It's fine if I don't swallow...

No, that's not dirty, get your mind out of the gutter. I have a sore throat. And a cough. And I feel like crap. I'd thought the chills, shakes, and general feel-like-crapiness of yesterday was due to a girly annoyance (it happens sometimes, though this seemed severe with the shaking) but the sore throat started last night and only got worse while I slept. There's definite swelling there.

Swallowing and breathing cause pain. I'm stuffy and coughing. I don't want to go to work but I have to - one of the two or three weeks out of the year that I really can't afford to miss any work. Bah!

And, of course, I'll just make everyone there sick. That's the point of staying home, to not spread illness. Well, that and because you feel like crap.

It's funny, I've been going out of my way to tell people that they do NOT have the flu, and please stop telling people that (there have been three deaths from it 'round these parts, and it tends to panic people when you tell them you have it). Nausea and diarrhea are not the flu. There is no such thing as 'the stomach flu'. Influenza is a respiratory illness! Argh!

So what do I have? A respiratory illness. It's the universe's way of punishing me.

(it's still not the flu, though, I don't have a fever or anything - just a head cold with delusions of grandeur)

Make me feel better by guessing at round one of Snerfflebarglast!. All the clues are there, really, and one person has the right answer, so it's not impossible! (There's also a dead-easy way to get the answer, I can't believe no one has done it yet...)

Late, but here they are!

(I'll update the icon once I get home - and since round one is being tricky, I thought I'd throw the clue thing out there now!)

I realize that I didn't post any rules guidelines for Snerfflebarglast this time around, I'm sorry about that. Here's what you need to know:

* 11 rounds (because everything good goes up to 11!)
* Each round is worth 20 points
* New rounds posted Monday and Thursday, unless I forget or am too lazy
* This time the answers will no be posted until the end of Snerffle, so you can go back and guess at any round at any time
* You may ask for clues, but they will reduce the total number of points you can earn for that round
* You don't have to be 'right' to get points
* Bonus points are awarded whenever I feel like it, but you might want to keep a record yourself because I'm flakey like that (I do require proof - a copy of an e-mail or link to a post - for credit)
* Eventually I'll put up a scoreboard so you can see if you need to go back and make some wild guesses or attempt to bribe me for bonus points

A common question is cheating. There is no such thing, do whatever you have to in order to win. Another common question is collaboration. Yes, it's allowed, but at your own risk. If you request clues and share them, I don't know the other person go the clue and will award them full points for a correct answer. And there's only one winner to Snerfflebarglast. If you honestly think you can trust someone, then by all means, agree to switch off on requesting clues. But there is only one winner. Points will be deducted for 'but they swore they were going to share!' whining.