When i was a kid the dentist didn't pose any real fear to me ... even when i got the occasional cavity filled, i didn't mind the slight poke of the novacaine injection, and could blissfully ignore the burning smell as the drill worked its way down into a molar or two. While in Boston i had to get a cavity filled, and noticed that i seemed a bit more apprehensive about the whole process. I didn't remember the needle being so big ... i need some more novacaine because i'm feeling something ... did local anesthesia always make me this out of it? Today i visited my new dentist in Palo Alto to have a ouple of old fillings replaced, as he'd noted there was some decay around the edges. As of today i can officially say that i no longer like the dentist. I spent the fifteen minutes of drilling pinching my hand to distract my mind from the excavation going on in my mouth. He had to give me a second novacaine injection when he penetrated the first filling as a still sensitive nerve shot a jolt through my jaw. When he had succeeded in removing the old fillings and the minor decay that had accumulated underneath, i was thrilled that i had seen the last of the drill. My mood was shattered when the drill reemerged to whittle down the excess composite that had been laid down as a new filling.

The whole process was done in 45 minutes, but i barely tolerated it. Now i'm sitting at work with a numb mouth, speaking like apparently retarded Kramer from that Seinfeld episode, and feeling more than a little loopy. I think part of my problem is i need to refrain from scheduling this kind of work at 7am, when i'm fairly loopy to begin with. No offense to my dentist, he's great ... i just seem to have become a seven year old girl all of the sudden.

I think my advance copy of heroes Yo La Tengo's excellently titled new album I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is wonky. It clocks in at 62 minutes, not the 80 mentioned on Amazon. And an alarming number of the songs end in a fade out during music that sounds nothing like a conclusion. Suspicious.