(no subject)

My appointment with my dentist was at 7:30 today. I got there a little early and was in the chair right on time. In spite of that, they weren't done sticking things into my mouth until quarter after twelve, so I'm a little tired.

( I'll cut this out of respect for those who may be squicked by detailed descriptions of outpatient oral surgery. )

So I'm at home with Motrin 800 and some Clindamycin to prevent infection (and while I'm somewhat concerned by the idea of taking an antibiotic as a preventative rather than as a treatment, I have to admit, I'm taking it). I bought Gatorade and Sprite, at the doctor's recommendation to get some suger in my system. I'm trying to eat some leftover nacho cheese and meat to get food into my stomach to go with the Motrin, but it's kind of difficult when the whole left side of your face is still numb enough that you might be chewing holes in your cheek without noticing (he gave me some seven-hour stuff at the end of the visit), it hurts to chew on your right side because of the new crown, and you're still oozing blood into the gauze pad that you're holding between the spot where you used to have a tooth and the corresponding spot above it.

All that said, the doctor, who my brother's girlfriend, Lara, recommended to me, is absolutely fantastic and I can't praise him enough. If you ever need a dentist in Kenosha, check out Dr. Dan Johnson. The first time I visited him, I honestly wondered if he specialized in children, he had such a calming manner. As he worked on me, he and his assistants demonstrated a seemingly inexhaustible supply of patience, which I happily complimented them on a couple times. If I'd been working on removing something from a car for that long a stretch, there's no way in hell I'd still be that composed.

I'm hoping that I'm still up to going to Chicago tomorrow. I really don't feel like leaving the house right now, but I suppose time will tell. I'm going to go try to eat something again.

(no subject)

There was a group of guys playing music on plastic buckets outside of the Taste of Chicago this past summer when the group of us went down there. I snapped a few shots as we waited to cross the street; this was my favorite of them. This is a crop from a larger group picture. When I think about going down into Chicago to take pictures of the street musicians and performers, I always think of this picture.



1/400 second exposure @f8 - ISO 100

My brother and I, and possibly posicat, are going down to Chicago tomorrow. Jim and I are getting the train out of Waukegan, and we're going to the photography exhibition I mentioned, the Shedd Aquarium (I've never ever been there and there's a two for one deal right now), possibly Millennium Park for bean pictures, and hopefully somewhere interesting for lunch. Any recommendations?