adult orthodonics: volume II

Back when I wrote volume I of this tome in February of 2014, I left devout readers ABSOLUTELY hanging by concluding that I would write more on the topic in six months. Alas, I never did! I am happy to announce that the opportunities to write more on this topic with all of this gear in my mouth will (should) be short-lived. October 9. That’s the scheduled date for extraction, and I couldn’t be more excited. Looking back on the whole thing – a full two years has come and passed – I realize now that there is really nothing of interest to say about it. Its uncomfortable, its annoying, its slightly embarrassing; that sentiment doesn’t fluctuate in the slightest. Save just one thing. It has been remarkable to watch Young Master Caleb reach milestones – both physical and mental. The advances he has achieved after hitting ten months have especially been impressive and stunning. It feels like an awakening of sorts, starting to get to a place in both mind and body with full realization of self and his environment. Just a handful of weeks ahead of this recent development however, Young MC had reached a point in his progress to recognize that something was peculiar or at least unique regarding the contents of my mouth. He would curiously poke and prod and stare inquisitively. Or we might be playing together. He yields a smile, I smile; he stares and ceases all activity. The prodding commences. It’s time to investigate this familiar man’s teeth again. His eyes basically scream, “WHAT IS THIS?” He will of course not recall any of this in future years. But for the time being, I must appear monstrous. And if not for familiarity, there would be no affection or interaction awarded. I would be like another stranger – accept a grizzly machine-like version. Don’t get me wrong; it feels warm and wonderful when he shoves his index finger into my mouth. Yet it’s a harsh reminder veiled in a cute pudgy finger.  You are different. You are not supposed to have this all over my teeth. All would say the same if not for the niceties demanded by our society. October 9 cannot come soon enough. Thanks for stopping by.

adult orthodontics

I’ve had braces for over six months. Scratch that. They are not braces; the American Association of Orthodontics officially recognizes my mouth wear as adult orthodontics. There’s nothing wrong with having ADULT orthodontics as a thirty-something year old ADULT, absolutely nothing. However, for the purposes of brevity, I’ll be referring to my adult orthodontics as “braces” for the remainder of this post. But keep in mind they are adult orthodontics through and through. I’ll quickly explain the difference to the uninformed (you). Braces are for children and teens. Adult orthodontics are for adults. Get it? THEY OBVIOUSLY COULDN’T BE MORE DISSIMILAR. Six months into my plight, I am a little astonished that I have not documented the early stages of my shiny oral accessories. Perhaps a six month check-in is appropriate - not much changes during this process. I know, I've stared at my teeth in the mirror for minutes and minutes at a time, hoping to identify some positive movement. Foolish - it's like trying to catch glaciers move. Speaking of glacier, due to the sheer size of my chompers, I was ineligible for Invisalign. I am going hard core. Firstly, the why. Why go through the two-year trauma now? I've honestly asked myself this question for what seems to be about a decade. I don't mean to give away too many deep thoughts within the pages of GreensandBrowns, but I will admit that my teeth have been a source of occasional insecurity throughout my adult life. (Woah, let's back this mack truck of a blog post up for one second. When I refer to "insecurity", it is intended to explain the slightest of the slights. The minorest of minors. I'm sure there are days George Clooney looks at himself in the mirror and ponders, "Am I too handsome? How worrisome..." This is the type of insecurity I refer to.) Thus, with (hopefully) more than half of the rest of my life to live, I concluded that a little vanity detour to correct a petty imperfection wouldn't be the worst thing in the world (more on the worst thing in the world in a future blog post). Onward. I initially had four teeth extracted, the vacant lots in my gums to be inhabited by some of my favorite "big boned" toothses. To start, I wore braces on my molars for five and a half months. I don’t remember too much from the day my orthodontist faceted my teeth with my new metal friends. "Unleash the brackets!" (supposed to be said like "Unleash the kraken!") I do recall however being lifted from my chair and gazing into the mirror at a robot. I looked like half-machine with all of the intricate metal work seemingly growing out of my teeth. But still, these guys rented out space in the very back - I practiced how to speak, how to smile, how to walk the dog with minimal visibility into the real-time reconstruction occurring inside my mouth. I fairly quickly (and heroically) adapted to the dull pain. Chewing, digesting and dislodging semi-masticated food from my gums and braces were an on-going issue. Nevertheless, all of these discomforts were acceptable. Nobody could see the Sims-like city planning within the confines of my mouth. Great! And then the other shoe dropped (that's an idiom folksy folks use when something is going alright, but all the while, you are anticipating that all of that "alright" is going to even out with some "alwrong" or "alleft"). My left shoe dropped about four weeks ago, a one-hour glue session that will terrorize the next 18 months of my life. I am now full cyborg, full brackets across both of my top and bottom teeth. The pain ever greater and at times throbbing, the chewing even more complicated, the cuts in my mouth more frequent. And that's obviously not the worst part, I can't conceal them anymore, my metal frenemies totally visible for all to see (relish).  One month in, I'm finally getting to a point of indifference. But one (I) constantly runs into friends and casual acquaintances that one (I) has not seen in many months. I've deduced that a proactive explanation facilitates the smoothest interaction. Otherwise, this public service announcement becomes tiresomely applicable: I'd like to remind you that my eyes are up here, buddy. I'm certain that you aren't listening to me at all. Dear friend, family member, colleague and/or wife, you are not subtle with your ancillary gaze at my metal monstrosity. My braces are most decidedly not a pair of fleshy bosoms to be ogled. Cue the NBC ringtone...The more you know. More in six months. Thanks for stopping by.

the waiting list

 
We are officially playing the waiting game. This picture, taken at Magnolia in the Haight, from a few weeks back seems appropriate as we helplessly wait to sign final papers and receive keys. Having sold off a good chunk of our furniture, we've been in limbo for a couple of weeks now.Clothes splayed on the floor, suitcases trying in vain to do their best dresser impersonations. There are even a couple of new furniture pieces that have been purchased with nowhere to deliver them.

Ah, the not-so-delightful joys of moving. Let's not do this again for at least five years.
Emmelle, the one in the super champions hoodie, waits.

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chipotle buy one get one free

Yesterday, a co-worker informed me that Chipotle was offering a buy-one-get-one-free promotion through an integrated campaign on its Facebook Page and offline partnership with a new television series. As a digital marketer, perhaps I should weigh in on the effectiveness and innovation of an online-offline campaign such as this one. But I'd rather not, because you know, I don't like to talk about work unless it's absolutely necessary.

What I do want to talk about (and remember) though is the fact that I immediately printed out the coupon, left work early, considered multiple restaurant locations and routes home and redeemed the exciting coupon for a chicken and steak burrito with all of the tex-mex-cali fixins'. A proper and cost-effective Monday feast with Emmelle. I voraciously scarfed down 1.5 burritos to avoid turning to a soggy, refrigerated burrito days later.

What a great meal for our wedding planning penny pinching needs. What a terrible meal for our wedding planning dieting needs.

Years from now, when my life is considerably different from where and what it is now, I'd like to think that I will have the same zeal for coupons...and food...especially when they go together.

Thanks for stopping by.

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2010 - looking back and looking forward

I always feel a little devious when I wrote during work hours; but I can't help myself today as my inability to pen a PowerPoint deck has made it possible for a little catch up on GreensandBrowns. I meant to take a proper look back on the year that just passed, but the last six weeks have vanished like sand sliding between your fingers. That's what's happened to my memories from this past year as well; all that's left is a small pile of sand in my palm. It's time to cover it up, protect it from the elements, just some of the things I can recall at this moment, off the top of my head:

• New title: Senior Analyst to Manager
• I moved from a frat house in the Sunset to a (one bedroom-sized) studio in the Richmond
• I engaged myself with Emmelle
• Colonel Mustard and General Mustard engaged each other
• C-Monster completed her first year of undergrad
• Emmelle and I visited the motherland (Korea)
• I traveled to western Europe for the first time (Germany and UK)

Wow, that seems like a decent list. There is always more change in life than I think.

And now, one month into the new year, there are already new and pending changes that are sure to have a significant impact both personally and professionally. The obvious one is our wedding in May. New traditions, new habits, new sleeping pattern, new home, new everything. I am excited for it.

The other, which I only learned of this week, is a dear friend's departure from my company. Throughout my career, I have been both blessed and adept at identifying and aligning myself with strong mentors. At the end of the day, they are role models, and the best education for me has always been to try to emulate the work that they produce, mimic the way they interact with others and navigate difficult waters. It happens through osmosis, direct feedback and my own personal desire to be better. He's definitely helped me to become better. I will miss him.

Lastly, perhaps a poetic convergence emerges between these two changes. Without knowing exactly who, I assume there's at least one young person out there who recognizes elements of my life and/or behavior as a directional model. Maybe it's the lovely bride-to-be that I've chosen, or perhaps the smart career choices that I've made, or (most likely) my sophisticated fashion sense. Am I right? Could I be wrong?!

Thanks for stopping by.

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nikon d60 is back

My brain is filling up with a lot of different entry ideas, content that I'd like to make sure I record for future reading. And I've got a trusty tool back to help tell those stories.

I am excited to announce that my coveted Nikon D60 is back in my life...just a cool $160 out of my pocket to replace broken/missing part(s). Why the vagueness of the issue? Because I have no idea what happened myself. I UPS'ed the damn thing to Nikon and they reached out with a price quote via email. No explanation. But I'm happy to have it again and start snapping away.

And now, I'll be storing my new photos on a new work laptop - the Dell Latitude E6410. Why do I mention this? I'm simply curious as to the technologies that we'll be using in years to come. Will we laugh at the prehistoric gadgets that I'm referring to in this post? Will all of our digital consumption and usage evolve into virtual sphere?

Some fine questions to ponder on what is turning into a sunny, idyllic November afternoon in San Francisco.

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growing older

Yesterday morning on MUNI, a doting mother sat next to me with her beautiful one-year old son sitting on her lap and securely harnessed to her shoulders and waste. He was quite vocal with his baby talk and attracted the admiration of everyone around them. I listened to her proudly share his little quirks with some of the MUNI patrons and found myself distorting my face to incite giggling each time he looked in my direction. At that moment, this thought occurred to me, [Spoiler Alert!] “How could Anakin Skywalker kill so many younglings? I just can't imagine taking a lightsaber to a child's head. Terrible, terrible.”

I am almost thirty; I am getting married in less than eight months. This is the type of thing I think about on a daily basis.

In meetings, when I am in deep thought, I wonder if my Batman t-shirt is washed for weekend wear. This morning, after a client call concluded early, I decided to spend my time researching ninja schools on Google (It looks like there are few realistic school options for me at this stage of my life).

Growing older is important.

Thanks for stopping by.

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the best little place in the richmond (TBLPITR)

Wow! It's certainly been a long time. What's happened in the last three months? I don't even know; it's been a whirlwind that doesn't seem to be slowing down. Blogging now seems to be an infrequent series of check points to confirm that yes, I've given my life a thought or two along the way. Here's what I've been thinking about more than anything else as of late:

I moved to the other side of Golden Gate park in mid-February and am now a proud resident of the Richmond district.

My new place is an in-law unit of a three bedroom home and rests inconspicuously at the house's rear. I suppose it's technically a studio, but it actually functions as a one bedroom both in size and design. You walk into a decently-sized kitchen on the right and cozy bathroom on the left ("Cozy" is how renters describe tiny, almost unlivable living quarters. It's the equivalent of an oversized woman describing herself as "voluptuous" on her online dating profile). There's a short stairway that leads down to the main living area - all carpeted. It's one large, contiguous space but the walls enclose a bit in the middle of the room to create a division between the bedroom and living room. You can get a sense of the layout in the picture above.

I am open to suggestions on what to name the place, but I'll refer to it with the working title above - TBLPITR (prounounced "tibble pitter") for the time being. TBLPITR is quickly feeling like home. Some of the notable improvements to my living conditions is certainly a blessing. However, I feel as though the imperfections are what really binds me (like a voluptuous fatty, I refer to TBLPITR's minor pecadillos as "charms"). You quickly get used to the small flaws and forget about them altogether. This is what I'm thinking about as of late.

The furnishing remains incomplete, and I realize now that it may never be fully finished. There's always a little tweak to be made in this corner and a major furniture piece to upgrade in the other. I've never before spent my afternoons sketching out floor plans and pondering color schemes. In case you were wondering, green is the primary color in my kitchen. Orange the accent. Where is brown? Please ask my interior decorator Emmelle. Thus, one of the immediate open action items on my list is to capture a stunning green and orange photo. If I could snap something like this, I am told my kitchen will be nearly complete. This is what I'm thinking about as of late.

Lastly, I'd like to say thanks to The Pink Chateau for some terrific memories. The Pink Era ended fairly abruptly, but will never be forgotten.

Thanks for stopping by.

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