things that make you go 'huh?'

From the 7 December 2009 Time, in a feature entitled, "The Year in Health: From A to Z," "If you've got both red hear and a fear of the dentist, you're not alone."

Yep, sounds exactly like me. (Actually, it sounds like pretty much everyone I know, regardless of hair color. Anyhow....) Apparently I have a gene that "shuts down a protein that would otherwise turn hair brown," and this fun, fun gene (the melanocortin* 1 receptor gene) also lowers the pain threshold. Of course, though, there's also research that shows the opposite and the Time writer(s) reports that "hair color and pain sensitivity are linked in some way."

From my own experience, I'm going to have to go with the former findings. I remember having dental work done when I was younger and being able to feel the pain from the drilling. I had already been given Novocain (not for the soul), yet I could still feel the pain. I remember being told either by the dentist or the dental assistant, "You can't feel any pain." I loved the condescending, exasperated voice the person was using too. Fun times.

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* Blogger's spellcheck has the following suggestions for this word: mulching, elongating, blanketing, plankton.

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[Eels -- Novocaine for the soul]
I cannot think of the word "Novocain" without thinking of this song, which I barely know anymore.