Wearing it also eliminated the daily cluster headaches I'd had for years.

That's what I am kinda hoping for in wearing mine finally. It's actually gotten slightly less OMG PAINFUL DISCOMFORT in the last hour, so I can probably get used to it. (Or it was the handful of Advil. Don't care.) The idea of it being better for my teeth didn't really sway me but the pain my head has been in pretty consistently finally will. I know that the clenching is making that worse.

And I can drink water while wearing it. Decently well. Dribbled a little. But no one can see me. Hopefully I will adjust to that as well and get better at it.

Shit I Didn't Say: Facebook Edition I love you. You're a great friend. Nut, yes, posting on Facebook about whether you're too into yourself? Might be a sign that you're too into yourself. Ok, now that's settled, you can tell me you hate Obama every day for a *second* four years now.

Isn't it nice to have this place to let it out? I enjoy Facebook, but the toll it takes with the tongue biting is substantial. Like how I worked a mouth reference in there?

dear insurance co, you are stupid. Drug A - that you think I should take instead of drug R - is one of the many thousands of drugs I am taking for diabetes. The reason for drug R is that my current group of drugs is not ENOUGH. None of my drugs are fun -- R is the least fun. Luckily, tomorrow is my day off,So can fight all day.

no love, me

ps - thatnks so much for adding to my husband's stress.

Laura, wrod. Tep, It would almost be funny, if she were kidding.

I don't have a religion that replaces Christianity in terms of observances and decorations, etc, but I fought long and hard in school to not be made to sing Christian songs, be included in prayer sessions, etc. In Jamaica, you're fucked. The only competing demographic is Rastafarianism, and the class baggage there is...yeah. There was no neutral zone--I got in trouble for answering a question with evolution when the desired response was creationism--uh, it's SCIENCE class. Let's just pretend?

In the UK, at least at my school, it was better. The Moslem and Jainist. girls were quite "why do you have to make a fuss?" but I didn't want to be defaulted into things that people were supposed to mean. There was also no zero option, but they did let me go to Jewish assembly (assembly was religious on Tuesdays, only...) once a week, and since it was a choice, and no one minded me being there to learn instead of worship, things were cool.

The Christmas of Upper Fifth they tried to make me attend the Christmas services at an actual church and I kicked and spat and complained, and again the Moslem and Jainists were all "Shhhh." But I was fifteen and the bee was in my bonnet, and Mrs Shaw eventually obtained permission for me to go to the loosely Chanukah gathering instead, saying wryly "I'm not Christian either, but they won't let me not go to church." I was always very grateful for that.

Fuckit, though, in the end I spent a few months living in a convent hostel with the most ignorant nuns in the hemisphere, and they actually put their hands on me to get me into a prayer session before A Levels. Left my chemistry textbook on the floor of the common room, but since they'd already gone through my belongings and quizzed me about worshipping the devil, this was church I didn't know how to avoid.

Anyway--long way around... "bothered by otherness" and "coopted into observations you don't believe in" aren't the same thing at all. And the pattern of being co opted by the dominant race/religion/sexual orientation is very different from us living in a house with a mezzuzah, especially when you have a belief, a god, a set of rituals that go in that place people keep casually filling with the statistical "winner".

To properly leap into a hornet's nest, it strikes me as similar to "So black people can't be racist against white people???" which is rarely a response to a 180° version of the situation, because you can't escape history and entrenched power in society in that evaluation. While it is equally awful for black people to be prejudiced against white people as vice versa, the landscapes aren't mirror images, and the fifty fifth time you've had to say "That's not my god, that's yours" this month isn't like that time you got mistaken for gay when you were out clubbing.

I don't know how to explain the exhaustion and general psychological ache of trying not to be overwhelmed by other people's default assumptions of what and how you are when you just want to be you, but most other people are white/straight/sexual/cis/American/Christian/dominant and the disregard for your individuality is like an undertow that's pulling you out further and further from shore.

And I have no idea if the thought that was in my head as I was reading is now in the posting box, or if it's relevant, but I'm going to go with the submit button anyway.

What ita said. Thank you, ita. You said very eloquently what I've trying to articulate in my head since the discussion started.

Nora, the universe needs to checkity-check itself, I am saying. Sorry you had a crap day, too! KR came over and I vented and raged and nearly cried at one point. And we did start a project, so that's good. And planned another.

I've no dog in the conversation, but that's not out of disinterest, but because I've not the brain space, it being finals week and all.

And, ironically, I have a total First World Problem re: Christmas.

Last year, Em got the AG dolls Kit and Ruthie (1934). Each of them has a bed. For her birthday, she got Molly (1944) from her godparents. I have it on good authority that Em will be getting Caroline (1812) for Christmas from my mother. My question is do I buy two beds and give them both to her for Christmas? If I do, I can make four sets of bedding and give those as gifts. I am also going to be making a metric ass load of doll clothes for her dolls, as well. Or do I wait until after the holidays?

The funny thing is, Joe and I were totally going to get her Josefina (1824, New Mexico) because her collection was quite ... Caucasian. But we decided against it because there was a threshold we didn't want to cross with too many dolls. Of course that was before she got Molly, so that ship has now sailed. Anyway ...

Buy beds and make bedding or not and wait til after the holidays?

Also, I think my mother is trying to make-up for her own lack-of-dolls from when she was a girl with Em. Which I am totally ok with because the dang dolls are too spendy for me, yo.

Hmm, 4 AG beds is a lot of beds to house. That would be my only concern.

I say, tell her in those days, folks shared beds. And let the dolls double up. But what do I know, I'm just a guy who never had dolls.