You know what I think? I think that I cannot avoid the consequences of even my smallest missteps. If I do something dumb, however innocuous, there will be a consequence.

Take, for example, my nose piercing. Not such a big deal. Not brilliant on my part, but what’s the big deal? Nobody gets hurt (except me, that moment when the needle . . . nevermind). What was really dumb on my part is that I went out afterwards, had a mango martini, nachos, came home, wasted time, and generally did not follow the guidelines for taking care of my new piercing. I did not clean it properly, as directed. Small, dumb misstep, and now . . .

Today, my beak is bright red and swollen. Obviously a small infection has set in.

Lesson learned.