Looking the Part

So it's two weeks later and I've got my new gold tooth installed! I like it. It's still settling in a bit, and I don't quite trust it yet... I do most of my chewing on the other side. I show it to everyone who will dare to peek into my maw. Two people have told me it augments the piraticality of my countenance.

Remember the Tooth

Last Tuesday I paid the first of two visits to my dentist for the purpose of acquiring a crown/cap. During that first visit, doc ground off half of a molar and the assistant (who used to ride my bus back in high school; I graduated with her brother) fitted me with a temporary cap. Now, I cannot keep myself from fondling that cap with my tongue. There's a plastic tooth in my head, and I guess I can't get over it. The permanent crown will be gold, which is better than plastic, I guess. But still, it's fake. And somehow, that is just a bit creepy.

Anvil Chorus

Yesterday, my friend Greg and I fired up my forge. It had lain dormant for at least a decade, but last weekend I moved 400 pounds of bituminous coal from my father's shed to my own and the blacksmithing bug bit. I had expressed confidence to Greg that we would at least be able to bend a piece of metal and we did just that. Two pieces, actually. We each made a hook from an old railroad spike; nothing to get excited about unless you made it yourself. Speaking of spikes, Spike TV has their list of 100 Things Every Guy Should Experience, which they fill with things like the SuperBowl and the Indianapolis 500. But if there were a list of 100 Things Every MAN Should Experience, blacksmithing would have to be on it.