Friday, April 17, 2009
On the Move...
My teeth are so much straighter than the last time I posted... I really need to update this blog. But alas! The batteries in my camera are dead from taking so many pictures of... MY NEW HOUSE! I've been working on my house blog so much that I have been neglecting this blog. And my teeth. I haven't been brushing between meals like I should because with the move, my schedule has become so crazy! :( But my house is beautiful, so that's good!
Monday, December 22, 2008
A Comic...
A comic I drew last quarter when I was taking MAT 220, Intermediate Statistics, the most satanic course ever devised and mortal enemy of psych majors everywhere...
Yes, my professor actually talked like that. He was hilarious. The only thing that made that class remotely tolerable was his strange sense of humor. I really thought that class was going to kill me. It felt like my GPA was being held hostage. Cuffed to a chair with a gun in its face. But somehow I pulled through!
So, why the random comic? I was inspired by Tessa's Braces, one seriously fantabulous blog that I've been following. I never knew drawing comics was so much fun! And while my cartooning skills in no way compare to those of the lovely and talented Tessa... making comics is WAY therapeutic. And it looks like this little break from studying was just what I needed, cuz... I passed the class! My GPA survived. As a matter of fact, I made deans list!
All that time I spent chillaxing in front of my mac, sifting through strip after strip of Tessa's Braces, must have done my psyche some good.
Yes, my professor actually talked like that. He was hilarious. The only thing that made that class remotely tolerable was his strange sense of humor. I really thought that class was going to kill me. It felt like my GPA was being held hostage. Cuffed to a chair with a gun in its face. But somehow I pulled through!So, why the random comic? I was inspired by Tessa's Braces, one seriously fantabulous blog that I've been following. I never knew drawing comics was so much fun! And while my cartooning skills in no way compare to those of the lovely and talented Tessa... making comics is WAY therapeutic. And it looks like this little break from studying was just what I needed, cuz... I passed the class! My GPA survived. As a matter of fact, I made deans list!
All that time I spent chillaxing in front of my mac, sifting through strip after strip of Tessa's Braces, must have done my psyche some good.
My Treatment to Date
August/September 2008 : Pink
October 2008: Purple
November 2008: Silver
As you can see, things are progressing nicely. I added an elastic in November. That (green-arrowed) gap in between my canine and my gums appears to be totally normal. I forgot to ask about it at my last appointment, but because my ortho didn't mention it, I assume it's no big deal at all. Also, it doesn't hurt. My gums may not hurt but my teeth sure do, because my last appointment was Friday, the 19th. My ortho took pictures of my canine, which I guess is a good sign. He said that it was was moving a lot, but that it had a long way to go. I forgot to ask if I was supposed to keep my rubber band in, but I guess that's what "it has a long way to go" means, but he didn't specifically say, and I forgot to ask. Oh well! It's the holidays, everyone is in a flustered rush!
October 2008: Purple
November 2008: Silver
Speaking of flustered, I've been too busy/lazy to take and upload good pictures. Plus my teeth still hurt so I don't feel like smiling. But I am done with laced wires and powerchains for a while. But I do have a spring now, over my upper left (un-bracketed) bicuspid, so that my canine will get out of the way enough for my ortho to squeeze in a bracket. It might shift my midline more to the right, but it might not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
TOP 10 reasons why NOT to let your boyfriend pack your lunch...
10. You'll end up with a teaspoon of hummus and 10,000 tortilla chips- totally disproportionate!
9. He'll forget you're allergic to pineapple. (Hasn't happened yet but I'm just waiting!)
8. He'll forget to cut your sandwich in half.
7. He won't give you enough mayonnaise.
6. He won't snap the lid on your lunch box all the way and you'll get gooey lunchiness all over your backpack.
5. He'll leave a silly note on your napkin that says "Blah blah blah I love you, Piebaby" and you won't notice so you'll be walking around for the rest of the day with ink on your face.
4. He'll give you pumpkin pie and forget the fork.
3. Just kidding he never forgets the fork.
2. Actually he always gives me enough mayonnaise, too.
1. Okay, so he makes the best lunch a girl could ever ask for... The real reason for this post:
Isn't he adorable? I'm so lucky! Seriously, whose boyfriend wakes up while it's still dark to prepare them such a beautiful bento? I win.
9. He'll forget you're allergic to pineapple. (Hasn't happened yet but I'm just waiting!)
8. He'll forget to cut your sandwich in half.
7. He won't give you enough mayonnaise.
6. He won't snap the lid on your lunch box all the way and you'll get gooey lunchiness all over your backpack.
5. He'll leave a silly note on your napkin that says "Blah blah blah I love you, Piebaby" and you won't notice so you'll be walking around for the rest of the day with ink on your face.
4. He'll give you pumpkin pie and forget the fork.
3. Just kidding he never forgets the fork.
2. Actually he always gives me enough mayonnaise, too.
1. Okay, so he makes the best lunch a girl could ever ask for... The real reason for this post:
Isn't he adorable? I'm so lucky! Seriously, whose boyfriend wakes up while it's still dark to prepare them such a beautiful bento? I win.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
The Morning After... My First Adjustment!
I hurt beyond hurt. I haven't eaten anything since dinner last night. But all will be well! Worst case scenario I lose a few pounds. And that wouldn't be bad at ALL.
First adjustment and ALREADY a POWERCHAIN!
I've got "stops" on both molars to keep them from moving forward too much, and HUGE, super tight suspension cable cross ties on both my lower canines. and cheese and crackers do they hurt!
On my upper right (scary vampire) canine, I've got a purple power chain hooked to my second premolar, tugging the canine back. More cross-tie wires underneath, uber ouchie. The upper left canine doesn't hurt at all today, but all he has on him are a couple of wires.
And I've got a crazy crooked archwire underneath my vampire fang it looks like \___/ so that my canine won't hit the wire and stop moving (like it did last month). I'm so excited to see what happens this month.
Especially because my o-ties (and powerchain) are the most glorious purple ever. I feel sexy!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Weston State Hospital
I was reading up on Weston State Hospital, because I'd like to visit the building this fall. I've only been to see it once, when it was apparently closed for renovations in March, 2008. Since, so much has happened there. There was an episode of ghost hunters filmed there very close to the time that I visited. It has since been (re)named The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, and has a fancy scary website promoting "haunted tours" after dark. Apparently there is a ton of controversy over the name, the tours, the use of the grounds and the building's fate in general.
I think that that is absurd, not simply because I wish to take advantage of the tours offered, (the day-light heritage tour, to be specific,) but because if the building hadn't been purchased, who knows what might have become of it?! I, better than most people my age, know the complications of the movement Kennedy termed "deinstitutionalization". I have done so much research on the history of Kirkbride hospitals, and many, in fact, began as "lunatic asylums" and "asylums for the insane". Though there is a serious stigma attached to such words today, "lunatic" and "insane" were considered appropriate terms in the days leading up to the American Civil War. The appropriate terminology and acceptable vernacular then, of course, were primitive in comparison to the terms we use today, such as "mentally ill" and "psychiatric hospital".
I can understand that the name and present use of the building may be offensive to the survivors of deinstitutionalization: former state hospital residents, their families- even employees- considering Appalachian individuals seem to, in general, have a good understanding of and compassion for the mentally ill. However, I cannot see a better use for the building.
The tours and "sensationalism" of a "haunted hospital" must generate an immense amount of income, much of which must be put toward the upkeep and restoration of the building. Not to mention, the fact that the building is now a privately-owned property listed on the national register of historic places, the yearly property taxes alone must be small fortune. But it isn't about the money. It's about what the money does.
The building is one of the largest hand-cut stone buildings ever constructed. The history of the expert craftsmen who constructed it, the employees who lived and worked there, and the patients that lived their lives inside its walls- all of that is housed there. Why not make it a monument? Why not preserve it the only way that an impoverished economy could? By way of tourism.
There are so many things wrong with West Virginia right now. Strip-mining and mountaintop removal and the corrupt politicians that are in bed with the big companies that fund such evils are parasitic and detrimental to West Virginia's natural resources, natural history and environment. Widespread poverty plagues its rural population and urban population alike. There are not enough jobs, there is not enough money, and funds for public works seem to be very low. West Virginia's economy is largely dependent on tourism. Camping, whitewater-rafting, and other outdoor sports lure vacationers from all over the world to come and see what's so Wild and Wonderful. Mining museums also draw the crowds. But one enormous piece of history has gone unnoticed until recently: Weston State Hospital. It brings in cash for the community as well as its own preservation.
Coming from a city whose "Lunatic Asylum of Southwestern Ohio" stood abandoned (for over a decade?) before being purchased an renovated into a hideous retirement home stripped of all its history, I feel qualified to say that the Jordan family could have done a lot worse with Weston State Hospital. A lot worse.
I think that that is absurd, not simply because I wish to take advantage of the tours offered, (the day-light heritage tour, to be specific,) but because if the building hadn't been purchased, who knows what might have become of it?! I, better than most people my age, know the complications of the movement Kennedy termed "deinstitutionalization". I have done so much research on the history of Kirkbride hospitals, and many, in fact, began as "lunatic asylums" and "asylums for the insane". Though there is a serious stigma attached to such words today, "lunatic" and "insane" were considered appropriate terms in the days leading up to the American Civil War. The appropriate terminology and acceptable vernacular then, of course, were primitive in comparison to the terms we use today, such as "mentally ill" and "psychiatric hospital".
I can understand that the name and present use of the building may be offensive to the survivors of deinstitutionalization: former state hospital residents, their families- even employees- considering Appalachian individuals seem to, in general, have a good understanding of and compassion for the mentally ill. However, I cannot see a better use for the building.
The tours and "sensationalism" of a "haunted hospital" must generate an immense amount of income, much of which must be put toward the upkeep and restoration of the building. Not to mention, the fact that the building is now a privately-owned property listed on the national register of historic places, the yearly property taxes alone must be small fortune. But it isn't about the money. It's about what the money does.
The building is one of the largest hand-cut stone buildings ever constructed. The history of the expert craftsmen who constructed it, the employees who lived and worked there, and the patients that lived their lives inside its walls- all of that is housed there. Why not make it a monument? Why not preserve it the only way that an impoverished economy could? By way of tourism.
There are so many things wrong with West Virginia right now. Strip-mining and mountaintop removal and the corrupt politicians that are in bed with the big companies that fund such evils are parasitic and detrimental to West Virginia's natural resources, natural history and environment. Widespread poverty plagues its rural population and urban population alike. There are not enough jobs, there is not enough money, and funds for public works seem to be very low. West Virginia's economy is largely dependent on tourism. Camping, whitewater-rafting, and other outdoor sports lure vacationers from all over the world to come and see what's so Wild and Wonderful. Mining museums also draw the crowds. But one enormous piece of history has gone unnoticed until recently: Weston State Hospital. It brings in cash for the community as well as its own preservation.
Coming from a city whose "Lunatic Asylum of Southwestern Ohio" stood abandoned (for over a decade?) before being purchased an renovated into a hideous retirement home stripped of all its history, I feel qualified to say that the Jordan family could have done a lot worse with Weston State Hospital. A lot worse.
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