On Christmas Day 2013, my usually clear head began to fog up. No, it wasn't writer's block, nor was I in a Tesla showroom (although I would happily fog up for Tesla Motors any day!).

It was the beginning of a tenacious demon of a sinus headache and cough. The fact that it's flu season, and that we're having a whooping cough epidemic here in California, immediately registered, but was instantly overridden by a determination to cure my body my way—i.e., naturally, without antibiotics.

Because last year, I ended up taking them.