Argh. I would rather let all my teeth rot and fall out than ever go back to the dentist. Ever. I got up at 5:30 this morning and got on a 6:30 am train so that I could go to the dentist before work. Little did I know I was in for an hour and a half of pure hell. I had to get three fillings, and he did them all at once. Maybe he was in a hurry because he somehow messed up the last filling and there was some band stuck in the tooth. He kept grabbing it with these pliers and yanking it, but it wouldn't budge, and the pliers would clank on my teeth and then he'd try again, meanwhile my jaws had been strained all the way open for an hour and were starting to spasm, and mucus and blood and gross was puddling at the back of my throat tickling that gag reflex, and then the novocaine started to wear off, so that I could feel each grind of the drill. Oh gad, was that terrible.

And now I'm sitting in the office all flabby-mouthed and flappy-jawed, jawing away on my keyboard. I also got a referral to the orthodontist so that perhaps, but only if I'm lucky, I can get braces to straighten my front teeth. Oh boy! Ali, we can be braces friends!

Yep, today's gonna be a goodun'

Tied in knots all the things he had inside him
lost the notes his friend had laid beside him
fried the eggs his hen had shot above him
drove the pegs the man told him to do it

V-whoa, just juiced my nugget three-way s 'round Sunday told my hare we was going, but that said nothin' about nobody 'cuz when he come walkin' round ain't nothin but nobody gonna give him right out somethin'

three ways 'till tuesday

ain't it all just so absurd? i mean pretty much everything. sometimes it's this way, then it's that. forever doesn't actually exist but nothing is real as day? wha? trinkets and pectins and oxides and gelatin, fragmentation is the name of the game and the game is the 21st century... it's tearing us apart and nobody cares and nobody knows.

BUT BEWARE!

Crime scenes are dirty and mimosas taste like champagne and orange juice, but never trust a Belgian and don't forget where your eyes wander when you're not paying attention. things are weird and things are strange but nothing is as weird as...

FORESKIN

hello?

hello? is there anyone here? dear friends, are you still out there in cyberspace? when i click on my friends page to see your latest entries it comes up blank. i'm worried that all is lost!

well, if you're reading this, i'm just trying to make contact. are any of you friends going to be in vermont for the summer? ashley, congrats on graduation! ali, when are you coming to dc? what's up maddy? ann? femme? how are all y'all?

i'm pretty well myself. just got a new job working at a law firm and i'm starting to think seriously about law school - environmental law of course. otherwise, i'm getting ready for a hot summer, and i'll probably be spending lots of time with stephanie newman who just moved in two blocks down the street.

i think we should all get together this summer for a little re-onion. what do you think?

hello?

Check it and love it.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk

It seems as though I've reached my limit for consecutive days doing absolutely nothing. Although restful at first, eventually it becomes tedious and terribly boring. I've played 3 games of Scrabble with my Mom in 3 days, spent countless hours wasting time on the Internet, and eaten probably 5 pounds of ham.

Is there anybody out there? Rescue me from tedium.

Isn't there enough monotony and bore in real life not to have to dream about filling out tax forms and sitting in waiting rooms. I'm pretty sure the majority of my first dream cycle last night was taken up by a wonderfully mundane activity. It doesn't matter that I can't remember exactly what it was; what matters is the lack of fulfillment that I expect out of my dreams.

The rest of the night, however, was pretty exciting. I was part of a team that was pitted against a multi-millionaire and we had to find a way to breach his elaborate island defense system (he, of course, owned a small island fortress in the south pacific). We avoided leeches and stingrays and drowning and swam through tunnels and fought sharks. Until finally we emerged out of a drain pipe into the middle of his courtyard, and won the million dollar prize. It was intense.

Seasons greetings, all!

It was one of those days when everything feels out of your control. Woke up 30 mins too late to stop the $100 parking ticket, got stuck in traffic, was late for work, didn't shower or eat breakfast, tired all day. One of those days when all you want to do is sit in a rocking chair on the front porch and belt out the blues. But instead I had to collate binders and listen to conference calls. Blah.

On a better note, I'm getting settled in to my new digs here in DC. Not exactly Charm City, but there's some character to be found. I moved in to one of these "up-and-coming" neighborhoods that seems to be a mixture of black families and "young professionals" aka yuppie hipsters. Our house is right off of Georgia Avenue, just a few block from Howard University and right on the edge of gentrification. I get lots of stares and glares from the brothers and sisters in the neighborhood, but maybe that's just me being hypersensitive.

Anyway, to my questions. I have two questions regarding social etiquette in specific situations. On several occasions recently I have encountered blind people in the metro and on the sidewalk. This always makes me slightly uncomfortable as I'm not sure if there are some unspoken rules here, like do you tell them you're there, or do you help them if they look like they're having trouble, or do you just assume they know you're there. I just don't know. I'm hoping someone can help me out here.

The other questions concerns waiting for the bus. Since I don't have a car I've been taking public transportation everywhere. Now, when I'm waiting for a particular bus and another bus comes along, how do I indicate I'm waiting for another bus? Tonight the bus driver pulled over thinking I was getting ready to board, so I kind of wagged my finger NO and he drove away. But the wagging of the finger was quite awkward and the driver gave me a look, so I need to find a better way. I considered the thumbs up/ thumbs down approach, or the sliding the finger across the neck, or turning my back. In Brazil it was simple, the bus wouldn't stop unless you flagged it down. But there everyone rode buses, so there had to be some sort of established system. Is there established bus stop etiquette for this situation, please help!

I just spent a frustrating hour trying to get a DVD to play on this ancient (gasp: 7 year-old) laptop Annette (my BOSS) lent me. Apparently the display driver has been discontinued by ATI, and so have the updates. Blah blah blah.

So now I've decided to go to sleep, but then got lost in facebook's dangerous catacombs of pure voyeuristic pleasure (although apparently there are privacy settings now?). Confirmed that Nick and Bayley are engaged, something I heard from Stephanie Newman tonight. Also that Hayley Moser is engaged, and someone else who I've forgotten.

ANYHOO, to bed. And may tomorrow be the day of total recall.

I vividly recalled the events of last night's dreams when I awoke this morning. Unfortunately I fell asleep again and woke up later having forgotten most of what I had earlier remembered. This afternoon all that is left is a vague image of hiding behind some trees on the bank of a river, and then floating downriver on a raft made of wood planks tied together. I do remember this being important to a long adventure that took place in my dream state and I think was surprisingly coherent, until I woke up and then fell asleep and forgot it all. I wonder if there's anything I can do to improve my dream memory recall?

As hard as I try I cannot remember what I dreamt about last night. The only fragment that came back was when I reached for my razor this morning in the bathroom. I remember in a dream having picked up a Mach 3 razor and trying to shave, but realizing that the blade was broken in half, exposing a jagged edge that wasn't good for shaving.

In non-dream related events, I saw Stephanie Newman last night. We had dinner, hung out, and her roommate asked me to watch their cat and stay in their apartment over T-giving weekend. I said yes. Oh, and I'll be going to Bethesda for Thanksgiving meal with Nora, Chris and the eclectic gang. Gotta go, off to Charlottesville for the day.