In other news:

I had some trouble getting a bus home from the ballpark, so it was close to 11:30 PM by the time I finally got on a #43 bus to head home.

At a stop on Capitol Hill, a guy walked on the bus, paid his fare, and then proceeded to load his considerable belongings onto the bus:

1. one new toilet bowl, boxed


2. a matching tank, also boxed


3. the plumbing and hardware for both pieces, in a third box


4. a backpack


5. a skateboard

So....many....questions.....

Hey bubblesutonium, we need to remember this one:



( Click here for more useful baby advice. )

I have recently come into possession of about 25 of these things. Be nice to me or I will post more of them.

Dentists and I don't get along these days.

Half of them take one look at my dental X-rays and immediately want to schedule major, expensive, dangerous oral surgery to remove my wisdom teeth. (All four are impacted, deep within my gums. The lower two are lying sideways along my jaw line, right next to a major nerve.) When I tell them that they've never bothered me, I hear "but they could decay" and "you could have an infection" and "better to get them out now" and my favorite, "I know you've heard some horror stories, but I've never had a problem removing impacted wisdom teeth."

Sorry, guys. My New Year's resolution last year was No Major Elective Surgery.

The ones I stay with are the ones who don't try to give me the hard sell. But even they have their issues. One had a dental hygenist who forced me to watch videos on "Gum Disease And You" and "Why You Don't Floss Enough" while I was leaning back in a dental chair with stuff in my mouth, and couldn't object. My last dentist decided that they should perform a standard dental cleaning with one of those gizmos that forces your mouth to stay wide open. It was misfitted and uncomfortable, and I'm very claustrophobic. After about 10 minutes of being forced to lean back in a dental chair with this thing in my mouth, I finally reared up out of the chair, startling the dentist and hygienist and knocking a trayful of dental instruments to the floor.

I haven't been back to a dentist in about two years.

I finally worked up the courage to try again. With vast reluctance, I made an appointment with a dentist downtown for mid January.

This morning I read a story floating around the Internet about a Mount Holyoke girl, bulimic, who'd apparently found a unique DIY solution to the fact that she had one overlong tooth. She claims she took a cardboard nail file and hand-filed the tooth down to the size she wanted. "It didn't hurt," she said. "I don't have any enamel on my teeth anyway."

Suddenly, I felt the need to brush my teeth. And floss. And re-confirm that dental appointment.

ETA: Several folks are chiming in with dentist suggestions. Thanks!

Here's the thing: I will take any, repeat any, excuse not to make dental appointments.

"Well, I'd have to cross the bridge, 520 traffic sucks" works really well as an excuse. I've used it many, many times.

So: Eastside dental practices are a bad idea for me. Sorry.

Yes, I know, XKCD already covered this. And I don't often like to point at and mock my fellow humans. Still:

How is it possible that there is an online argument in YouTube comments about whether a transforming, gravity-defying Boeing 747-400 is real or fake?!

What kills me is that these people probably vote.

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't been posting much lately.

Fine. Here.

( And don't say I didn't warn you. )

E-mail in my inbox tonight, emphasis added by me:

Dear UW Student,

Welcome to the University of Washington!

Every year, UW President Mark Emmert gets to talk with the University
community. During the President's Annual Address, he reflects on the
events of the past year and looks ahead to the future. All faculty, staff,
and students are invited and encouraged to attend the address on [date]
at 3:30 p.m. in Kane Hall. The event will be followed by a reception in
the Walker Ames Room.

I hope you will be able to join your fellow UW community members for this
annual conversation about the values and direction of the University.

[name]
Vice Provost for Student Life

There are roughly 40,000 students and 27,000 faculty and staff at UW right now. Kane Hall, if you took over every room in the place, holds a bit over 2000 people.

They better hope for a lot of no-shows.