Before I went to Japan last fall my dentist told me I should have a root canal. Since I had no pain, I decided to ignore it. Last weekend I began having little twinges. By Tuesday afternoon the twinges had become more persistent. At 9:30 this morning I was in the chair. Until about 1 pm my mouth was held open with amazing amounts of stuff in it, but happily I felt nothing. Happier still, I finally got out of the chair, amazed I could still walk, and with a numb jaw went to my afternoon class.

I missed my Pittsburgh geology class, which is too bad; I’ll probably never learn that stuff. The afternoon class is my favorite, this semester: Travel writing from the Margins. I told you about it here. Today we discussed readings by Edward Said, Salman Rushdie and Andrew Lam. All three readings were about returning "home." I enjoyed the Lam and Rushdie, but the Said was too negative. I know you can’t go home again, but you ought to be able to find something positive in the changes.

By the time the class ended the novocaine had worn off and I got something to eat. Maybe I ought to get novocaine all the time. It seems to be the only time I don’t feel like eating even if I’m hungry.

At four I went to a lecture and at six I went to the Japanese Art History class. It’s been a long day.