Letters to Holly

Monday, November 6

You Can't Handle the Tooth!

I'm scared of dentists. I had bad experiences with my last one, back in high school. He not only used me as a guinea pig for his first application of braces (and thought he could save time by tightening them to get two years' worth of correction in eight months) but he was convicted of selling drugs out of his office a few years later. So I haven't seen a dentist for half my life.

Since then, my wisdom teeth grew in and one of them turned on me this week. The pain was so bad, I couldn't sleep at all Tuesday night; neither ibuprofen nor Anbesol would work. I called Your Sister's dentist this morning to beg for relief, and they indeed squeezed me in for a quick extraction. That's right, it had to go. And I would gladly kiss it bye-bye if it meant I could sleep at night. And I shall, for, lo, the bad tooth, she's a'gone. Tooth extraction feels like someone hooking a coat hanger under your cheekbone and lifting you off the floor. But I was properly numbed, so I was more fascinated than panicked. I got a prescription and took the pill last night. Mix a sleep-inducing painkiller with a guy who was awake for 40 hours and you get a coma. I slept fantastic. The numbness from the gum shots hasn't worn off yet, so I'm doing OK. I got a referral for an oral surgeon to yank my other wisdom teeth, and that scheduling will depend on the success of my audition this weekend. I also will gladly go back to this dentist for my regular teeth duties. They were nice people who helped a poor sap in a crunch.

I have the tooth in a bag next to my bed. It looks quite horrible. But the x-rays showed the rest of my chompers are stylin' and profilin'. I've lived in terror that my teeth have slowly decayed into mashed potatoes, but nope, I've still got years and years of chewing ahead of me. This morning, I feel fine. Well rested and hungry for solid food. There's slight pain between medications but nothing like what I felt Tuesday night.

The NFL
Her Teams
New England (6-2), NY Jets (4-4), Oakland (2-6)
Philly (4-4), Detroit (2-6)
Man, Your Sis is mad at me for rooting for Indianapolis against New England Sunday night.

My Teams
Miami (2-6), Pittsburgh (2-6)
Philly (4-4), Carolina (4-4)
Unless Pittsburgh wins their next 7 games, their season is done. Miami knocked off the previously undefeated Bears (but they're out of it too). Philly, Carolina, and the Jets had the week off.

Picture of the Day
I finished up another mix CD for Your Sis. That's her boy cat on the cover.



In the News
It's a bad week to be Bush. Not only did he swiftly change his tone about Democrats on Wednesday, but the press hammered him on the 180-degree turn. And Bush could only claim he said things in the heat of campaigning. While he refused to agree he was out of touch with voters, his habit of praising an official before firing them became painfully obvious when Rumsfeld was shown the door. Bush claims he held off on the Pentagon change until after the election according to his plan. But some GOP campaign advisers are saying that they could have held the Senate had he done this a month ago. And now Bush says he can get the immigration package he wanted from the Democrats that he couldn't get from hardline Republicans.

It's also fun to hear the talk-show hosts sing a different tune after the election. Even Limbaugh threw the GOP under the bus and claimed he's relieved to not carry their water anymore. No one wants to look like they couldn't see the tide turning to the Democrats after spending the last 6 years calling that party conciliatory cowards. Those contrary voices and bloggers who said a grassroots effort would throw out the GOP now don't seem so cultish and fringe. This may further legitimize the Pajama Media.

Bachelor Weekend

Your Sis drove down to Greenville to visit a college buddy, leaving me to roam the house and neighborhood unsupervised. I finished watching Donnie Darko Friday night. It's an odd movie, one made up of moments that could work as music videos and an ending that doesn't spell out what the film is really up to. I understand that the director's cut explains everything and makes for a less fun film. I don't think I'll see it, but I want the soundtrack very badly. Good acting abounds here.

On Saturday, I finished the director's cut of the Dawn of the Dead remake, and it was a solid horror movie. Easily in my top five. I was impressed with the time taken to let the impact of events seep in, and the end credit sequence my be the best I've ever seen. I've never been a fan of zombie movies. OK, to be precise, Ive never been lured to a movie based solely on the premise that its about zombies. I liked the notion of the first Dawn of the Dead as it sounded clever: survivors hide in a mall and zombies return there out of habit. That's cute. The remake ditches the consumer commentary, and the zombies head to the mall to simply eat the living. Still, it retains enough cleverness to be a fun movie.

I worked on the cover art for a new mix CD for Your Sis and maybe finished up her Star Wars drawing. I'll take another look at it tomorrow. I took advantage of the alone time to eat badly: KFC, Wendy's, and Burger King. But I ran yesterday morning for the first time since the race, and you know, I'm thinking about running in the December 5k. Maybe not. We'll see. I made lasagna Saturday night, and we ate it last night. I thought it turned out a little bland even though I added a chunk of spices. We went through a bottle of Sangiovese (from Biltmore) with the meal. Sleep ensued.

Picture of the Day
I hope this is a joke.


In the News
The elections are tomorrow, and virtually everyone agrees the Democrats will win the House. The question is by how much; some projections suggest a 35-seat swing. They might take the Senate majority, but that's a point of debate. As we learned in 2004, polls mean nothing. The Democrats were projected to win then too. There's no way to spin the election any other way than as a referendum on the administration, specifically the Iraq occupation. And Bush said last week he has no plans to oust Rumsfeld if the Democrats win tomorrow. Democrat representative Nancy Pelosi kept a low profile last weekend so the GOP couldn't use her as a target for their campaigns. She is a top contender for the Speaker position if the Democrats win the majority, and the GOP makes too much hay out of prominent female Democrat candidates. So if the Democrats win as much as some say, who does the GOP blame for it? Bush will already be a lame duck for his last two years. Rumsfeld has Bush's backing (but so did the head of FEMA). The current Speaker of the House will already lose his job if the majority switches. The Big Mean Liberal Media will catch some shit for reporting that Iraq isn't going so well, but the unions aren't really a factor this year unless someone tries to blame the domestic car company losses for scaring voters. Local gas prices here were holding at $2.18 for about three weeks and then shot up seven cents overnight last week. Will that have an effect? If the Democrats win, will this be seen as much as a revolution as when the GOP took Congress in 1994? And will the Democrats likewise screw up their win by trying to pass a heavy handed list of cultural mandates?

Me, I'll just be glad all the damn ads are gone.