Medicinal Properties / 21.11.2006

Top: Blue Cross's backlighted sign campaign in DC's Metro. Bottom: Detail. Click to see an enlargement of the eye. In Washington this time of the year when friends stop you on the street to wish you "Good tidings for the season," they don't mean the holiday season. They mean the Open Season. Open Season for Federal workers means it's time to choose your health plan for the upcoming year. And the competition for our deductible dollars is fierce. Just as the plethora of nasty political television ads end, health insurance promos begin. And on our daily subway commutes to and from...

Professional Auteurism / 19.11.2006

Installing signage at Clyde's Restaurant. We were hopeful. When the Smithsonian American Art Museum closed for renovations in January 2000 the neighborhood surrounding its building was neglected and deserted (especially when the Federal workforce left for the burbs at the end of the day). What a difference six and a half years made. Our museum, open since July, is now right in the middle of a vibrant city life with restaurants, shops, and sports events. So rich is the night life that we changed the Smithsonian's traditional hours from 10–5:30 to a later 11:30–7 to take advantage of the after work...

Fairly Odd Parents-Present, News Outta My Control / 05.11.2006

My daily routine is being reconstructed. Directions to my new subway entrance (top). Blocked entrance to my house (bottom). A creature of habit I get up every morning at 5:30. My feline alarm clock gently taps me on the shoulder or face (whichever is closest) to inform me "I'm hungry. Get out of bed!" No snooze alarm can delay the inevitable. Work is three hours away but I get up at this ungodly hour to have some quiet time: to read the paper and eat my breakfast in total peace. With this buffer I can put off the chaos of normal family...

Artistic Tendencies, Fairly Odd Parents-Past, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 15.10.2006

When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2006, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. The rest? They printed. Block letters. Margaret Webb PresslerThe Washington Post I have always enjoyed writing. By writing I mean making marks on paper. Sample of my handwriting from my high school biology notebook. Classmates said I wrote "like a girl." Click image for larger version. I have detailed memories of learning cursive in the fourth grade. I wanted handwriting just like my classmate Robin Hoenig. She had the best penmanship in the class. And...

Artistic Tendencies, Fairly Odd Parents-Present / 08.10.2006

On the Boardwalk in Wildwood, NJ Every summer my family takes a trip to the New Jersey shore. The beaches are wide and the orientation is decidedly family. But the highlight for me is Wildwood's boardwalk. We always reserve one evening to stroll in the cool night air just as the sun is setting. And every year I take my camera to document the frenetic, color-saturated scene. It's people watching at its best. After five years I've put together a slide show of some of the best from my hundreds of photographs (latest Flash plugin for your browser required). Related Life...

Commuting with Nature / 17.09.2006

Deep inside I could be him. Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm I was standing on the subway platform Friday afternoon, looking forward to the weekend. It started out as a normal commute home. As the train came into the station it was packed with fellow commuters. I know just where to stand to be next to the doors when the subway stops. My station is a transit point between three lines so there are always a lot of people exiting and getting onto the train. When the doors opened two people stood just inside the car clogging the exit points. And they...

News Outta My Control / 11.09.2006

Think about what you were doing, who you were with, and where you were. Reflect upon where we are now. Related Stories from Life Outtacontext: Remains of the Day, The Remains of the Day: One Year Later, and The Essence of a Physical Memory [ 9-11 ] ...

Fairly Odd Parents-Present, Medicinal Properties / 02.09.2006

Salt Water Taffy Box

A souvenir from my recent vacation decapitated me!

Before beginning the procedure Deb, the dental technician initiated some preliminary chit-chat. "What brings you here today?" she asked. Offering up my porcelain crown I said, "It came off."

"Crowns don't just come off," she replied.


• • •

One of the unspoken rules traditions of a summer beach trip is to bring back a box of salt water taffy for your cube mates. For those sequestered in the office while you were sunbathing it's a sweet reminder of the pleasures of a leisurely sojourn to the shore (and after your fourth piece the sugar high makes that three hour meeting go so much faster).

While this confection isn't high on my personal list of favorites (I'm a closeted chocoholic) I always enjoy a good chew. So when I returned to the office after a week in Wildwood, New Jersey a one pound box of James' Salt Water Taffy accompanied me on my morning commute.

After regaling my coworkers with the salient details of my trip I pulled the box from my backpack. I was rewarded with a collective "Oooo" of anticipation. I had fulfilled my duty and this would be a better-than-normal Monday for all. And as the initiator of our office bliss I took the ceremonial first pick of the box: a light green "cut to fit the mouth" taffy --that's what it says on the box-- that turned out to be mint rather than the lime I had hoped for.

I returned to my desk to read my backlog of emails while rolling the mint slab around my mouth. You have to toss it a bit to soften it up before you start chewing. But as I did suddenly I felt an addition to my little minty morsel: my #19 molar's porcelain cap. Skillfully retrieving it from my mouth I examined it closely for any damage. The last time this happened it came out in pieces. That was an expensive mistake. But this time I was lucky. It was totally intact. A simple reattachment was all I'd require. I immediately made an appointment with my dentist for the next afternoon.

When I got home that night I carefully removed the crown from its special CD jewel case (it was the only enclosure I could find at my desk). My children were most interested in seeing "the tooth" close up. They were mesmerized by its translucent bluish color (from the metal under casing). But they nixed any notion I had that I was now eligible for the tooth fairy.