might shower the squirrels with three remaining pounds of pistachios.

This afternoon at a very awkward time, I felt an intense need to throw up.

Thankfully, this sort of thing doesn’t happen very often. Only once before, as a matter of fact, about three weeks ago. What precipitated that episode was something of a mystery since I had eaten several questionable items. Just before I got sick, I ate a small bowl of pistachios.

Today was more of a clear-cut matter since I had not eaten that much by 5:30 p.m. The only thing different from my normal foods was a homemade (by me) frosted chocolate cupcake sprinkled with a small bit of chopped up pistachios. It was delicious. It made me terribly sick.

So there I was at someone else’s house, clutching my stomach, wondering if I would be able to drive the five minutes home where my faithful bathroom was. It was the worst stomachache I’d had since I don’t know when. The salivating thing had set in, so once again, that insidious question of which end arose.

Five hours later, I’m still shaky. Sipping a diet coke helped. From now on, I’ll remember that pistachios are related to mangos and poison ivy, both of which are my natural enemies.

Word has gotten out over the past few years among the pest community that my tomato patch is nothing to get excited about. This year is a little different, and the plants are still producing a surprising amount. This afternoon, I noticed that the tiny dog from a neighbor’s yard must have gotten in the garden and left its droppings on the tomato leaves. They were that big.

I had hoped that the hornworm had matured and gone away, but no. It had eaten most of one tomato and started on this one. But what I actually had was a free model.

Albeit a messy one, and noisy on top of that. Try putting one on a clean sheet of white paper. When it moves around, it makes a rasping sound, which could be the mouthparts trying to ingest the paper. Who knows. It will remain under cover till tomorrow when the light is better. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of tomato worm food.