Ex Bibliotheca

The life and times of Zack Weinberg.

Wednesday, 20 February 2002

# 10:30 PM

the marvels of modern science

I had to go to the dentist today to get a cavity filled. Most people, including me, expect this to be a lengthy and painful procedure which leaves you unable to talk properly for several hours. Not so: it was a 20-minute, nearly painless visit. Apparently the latest thing in dentistry is vaporizing decayed tooth with a laser instead of drilling it out. This is faster, more reliable, and less invasive. Oh, and far less painful, to the point where it isn't necessary to get shot up with local anaesthetic (hence no numb puffy jaw for the rest of the day.) After the dentist got done with the laser, he filled the hole with some sort of epoxy and set it with a small ultraviolet lamp; again, faster and less painful than the old mercury amalgam (and no risk of chronic mercury poisoning, either).

I really like this guy. If you're in Berkeley or Oakland and need a good dentist, check him out; he's got a somewhat silly-looking website with contact info.

too many records redux

Another month, another trip to Amoeba—the one on Telegraph Avenue, this time. Sadly, they did not have any Luther Wright and the Wrongs albums. I bought:

The Razor's Edge (AC/DC)
Change (The Alarm)
Raw (The Alarm)
Lucky Town (Bruce Springsteen)
Drivin N Cryin (Drivin N Cryin)
The Black Album (Metallica)
Factory Showroom (They Might Be Giants)
Let's Face It (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones)
What Up, Dog? (Was (not Was))

You will note that I bought a real AC/DC album this time.

Factory Showroom contains the wonderfully disturbing tracks Spiralling Shape and The Bells Are Ringing. It's worth buying just for those two (the rest is also good, or the part I've listened to, anyway).

Aside: Why on earth is <U> a deprecated HTML tag when <I> and <B> aren't?!

shyness

prosewitch complains about being shy and feeling guilty about being shy, etc. etc. and I read the whole thing thinking "gee, is she secretly me?" because I have all the same problems (except for the talking to professors bit). For instance, here I am feeling like I'd like some company and to get away from work; and I know I could pick up the phone and call any of several people, and hang out; but I probably won't, because that would be, y'know, extroverted.

Bunny-puppy, yes, I know.

# 4:30 AM

Wrote some more Shadowrun spells: static and dynamic magnetic fields, more sleep magic, and more Oliver Sacks-inspired illusions.