Fin

Last Tuesday I took on the incredibly difficult job of trying to make dentistry seem fun and interesting. Unfortunately, the plans I had previously made for my presentation weren't able to be done so I had to try to make up something else that might serve to bring everyone's attention to teeth. I'm not going to sugar-coat it: my project was really boring. Honestly, I tried my best to make it as exciting as I could without losing the informational part of the presentation. I'm not going to say that I deserve a 100 for my work on my presentation, but I am really disappointed that what work I did do earned the grade that I received.

It's Here!!!

Today is prom. I must say that, as a person who frequently procrastinates, I really tried to plan this prom out. For the past two years, I've always gotten my prom things the week of, or the day before, and had no problems and a pretty good time. This year, I had to pick a dress that is completely different from my dream dress, which still looks nice, I don't have a date, and I had to alter my dress myself. All in all, this has been a pretty stressful month but, hopefully, after tonight it will be worth it.

Frantic Finish

There are just a few short days until my presentation and there is still so much left to do! Unfortunately, I wasn't at school yesterday so my presentation preparation has been severely cut. Now, I only have Monday to finish everything that I need to get done. On the bright side, I have everything that I plan to use in my presentation, but I really need to get it all in order; I also have to put my brochures together. Monday is going to be a very, very busy day!

Keep Moving Forward!

As my presentation date approaches, I find myself scrambling to get everything done. With the brochure and pictures of peoples' teeth to the tools and objects that will be put on display, it seems that everything is coming into place. Although the presentation is coming along pretty well, I still need a lot more to fill in the 45 minute gap that will be my presentation. With only about two weeks left, I need to start bringing more things together.

Getting Close to That Time...

I only have two visits left for my sponsor! It's crazy how time flies and I can't really think of another way to spend my Monday afternoons, but when you gotta go you gotta go! The visit was a little different from the others. I did see an extraction but it was a different kind of extraction; this time Dr. Okon extracted bone spicules, which are pieces of bone that grow and poke out of someones gum. There was such a big gap in the man's mouth from the extraction that Dr. Okon had to stitch his gum together. This man, who had to be in his late 40s to early 50s, was in so much pain that even the Novocaine, which they gave him 2 doses of, didn't help the pain brought on by the procedure. He wiggled in his seat, closed his eyes tight, gripped the armrest and moved his feet around; all evident signs of him trying to fight the pain. That was one visit to the dentist I didn't particularly like.

As I was working on my molds for my presentation, I began to come up with a wonderful idea: while talking about my experiences at the dental office, or about how important teeth are, I would make a slide show of the teeth of students and faculty, mostly to demonstrate how no two set of teeth are alike and also to show how memorable and distinguished some people's smiles are. What I found out, however, is that it was extremely difficult to actually get a picture of teeth, and most of the people I asked to take a picture of said no. Those "shy" people did help me though; the subject of teeth and how important their appearance is will be an interesting subject during my presentation.

'Bout to Tap That !

This blog, as may be interpreted by the title, is yet another one of my angry rants about dumb high school females and the problems they bring. This blog is namely about someone who seems to have a problem with talking about me and the things that I have allegedly done. One thing that I cannot stand is when people spread rumors about me. Personally, I don't think that I'm all that interesting to be talked about, especially on a rumor basis. Usually, I keep to myself and my close circle of friends in school, what pisses me off is that some people have the audacity to really spend time out of their daily routine to spoil my, for lack of a better word, reputation. I consider myself a peaceful person; I'm not rude to people I don't know, and am not seriously mean to the people that I do know, but this person has one, ONE more time to say something about me before I do something that I may regret.  

Weekly Journey

Yesterday I took yet another wonderful journey to my sponsor, Dr. Okon, but, unlike every other Monday that I go there, he was not there! He didn't show up until about 2:00, so I watched as Dr. Zucker, another dentist in the office, perform a filling on a boy of about 11 or 12. This was much different from the many, many fillings I've witnessed in the office because it was performed on a child. Normally, I am watching Dr. Okon, who usually performs strictly on adults, so to watch a child get a procedure done, even if it's the same thing, is a bit different because, unlike Dr. Okon, Dr. Zucker needs to put a little effort into not being too forceful in childrens' mouths. One thing I found particularly disgusting was the fact that this boy had so much saliva; every time Dr. Zucker would put an instrument in his mouth, he would pull out pints of saliva which I think is gross. One thing that I found really interesting was the drama of the office. It reminded me of ER or Grey's Anatomy, some type of medical drama. I didn't get a chance to see anything other than the filling, unfortunately, but did get to see something else that is quite valuable; the problems behind becoming a dentist. Sure, it's nice to see the jobs I would have to perform, but it's even better seeing what problems and types of people I would have to deal with.  

My girl likes to...make molds all the time, make molds all the time, make molds all the tiiime.

I recently made a green mold of a few people's teeth, including my own, and have now begun to make the clay molds. Although not particularly accurate, it is a very nice focal piece to show during my presentation. It's not exactly something that a person looks at everyday and incorporates two subjects I find interesting: art and dentistry. After completion of the clay molds, I will begin to make a large scale mold of a tooth, which I intend to perform a root canal on, with the help of Mr. D and his tools.

Frustration Station

As you can probably tell from the title of this blog, I am not a happy camper. What are the reasons for my frustrations? I have only one answer, one word for that: freshmen. As I've said before, sometimes I truly regret my decision to become a senior mentor and this is one of those times. It seems like every possible button that could be pushed by them is and I'm going crazy! I find myself looking forward to graduation because I will finally be rid of them and I know that may sound horrible but, if put in the position most of the senior mentors of my school are, you would probably feel the same way. Unlike my amazing, sometimes incredibly mean, mentor, Ms. Sykes, I don't have a degree that would help me to better deal with the stress caused by my freshman on a daily basis. Not only do some of them refuse to do work, some will actually catch an attitude when you ask them to do what they're supposed to do! It drives me absolutely bonkers! I suppose that once the last week of school rolls by that I'll actually start to miss them, but until that seemingly unlikely time comes, I'll be in the back of the classroom; sulking and moody.

Just Another Day

On Monday, I once again walked the six minute long journey to Dr. Okon's office and, unlike any other day, he was in the front of the office. Usually when I arrive, he is wrist deep in someones mouth, ready to perform whatever task they have asked, but today he was speaking with an older couple in what I suspect was Hebrew. After that 5 minute talk, he proceeded to go to the back to "work his magic". After witnessing yet another terrific filling, which I would have to say is my tenth so far, I watched as they were cleaning and looking at the X-Rays of a patient whose teeth had been bothering him for some time. I, unfortunately, had to leave earlier than usual to go to choir rehearsal, but I will enjoy what few visits I have left.

The Ball, she is rolling!

Last week, I unsuccessfully tried to start my senior project presentation. For my presentation, as agreed on by my mentor, I will explain the mouth, its diseases, what people can do to prevent them, etc, but I will also perform a root canal and an extraction; two pretty common procedures I've witnessed from my in Dr. Okon's office. I started, with the help of Mr. D, to mix two plastic mold materials to make a mold of both mine and Briana Woodruff's teeth, and Mr. D put clay into into the mold of my teeth and, to my dismay, it wasn't very flattering and really couldn't be used to serve my purpose. I then made a bigger mold of all my teeth, to really capture the detail of each tooth, and will make a clay mold of it soon.

Something old, Something New, but, thankfully, nothing BLUE!

I'm sure that you're curious as to what my blog title means. No, I'm not crazy and this isn't another "Randy" blog, but I am happy that some progress was made in this weeks dentist trip. As if it were another day, I took my 4-6 minute journey to Dr. Okon's office, made some small talk with Janet and Kathy, the receptionists, and worked my way to the back of the office. I walked into a room and in the middle of an extraction. For those of you who don't know what an extraction is, it's basically when the dentist pulls out teeth, usually with a tool that closely resembled pliers, and, as is normal for an extraction, blood came gushing out of the gum. It's pretty interesting to see it done and even more interesting is looking in the patients' mouth and seeing the holes in the gum. These holes look pretty disgusting the first couple of times you watch it, but, eventually, you get used to it. Anyway, after performing the extraction, Barbie placed in the temporary dentures which, having seen and heard about the difficulties involving dentures, aren't very glamourous.

Ha Cha-cha-cha-cha!

For this week's blog connection, much like some of my senior project classmates, I will share some "dental fun facts" that most people don't think about. All facts, and pictures, have been provided by http://www.fulcherorthodontics.com/dentalfun.html. 

• Each person's set of teeth is unique - much like their fingerprints - even in identical twins.
• Some cheeses are have been found to protect teeth from decay.
• The Mexican version of the Tooth Fairy is known as the Tooth Mouse, which takes the tooth and leaves treasures in its place.
• If you're right handed, you will chew your food on your right side. If you're left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.                
• The major causes of tooth loss in people under age 35 are sports, accidents and fights.
• George Washington's dentures were made from walrus, hippopotamus, and cows' teeth, as well as elephant tusks.
• The most valuable tooth was one a nobleman purchased - belonging to the famous scientists Isaac Newton - for $4,560. It was set in a ring.
• In 200 AD, the Romans used a mixture of bones, eggshells, oyster shells and honey to clean their teeth.
• Queen Elizabeth I's teeth were noticeably discolored. A German traveler, Paul Henter, speculated that the discoloration was due to the Queen's excessive consumption of sugar, making the first recorded association between sugar and tooth decay.
• The second most common disease in the United States is tooth decay. The first is the common cold.
• Ants can lift an object up to fifty times their body-weight and carry it over their heads. They don't do this with their feet, but with their mouths.
• Crocodiles don't clean their own teeth - they let a plover (little bird) pick their teeth for scraps of leftover food.
• The largest toothed mammal in the world is the sperm whale. A whale's lower jaw, measuring 16'5" long, is exhibited in the British Museum of Natural History in London. The whale it belonged to reportedly measured 84 feet in length.
• A snail can have about 25,000 teeth (on its tongue).
• Horses teeth are extremely long and grow continually. They wear down, change shape and become discolored as they grow, so we can really tell a horse's age by looking at his teeth.
• A shark's teeth are literally as hard as steel.

One fact that I found particularly interesting was about teeth being unique. Before reading this, I thought, based on my own observation, people's teeth closely resembled their mothers'. I guess I have much more to learn about the dental profession and its studies.

Hello Ladies

Last Thursday, I attended a Leading Ladies seminar, against my will, but was surprised at the outcome. I won't lie and say that I had the best time of my life, in fact if Ashlee McPherson hadn't been there I would've passed out from boredom. OK, maybe I wouldn't have passed out, but it was pretty boring. I was separated from any friends I had, but I did get friendlier with Ashlee. I was glad for the experience; it really made me think about myself as a female in a male-dominated world which, growing up in this town where females are on the competitive edge, really made me think. In September, I will enter the "adult" world where no one will truly care where I come from or what I've done; all they'll care about is how I can help them or what I can do to make their life better.

How do you do?

Because of an interfering circumstance involving community service, I was unable to stay at the dental office as long as usual, so I only saw Dr. Okon do a filling. I'm not complaining about my time there, but there are so many fillings you can see before you start to get a tad bored. I know I've said this before, but maybe I'll try to venture to other parts of the office. The only problem is it's pretty hard to determine whether the procedure he performs when I'm there is something that I need to see. I'll be sure to check next week, but in the mean time I'm always looking around the office to see what I can do for my presentation.

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome baaaccckkk !

I returned to Dr. Okon's office after a two week break and nothing had changed much. The only difference was a new employee whose name I haven't yet acquired. Anyway, on Monday I went straight to the back of the office and watched Dr. Okon and Barbie, his dental assistant, perform laminate "surgery". There are not enough horrible words in the world to describe how disgustingly horrible this womans' teeth looked. To begin with, laminates were only done on the top row of her mouth and those teeth looked like they were rotting at the root. One particular tooth was broken so Dr. Okon rounded it and capped it. The bottom row of teeth was crooked and overlapped and, to my great surprise, was completely ignored by Dr. Okon. Perhaps she didn't have enough money to fix the bottom, but it was a mess.

My choice, my way, or the highway

As apart of the community service requirement, and my own enjoyment, I am participating in the Senior Citizen's event this year: as a dancer! The reason I'm so excited is that I will be dancing alongside the amazing Mr. Dennis Lupchinsky, the choreographer for all Lindenwold High School musical productions. I, along with Courtney Coe, Briana Woodruff, Shai McLeod and Victoria Cepeda will be showgirl-type back-up dancers. This will be the first time I have ever seen him doing dance for something other than the musicals and I was one of the first people who came to mind when he thought of his back-up dancers! I can't wait to do his amazing dancing skills justice, but I'm not particularly looking forward to singing and dancing to We Go Together again. It is honestly the most annoying, drama-filled dance/song to perform and I also have some mixed feelings about the way some people "dance", but in any event I will do what I am asked because I love Mrs. Triplo and hate to disappoint.

Disney World: The Hap-hap-happiest place. On. Earth !

Woo-hoo! Disney World was super fun, interesting and, surprisingly, educational. Of course, as was required, I made a connection between Disney World and dentistry. One thing I noticed was the teeth of the various Disney characters I saw around the park. Take Goofy for example, he is a dog who is, as his name describes, goofy. He isn't a villain, and isn’t a bad character; in fact, he’s a very innocent, naїve dog. Maybe they gave him the gapped buck-tooth teeth to seem funnier. It seems Disney gave him big teeth to make up for the fact that Mickey and Minnie Mouse, both mice that are supposed to have enlarged front teeth, have no teeth at all. I think commercialism, especially that of the wonderful world of Disney,  uses the aspect of teeth to further push the image that they want people to see.

What the french toast!?!?

As a child, I watched ALOT of television. When I say "alot", I don't mean afterschool when I was finished my homeowork or after going outside, television was my LIFE. I know that may sound a bit dramatic, but it's entirely true; I was addicted to televsion. So, from about birth up until the end of freshman year, I was completely and utterly glued to my television, even going so far as to refuse to eat unless there was a T.V. in front of me. The only thing that changed this was theatre. As some of you may know, the plays take up alot of time, leaving very little time for me to watch my best friend.  Anyway, lately I've been watching a little more T.V. than usual, never straying far away from my new love: the computer, but there is one thing in particular that I love to watch and that is the Orbitz commercials. They are always fresh, funny and original. One commercial in particular is about a woman who confronts her philandering husband and his mistress. The original part of this commercial is that in lieu of standard profanity, they use funny phrases like: "What the french toast?" and "Who are you callin' a cootie queen you lint licker!?!". What does this have to do with my project? Pretty much everything, considering it's a gum commercial and my project is about dentistry. I thought that making dentistry funny and enjoyable might get more people to realize that it's really not that bad. Sure your gums will hurt after an occasional visit, you might even bleed, but if you take care of your teeth properly, you will have absolutely nothing to worry about the next time you visit Dr. Drill.

Denta-wha? Denta-who?

This week at Dr. Okons office was actually a bit different than regularly. I was jumped from room to room, and felt a little in the way, but got a chance to talk to a woman who was being prepped for a root canal. Unlike most of the people who come through the office, she was young, and not afraid to speak whatever word came to her mind. Even though I go to school with about 500 students who curse like nobody's business, myself included, but I was not used to patients, for lack of a better word, who come in the dentist's office and curse. Even though she was pretty liberal with her mouth, I enjoyed talking to her about her impending procedure; giving her the "run-down" of what would happen, even learning some more things from Kathy, one of the dental assistants. I have a few more months of documenting to go and although I've only really connected with Janet and older Kathy, the receptionists, I do enjoy going there most of the time and can't wait until Wednesday to go again.

Pruh Pruh Pruh Prrrooommm Pruh Pruh Pruh Prroooommmm

Hello Blogspot, It's that time of year. What time of year you ask? Promtime! I know that just about every girl in the country is thinking about prom right now, even though it's months away. I should probably be thinking about the impending senior trip, or my birthday, both just about two and a half short weeks away. There is so much for me to think about this year, including graduation, but somehow, in the grand scheme of things, prom is at the top of the list. The problem with prom is that it's the one time of year when everyone is expecting you to be big, grand and beautiful. Even though I know that I have pretty decent taste and will have no problems looking nice, I have one major problem that most single prom hopefuls have: I have absolutely NO clue who I'm going to take to prom! The worst thing that can happen to a single, senior girl is going to problem alone. I know going alone isn't the worst thing that can happen in the world, but I need some arm candy! (I really hope that doesn't sound too conceited or shallow) While I'm on my date-hunt, I'll keep in mind that going to prom alone isn't the absolute worst thing that could happen to me, but that doesn't mean I won't try my hardest to get one! By the way, the dress above is the one I plan on wearing!

Is Grease really the "Word"?

I am fully aware that Grease is long gone and other cast members who have Senior Project talk about it entirely too much, but I have one last point to make before hanging up that Pink Ladie's jacket. During Act 1 Scene 7, Roger (Kyle Thompson) and Jan (Briana Woodruff) talk about Coca-Cola, and the effects extended use may have. Granted it was a musical, but it made me think about how products were made a few decades ago before anyone knew the "dangers" they possessed. One question that came to mind was: Have soda companies changed the amount of sugar in their drinks after learning the affects sugar has on enamel? Perhaps companies like that are only there to make a quick buck, but maybe they have "toned it down" a bit. Even making a diet substitute to everything is a step in the right direction.

High School = : [ Graduation = XD

As I've said in previous blogs, I don't consider myself a very rude, overly obnoxious, mean-spirited person, but it seems as though people love to test my patience. Considering the people who attend my school, you would think that I'm this rude, over-bearing, violent, impulsive girl who loves nothing more than to instigate fights, start arguments, talk about girls behind their back and smile in their face. Personally, I absolutely despise it when girls fight over boys, especially in high school. In the end, both girls look stupid and only one of them "wins" the affections of a boy who isn't worth the time they give. The only thing that makes me angrier than girls fighting over a guy is when they try to include me in the debacle. There is NO boy in my school, or the world even, worth fighting for, especially if the boy in question wasn't mine to begin with. High school girls are crazy and I'm so thankful that in three short months I will no longer be grouped with them.

Down the Dental Roadd Again

On yet another excursion to the magical land that is Dr. Okon's office, I witnessed another denture fixing. To be honest, it's starting to become a bit redundant. Other than the denture fixing, which was pretty standard, I saw a root canal. Unfortunately, I only saw the end of it which consisted of him sticking a half-inch plastic stick-like object into two holes he drilled into the man's teeth. Even though I haven't seen anything different in the past two weeks, I very much enjoy going there and learn alot. I may not have learned anything new yet, but I have learned alot, as much as can be learned by observing anyway, about the things I have seen. As always, I can't wait until next week when I can, hopefully, learn something new.  

On the Road Again

On Monday I went to my weekly sponsor visit and....nothing was different. In the procedure aspect anyway. I saw Barbie, one of Dr. Okon's dental assistants, fixed dentures and Kathy saw a woman for a denture screening, which is basically a fitting for dentures. I had to leave a bit early because of an important rehearsal, it being production week. Eventually, I will start to visit twice a week, getting as much information and "spectator knowledge" as I can.

Genetic Connection

After beginning my "shadowing" of Dr. Okon and his workers, I've found myself paying more attention to peoples teeth. I've never really liked looking into peoples' eyes as I've found it a bit uncomforatable and intimate, but, when in deep conversation, I shift my gaze from their nose to their eyes. As of late, I've been looking at their teeth and I've noticed that siblings teeth model their parents'. My and my brothers' teeth both have one small likeness: our upper left central tooth juts out in front of our upper right central tooth. I've noticed this about other people and their siblings as well. Perhaps teeth, like everything else the human body is made of, is simply a clone of their parents, having less real originality than thought of.

(To Hand Jive Beat) Standing in the Bread line Babehh OH YEAH!!

As you all know, I'm a senior in high school. I'm a 17, going on 18, year old senior in high school and I have no job. The life of an unemployed senior is a tough one; senior year being the most expensive time in high school. My family isn't dirt poor, but we're not exactly rolling in the dough. I've recently come into some money, which I use for some of my senior expenses, but it's not enough and I absolutely despise asking my parents for money. It's not like I haven't tried, I've tried very hard, I just haven't been very successful. So, if you have a friend, or a friend of a friend, hook a "sistah" up. 

Senior + Freshman = PAIN!

I don't consider myself a very violent or angry person, although I can be a bit difficult at times. However, I don't like the way some freshmen around the building have been acting towards me. Almost everyone who knows me would consider me a nice person and I'd like to think of myself as a nice person, but why be so rude? The worse part is: I don't even know the girls in question; I've only seen them in passing, so it's a mystery to me as to why they would act that way.

Another Journey

Yesterday, one of my pre-determined days to visit Dr. Okon's office, I witnessed two dental procedures including: the fixing of a bonding, a permanent filling, and an extraction, which I thought was a bit gory because the man was a senior citizen with a small amount of teeth and had a mass amount of blood pertruding from the extracted tooth.

Visit Numbuh 2

Yesterday I had the extreme pleasure of going to Dr. Okon's office and, get ready for it, HE WAS THERE! I met his dental assistant, Kathy, and watched as they worked cosmetic magic on a man's mouth. The patient had a bit of an overbite, a cavity, and overlapping front teeth, but by the time Okon was done they looked perfectly fine. I was there for about an hour, because I had play rehearsal, but I found myself wanting to stay much longer and, to my relief and pleasure, the whole procedure really interested me. I sat in wonder and amazement while he crafted this man's horrible mouth into a work of art, well not maybe work of art but it was a great improvement. Hopefully I can try to go again this week, possibly on Wednesday, another busy day for the office.

Connection has been made! [ Visit Numbah 1 ]

Today I had the extreme pleasure of finally going to Dr. Okon's office to observe. Okon wasn't there, but one of his assistants, whose name I unfortunately forgot, was nice enough to show me around the office and who also let me observe her fixing a woman's, whose name was Sarah, dentures. She used a paste to see where the dentures were rubbing against Sarah's gums. After seeing where the denture's were irritating her, she filed off some parts and polished it when she was done. All-in-all, it was pretty fun and very interesting. I actually can't wait to go on Monday.

Quote ..... End Quote

"Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species"

                                                       

                                                       - W. Somerset Maugham, A Writer's Notebook, 1949

I, being the partially cynical person that I am, found this quote to be both hilarious and somewhat true. I'm not saying that love is a wasted emotion for the masses, although in my darker time I might have said that. This quote does two things for me: portrays love as a menial faction, which could help to get overe an ex or explain some male behavior, and it shows that there are people who are too over critical of love and there is a way to prove this quote wrong. I think this is one of those quotes that everyone can relate themselves to.

Technical Difficulties

Yesterday, as is put on the "field day" schedule, I was supposed to meet with Dr. Okon, my sponsor. Unfortunately, I couldn't because of some people's incompetence. Nonetheless, I called his office with my sincerest apology and was told to reschedule for, possibly, Monday. I learned that, on Fridays, the office closes at 2:00 pm, so I would've eventually had to change the schedule, seeing as how I couldn't possibly go for half an hour. From now on, I'll probably go every Monday, which might be difficult because his schedule is never the same, but I have talked to his secretaries and maybe we can try to come to some sort of agreement.

Get Connected for free! [FREE]

One article that I found, relating to my wonderful project of course, was about a woman who needed braces after her pregnancy, with twins, sapped the calcium from her teeth, causing them to separate. The first word that came to mind was: strange. I know a bit about the whole pregnancy process, like how the baby is basically a little leech, feeding off of the mother's nutrients, which is the reason all mommies-to-be need pre-natal vitamins and such. It's very odd that her preganacy sapped her calcium thought. Perhaps she didn't take her vitamins as directed or maybe, because she was carrying twins she should have taken twice as many vitamins? This article did two things to me: make me feel excited to join the dentistry field and find out more about cases like this and scared to have children.

Sponsor say what? Sponsor say who?

As you all may know, and if you don't you're a loser, I plan to become a dentist. When thinking about possible career ventures, I decided to choose a profession that can keep me finacially stable and one that peaks my interest. Seeing as how I'm in Senior Project, it's only natural that I choose my towns' local dentist Dr. Joel Okon. The problem I seem to be facing with Okon is: I haven't talked to him yet. We've actually established that I will visit him once a week for the next couple of months, but so far I've mostly talked to his secretaries. I completely understand that he is a busy man, but come on! The only words exchanged between us have been "hello". It seems I need to have cavaties just to have a conversation with him. However, I will be meeting him on Fridays. Maybe we can chat then.

Tis the Season of Great Economical Folly Fa-la-la-la-la La-La La-LA!!

Have you ever looked at someone's teeth when talking to them? Have you ever noticed that models for elegant clothes and fashion designers have nice teeth, or don't show their teeth at all? This is because bad teeth are bad for marketing. Take the picture to the left for instance, I'm pretty sure this woman is a nice person and, if she kept the cave shut, her face would be pretty decent, but her teeth completely throw whatever beauty she may have had out of balance. Personally, I feel like throwing chunks just looking at her. The main focus of this picture is to deter people from smoking, even though they do it anyway. The next time you talk to someone casually, look at their teeth and see if it distracts you.

Moochas

For those who don't know me personally, which are most who read this blog, I have a family of moochers. What is a moocher? The Johnson-Gibson-Martin-Webster-Davis family. Yesterday, there was a family dinner at my Mom-Mom's house, which is the tiniest apartment for all the biggums that were there, and I, now being a licensed driver, was asked to run all sorts of errands. Between driving from my house to my aunt Lisa's house, from there to Mom-Mom's shack, to the White Horse Pike, on the way to the mall, then back to Lisa's house to drop something off at Mom-Mom's. I was a bit tired. Then, my wonderful little brother, Andre, decides that he wants to go back home to change his clothes and charge his micellaneous items and I had to be the one to drive him there! I, being a new driver, have no problem driving around town, but what they were asking was ridiculous! They reminded me of Dave Chappelle's wonderful character Tyrone Biggums, who, because of his addiction to cocaine, is constantly mooching off of someone. Maybe next weekend they'll ask me to drive to Cherry Hill and fetch them Beedies.

POUR QUE CONAN? POUR QUE!?!?!?

There are reports that Conan O'Brien, host of The Tonight Show, will be leaving, fofr an undisclosed amount, to make way for Jay "The Chin" Leno's big return back to the show he hosted for 11 years. Personally, I would say this is a big slap in the face, for Conan, considering all the fuss and changes they made to have Leno on "Primetime". They literally had Leno take another show while Conan took his spot and Jimmy Fallon took his spot. They made the switch seem so big and fantastic, only to change it back a few months later. Is this all to please Jay? Frankly, and you can disagree with me on this one, I don't think he's all that funny. For me, the punchline of his show is that enormous piece he calls a chin.

Freeeessshhhiiieeeessss!!!

I finally made a breakthrough with one of my freshman last week. Usually, all he seems to want to talk about during our one-on-ones is sports. The conversations go a little something like this
me: Hey! What's up? How was your week so far?
him: Good
me: Would you like to elaborate?
him: Really good
me: So how are sports coming along?
him: Can I go now?

That was a typical conversation when we would have one-on-ones, but last week was different. In an effort to get some substantial words from him, I asked him more about home life and, to my surprise, he actually opened up. I was so glad that he did, that I opened up about my home troubles, to show him that he can open up to me about anything.

Make up, To Break up

"Break up to make up, that's all we do First you love me then you hate me That's a game for foolsBreak up to make up that's all we do First you love me then you hate meThat's a game for fools" -The Stylistics

Remember a previous post I made about relationships? No? Scroll down, look at older posts and it's the second one I made. Reading that entry before this one will help you better understand my problems. The one thing I've learned over the weekend, that I really should have learned from previous mistakes, is that exes are exes for very good reasons. One would think that with my sordid past, I would have learned this by now, but it seems like everytime I cut off one of my exes they always seem to want me back. WHY!? I honestly don't think I'm that amazing to the point where they're ruining, maybe that word is a bit strong, my life. One mistake I will never make after this weekend, and last year, is to make up with a break up.

R.i.P Teddy

I hate writing about death, but this r&b singer's passing was just too much to take lightly. Pendergrass was only 59 when he died of colon cancer yesterday, in surburban Philadelphia, where he had been hospitalized for months. He had been an incredible sex symbol with such hits as "It Don't Hurt Now", "Love T.K.O" and "Close the Door" until a car crash in 1982 left him paralyzed from the waist down. His sex symbol status had been replaced with that of a role model; an inspiration. He was a man that exemplified eroticism, without coarse language, and his music will live on forever.

I ♥ SAT words!

Hi. For today's blog, I have to incorporate three SAT style words, found by my classmates, in a blog about myself. Let's see if I can do it.

During the weekend, I tried to find out why my computer wouldn't run my Sims 2 game. When I delved deeper into the subject, I found that the DVD-Rom drive wasn't holistic, and I had to buy more pieces to make up for the lost ones. After nearly ripping my computer apart, my parents decided to buy me another computer. Because of my amateur computing skills, my computer broke and left me in moratorium.

Baddies in Training

As I've explained before, my job as a mentor is to guide my freshman in the right direction. In last week's Mentor blog entry, I complained about the lack of interest with some of my freshman, and how some of them take their frustrations out on me. This week, however, I have nothing but good things to say about my freshman. Perhaps it was a simple phase where they felt upset, but now they open up to me again as I try to help them with their problems. Most of their problems can be easily solved, given the proper attention. Most of all, I think that my freshman may just need someone who can be their friend but also their guide. I've realized, although I've been told before, that I must develop a relationship surpassing a peer, but not yet equaling a teacher, which is a bit difficult to do. By the end of the year I hope to bond more with my freshman so that, hopefully, they want to come to me with their problems when I graduate. I also want to establish the fact that I will always be here for them when I can.

The T-t-twiits!!

Usually, I'm a fiend for books, always looking for different types of books to get my hands on. Unfortunately, I really haven't had much time to read any books, having been kept busy by play rehearsal. However, one thing I do enjoy is to re-read books that I bought as a child. As a toddler, I always asked someone older to read books to me. Forever intrigued by words, I was a constant pest to my family so, as a result, I learned to read before I enrolled in kindergarten. One book I love to read as I eat at home, which is the only time I actually do read lately, is Roald Dahl's The Twits. The book revolves around two nasty ol' senior citizens, who treat children, and people in general, horribly. There's one statement, or mantra, in the story that really relates to my project and, more importantly, my research paper. When the Twits were young, they looked normal. After years of behaving nasty, or ugly, their appearance started to match their personality. Most important to my topic, their teeth started to jut out and turn yellow and people liked them less and less. Not to say their attitude had nothing to do with it, but their appearance, particularly their teeth, was the last straw.

Don't be Tarday fo' Da Partay

My weekend was pretty uneventful, the most interesting part was when I got my hair done, but two good things did come out out of a horrible day. On Saturday, I was told, by my wonderful mentor Ms. Sykes, that I was to go to a nearby dentist's office and talk to him personally about being my sponsor. I went to the place at 8 A.M, thinking that they would open bright and early, and to my disdain, yeah I'm using SAT words, they were closed until 9 A.M. I went home, defeated, and called them at 9:05 A.M., just to make sure they got in, and, to my surprise, they didn't answer. Determined not to burn in hell with my worst enemies (insider), I called again at 10:15 A.M. and a receptionist finally decided to answer! Because the dentist was busy with a patient, I talked to the receptionist about my situation and am going to go there today. The moral of that story is: don't trust receptionists! She said he would call me back at his earliest convenience, yet I am still waiting on that call. Anther thing I learned is: DON'T EVER GO TO A PARTY UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU CAN GET IN!!!! Some people like to send out mass messages promoting a party, then wonder why so many people showed up! Even worse, they have about 100 people standing outside in 20 below weather pointlessly waiting to get into a party whose host already pre-determined who was going to get in and who should've sent out invitations if it was going to be an invitation-only party! It'll be a cold day in hell before I EVER stand outside that long for a party again.

Mentoriing

I'm a senior mentor at LHS. My job as a senior mentor, is to guide, not influence, my selected freshman in a certain direction. Being a mentor has given me some personal growth, as well as an example of what I was like when I was their age. Not to say I'm a Perfect Patty now, but when I was a freshman I didn't care about much of anything. In fact, freshman year was the worst for me, from a scholastic point of view. Because I was an academic failure during my freshman year, I try to help my freshman not imitate my actions. By giving them as much information about their future as possible, I think I may have been getting through to them. The only problem about being a senior mentor are the freshman who really don't care. They push your buttons and give off that "This is whack, I don't have to listen to you" attitude. These type of freshman, though there are few, bring two types of attitudes to my mind: anger and determination. Every time I begin to get angry at those type of freshman I remember that those type of freshman are the reason LHS started using the Freshman Seminar Program.

I recently checked out a book in the library, per Mr. Abrams request, titled The Human Genome. For today's wonderful blog, we were asked to write about a book that relates to our senior project. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a book directly related to dentistry so I decided to read about the next best thing. A dentist-in-training, as I've been told, basically studies the same thing as a doctor-in-training, at least until they enter their respective training schools (Dental School and Med School). The book basically talks about the progress of all sepcies as a whole, how they have evolved, and some theories about their evolution. Its main appeal to me, when choosing it in the library, was that it was small, and colorful. I hadn't really thought about actually reading it, but, thankfully, it was pretty interesting, at least to me (who thinks the Discovery channel is pretty fun to watch). This book only helped my decision to continue to pursue a career in medicine, whether it be dental or otherwise.

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year!!! I think we all know why I'm so happy about 2010, anyone with working retnas can see why, but I'm not just happy about graduating, I'm happy to finally see the end of 2009. It wasn't one of the best years for me and I'm happy to start fresh and new. Speaking of new, I have to start thinking more seriously about Senior Project because so far I've been taking it extremely lightly. Firstly, wow I can't believe I just used "firstly" as if this were an important essay, I would like to stay on topic in and out of class. Seeing as how I haven't yet acquired a sponsor, I think that my slacking-off has officially hit an all-time high, but I'm going to buckle down. For my Senior Project Reasearch Paper, I intend to write about how oral hygiene affects personality, confidence and popularity. Mostly using the perspectives of high school students, and employers, both of which seriously take good oral hygiene very seriously. For the newbies out there, my senior project will be on dentistry/dental hygiene.