CHOPS

Some of us just don't take good care of their teeth.  I don't know why.  Maybe because of the dentists we had when we were kids.  Our dentist was my godfather.  He was a little short guy and my brother insists that he used to climb up in the chair, putting his knee in one's stomach to get the leverage to work on the patient's mouth.  My brother has lousy teeth.  Mine aren't as bad but they're nothing to write home about.

So, why am I telling you this?

Because I have an apparently abcessed tooth that's going to have to come out next Monday.  And, as my new dentist told me today, serious gum disease that will have to be treated.  Now, I don't mind going to the dentist.  Hell, I don't even mind having a root canal.  The last couple of them I had (years ago) were done after I'd been shot up with enough Novocaine to put a small country to sleep and I didn't feel a thing.

But the point of this is why do I, we, put ourselves through the agony of dentistry, if that's what it is.  Frankly, I think with the new dentists of today there's very little agony involved.  Maybe just mental.

I remember one time when my favorite uncle was in his late 70's.  He had always taken incredible care of his teeth, brushing after every meal, flossing (presumably), and keeping them clean and white.  But here he was, in his 70's, being told by his dentist that he needed a root canal.  Now, what the hell is the justice of that?

So, I'll go.  I'll get my tooth pulled.  I'll begin treatment for my peridontal disease.  I'll probably bitch and moan to my wife about how much this is costing.  And you know what? 

Some day I'll die.  Anyway.

TANNING

Tanning is not good for the skin, say the medicos.  As does my wife.  We have known a number of people who were dedicated to their tans, only to end up with tiny melanomas late in their lives.

But.  I read awhile back about a man who lived in New York City and always had a lovely tan no matter the time of year.  Meeting an acquaintance on the street, he would be asked how his Florida vacation had gone.  Truth be told?  He never went to Florida.  His son revealed that he would spend 10 minutes a day in the sun, every day, and thus acquired his all-season color.

So I thought I'd try that.  For several weeks, I have spent 10 minutes a day facing directly into the sun, on the days when there was one.

This was how I looked today.  Not much different, I'd say, from my normal Norwegian pastiness though there is a bit of color beginning to show.

Here's (sort of) what I'm aiming for.

Probably a little less orange and a little more George Hamilton bronze than this.

SWMBO keeps telling me to put on lotion when I come inside and, variously, telling me I am crazy, not being conscious of my health, will be sorry someday, etc.

She seems convinced that I will turn out more like this:

She may be right but I like to think that living in Arizona, I will retreat from, as I call it, "the solarium" long before the temperature rises high enough to do that kind of damage.

But . . . time will tell.

Bennett and Gaga

SWMBO and I watched Tony Bennett's "Duets" show on PBS last night.  The more I watched, the more I realized that Frank Sinatra's statement that Bennett was the world's greatest saloon singer was absolutely true.  The man swings, he's soulful, he's just great.  And he's 85 YEARS OLD!!!

There were many great performances with singers ranging from Andrea Bocelli to Willy Nelson but we both agreed that this one was our favorite. 



Blue hair and all . . . that gal knows how to swing.

WHY OH WHY?????

I'm gonna have to stop watching the news.  It just gets crazier every day.  Two examples.

Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who held a news conference to report that his investigation has shown that President Barack Obama's birth certificate is phony.

Sheesh!  Even Donald Trump gave up on that.  Why is a county sheriff in Arizona investigating the birth certificate of the President of the United States any way?  Because he's a publicity hog, that's why.

And then there's this cretin.



The increasingly disgusting Rush Limbaugh, who said that a young woman who was denied the right to testify before a Congressional committee is a "slut", a "whore" and a "prostitute".  The young woman in question wanted to testify that employers should be required to cover birth control pills in their company healthcare programs.  Limbaugh further suggested that such women should provide videos of their sexual activity in return.

This goes beyond the pale.

Joe Arpaio and Rush Limbaugh are creatures cut from the same diseased cloth.

I can't express strongly enough how much disgust I have for both of them.

A LITTLE SNARK

Oh, they've done it again, those Republicans running for President, they've gotten under my skin.  Mittens Romney seems to do it virtually every time he opens his mouth but recently Rick "the former Senator from the 14th Century" Santorum did it to me. 

And surprisingly, it wasn't his comment that President Kennedy's speech about separation of church and state almost made him throw up. 

And it wasn't his comment that President Obama is a snob because he wants every young person to go to college.  (Santorum, by the way, has three college degrees.) 

It wasn't his critique of Romney's wealth.  (Santorum lives in a home in a rich suburb of Washington, D.C.)

No what got under my skin was a recent campaign appearance in which Santorum stated that when the Republicans nominate a moderate, they always lose.  And when they nominate a conservative, they always win.

Senator, does the name Dwight David Eisenhower mean anything to you?  He was a moderate Republican and he served two terms as President.

How about the name, Barry Goldwater?  He was known as Mr. Conservative when he ran for President in 1964.  He lost.

SWMBO said this morning something about Santorum just saying whatever comes to his mind.  I said it doesn't have anything to do with his (alleged) mind.  He just says these things without even thinking about them.

So enough with Santorum.

Since I brought up that 1964 Goldwater run, I thought I should tell you how I decided who to vote for - Barry or President Lyndon Johnson.  After a lot of reading about both men I came to three conclusions.  Goldwater was crazy and Johnson was a crook.  That's two.  Now, which to vote for?  I finally concluded that Congress could control a crazy president but not a crook.  I voted for Goldwater.

A decade or so later I lived in Arizona and covered Goldwater as a newsman many times.  I wrote about him for a national magazine.  I went to Washington to cover the "10th anniversary of his non-inaugural" in 1975.

Barry wasn't crazy but he certainly was unelectable as a Republican in 1964, so soon after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

In his final years, Barry pissed off most of the Republican establishment in Arizona as he seemed to become more and more Libertarian.  Many people blame his second wife but I think Barry was always that way.

I don't think anyone will ever have fond memories of Rick Santorum.

HOME AND QUIET

A winter storm blew through Arizona yesterday and last night, leaving us with just a frosting of snow today.  The horrendous winds have finally calmed down somewhat but with the skies a leaden overcast it looks cold out there.  Better to stay inside if I can.  However I checked the weather forecast and saw a sudden warming trend on Sunday when the mercury is forecast to rise to 66 degrees.  I'm ready for that.

In the meantime, I've kept a cursory glance on Mitt "Richy Rich" Romney and Rick "I LIKE the 14th Century" Santorum as they careen madly around Michigan.  Arizona has its Republican primary today but virtually everyone including the candidates are ignoring it.  Most folks who were inclined to pick among the yahoos voted weeks ago, thanks to early voting.  I caught a glimpse of CNN today and their anchor/reporter was reduced to walking around with Joe Arpaio.  He's self-billed as the toughest sheriff around.  Locals think of him as either the most loved or most loathed public official.  There is no middle ground on Sheriff Joe.

SWMBO must have foreseen this political season and its affect on me as she gave me this book for Christmas.

She knew of my past affection for the good doctor so it couldn't have been a more perfect gift.  I'm reading it slowly so as to extract maximum satisfaction from it.  He was a joy.

Oh, on another front, I was nominated by my "brother", Tom, for a singular award the other day.  I accept.

In return for this honor I am instructed to tell you seven things about myself.  All right, here goes.

1.  I began life as a child.  Growing up in snowbound North Dakota made me a man by the age of six, when I was turned out (on ice skates) to make something of myself.

2.  My first writing triumph came in the first grade when we were assigned to write a (very) short story.  Mine concerned a rabbit escaping from a coyote and exclaiming "Whew!  What a relief!"  My teacher was impressed.

3.  In high school I discovered the dramatic arts and acted in two class plays.  This I carried into my abbreviated college career where I was in several plays, including "Hedda Gabler" and, less classicly, playing the lead in "The Gazebo".  In the latter theatrical gem, one of my fellow players was a young man named Dick Armey.  I am appalled to say he later went on to politics and became Majority Leader of Newt Gingrich's Republican House of Representatives.

4.  My interest in politics came when I was working at a radio and television station in Bismarck, North Dakota.  My boss had sent me to cover a tax conference.  I understood nothing but I came back and wrote a story for him to read.  He asked a couple of questions, to which I gave wavering and uncertain answers before exploding, "Damn it, Taylor, you're a good crime reporter but you don't know (expletive deleted) about politics!"  I figured my job was lost but later my boss took me for drinks and explained that I would just have to learn politics since our station was in the state capitol and the bulk of our news would be politics and government.  I learned.

5.  During my career, I attended (as a reporter or producer) six national political conventions and one mid-term national convention, as well as the 1969 inauguration of Richard Nixon.  Other than the first two - the 1968 Republican meeting in Miami Beach and the Democratic gathering in Chicago - the rest were all just long hours, a lot of work and exhaustion.

6.  I interviewed many politicians in my career, including a number of presidential candidates.  I believe I shook hands with all three of the Kennedy brothers (John, Robert, Ted) but my favorite interview of all was with an actor, John Wayne.  We went to his waterside home in southern California and he couldn't have been nicer to us, even allowing us to hold his Oscar for "True Grit."  He was dressed in seersucker trousers and a camelhair jacket but the thing that stood out the most to me?  He sounded exactly like John Wayne.

7.  I have been married to SWMBO (Judy) for about six weeks shy of 41 years now and, with some bumps in the road, it's been great.

Now, I am supposed to name several people to pass this award onto.

And so, after careful thought, I name:

Warren at Touch the Wind 

Jerry at Gently Said and

Dana (Bug) at Bug's Eye View

And with that, I'm going to join my pal, Jazz, for a little rest.



UPDATE ON DANICA

Danica Patrick was involved in a five car crash on the second lap of the rain-delayed Daytona 500 auto race last night.  Her car was damaged enough that she had to return to the garage.  She got back into the race on the 66th lap but by then she had no chance to compete.  She finished 38th, becoming only the third woman in history to run in the race.