Dumb shit

[kitewithfish]

Misguided by youtubers, I decided to try poking my tonsil with a toothbrush to see if that would make it stop being sore and annoyed at me. 
Answer: NOPE HA NOW IT HURTS MORE.
But the whole gargling with salt like I'm following the advice of a witch from Lancre, that actually has worked. 

Oh, that reminds me!

I'm reading Maskerade by Terry Pratchett and it's a freaking delight. I love the witches of Discworld books the most (Moist Von Lipwig is also pretty great, Sam Vimes is his own powerhouse, actually, wait, maybe I just love Terry Pratchett without exception...?) 

Unrelatedly, I forgot my lunch and bought mackerel on rice from the lunch specials at a Japanese place near me and it was *delicious.* Precisely the kind of blue, oily, unrepentantly fishy fish that I adore that my mom would have found utterly gross when I was growing up. 

Also, I made a tiny quiz in another post. 

Comments

[cupidsbow]

Salt is amazing. It's the best disinfectant. The only way I can imagine "poking" would work is if you have a tonsil stone and it dislodges it. Stick to salt, and I hope you feel better.

[kitewithfish]

Yup, I thought maybe a tonsil stone was in play - (TMI! - my tonsils always get very miffed when I get a cold, I thought maybe it was thing) But, yeah, back to the salt mines.

[thenewbuzwuzz]

YES, MASKERADE IS SO GOOD! \o/ It was the first Pratchett book I read -- never looked back :D

[kitewithfish]

IT'S SO DELIGHTFUL! And happily, I have actually read Witches Abroad and Lords and Ladies in the past few years, so I feel like I'm in on the Sooper Sekret Club about the backstory of Agnes and the other stuff going on in Lancre. I'm not much of one for Discworld continuity - the books work find without it - but it was a nice surprise to see how things fit together.

I also had a Phantom Phase in my teens that got recently revived due to a friend doing an amateur version of the musical with friends in a living room - it was AWESOME! A production that really committed to Christine being super freaked out by her awful stalker, instead of that weird, male gaze-y "I Am Fearful But Aroused?" THING that the movie did, it was so refreshing and interesting to see. So, reading this book is kind of like revisiting that production and Pratchett at the same time, and I love both deeply.

[thenewbuzwuzz]

Yasss. I, too, had a Phantom phase. I was into the novel... and the pretty movie. :D Your friend's version sounds great and necessary! ^^

[obstinatecondolement]

Maskerade is great! I love Agnes so much

[kitewithfish]

I adore her so far! I have not finished the book (life got a bit busy), but so far I am really enjoying how she's genre savvy about how there's a role she's expected to play, which is Fat Woman Who's Reliable And Competent But Not A Main Character and she's simply decided to say, um, Thank you, NEXT.

[tropicsbear]

Gargling with salt is always my go-to sore throat remedy. Something about the salt drying up the bacteria?

[kitewithfish]

I do wonder if it's a Ph thing, and the salt is upsetting the bacteria the same way salt is used to manage yeast in bread and fermenting things? Maybe it's pulling moisture from the area and making the tissues less homey for the germs?

The Medical Internet TM had some ideas about how it worked, but since it confirmed that it definitely does help (and gargling with vodka does NOT, christ on a bike, folks, what are you doing to yourselves?), I'm fine with there being *some* mystery.

[tropicsbear]

Hmmm now I'm wondering if drinking salty soup or something similar would also help. I've never tried it myself or at least, never consciously drank/ate salty stuff with the explicit purpose of helping a sore throat heal.

[kitewithfish]

I mean, possibly, but I would be surprised if the therapeutically effective levels of salt would be at all palatable in food. I've been told to aim for a seawater-level of saltiness, actually - roughly a half tablespoon of salt dissolved in 8oz of warm water, and I gargle the glass full slowly over the course of several minutes. It's a bit much, and I usually end up rinsing my mouth out with tapwater after. If food were this salty, I would probably end up seeing it again shortly (ew).