Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Tastes Like Burning
I just got back from the dentist. There is something very unpleasant about smelling - and tasting - your own burning flesh. And the right half of my lower face is numb. But lemme explain.
My stupid wisdom teeth - actually, they're pretty good compared to most. They came in straight, but the bottom two never quite finished poking through the gums. I had little flaps of gum covering the back end of the teeth, and that made them hard to clean. Also, little, hard bits of food would sometimes get stuck under the flap, and they would be a bitch to get out. And the gum flaps would get inflamed once in a while. So today, I had the smaller but more irritating of the two flaps removed.
It started promising enough: topical anesthesia. Then we moved onto the dreaded needle. Why did he have to jam it in there so many times? Anyway, that just stung a little bit. Then, it was down to the twisty, curvy sharp things and the cauterizer. Imagine smoke raising out of your mouth and through your nose as little bits of burnt flesh splatter on your tongue. No, it did not taste like beef or chicken. Burning gum smells much like burning hair. And he was gagging me with mirror he was using to hold my tongue out of the way. It was getting very warm in there, and my gut was writhing in my belly.
By then it was over. The dentist asked me how I felt, and I said I was hot and a little nauseous. So he gave me smelling salts - ammonia. Pure, wholesome ammonia. What was he thinking!?! OK, I didn't puke, but it was awful. Next time, if there is a next time, I'll avoid the evil, little ammonia capsule.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
It's Like Poll Crashing, only it Matters.
I've got a new hobby. Four days ago I heard that the AFA (American Family Assn or Abhorrent Fundy Asses, I can never remember which) had waged a letter-writing campaign against Proctor and Gamble for including gays in one of their soap operas. My response was to use the AFA's email mechanism to thank P&G for the positive portrayal of gays in their soap opera. That put me on the AFA mailing list, so now they're keeping me informed of all of their maligned activities. My new hobby: AFA crashing. Every time they campaign to force Bronze Age morality on America, I will oppose them by using their mechanisms to distribute my message to the appropriate parties, and I will spread the word to like-minded individuals. It's like poll crashing, except that when I make my opinion known to my senators or to P&G or whoever else the AFA targets, those opinions could have real effects on their actions.
Last night I read the AFA's latest call to action: they want to protect employers' rights to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has passed in the house and is moving onto the senate. According to the AFA, "The proposed legislation would prohibit employers from taking their deeply held [religious] beliefs into account when making personnel decisions." In the same way that a Jew or Muslim may want to fire or bar employment from eaters of bacon, the AFA wants to ensure employers' rights to discriminate against people for what they do in their private lives. Because (to them) it's icky. And their book says it's bad. In two places.
It is important that our senators get a representative sample of opinions on this legislation. To email/mail your senators, you can follow this AFA link. Enter your zip code and click "Go." It takes you to a page with a form letter addressed to your state's senators. Simply delete the AFA form letter and insert your own message. Here's what I said:
I urge you to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). The personal lives of law-abiding citizens should not be grounds for employment discrimination. A Jew can't fire me for eating pork. A Muslim can't bar me from employment for not wearing a burka. No one should be able to discriminate against a homosexual for loving his or her chosen partner. We're all counting on you to support equality. Support America. Support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Gays have Broken into the Soap Opera Venue
Proctor & Gamble owned As the World Turns now features a gay couple... [brace yourself for this]... KISSING! And the American Family Association* wont stand for it. They have called upon their herd to send P&G disapproving emails. The template email contains the claim that homosexuality is an "unhealthy lifestyle" and accuse P&G of "pushing the radical homosexual agenda." To be fair, portraying a caring, sensitive display of affection between to adult males is pretty radical, so I used AFA's email mechanism to let P&G know just how I feel, and I suggest you do the same.
*The American Family Association is not affiliated with America or families, but they are asses.
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