Daddy needs a new set of teeth.

WARNING: Subject matter may be too much for the squeamish!



Over the 31 years of my life, I have endured many a hardship when it comes to my teeth. I cannot or will not put the blame on anyone or anything except fate because there are too many factors to why I have horribly rotting teeth to narrow it to just one culprit. I have had 7 teeth extracted (yanked out of my head) in the past 10 years and a majority of the rest of them are sharp crags, jutting from sore and sensitive gums. My mouth is a veritable graveyard with numerous stories of pain, circumstance and battles that individual teeth have lost when faced with a difficult job (crisp dill pickle, apple slice, crusty baguette, berry seeds, et al.).

For some reason I feel like I should chronicle my mouth developments on this here blog. There will be some major changes in the coming months. You may find it interesting and/or disgusting. You may feel ill or angry. Whatever you feel don't feel sorry for me because very soon thanks to a recent infection and some pretty good dental insurance I will be getting an immediate upper denture. Yes, I said denture. I am not 70 or a meth smoker. Just ready for some new teeth.


The picture above is of my face when I had that nasty recent infection. It turns out I had an infection in two teeth this time not just one like all the other times. Pretty, Huh?

More to come....

Active Shooter! Ahhhh Shoot!

So yeah, I was in Psych class and there was some beeping in the hallway that nobody really paid any attention to. Turns out that means Active Shooter on campus. Anyway, we turned off the lights and locked the door and sat against a wall for like half an hour. Most people were giggling and suspecting each other. It was all rather ridiculous. I was the only one with a laptop and I kept checking the PCC website for news but they didn't post anything until like ten minutes before they let us out of lockdown. I guess (from all the second and third hand reports of the "cell reporters" in the class) there was a suicidal person in the building next to us threatening their life and the lives of anyone who stopped them. Fun.

The Story of Stuff

I think everyone should see this. It puts everything into perspective. If you know a little about the subject or a lot it is still a great way to see The Story of Stuff.

Social Impediment Complications

Lately I have realized as I get older I tend to shorten my salutations to passerbys and/or neighbors. The innocent wish of "Good Morning" has become "Mornin'", "Good Afternoon" becomes "Afternoon" and so on. Then there is the head nod. In a culture that thinks it is rude to look at other people needs an escape route. Enter the Nod. It can mean "Hey, what's up?", "I acknowledge your presence as we walk past each other in silence" or the most common "I was just staring at you and you looked at me too so now without having a conversation or any more awkward ogling we should both agree to an exit plan to get out of this contract we just initiated with our eyes".
I think I might have to get more creative and do a little jig as I go by or just hand out info cards telling all the basics about myself before any other inital contact. Wouldn't things be interesting if we were all blind and had to grope our way through greetings? What if we met like dogs? We could all just tattoo our names on our palms and just wave our introductions. That might cut down on handshake transmitted disease.

Another reason I should have gone to college a long time ago.

This post is dedicated to all my teachers in high school who thought I was just a lazy, dumb stoner. 1. My eyes were red because of seasonal allergies. 2. I did not get good grades in your class because you did not motivate me to care about your class. I may have found the material interesting, Mr. Dickson, but I did not respect you enough to show you my work. 3. I have a 4.0 in college now. Pthththththththtiiit!!! Nyah Nyah! Suck it.

Out damn carbon, out!

See what we're doing to the oceans here.
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/pubs/PDF/feel2899/feel2899.pdf

Read about the science of it all here.
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/

Another Diatribe.

I have been doing a lot of research for a paper in my Biology class on atmospheric carbon dioxide and it has been a big eye opener. I knew there were many scientists talking about the impending doom of global warming and climate change due to CO2 levels but I had no idea about some of the sources for these high levels. Part of the assignment was to write an op-ed piece for the Oregonian (our local newspaper) and when I was done I sent it to them even though I didn't have to because I felt like I had something to say to other people.
Some of you who know me may just think this is one of those things that Scott gets excited about because he just learned about it and his passion will fade. (i.e. when MySpace was bought by Rupert Murdoch) I don't think this is the case. This issue is not just something I can know about and tell you about. Everyone needs to know that it WILL affect them in one way or another in the next couple of decades and the severity of those effects can be greatly reduced if something is done now. It is a global issue that law makers and governments are not willing to put in the forefront because they would rather put money in their pockets and think that nothing can be done or they talk about it a lot and appoint this guy to do this and throw some money at the issue. Consciousness is the first step and doing our part to reduce our own personal emissions is a reality.
Below is my op-ed that I wrote. I had to leave out many things because it had to be under 500 words. In future posts I am going to add more on this thought and post links to sites I think are important. The new widget to the right is part of the story. If you don't know what the numbers mean look it up or ask me. I have a lot to say about this.

In My Opinion

What do you think it would take for Oregon companies to put a check on their Carbon Dioxide emissions? CO2 emission tax? State law for reduction of emissions? Knowing that their company may be under hundreds of feet of water by 2025?

What do you think it would take Oregonians to reduce their own personal emissions? Inexpensive fuel efficiency? Knowing that their children may be dealing with millions of refugees fleeing from catastrophic conditions in as little as 40 or 50 years?

I assume the majority of people in America that saw An Inconvenient Truth, like me, took that truth with a grain of salt and said to themselves, “Al Gore sure spins a good yarn about possible effects yet he is shown flying and driving to his destination emitting CO2 every step of the way.” We know there are freedoms and comforts at stake when it comes to doing our part to reduce our own CO2 emissions but they do not have to be inconvenient. If one voice is heard by thousands and those voices are heard by millions could we not decide to choose survival of our expansive species on this tiny planet? When a majority gets together and demands change because they are fed up or they know it is the right thing to do their audience can do nothing except listen. Where would we be if Jefferson and his compatriots did not demand their audience to listen?

The facts are out there and America is the leading cause of atmospheric carbon. The “American Dream” has done our psyches well yet it has had a detrimental impact on our environment. The personal automobile, cement production and consumer product waste are the highest reasons we lead the globe in CO2 emissions. If you think about it, the freedom you feel from having your own car comes with many evils. I have been car-free for over 7 years now, by choice, and I say free because there are so many freedoms associated with not having a vehicle. I pay no insurance, fuel or maintenance costs. I have the freedom of actually knowing the ins and outs of my environment on the street level. How many of you have seen a piece of public art or park while you are driving by and thought, “Why have I never known that was there before?” How far are you willing to go to deny yourself the pleasure of knowing the city you live in, not just the path to drive from A to B? Portland has a great transit system and if more people use it, and also pay their fare, the system will only get better.

EcoFoot.org and EPA.gov have informative calculators to find how you personally affect your environment.

In a state established by pioneers I feel the spirit still lives on. Followers can only follow if a leader is willing to lead. Since America is the leading country in CO2 emissions isn’t it our responsibility to lead the change to a self-sustaining future?

Scott Farley
Portland, OR
(Student)