My language skills in Orthodontistish are increasing! Let me share my new knowledge:

English: “These new brackets may take a bit of getting used to.”

Orthodontistish: “You won’t be eating solid food for the next 3 or 4 days, and I hope your whiskey supply is ample.”

I have a borrowed book that is due today. It is a 4 block walk to the library. Downtown Los Angeles is currently experiencing an unusual event: a day completely full of rain. 

Therefore, thusly and ergo: I am making hot chocolate and willfully incurring a late fee.

I have come to the understanding that putting braces on teenagers is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment, since they can’t have bourbon.

On the other hand, I am absolutey fascinated by the physics of this whole teeth moving endeavor.

Here’s the deal: I’ve got this “self-ligating” braces thing going on. (Damon system, if you need specifics.) The basic idea is that there is a bracket attached to each of my teeth. The bracket has a slot — a tube of sorts — through which passes a wire. The U-shape of this wire gently suggests to my teeth which way they should be lined up. The slot in each bracket is rectangular in profile. Up until today, the profile of the wire has been round.

So a round wire in a rectangular slot has a good bit of movement - it allows my teeth to be tugged and moved along x and y axes, but lets them slip and slide freely along that z axis.

A rectangular wire makes the bracket conform to all three axes.

And thus, my friends, there is bourbon. [Well, we’ve drunk all the bourbon and we’re into the scotch now. I may send the mister out for more of one or both.]

The Orthodontist prescribes that I can use Tylenol, but not Motrin or Aspirin, for pain. (The latter apparently inhibit teeth movement, something I do not want to do.) Bourbon is also on The Orthodontist’s list of acceptable pain relief.

Ok, it’s totally not, but it’s not on his unacceptable pain relief list, and it’s ohsoveryeffective.

And thus, I feel the pain of all teenage braces wearers. You should not have to deal with this without systemic pain relief (my new name for whiskey).

Ephemera (singular: ephemeron) : the photo booth strip with pictures of two happy young things (you found it in the parking lot at the bar after the cast and crew screening, put it in your purse, and gave it to your husband when you got home) which you just put into the shredder

I poured a glass of wine, ok, a second glass of wine, and I put on my comfy pants before remembering that I am crew-by-marriage and will have to haul filmmaking gear later tonight. Dammit.

We’ve had wine and cheese, and there’s salmon in the oven.

It’s only Tuesday! This is outstanding!

I think the upstairs neighbors have gotten a pony.

here come those Santa Ana winds again

We have (well, I created for us) a database of restaurants - ones we’ve tried, ones we haven’t, where is good for happy hour, where is good for out-of-town visitors, etc - but where do we actually go, even when we look at it? The same 4 places we always go. Of course.

We moved to this giant spread-out mass of cities within a city, and we spend 80% of our time in about a 4 block radius of home. Please remind me of this when I sigh at those who think that Marquette, Michigan is “the big city”.