Marla Braziel

You know that a profession has a bad name when the thought of it brings back memories of a really campy horror movie. The dentist is my least favorite of all medical professionals. It actually goes in this order: dentist, doctor, optometrist. I rank my list mainly by pain factor, but also by expense.

There is a 100% guarantee that every single time I go to the dentist, I am going to experience some form of pain, whether it be from the skin being ruthlessly scraped off the top of my mouth from the hard edges of X-Ray slides to the painful bleeding of my gums as they’re being pulled away from my teeth with an explorer. Mind you, that is all just in the initial consultation visit. We haven’t even gotten to teeth cleaning or the ever popular cavity filling. The moral of the story is, if you go to the dentist for anything, you can plan to bleed and be in pain.

I’m writing this post because I had a dental check up today, the first I’ve had in some 4 years, if you don’t count going to the dental school, which I don’t considering that I decided not to continue going there for dental care. My mother has a nice horror story about having teeth extracted without Novocain. The type of story that makes you want to march into the dental school with guns blazing while you’re listening to your mother cry about mistreatment over the phone.

When the dentist came to give me the verdict on my teeth, all seemed well. She promptly told me that my wisdom teeth were fine and that there was no indication that I needed to have them removed. This quickly worked to gain my trust, as every dentist that I’ve went to since I was 18 years old has tried to pressure me into having them removed. I’ve always figure that if they don’t hurt then they don’t need to come out. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

So, once we got past that nice revelation, she went over the rest of the X-rays with me, telling me that my teeth were in considerably good condition for someone who hadn’t seen a dentist in over 4 years. She said that there were only a few minor things that would need to be done to get my mouth back up to par.

Awesome, I thought. Knowing that ‘minor’ to a dentist still means a few hundred dollars to me, I figured I might be able to skate away with a $500 bill before my insurance kicked in and paid its 80%. My eyes nearly bulged out of my skull when I discovered that ‘minor’ actually equaled $4,000 worth of work. My insurance would only cover $500 of this. Dear God, you would have thought I would have needed a new mouth entirely.

I laugh now to think that just a month ago I was concerned with the high cost of having to have a hysterectomy, which would have been around $7,500. I averted that disaster. Now I’m faced with the thought of having to have my thyroid removed, which would also cost around $7,500. But I never imagined that getting my teeth worked on would cost anywhere near that price range. Even on the worst side of things, I didn’t expect a bill of over $1,000. $4,000, however, is entirely unaffordable.

As I look at my estimate, I’m still not quite sure what it’s all for. When the dentist was talking to me, she told me about a few minor cavities which could be taken care of with simple fillings and then some upkeep work on my already existing fillings. The kick in the balls was that she wants to do two crown replacements. From what I can remember her talking about, which it should be noted that I have the attention span and memory of a goldfish, only one of the crown rebuilds was 100% necessary because it was accompanied by a cavity. I don’t remember her talking about the second one really needing to be done.

To me, dentists are like mechanics. I seriously have no idea what’s going on inside my mouth. I just brush my teeth every day and go on with my business. If it doesn’t hurt, I typically don’t bother with it. Having said that, I could take my car in for an oil change and they could rake me over the coals with things that may or may not really be wrong with the car. I’ll just nod stupidly and pay for it. True story. One time I went to have the breaks serviced on my car and the guy told me that my Johnson Rod needed to be replaced. I simply nodded and said, “Okay,” at which point he informed me that there’s no such thing as a Johnson Rod. My teeth work pretty much the same way. A dentist could tell me anything and I’d believe it, though that doesn’t mean I’m actually going to have it ‘fixed’ if finances don’t allow.

I called my mother and gave her the verdict when I got home. She was rather outraged, despite the fact that she doesn’t have to flip the bill for it. She practically demanded that I go somewhere else for a second opinion.

At first, I brushed the idea aside. My insurance isn’t going to flip the bill for a second opinion, and X-Rays and what not will probably cost me another $100. However, the more I think about it the more I’m beginning to think that it probably would be a good idea. $4,000 seems like a ridiculous amount of money, and at this point I’m not really sure what should be done right now and what could wait. The dentist made it sound like the vast majority of it was more cosmetic than anything else. Even writing this makes me think that a second opinion is probably a good idea. And in case you’re wondering, I went to Monarch Dental.

The title of this post admittedly reminds me of 2 Girls 1 Cup . . . which I never saw. Anyway, back on topic. Lots has gone on this past week. I managed to get 3 things published: Blood Lust (the final book in the Sunset High Series), the Sunset High compilation (Books 1 – 5), and a short story that’s been sitting on my desk top forever.

I’m doing a LibraryThing Giveaway for the compilation and the short story. You can get in on it here: http://www.librarything.com/er/giveaway/list The giveaway for Happy ends on 05/22/2012 and the giveaway for Sunset High ends on 05/22/2012. Those who sign up will receive a free copy via a Smashwords code. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Since I’ve been busting ass this week trying to get everything formatted and sent to both Amazon and Smashwords, I decided that I would take a break for the rest of the day. But after a few hours of playing video games and watching my pets run around the living room I’ve gotten bored so it’s back to the grind.

So, what’s next you may wonder (at least those of you who haven’t read previous posts as to what’s next on my agenda)? I’m digging up a previously written piece of work. In fact, it’s the first full length novel that I ever wrote, when I was only 14 years old. Weighing in at over 135,000 words. In case you’re wondering, that’s longer than The Hunger Games. The genre? Real life young adult drama. Think something along the lines of Catcher in the Rye yet nowhere near the same. A semi-dark true story.

I’m not sure how well it will go over with the adult crowd, because it talks about kids doing the things that they really do at that age . . . which seems to be a lot more than parents are ever willing to admit. And it’s far too mature for a young adult readership, despite the fact that the story is written around the lives of 14 year olds. Still, it’s a story that needs to be told, because I have promised so many people that it would be published, despite the fact that none of them would want it published now that we’ve all gone our separate ways.

The name of the book is Suicide Party, and it is due for release at the end of June.

Well, that’s your book news for this week.

Earlier today I finished reading Mockingjay, the last book in The Hunger Games series. One thing that caught my attention before I even went to see the movie (which was before I read the series), was how people at work kept comparing The Hunger Games to Twilight. Mind you, aside from both being young adult fiction, these books are in two entirely different genres. Twilight is paranormal romance. The Hunger Games is Sci Fiction/Fantasy.

On any note, I thought I would take the time to write a post about how Twilight and The Hunger Games are not anywhere near the same. Be forewarned that there will be spoilers in this post as I have read both series in their entirety. So, if you haven’t read the books and are eagerly awaiting the movies to finish rolling out then I advise you to stop reading this and find something else to do with your time.

The Heroines

Katniss Everdeen – Katniss grows up in poverty and quickly learns how to survive through hunting and bartering. She’s incredibly selfless, caring more about those around her than herself which is what leads to her ending up in The Hunger Games. In The Hunger Games (book 1) Katniss seems to function like a puppet, doing whatever is necessary to stay alive. During Catching Fire (book 2) we get to see the beginnings of psychological break down in the heroin. However, she stays strong for the most part. Again, she selflessly casts her life aside for someone else, Peeta Mellark, a boy that happens to be in love with her. By book 3 (Mockingjay), Katniss is a total mental wreck. While one of my co-workers complained that having a weak heroin made her unrelatable, I thought that the natural progression of Katniss’s unstable psychological state given her circumstances was rather brilliant. Most other writers would have tried to preserve her sanity for the sake of making her a stronger heroine. But the fact that in the end she was almost completely broken down, gives Katniss a better sense of realism to me.

Bella Swan – Bella Swan gets whisked away from her hometown to start a new school year in Forks. At her new school she encounters Edward, the mysterious and handsome vampire that all the girls seem to want but none of them can get close to. Curiosity and attraction draws the two together and they eventually become a couple. Meanwhile, her best friend Jacob has also fallen in love with her, causing tension. Oh yeah, and if you didn’t already know, Jacob’s a werewolf, which adds more tension to the pot since werewolves and vampires HATE each other. Throughout the entirety of the series, Bella strings Jacob along while pining for Edward. Being the love interest of a vampire puts a target on her back and she ends up being pursued by various other vampires throughout the series. Bella is completely helpless though, so she counts on Edward and Jacob to save her time and time again. At the end of the series, once Edward has made her into a vampire, she finally repays her two love interests by saving them from being annihilated by the Volturi in a very anti-climatic ending to the series.

Do I even really need to compare the two? Katniss Everdeen is a survivor where as if Bella had ever been left alone in Twilight she would have been dead within a chapter. Katniss Everdeen would risk her life for her family and friends, whereas Bella’s only concern ever seemed to be Edward. Screw the rest of the people around her. Bella Swan is only relatable on the level that we all secretly want to have our cake and eat it too. Who wouldn’t want two gorgeous guys tirelessly pursuing them no matter how much you hurt them? But that is about the end of it. Beyond that, Bella is nothing more than a helpless whiny selfish girl.

On a different yet related note, I give both Kirsten Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence props for the way they acted in their roles as Bella and Katniss. I thought that both of these actresses were spot on with their interpretations of the characters.

The Love Triangle

In both of these movies, first come first serve does not apply. In The Hunger Games, Gale came before Peeta and yet Peeta got the girl. In Twilight, Jacob came before Edward and then Edward got the girl. Let’s face it, for the most part, in Twilight, everyone thought that Jacob should win in the end. Why? Because he was the one who was always there for Bella no matter what. The compassionate friend. The protector. The guy who would walk through hell and back to keep Bella safe and make her happy. And let’s face it, he was hotter . . . waaay hotter.

Some fans of The Hunger Games were upset that Katniss ends up with Peeta at the end of the series. They know that she has always wanted to end up with Gale. That’s clear from the very beginning of the series. But seriously, there’s no way that Gale could ever understand or sympathize with Katniss like Peeta can, considering that they both experienced The Hunger Games, not once but twice. I would imagine that it would be hard to be in a relationship with someone who didn’t understand that emotional agony that you faced on a day to day basis from having endured so much torture in your lifetime. Not only that, but Peeta’s complete selflessness made him a worthy love interest. And in the end, Katniss saw all of that and made the right decision. Sometimes love comes softly (yes, I took that from a movie).

Let’s get into other differences between the love triangles. Katniss was brought together with Peeta out of the necessity to survive. She played him from the beginning, despite that fact that his feelings towards her were always genuine. There were several moments when their lives hung in the balance that she began to feel more than the lies she was telling him. How could you not in that type of situation? When you don’t know if the next day will be your last, I would imagine that it makes you particularly vulnerable to such feelings. As soon as the games were over though, she made her true feelings clear. The only times that she baited Peeta back in were when it was necessary for the games or when she was looking for a way to save him. There was never a time that she led Peeta on without a deeper purpose behind it. When everything was said and done after the first Hunger Games, she let both Gale and Peeta know where she stood. There was never anything hidden behind her actions. And respectably, both men decided to stand back and let Katniss figure out her feelings for herself. There was no fighting or emotional tugging and pulling between the men to muddy up Katniss’s judgement.

This was completely the opposite during Twilight. While there were moments of peace between Edward and Jacob, a large amount of the series they were pitted against one another, with Jacob aggressively trying to win Bella’s affection. Unfortunately, Bella played into this, leading Jacob on and causing the vast amount of the drama that occurred between Jacob and Edward because of it.

The Overall Stories

I watched The Hunger Games movie before I read the book. To be honest, within a few minutes of the movie starting, I was in love. It was awesome, though much less violent than I was anticipating. So, I believe it was the next day or a few days later I went out and bought all of the books in the series. A co-worker of mine convinced me to start with the first book, even though I would have preferred to start with the second. I actually ended up reading the first and second book at the same time. One thing I liked was that the movie very closely followed the book. There were only a few things that I think I would have paid a bit more attention to had I read the book before seeing the movie. One thing I didn’t like about the books . . . and this goes for all three of them, is that it takes FOREVER to get into the action. Seriously, a good 80% of the books are all about character development and a slow build. And there are plenty of anti-climatic scenes that I thought really should have been focused on more. For example, Prim dying towards the end of Mockingjay. I felt no sadness whatsoever. In fact, I felt more sorry when Finnick died. He was my favorite character from Catching Fire and Mockingjay aside from Katniss. Peeta was my third favorite character, followed by Buttercup.

It wasn’t even so much the fact that Prim wasn’t at the top of my list of characters as it was that Suzanne Collins spent less than a page describing her death. In fact, it was more like a paragraph (please note that I’m too lazy to get up and actually go count the paragraphs).

Another thing that really bothered me was how Katniss set out for the Capitol on her own, with the encouragement of others, and it ended up being a fruitless effort because the rebels caught up with them anyways. She never actually got to Snow, which made a large portion of Mockingjay pretty much seem pointless. So many people died in the attempt to get to Snow . . . including Finnick (R.I.P.). It just really really bothered me.

I know that there was something else I wanted to mention but I just drew a blank so I’ll move on to Twilight.

I think if you look up anticlimatic in the dictionary, there will be a description for the ending of Twilight. Imagine over half a book building up to this epic battle that never happens. Yup, that about sums it up. In fact, the last book in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn, can be summed up in two words: sex and disappointment. I’m still confused as to why they decided to split it up into two movies. Which brings me to another point . . . Breaking Dawn was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The wedding scene was so long that I literally felt like I was attending someone’s wedding that I didn’t give a crap about.

But anyways, I digress. I also did not start reading Twilight until I had already seen the first movie (which I hated). Don’t ask me why I decided to further punish myself by reading through the horribly written saga. In truth, I know that the answer is because it was the big thing at the time and I like to stay on top of things like that. But to be honest, between the bad writing and the selfish estrogen soaked storyline, I had a hard time making it through and am not particularly anticipating the last movie. I think a lot of people are sick of it at this point though.

Getting off subject again. So yeah, another funky thing about Twilight is the imprinting. There’s nothing like watching a teenage boy suddenly fall in love with a baby. While I know that’s not exactly how it works, the whole concept is bizarre and rather disturbing.

In conclusion, do I think that The Hunger Games is anything like Twilight. Not in the slightest. The fact that there are two guys after one girl is about where it stops. If you’ve read this entire article then I don’t even need to state which series I enjoyed more. Though, to be honest, neither of them really blew my mind. I guess I’ll just have to wait until the next Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings comes out (I don’t literally mean the next Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, but rather something new and similar to them).

I’ve decided to do a segment on things that people can do to lead happier lives. Lord knows we could all stand to be a bit happier in today’s society.

Happiness Tip #1 – Change One of Your Faults

We all have things about ourselves that we don’t like. It’s human nature to pick up bad habits along the path of life. Sometimes your fault might not even be a habit, but a mannerism. Below is a short list of a couple of things that people may like to change about themselves.

• Smoking
• Drinking
• Binge Eating
• Biting your nails
• Spending too much money

The end result of doing the action that you consider to be one of your faults is that you feel bad about it afterwards. It makes you feel less than great about yourself. Needless to say, this can lead to disappointment in oneself and depression. So it only really makes sense that if you can eliminate your faults then you would be a happier person. But how do you go about doing it?

Your method of achievement for ridding yourself of your fault should be customized to the fault itself. However, no matter what fault your trying to correct, slow and steady is probably your best path to achievement. Most people don’t have the willpower to quit something cold turkey. So it’s important to reward yourself for taking baby steps (and that’s not saying that you should reward yourself by allowing yourself to do the thing that you consider a fault. That would be counterproductive)

The one thing you should definitely do is set a goal date for yourself at which you plan to have mastered the correction of your fault. Since it takes about 30 days to make or break a habit, a one month goal is typically ideal for most scenarios.

Below is a sample of how this would work for someone who is trying to quit smoking, assuming that said individual smokes a pack of cigarettes a day.

Week 1 – Cut down smoking from 20 cigarettes a day to 15 cigarettes a day.

Week 2 – Cut down smoking from 15 cigarettes a day to 10 cigarettes a day.

Week 3 – Cut down smoking from 10 cigarettes a day to 5 cigarettes a day.

Week 4 – Slowly go from smoking 5 cigarettes a day to quitting completely.

Of course, smoking is a really hard habit to kick, so you would likely need a more in depth plan to helping you quit smoking, such as chewing gum in place of smoking cigarettes, and dabbling in natural and store bought remedies. But the principle remains the same. Decrease until you eliminate.

For mannerisms the process is a bit different. For instance, if you tend to bite your nails, it might be a bit harder to cut back since nail biting is typically done almost subconsciously as a nervous habit. One thing that you can do to remind yourself not to bite your nails is to get into the habit of putting something unsavory on your fingers so that whenever they reach your mouth you instantly draw back. One thing that tastes putrid is waterless hand sanitizer. You could also try dabbing Tabasco on your nails, but then you run the risk of rubbing your eyes and that would hurt like crazy. Perhaps you could break two habits with one method that way.

The moral of the story is that there is a method suited to getting rid of just about every fault that a person has. Typically you shouldn’t try to rid yourself of all of your faults at once. Taking things one at a time is the best method for success. Once you’ve mastered ridding yourself of one fault you can always move on to the next.

If you have a fault that you’re not sure of how to change, post a comment below and I’ll brainstorm with you to see if we can find a solution.

To gear up for the release of the final book in the series, which could be available as early as this weekend, I’m giving away free PDF copies of Musical Chairs, the first book in the Sunset High series. All I ask in return is that you vote below once you are done reading. You can access the download link below.

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