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(no subject)
Mar. 4th, 2012 12:00 pmAbout two weeks ago, feeling a bad cold coming on, I decided to venture out and eat some comfort food. So I found myself at Brent's Deli in Northridge eating matzo ball soup and bread - about the softest food you can possibly eat - when one of my teeth made this sickening CRUNCH noise. I'd not noticed any problems with it up until this point, but whatever happened, happened, and it was suddenly very loose and very painful.
So I made an emergency appointment with a dentist the next day, who took one look at it and the accompanying x-rays and sent me right away to a periodontist, who decided the tooth was coming out; no saving it. I had something called Internal Resorption. Apparently, it's fairly rare, and it's sometimes caused by trauma to the tooth, but often times, they have no idea what causes it. Since I've not had any trauma to my tooth (unless one of you is breaking into my house and punching me in the face in my sleep), I'm assuming I fall into the second camp. Anyway, Internal Resorption is where the tooth rots from the inside out. And there's really no obvious symptom, unless you're seeing a dentist regularly, which, clearly, I have not been. And by the time this happened, it was too late. I think basically, so much of the tooth had eaten away at itself on the inside, that it just collapsed.
So, at the moment, I'm minus one tooth. When I smile, I look like meth addict. Or a hockey player. Yeah, let's go with that one.
I'll be getting a replacement, but it's a long process; it'll be several weeks before it's in. I'm thinking of getting a fake gold tooth, encrusted with a diamond.
So I made an emergency appointment with a dentist the next day, who took one look at it and the accompanying x-rays and sent me right away to a periodontist, who decided the tooth was coming out; no saving it. I had something called Internal Resorption. Apparently, it's fairly rare, and it's sometimes caused by trauma to the tooth, but often times, they have no idea what causes it. Since I've not had any trauma to my tooth (unless one of you is breaking into my house and punching me in the face in my sleep), I'm assuming I fall into the second camp. Anyway, Internal Resorption is where the tooth rots from the inside out. And there's really no obvious symptom, unless you're seeing a dentist regularly, which, clearly, I have not been. And by the time this happened, it was too late. I think basically, so much of the tooth had eaten away at itself on the inside, that it just collapsed.
So, at the moment, I'm minus one tooth. When I smile, I look like meth addict. Or a hockey player. Yeah, let's go with that one.
I'll be getting a replacement, but it's a long process; it'll be several weeks before it's in. I'm thinking of getting a fake gold tooth, encrusted with a diamond.
(no subject)
Mar. 3rd, 2012 07:46 pmHello, is this thing on? Testing, testing... 1-2-3... sibilance, sibilance...
(no subject)
Sep. 19th, 2009 02:16 pmI should update this more often. I just went back and read a bunch of my old entries, and it was a lot of fun re-reading them. And if I never write new ones, I won't have them to go back and read.
(no subject)
Jan. 1st, 2009 10:05 pmSpent New Year's Eve lying prone on my couch, trying to not to move because any movement brought considerable pain in my abdomen.
Spent a large portion of New Year's Day in the hospital. I thought it might be another kidney stone, the last of which I had about 12 years ago. But no, turns out I have diverticulitis. How fun. Could be worse. It's treatable with antibiotics, so hopefully I'll be better in a week or so.
But still, what an unpleasant way to spend New Year's.
And now I find out that Donald Westlake passed away.
Still, I'm looking at these as shitty ways to... well, shit out 2008. I'm not taking them as an omen of things to come in 2009. I'm still optimistic about the coming year.
Now, I'm going to take some pain relievers and try to get some sleep.
Spent a large portion of New Year's Day in the hospital. I thought it might be another kidney stone, the last of which I had about 12 years ago. But no, turns out I have diverticulitis. How fun. Could be worse. It's treatable with antibiotics, so hopefully I'll be better in a week or so.
But still, what an unpleasant way to spend New Year's.
And now I find out that Donald Westlake passed away.
Still, I'm looking at these as shitty ways to... well, shit out 2008. I'm not taking them as an omen of things to come in 2009. I'm still optimistic about the coming year.
Now, I'm going to take some pain relievers and try to get some sleep.
(no subject)
Dec. 1st, 2008 11:15 amSo, I've inherited a cat. A friend had to move, and her new place doesn't allow pets. I've been considering getting a pet of some kind, so it worked out well. He's a good cat. Friendly, non-needy, etc.
The one downside: he takes really stinky poops. I mean, REALLY stinky. Even though he does it inside his litterbox, which is clean and full of fresh litter, and way in the corner. His poops make the entire apartment stink like no one's business.
Okay, yeah, I know: it's shit. Shit stinks. But, while I've never owned a cat before, I've had cats over for periods of stays while friends are on vacations, sometimes for extended periods of time (including this very one a while back), and I never remember the shit stinking quite this badly, where the whole place was effected.
So, should I be concerned? Is there something wrong with this cat? Or does he just have particularly stinky poos? Or, is it just simply that shit stinks?
And yes. I know. I haven't posted in over a year, and my first post back is about cat poop.
The one downside: he takes really stinky poops. I mean, REALLY stinky. Even though he does it inside his litterbox, which is clean and full of fresh litter, and way in the corner. His poops make the entire apartment stink like no one's business.
Okay, yeah, I know: it's shit. Shit stinks. But, while I've never owned a cat before, I've had cats over for periods of stays while friends are on vacations, sometimes for extended periods of time (including this very one a while back), and I never remember the shit stinking quite this badly, where the whole place was effected.
So, should I be concerned? Is there something wrong with this cat? Or does he just have particularly stinky poos? Or, is it just simply that shit stinks?
And yes. I know. I haven't posted in over a year, and my first post back is about cat poop.
(no subject)
Mar. 25th, 2008 05:40 pmYou know, all this time we've so worried about the coming robot uprising, waiting for them to turn on their masters and crush us with the power we bestowed on them, that no one has been paying attention to the cranes. The cranes are attacking, people. We need to do something about this before it's too late.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&q=crane&btnG=Search+News
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&q=crane&btnG=Search+News
(no subject)
Mar. 19th, 2008 03:15 pmThings are still moving along. Still getting occasional editing work from that company I'd mentioned a few weeks ago. It's still very boring work, but it's extremely low-stress and very easy. So, I'll take it. Main problem is, they take their sweet time on paying. Never a good thing. Thankfully though, I got an unexpected residual check in the mail last week. Karroll's Christmas... not a great film, but it's truly the gift that keeps giving. That check really saved my ass.
Still finishing up the shorts. Probably about another week's work on them before the first series is done. We've posted one of the shorter ones on YouTube to try to get people to start knowing about us. Give it a watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqz0YtSCetg
Still finishing up the shorts. Probably about another week's work on them before the first series is done. We've posted one of the shorter ones on YouTube to try to get people to start knowing about us. Give it a watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqz0YtSCetg
(no subject)
Mar. 7th, 2008 04:46 pmI sent four of our films out to two different film festivals this week... Marie and The Feed to the London Independent Film Festival and Marie and Anniversary to The Boston International Film Festival. I'm a little concerned about Marie... it's still a work in progress. The sound hasn't been mixed yet, so it's not perfect. Both festivals say they are okay with works in progress, but I wonder if it affects the judging.
At the same time, I'm really proud of Marie. I'm proud of all the films, but Marie is the only one I wrote by myself, and I think it turned out very well. I can't wait for the sound to be done on it. It's being mixed right now, but the festival deadlines were this week.
Many more festivals to come. These are just the first two we're entering.
I still have about another week's work on putting finishing touches on some of the films, and then they'll all be done. Fifteen short films in total. Honestly, at the time, I thought we were setting our expectations up too high, but here we are.
Now we just need to get people to pay us to do this again.
At the same time, I'm really proud of Marie. I'm proud of all the films, but Marie is the only one I wrote by myself, and I think it turned out very well. I can't wait for the sound to be done on it. It's being mixed right now, but the festival deadlines were this week.
Many more festivals to come. These are just the first two we're entering.
I still have about another week's work on putting finishing touches on some of the films, and then they'll all be done. Fifteen short films in total. Honestly, at the time, I thought we were setting our expectations up too high, but here we are.
Now we just need to get people to pay us to do this again.
(no subject)
Mar. 7th, 2008 03:22 pmTo the unasked question, "Can David have too much caffeine?"... the answer is, yes.
Someone please stop my apartment from shaking.
Someone please stop my apartment from shaking.
(no subject)
Feb. 1st, 2008 09:56 amJust booked an editing job. Things were starting to get pretty scary there... our own company is still forming and not bringing in any cash flow yet (yet!), so I'm still relying on day jobs, which have been few and far between. Obviously, no writing jobs as of late (Pens down means pens down!), so I've been bringing home the bacon through the video editing, but even those have been scarce these past few months.
Anyway, it's only a week's work, but the pay isn't too terrible, and they dangled the 'possible more work' carrot in front of me. It also sounds like it's going to be incredibly boring, tedious, and uncreative (even more so than the 90 minute high school reunion video I had to edit a few months back). But it is paying work, and as long as the check clears, hell, I'd edit a snuff film at this point.
So that's good.
Oh. There's this retirement home I drive by occasionally, called "Sunrise Assisted Living", or something very close to that. Something must have changed in management or owners, because I noticed last time I drove by it, they'd covered up (very unprofessionally, like with big strips of masking tape) the second word in the name. So now it's "SunriseAssisted Living". I'm just picturing the residents living there, watching that word being crossed out. How depressing.
Anyway, it's only a week's work, but the pay isn't too terrible, and they dangled the 'possible more work' carrot in front of me. It also sounds like it's going to be incredibly boring, tedious, and uncreative (even more so than the 90 minute high school reunion video I had to edit a few months back). But it is paying work, and as long as the check clears, hell, I'd edit a snuff film at this point.
So that's good.
Oh. There's this retirement home I drive by occasionally, called "Sunrise Assisted Living", or something very close to that. Something must have changed in management or owners, because I noticed last time I drove by it, they'd covered up (very unprofessionally, like with big strips of masking tape) the second word in the name. So now it's "Sunrise
A year? Really?
Jan. 18th, 2008 10:17 amIt's... it's been over a year since I've updated my journal? Seriously? How... how did that happen? Seriously, how has it been over a year? That really weirds me out, because it sure doesn't feel like it. It really doesn't feel possible.
A lot has happened in the past year I guess, and at the same time, not much has happened. Obviously, there's the writer' strike, which has, how do the French say it, "sucked". And even though the strike itself has only been active for about two months now, it's really been boning me for much, much longer, it seems. Since everyone has known it's been coming for a long time, everyone has been scrambling for any work, and writers who are normally above me on the writer food chain have been taking jobs I'd normally be up for, leaving me with nothing. So, it's been a lean year on that front.
I've been making some side money doing video editing, a skill I've been teaching myself for the past few years. I've had some fun jobs (editing music videos and concerts for http://www.powerchordacademy.com/), and some mind-numbingly dull jobs (editing an hour and a half high school reunion dvd, anyone?), and some that was just work. It's slowed down now, but hopefully will pick up again soon.
But the big news is I've started a company with some friends. We're producing short content, meant for the web or streaming cell phone, etc. It's shaping up to be a big market, and I think for a change, we got a nice jump on the wave early on. We saw this market emerging, and started things rolling about a year ago. So we've spent the summer/fall creating 15 short horror/thriller films. We're finishing up post on them now, and one of our members is actually up at Sundance right now selling us. He had his first meeting this morning, and it sounds like the person was blown away by what we'd done on such limited budgets. The reaction to our shorts so far has been very very positive... so hopefully this will be my future.
Emotionally I've been in kind of a weird state. I think I'm kind of over with the whole "Yay, I've got lots of money! Wait, now I'm completely broke for the next several months. Hey, I've got lots of money again! Oh wait, now I'm broke again..." cycle. That's part of what the idea behind the company is, to become our own bosses, get out of the freelance game. But I think it's really had a toll on me, emotionally. I think I might start to see a therapist. For that and other things.
I got a really nice email from my younger brother last night, a really emotional, nice email. You have to know my family to know how out of the blue this is... we don't communicate very well, and we're not particularly good at expressing emotion. The email made me cry. In a good way and in a regretful way, but mostly in a good way. I wrote him an email back, that also made me cry. Again, in a mostly good way.
A lot has happened in the past year I guess, and at the same time, not much has happened. Obviously, there's the writer' strike, which has, how do the French say it, "sucked". And even though the strike itself has only been active for about two months now, it's really been boning me for much, much longer, it seems. Since everyone has known it's been coming for a long time, everyone has been scrambling for any work, and writers who are normally above me on the writer food chain have been taking jobs I'd normally be up for, leaving me with nothing. So, it's been a lean year on that front.
I've been making some side money doing video editing, a skill I've been teaching myself for the past few years. I've had some fun jobs (editing music videos and concerts for http://www.powerchordacademy.com/), and some mind-numbingly dull jobs (editing an hour and a half high school reunion dvd, anyone?), and some that was just work. It's slowed down now, but hopefully will pick up again soon.
But the big news is I've started a company with some friends. We're producing short content, meant for the web or streaming cell phone, etc. It's shaping up to be a big market, and I think for a change, we got a nice jump on the wave early on. We saw this market emerging, and started things rolling about a year ago. So we've spent the summer/fall creating 15 short horror/thriller films. We're finishing up post on them now, and one of our members is actually up at Sundance right now selling us. He had his first meeting this morning, and it sounds like the person was blown away by what we'd done on such limited budgets. The reaction to our shorts so far has been very very positive... so hopefully this will be my future.
Emotionally I've been in kind of a weird state. I think I'm kind of over with the whole "Yay, I've got lots of money! Wait, now I'm completely broke for the next several months. Hey, I've got lots of money again! Oh wait, now I'm broke again..." cycle. That's part of what the idea behind the company is, to become our own bosses, get out of the freelance game. But I think it's really had a toll on me, emotionally. I think I might start to see a therapist. For that and other things.
I got a really nice email from my younger brother last night, a really emotional, nice email. You have to know my family to know how out of the blue this is... we don't communicate very well, and we're not particularly good at expressing emotion. The email made me cry. In a good way and in a regretful way, but mostly in a good way. I wrote him an email back, that also made me cry. Again, in a mostly good way.
(no subject)
Nov. 29th, 2006 12:19 pmHello. I'm still alive.
Lessee... Thanksgiving remains my favorite day of the year. Tons of great food and all my closest friends in one place, what more could I ask for? There were 32 of us this year, including children. If we keep growing, we're gonna have to start renting out a banquet hall.
There are rats in my apartment. They were invited in, though, so it's okay. Drew and Mare bought them as pets for Abby, but it turns out D&M are allergic to them, so they had to get rid of them. I was happy to take them, as I've been wanting an easy-to-take-care-of pet. They're actually really great pets; very cute and friendly, and supposedly they're very smart, although I notice they still haven't gotten jobs. I do need to rename them, though... right now, they were named by a 3 year-old. I'm open to suggestions.
Between stupid American laws and my Windows machine going kaput, my online poker source of income has come to a close for the time being. I need to fix that soon...
FINALLY finishing up that short film we made 2 years ago. We've been plagued by sound problems, but we're all finally in a position to have the time/resources to get it fixed. We did ADR a few weeks ago for one of the characters, and we'll get the other one done next week. Yay, for not abandoning projects.
I added another slash to my job description... I'm now writer/director/actor. Wooo.
Lessee... Thanksgiving remains my favorite day of the year. Tons of great food and all my closest friends in one place, what more could I ask for? There were 32 of us this year, including children. If we keep growing, we're gonna have to start renting out a banquet hall.
There are rats in my apartment. They were invited in, though, so it's okay. Drew and Mare bought them as pets for Abby, but it turns out D&M are allergic to them, so they had to get rid of them. I was happy to take them, as I've been wanting an easy-to-take-care-of pet. They're actually really great pets; very cute and friendly, and supposedly they're very smart, although I notice they still haven't gotten jobs. I do need to rename them, though... right now, they were named by a 3 year-old. I'm open to suggestions.
Between stupid American laws and my Windows machine going kaput, my online poker source of income has come to a close for the time being. I need to fix that soon...
FINALLY finishing up that short film we made 2 years ago. We've been plagued by sound problems, but we're all finally in a position to have the time/resources to get it fixed. We did ADR a few weeks ago for one of the characters, and we'll get the other one done next week. Yay, for not abandoning projects.
I added another slash to my job description... I'm now writer/director/actor. Wooo.
Looks like Drew and I are signing with a new manager. It's someone we've known on a personal/business level for quite some time, and his management company is really taking off. We were all a bit hesitant (including the manager himself), because we'd known each other on a personal level first, afraid it might effect (affect?) things if the business relation soured. But we've talked it through, and are all confident with it. We're all very excited about the arrangement. I feel pretty sure that it's a good marriage, and he's very excited about reexamining a lot of our material that never got a fair shake. I have no doubt he'll hustle his ass off for us, whether anything results from said hustling (other than a dislocated ass) will remain up in the air.
Once again, I did not win the main event of the World Series of Poker. It could be argued that I didn't win in no small part because I didn't enter, but that's nitpicking, I think. Stop nitpicking, people. Just, stop.
As much as I love nature, the outdoors, camping, etc. etc., I don't like swimming in natural bodies of water. It's not a phobia or anything; I'm not scared of it or anything. I just never feel comfortable. I don't know why. But I'm a grown man, and I don't have to swim in lakes if I don't wanna.
Hey! My first new thread posting to the SDMB in... I have no idea how long. Probably 4 or 5 years. Fuck shit piss bitch.
I have a dear friend who has hinted about flirting with Scientology. In all seriousness, I am very, very, very concerned for her. I'm in the process of gathering materials that show what a dangerous cult it is. I'm not sure it will be enough. I know of the obvious web sources, clambake.org, etc., but if you have any links that might help the cause, please send them my way.
And, there you go.
Once again, I did not win the main event of the World Series of Poker. It could be argued that I didn't win in no small part because I didn't enter, but that's nitpicking, I think. Stop nitpicking, people. Just, stop.
As much as I love nature, the outdoors, camping, etc. etc., I don't like swimming in natural bodies of water. It's not a phobia or anything; I'm not scared of it or anything. I just never feel comfortable. I don't know why. But I'm a grown man, and I don't have to swim in lakes if I don't wanna.
Hey! My first new thread posting to the SDMB in... I have no idea how long. Probably 4 or 5 years. Fuck shit piss bitch.
I have a dear friend who has hinted about flirting with Scientology. In all seriousness, I am very, very, very concerned for her. I'm in the process of gathering materials that show what a dangerous cult it is. I'm not sure it will be enough. I know of the obvious web sources, clambake.org, etc., but if you have any links that might help the cause, please send them my way.
And, there you go.
(no subject)
Jul. 31st, 2006 09:26 amI've been nudged to update, and I see it has been a very long time since I've written anything here. Really, not a whole lot going on, which always makes for a lack of updates. Hard at work on a brand new screenplay, which I think could be a good one. Honestly, this is the most excited about a new screenplay I've been in quite some time. It's kind of a science fiction noir murder mystery, but not real heavy on the science fiction. We're also in the market for a new agent, and starting to meet with people. We've been kind of lazy with our careers this year, but we're finally getting a fire lit under our asses and pursuing things.
Was dating someone new very, very briefly, but it doesn't look like it's going to work out. Oh well. These things happen.
I can't log into myspace without immediately getting 10-12 friend requests from hot young women who saw my profile and thought I looked interesting. Oh, they also want me to visit their website and check out their photos. Yeah, right. Is anyone really that stupid? Do people fall for that? It's getting very annoying. I'm wondering if switching my tag to 'in a relationship', even though that's a lie, might help some, if these spammers are only targeting single guys. Dunno. But it's very annoying.
In gaming news, that will mean nothing to those of you who don't play Warcraft, I finally completed the 45-minute Baron run last night. It was quite a rush, as I honestly never thought a video game could bring, but it really was a tremendous sense of accomplishment. I'd say this was about... oh, our 9th or 10th attempt, and we've been getting better and better, but this run was flawless. We engaged the Baron with 5 minutes to spare. Those of you who don't play (and maybe some of you who do) will probably laugh, but it really was a hell of a rush.
Hey, anyone wanna go see The Pogues? They're playing at the Wiltern October 17,18, and 19th.
Was dating someone new very, very briefly, but it doesn't look like it's going to work out. Oh well. These things happen.
I can't log into myspace without immediately getting 10-12 friend requests from hot young women who saw my profile and thought I looked interesting. Oh, they also want me to visit their website and check out their photos. Yeah, right. Is anyone really that stupid? Do people fall for that? It's getting very annoying. I'm wondering if switching my tag to 'in a relationship', even though that's a lie, might help some, if these spammers are only targeting single guys. Dunno. But it's very annoying.
In gaming news, that will mean nothing to those of you who don't play Warcraft, I finally completed the 45-minute Baron run last night. It was quite a rush, as I honestly never thought a video game could bring, but it really was a tremendous sense of accomplishment. I'd say this was about... oh, our 9th or 10th attempt, and we've been getting better and better, but this run was flawless. We engaged the Baron with 5 minutes to spare. Those of you who don't play (and maybe some of you who do) will probably laugh, but it really was a hell of a rush.
Hey, anyone wanna go see The Pogues? They're playing at the Wiltern October 17,18, and 19th.
(no subject)
Jun. 5th, 2006 04:17 pmI'm home, and wonderfully jet lagged. Italy was... absolutely amazing. I did not want to leave. Rome was astoundingly historic; standing on some of those spots and knowing the history that took place there was something I just can't describe. I wish I'd had more time to explore Rome.
That said, as much as I enjoyed Rome, I really, really fell in love with Cortona. Founded by Etruscans in the 8th century BC, it certainly has the age that Rome has, but it's a small, peaceful, sleepy hilltop village. While what's in the storefronts may have changed, the layout and look of the city has hardly changed since the Renaissance (or so I'm led to believe, having not been there). Great little shops, some amazing restaurants, and cappuccino I will miss. I drank an ocean of cappuccino, by the way. If there are massive cappuccino shortages in the next few weeks, you know who to blame.
A few pictures are behind the cut; I'm putting together a Flickr site with a lot more, and I'll post the link to that when it's done.
( A few pictures... )
That said, as much as I enjoyed Rome, I really, really fell in love with Cortona. Founded by Etruscans in the 8th century BC, it certainly has the age that Rome has, but it's a small, peaceful, sleepy hilltop village. While what's in the storefronts may have changed, the layout and look of the city has hardly changed since the Renaissance (or so I'm led to believe, having not been there). Great little shops, some amazing restaurants, and cappuccino I will miss. I drank an ocean of cappuccino, by the way. If there are massive cappuccino shortages in the next few weeks, you know who to blame.
A few pictures are behind the cut; I'm putting together a Flickr site with a lot more, and I'll post the link to that when it's done.
( A few pictures... )
