I was just reading Spirituality and religion in oncology (Peteet, J. R., & Balboni, M. J. (2013). CA: a cancer journal for clinicians.), which quantifies the positive effects of going beyond the physiology of cancer to the person enduring the disease, especially at the end of their life. Here’s a part that struck me:
Mykala and I took a 10+ mile bike ride from Prospect Park, down University, across the River on Hennepin and over part of the Cedar Lake trail through the north part of Minneapolis. It was in the mid 70s outside and the sun wasn’t yet setting but was low enough in the sky to turn things nice colors. Target Field was hosting a Twins game. It wasn’t too humid or windy or hilly or buggy. We just sailed along on our wheels.
We recently went to my 10 year high school reunion. I wasn’t going to go, but then Nils pep-talked me into it.
I’m really glad I went, but I am still the same shy person I was. So it is still tough to have conversations with strangers… yet I still thrive on genuine human conversation, and during the time I was at the reunion, there was a lot of that going on. I wonder what our lives will look like in another 10 years.
Back in the day (2001), a British fellow named Steve Smith voiced parts of an album by a band named Dirty Vegas called Days Go By. This would be high school Alex listening to this, and he was proud to have liked it before the single became hugely popular when featured in a Mitsubishi Eclipse commercial. A few things about this. First, everyone knows that the second generation (95-99) Mitsubishi Eclipse with the lump in the hood for the turbocharger and just-short-of-ridiculous and therefore stupendously awesome hoop spoiler is the best Eclipse. The ones after are merely boring cars that happen to bear the name. Second, I asked for the Dirty Vegas album for Christmas from my then-girlfriend’s parents. In retrospect, this was a tremendously stupid idea because (1) it is very hard to describe your enjoyment of British house music to a family that primarily listens to country and (2) oh my god I swear it was at least 5 years later when I was cleaning out stuff and ran across this album again that I actually noticed the angle of the shirt on the cover:
I like to keep patients safe. I like to work on clean, isolated teeth. My endless (ask Mykala) reading of primary literature makes me love what is called a “dry field” to work in (no saliva, no tongue). So, I’m in favor of rubber dams. Very much in favor. Here is one of my favorite photos, ever:
Mykala surprised me at the gym today. I saw a young lady out of the corner of my eye, and it was my wife! I don’t like being away from her, at all, even during my gym time. Nine years into our relationship, this seems like a good sign. We talk and talk and talk and take walks and picnics and spend such wonderful hours together. We joke about going to work at the same place, like maybe I can work at a dental building and she can work in an adjoining suite… but that’s a reality I would be thrilled with! After all, marriages aren’t about time apart.
