As I mentioned last night, my oral surgery went very well. This was to remove the remains of my two front teeth which were replaced with crowns years ago following an accident. I was told a while back to adjust to the reality that these would eventually fail, and that when they did, replacing them with implants would be the advisable outcome. Flash forward to a recent visit to a dear friends' home, where his rambunctious little 100+ pound Great Dane puppy punched (for lack of a better term) me in the mouth. This completely loosened one of the crowns, though luckily it remained in place for the time being. But this meant my time was up, so yesterday the oral surgeon removed the roots of these teeth. The good news is that he deemed the situation favorable to also put in the implants during the same visit, meaning this process will take less time than it could. The bad news is that it's still going to be at least three months before I can get the permanent crowns placed. In the meantime I have a little removable set of dentures called a "flipper" to fill the gap. This is a lot like a retainer, so there's a little shelf of plastic on the roof of my mouth to help hold this in place. It's right where the tongue forms a lot of sounds, so this means I currently have a spectacular lisp and am going to have to work towards speaking properly. I'm also restricted to fairly soft foods for the foreseeable future. So while it will all be over soon enough, the next few months are going to be an adventure in inconvenience. On the other hand, I should be able to land the lead in a holiday show. Sing along with me... ♫"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth..."♫

Crowning Links:	Thanks Ant.
Play:	Calculator: The Game.
Stories:	Mathematician Terence Tao and the Collatz Conjecture. Thanks Slashdot. Virtual Tour Allows Caregivers To Experience Dementia-Like Limitations. Thanks Acleacius.
Science:	Scientists Found the Deepest Land on Earth Hiding Beneath Antarctica's Ice. It’s a Vast, Invisible Climate Menace. We Made It Visible. Thanks Acleacius. Asthma carbon footprint 'as big as eating meat.' Thanks Max.
Media:	Maria Bamford - Crazy Meds. NSFW. Why the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Don't Mix. Can Underwater Turbines Solve Our Energy Problems?