Thursday, June 25, 2009

June 25th, 2009 The Day of Punctuating Deaths

I set my alarm this morning. I know. Shocking! It was to me too when that sucker went off at 8:06. I hardly ever set the alarm, so when it goes off, there is no snoozing. I get that adrenaline rush that only an emergency sets off. It pretty much poisons me. But I'm out of bed like a shot.

The reason for the ungodly wake-up hour is an 11:00 dental appointment. I've been fighting a recurring toothache in my lower right back teeth. I know from past experience that it involves more than one of those giant molars and there is a bridge between those affected teeth. So all in all, losing those two teeth will leave three spaces that are my main chewing surface. Go ahead, laugh. Remember you may be young now, but you are growing older by the day. One day your teeth will fail too.

I took my shower at 9:30. Well, that was uneventful. Maybe it's a good omen. Clean and shampooed in under ten minutes! Maybe a new record for me. The moisturizing and deodorizing and hair drying takes longer than the shower. Finally I am newly dressed and clean all over. I have forty five minutes before I have to leave the house. More coffee and another couple of smokes.

My dentist's office is in my neighborhood. This is one of the reasons I go to Harold. That and the fact that he's both good looking and an accomplished musician. He, like Tom, my ex, can play anything. I have never heard him play, but know that Tom doesn't exaggerate anyone else's talent. And until my teeth started failing, I thought Harold was one hell of a dentist. But now all he wants to do is get rid of the old dying teeth and put implants in their place. I will not do my "implant rant" now, but I'm sure you can imagine how a poor old woman with no dental insurance feels about implants. I sometimes contemplate having them all pulled and getting myself a set of loverly choppers just to get it over with.

I put my hand on the doorknob of Harold's office at exactly 11:00. It's locked. I look in the almost shuttered windows and see that the place is empty. What the Fuck! This is wrong. I go to the dentist's office next door and ask them if they know where Harold went. They have his number and call his office. Marilyn, Harold's receptionist answers the phone and tells me they moved a year and a half ago. "Well, Marilyn, that doesn't explain why you didn't inform me that you'd moved! Did you send cards to patients?" She tells me the new address and I am not amused. It might as well be in Bum Fuck! She says,"It'll only take you five minutes." It actually takes fifteen. But as I'm driving there I hear on NPR that Farah Fawcett died. I always thought she was a bit to whispy and flaky, but men seemed to like her. Tom used to force me to watch Charlie's Angles. But then I saw her in Extremities and The Burning Bed, I thought she was stunningly good. I saw her documentary about her fight with cancer and it was moving. By the time I get to the dentist's new place, I've mellowed a bit thinking about Farah.

By the time I get home, it's close to 1:30. Ms M is having her latte and smoking a cigarette at my kitchen table watching the news when I walk in. I just get inside when the phone rings. My neighbor T wants to bring her dog over for a romp with Marley and to help me trim Marley's nails.

Marley is a strong and vociferous opponent to the nail trimming procedure but is no real match for the two of us. On my own she'd be a handful. She may look sweet and small, but she's one strong and squirrelly little actress screaming before a single nail is trimmed. Oh the eye rolling hysteria of it all.

The next phone call is the tree guy my neighbor recommended to finish cutting and removing the Navaho Willow the Power Company topped earlier in June. He says he's a few minutes away. I put Roscoe in the big house and grab my clippers. When I was walking T out front I noticed a few over hanging limbs that needed trimming so they didn't smack people in the face as they walked on the sidewalk in front of my place. That's how seldom I go out front and look around.

The tree removal guy seems nice and the estimate's reasonable. We walked the property looking for tree problems and he seems impressed with my forest. He knows his trees. He came here from South Carolina but grew up in St. Louis. I like his accent. We schedule for next week and shake on it. I have a copy of the estimate in my hand.

I go inside and call Z. She answers on the second ring and sounds better than she has in weeks. Then she asks me if I can come over tomorrow and help Rachel, her youngest son's mate, go through Z's closets and clear them out. This is something that I can do, but after I hang up I get a very strange and creepy feeling. It's is as if we are to clean out the deceased's closets. She wants us to decide who gets what and then cart the rest to the thrift store. I wonder if she'll live to regret this plundering of her clothing. But then this evening I remove my closet doors so I can clean it. I too will lighten my load. Take the burden off the living. Make better use of space. I know we are just place holders in this moment.

I was distressed all evening listening to the wall-to-wall coverage of Michael Jackson's death. I am appalled at the wretched excess of it all. As if there were no other news story worth covering today. It reminds me of the Anna Nicole insanity. I know Michael was a monster talent. I get it. He was talented and famous and terribly fucked up. And god help his children and all the other children he fucked-up. I know he was a talented victim and I know he victimized other children. I know I will offend some of you, but I had no doubt about the fact that MJ was a pedophile. It was a shame the prosecution was so bad. There were other cases to chose from. Picking the one they did to prosecute was a stupid mistake. I know someone is tearing his hair and screaming "Leave Michael alone!!!!"

13 comments:

Paul said...

There is a part of what you wrote here that I can relate to a 110%.

When my dental/mouth troubles have been at their worst over the last 12 months I have wished like saying to the dentist: just take the WHOLE lot of my weak, rotten teeth out as quick as you can and give me false teeth; I don't care, except I want the pain and trouble with my teeth to stop!

Luckily, Australia has a saner and more civilized system of physical health and dental health care and this is a possibility without costing me thousands of $$$.

Wait. What? said...

LOL! Your ending was priceless!

themom said...

Rest assured I am not sitting here crying and tearing my hair out. I sleep with the TV on (odd quirk), and throughout the night it was non-stop coverage of Jackson. I was not a fan. He had a couple of great songs - but like you, I believe he was a pedophile. I was more upset about FF, as she exhibited such strength and courage in her battle against cancer.

As for dentists...I'm waiting to have them all pulled and get some shiny new white ones. I don't have dental coverage - zip, nada...and walking in the door to a dentists office is an immediate $200. Crapola.

Randal Graves said...

Utah, how could you let commie pinko socialists like Paul C come here and go on about Australia's state-enforced managed public health care "system?" Next thing you know, Americans will be thinking 'why not us' and that's bad for free enterprise.

Kudos to Jacko for using EVH on Beat It, but I'd rather listen to EVH with VH.

Sherry Pasquarello said...

i'm with you. i believe he was guilty. i believe he paid people off.

but, even if he was never even accused of anything, he was still just a great entertainer and talent. this non stop bull as if all of a sudden there is no war, now economic crisis, no local news whatsoever...

our values are screwed.

Gail said...

Hi Utah-

I hate when things change and I don't know about it - seems like Harold is worth the extra drive tho, the fact that he is a good musician makes all the difference. :-) I am SO afraid of going to the dentist - I actually gave my dentist a picture of me when I was three years old so he knows he is NOT treating an adult but rather a little child. !!!!!! The picture is in my file. :-)

I watched with obsessive intention all about Farrah and Michael - quite unsettling.

Love Gail
peace.....

Paul said...

Thank you comrade Randal for your kind words.

Now re Michael Jackson RIP.

I don't know if he was a "pedophile" or not.

But for God's sake! A singer and entertainer has died.

There would not be more coverage if Queen Elizabeth, Pope Benedict or George W had died suddenly of heart failure.

Michael Jackson RIP. The latin subjunctive I think; ie MAY he rest in peace. If my commie, pinko classics teacher taught me right all those years ago.

Utah Savage said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Spadoman said...

Other than what I've read here, (literally), and there, I have stayed a long distance away from the MJ and Farah things. People die. They died. I didn't know them personally. I have just heard of them and seen them perform on TV or sing on the radio. MJ's Thriller was awesome. The dance routine he made so famous was genius.
The media goes nutso trying to sell the story and there are plenty of buyers out there. I haven't watched the news or listened to any either. I played with the new dog, Zeke, as he came over for a few days as a trial run.

For the dentist, they should have told you where the new office was. Too bad you had to find that out the hard way. Hope the appointment went well and you are out of pain. I have a dental story or two to tell, after all, I get my dentistry from the VA. But I'll keep that for another time.

Peace to you.

anita said...

anna nicole was a gold-digger and a whore. michael jackson was a phenomenal entertainer and innovator on the same playing field as elvis and the beatles (in my humble opinion). i always respected the fact that he gave credit where credit was due: his model for much of his dancing and singing went to james brown.

i wasn't surprised that michael jackson had died, but the truth be told he was around longer than the beatles and he was loved by many. his life was tragic, on any number of levels. he was used and abused by his family. i am not trying to make light of his offenses. in a similar (yet not nearly the same) way that we will always consider the impact of phil spector's "wall of sound" and, possibly, grieve at what fame and fortune did to such a fragile genius. and the fragile genius of michael jackson as well.

now, as for paul c. i hesitate to call him a "commie pinko" as, i think, the jury is out on that one. but one thing i do know, his is an extremely kind, honest and searching soul.

Paul said...

Thank-you, Anita.

lisahgolden said...

May I just say that Marley and the Pussies for Peace must have gone to the same acting school? Tomorrow is cat bath day. I'm going to cut and paste your description of the event when I write about it. Credited to you, of course.

Laura said...

Randal calls me a Commie Socialist ALL the time. (I'm Canadian)
I know in my heart that it's with love. :) He's a cool guy.

We have great physical health care here but Dental.. nothing. Unless you work for the government then it's awesome!!! I've been saying for years that the government should pay for basic dental care. At the very least for kids under 18 and seniors. I do know that there is some assistance for childrens actually... if you can prove that you're dirt poor.
((Hugs))
Laura