tuesday december 22

today i went to the dentist for the first time since march of 2008. although dentist trips are usually rather unpleasant, this one was particularly brutal, given the layoff. for a half-hour, it felt like the hygienist was deliberately poking sharp objects into my gums, with no other objective. by the 20-minute mark, the overwhelming thought running through my head was: "i could never stand up to torture." i wanted to tell her everything i knew.