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Years ago, when I was both a younger man and a single man, two events that happened, for the most part, concurrently, I would write while the television was on in the background. This was during a period of my life in which I produced many more words on a page than I do now. Then again, most periods of my life have produced more words on a page than I do now, so that’s not too out of the ordinary. I’ve lost some of my tolerance for having my thought processes broken up by someone speaking while trying to compose words on paper, but I still can from time to time. Music, on the other hand, tends to be a good way to quiet that part of my brain that regularly seeks out input, allowing me to focus more of my mind on producing output.

I only mention this because I’m currently playing a movie in the background. Igby Goes Down. I’ve seen it before, so it’s not overly distracting and it works well to get some practice doing said again. It’s an amusing movie nonetheless, although it may not be to your liking.

Yesterday was a day of ups and downs. Many days tend to be that way, I suppose. Upside was that the police certificate for D’s visa came in the mail which leaves us only with the affidavit of support to complete. For this I await the IRS. Fool that I can be sometimes, because I knew that I never made enough money to owe taxes in the U.S., I didn’t bother to file for the past seven years. The problem here is that even if you don’t owe him anything, Uncle Sam still likes to know what you do just in case you might be trying to pull a fast one on him. I promise you, Uncle Sam, that that is the furthest thing from my mind. I’m just really bad about not procrastinating.

Huh. Amazing the things you notice with the spectacles of time. Lane Pryce of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce was a performance artist in Igby. Very different character, though.

One of the downs of yesterday was a trip to the dentist. The original reason I went was actually nothing major–some teeth were suddenly cold sensitive, a condition that got better with a softer toothbrush and sensitive teeth friendly toothpaste. Subsequent to that, I noticed one of the next teeth down had a minor twinge of pressure pain, so I kept the appointment. The dentist honed in on that tooth pretty quickly. Turns out a filling had been leaking for a while and had created a cavern of decay beneath it. Because the decay was so monumental, the dentist determined that I’d either need to have a root canal or have the tooth removed entirely. The cost difference is substantial, so I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing, especially in light of us moving soon. Then again, I’ll always need money and I can pay for the more expensive procedure now, so it may be better to go that route.

We went to dinner afterwards, to a Mexican fusion restaurant in St. Kilda called Blue Corn. My left side of my mouth was numb from the anesthetic until after we’d had our drink order, over three hours after I’d had the shot. I figured out how to drink beer from the bottle until my mouth normalized. The food was very good and I’d go back to try another dish should we be down that way before we leave for northern hemispheres. Otherwise, I’ll just have the semi-authentic Mexican food of the Arizona desert when we get there.

Ah, the Arizona desert, home of the chimichanga. I do like a good chimichanga.