hey So I went to the dentist yesterday, determined not to put up with his all-knowing sneer but I was kinda obliged to back down. After all, I was strapped into The Chair and he did have one of his hooked tools of nightmare silver sharpness poised over the raw end of my exposed nerve and I was obliged to withdraw the testosterone I'd secreted for the showdown and tell a small white lie as to why I hadn't been to the dentist in about 2 years. And it wasn't even a lie - everything I claimed was true, although the timeframes were somewhat exaggerated. And even then, they weren't - the timeframes *implied* were exaggerated. And I didn't even really imply them - they would have been assumed by him relative to the story and I didn't bother to clarify my position. I think that's what is commonly referred to as lying by omission in court. So I'll bite the bullet (can do that now my tooth is not at risk of imploding) and I'll admit to a small white lie. Okay? Everyone satisfied? Good. Anyway, he fixed it up and it was all okay in the end. The one plus of going to my dentist is that he is literally 2 minutes away from Sunset Beach in Cape Town - on the little picture above on the left, it is the bit where the bay curves around and back up towards the left - so I went to park there for a bit, since it was like 24 degrees here. Centigrade; not fahrenheit. The beach was deserted - unusual but also not, since Sunset Beach is not a great swimming/surfing beach and has no amenities (kiosk, changing rooms, carpark etc). It is school holidays at the moment; but since it is also technically the bleak midwinter here in the southern hemisphere, I wasn't really expecting hordes of people. And there were about 4 others, so par for the course, really. It has beautiful views of the mountains which make the mainstay of Cape Town's picturesqueness (is that a word?) and I had my camera so I snapped some shots of the mountains and the waves and shit like that. Sunset is, on account of its residual desertedness, also an unofficial nudist beach, and there were one or two people letting it all hang out in the dunes. I say unofficial since it is illegal here to do that, but the cops don't tend to prosecute unless they actually get a complaint. While I am definitely not a prude or anything, I just don't think I could actually bring myself to strip off and stay naked for any length of time in a public place, apart from the gym locker room, and also I would be the one arrested by the cops, since my luck tends to run that way. I will admit to frolicking about in the waves in my underwear (since I didn't bring proper beach gear) for a bit, and then very briefly got naked - like 10 seconds - getting them off so I wouldn't wet my trousers with them, but that was the extent of my indecency. And that is my usual M.O. for any beach, since I am kinda shameless in short bursts. In other news, my mate and fellow karate student Wim almost has his eyebrow back! You'll remember we shaved it off in one of my first entries - number 9 or 10, I think it was - and although he said it wasn't cool (and probably rightfully so), even he finds it funny now. Took a good look at it last night at my Monday class and it looks pretty good, if a little thin in parts. But it's getting there. After that, during one of the more vigorous exercises we do at karate, I discovered why it's not a good idea to do athletic stuff in boxer shorts - your balls swing around with as much control as a bag of marbles in a washing machine. Still kinda feeling that this morning, it must be said. ok bye