a mosquito bit my face

See the large blemish on the right side of my face, below my eye? No, it is not a zit, but rather the work of one of the merciless mutant mosquitoes that inhabit Florence. The nights are freezing; we're getting into the thirties (high thirties, but still on the VERGE of freezing) and the soulless buggers continue to torment. However, talking about the mosquitoes in Florence is a nice ice-breaker conversation topic. Everyone has horror stories, and there is no better way to bond than uniting against a common enemy. At a fancy dinner we had to honor a visiting scholar--NYU is all about putting on the Ritz to impress guests--a professor from the University of Connecticut, Betty something-or-other, and I became fast-friends cursing mosquitoes and swapping advice on how to keep them at bay.

You know, I tried to rely on the power of karma to protect me from the bites of mosquitoes. Though they had done me wrong, I refrained from killing those I saw resting against the wall of my bedroom. I thought, if I don't kill their this creature, maybe the karmic gods will influence the entire species to leave me alone. (I also loathe dealing with mosquito carcasses, and killing them against the wall would lead do blood being spattered on my white wall, and it would probably be blood that came from my very own veins). But my pacifist ways were to no avail. The mosquitoes rebelled against the karmic gods, and have been more vicious since I consciously chose to spare their lives.

So, mosquitoes, we are now mortal foes, and while there may be some off-chance that you could infect me with malaria (which, lo, and behold!, is an ITALIAN word--meaning bad air, you know it was common in swampy areas where the air was well bad, and back then they didn't know it was transmitted by the most despicable life-form on earth) but with modern medicine on my side, that's no biggie; they'll be nothing to save you when I crush your hard exoskeleton against my book. (I'll even tolerate cleaning up the disgusting mess you leave behind...no one will get away with my blood without punishment...that goes for vampires too...okay, that last phrase was silly, but it was in good Halloween spirit!)