It's that time of year when it seems stupid to bathe because five minutes after you towel off you're just going to be sticky with sunscreen, slimy with sweat, and toxic with DEET.
It seems stupid until you skip a day, that is, and you see just how grimy and malodorous and thoroughly demoralized you are. The experiment is a failure, and I am again firmly pro-shower: Go, shower!
The mosquitoes are bad this year. I feel like I'm prepping for a jungle trek every time I step out for a cigarette. I switched to the lemon-eucalyptus stuff, which smells better and feels sort of pleasantly cool on my skin. It works fine, but it smells STRONG, like according to Eric you can smell me from across the house strong. I'm not sure that's any better than the subtler but unabashedly chemical odor of Deep Woods Off.
It doesn't really seem to matter what you do, anyway. They'll still get you somehow. Earlier I took an extra few seconds and made sure I'd covered everything with spray: arms, face, feet, neck. I lit a citronella candle and sat outside smugly for about three minutes, and then the little bastards bit me on my fingertips. I have to salute that sort of drive and determination, but I wish they would focus it elsewhere, like on assisting stranded motorists or tutoring disadvantaged children or something.