March 14th, 2002. Thursday

 
   

   The weather today couldn't be much more different from yesterday. Yesterday was unpleasant. After leaving work, I walked the half mile or so north to 12 st. for my long-overdue dentist's appointment. I was a bit scared when I saw a bunch of diplomas on the wall from dental and medical schools in the Phillipines. I thought it looked awfully sketchy. The office itself was very small and had only two exam rooms, though I suppose it was nicely put together. It just looked like it was supposed to be an apartment. It was in a very nice apartment building actually, just off to the side a little. Anyway, I saw there staring at the many different diplomas and citations. There was one from NYU from 1981, which made me feel better. The one from the Phillipines was dated 1999 though, which made me worry. Anyway, the dentist came in, and it was this perky little Filipino woman. She had a mask on so I couldn't see her face, but I'd guess she was in her mid to late 40s. She greeted me by punching me on the arm, and was very outgoing and friendly the whole time. Very enthusiastic about teeth and dental care. While she was cleaning, I was watching the reflection of my mouth in her glasses, waiting for the deluge of blood. Surprisingly, there was only one spot that gave me any trouble. I was a bit put off when she handed me a mirror and forced me to look at the trouble spot. I really don't care what's going on in there, as long as its being taken care of. I really don't need to see it. I was evening thinking of closing my eyes when it came time to spit and rinse, and here she was making me look at it. Though it wasn't nearly as horrifying as the last time I was at the dentist, when I needed 4 root canals, and after the first- which ended up be a rare double-root situation- the dentist was like "Wanna see?" and before I even answered was dangling the extracted root two inches from my eyeball. Anyway, it was a fairly easy trip. Which makes me think maybe she didn't do such a great job. But she seemed to know what she was talking about. She knew which teeth I'd had pulled and everything. Before she started, she asked me if I was born in the US, because I had no accent. When I said yes, she said that probably meant I had "perfect American teeth." So she exclaimed "See, I predicted the future!" when I opened my mouth and she could see evidence of all sorts of orthodontic work. I felt almost like a fraud, like I'd had hair implants or colgen lip injections or something. Anyway, it went all right, and I'll probably go back soon to fix my chipped front tooth. I still have no idea how the chipping happened. Which leads me to my standard explanation: Aliens.

   So after that, I wandered around for a while. I called Caryn, and she told me that her intern, a British dame named Bianca, works at the Espresso Bar on Christopher st. We'd met a few Fridays ago and gotten along reasonably well, so Caryn told me to stop by and see her. On the way, Caryn told me that the Espresso Bar was sort of a gay hotspot. This I didn't know. But that ended up being no much a deterrent. But it did lead to me say all sorts of things to Caryn when I couldn't find the place, like "Oh, did you mean that place with all the asses in the window?" Anyway, after walking around in the annoying drizzle I finally found the place. And as I was told, it was indeed a pretty gay afair. I mean "pretty" in the quantifying way, not the beauty way. Bianca was the only one working behind the counter, so I found her pretty easily. I don't like visiting people when they work, particularly in bars or coffee shops, because it's hard to talk to them. I fell weird, like i'm entering a world I shouldn't be in. This was of course magnified by the many gay men surrounding me. But it was sort of slow, and we spoke for a while. She gave me a coffee and my choice of pastry for free. I tipped her a couple bucks in exchange. And the chocolate pecan bar was delicious. I found it funny that the guy next to me was smoking Marlboro Light 100's. The ulitmate girl's cigarette (save for anything slim). Caryn calls the "the sorrority girl cig," which does seem to fit. Anyway, then I went to work, where i was forced to log the commercials for like the bajillionth time in a row.

   Today, the weather is marvelous. It's in the 60's, the sun is out, and everything looks grand. I sat with James for a while watching these totally inept grade schoolers try to play softball. Other than that, I've been sitting at my desk, watching basketball updates on ESPN.com. After three games completed, my bracket is at 0-3. One is due to some sort of computer error, because I KNOW went and picked Kent St. to beat Oklahoma State. Wankers. I'm finding it tough to get too enthusiastice about it, since I only have ten dollars bet on the whole tournamnet. Gambling just makes everything that much more interesting, doesn't it?

   So tomorrow is the Ideas of March. I guess I might worry, being the worrier that I am, but I'm neither Roman nor ambitious. Of course, there are probably all sorts of metaphors lessons and whatnot in there that, had been paying attention, might make me worry.
 
 
 

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