I never know what we may catch when I go fishing with my friend Mike. Sunday May 12, 2013 Pete, Mike and I were fishing in the Boca Grande area of western Florida.

Pete and Mike caught “Jacks”, I caught the only keeper, a 25″ trout.

It was a great day fishing.

Now it is back to work as a dentist in Palm Harbor.  I derive much enjoyment from dentistry.  If one loves their job, they never have to “work” one day in their whole life.

Having Graduated from Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery, I am very accustomed and comfortable sitting in the doctors stool and offering advise to patients.  I deliver my findings in honest calming tones offering options and alternatives to both good and bad situations.  Ultimately the patient and I reach some conclusion.  Twice this month I had to take off the doctor hat and wear the patient/parent of child hat.  It is so different.

Practicing dentistry, with a focus  on dental implants has given me enormous knowledge and insight into bone physiology as well as other more standard types of dental procedures.  This knowledge has not saved me from having a root canal on a front tooth fail.  The dental knowledge lets me know my choices.  Apicoectomy for tooth #10 or extraction, bone graft and dental implant.  The quick and most common solution would be the apico – but I feel this has a poor long term prognosis.

On Friday, April 19, 2013 I presented to my dentist’s office and while under oral conscious sedation, I had tooth #10 removed, bone grafting with a Peri-cardium membrane and interim replacement with a removable tooth.  Pain and swelling has been minimal.

The good old days, an expression used by many of us as we age, but were the old days any “gooder?” I think not.

In this first picture one can see the view from the back of the courthouse in Colonial Williamsburg.  This is a small room by today’s standards, but finished in magnificent detail.  As in any situation, it depends on which seat one sits in as to ones perspective.  During the pre-Revolutionary War era, someone appointed by the British Government would preside over the trial, but amazingly the person on trial might have been awarded many of the rights we all have come to expect – trial by jury, the right to confront our accuser, the right to an attorney.  Trials only took place every 90 days, this courthouse, in the Capitol of VA at the time was only for felony crimes, and the conviction rate was 54%.

This was a fun way for me to spend the spring break with my children, the first part of the trip was enlightening, in my opinion, Case Western Reserve University is truly an incredible university, but unfortunately the city of Cleveland has not pulled itself out of what appeared to my to be a deep depression decades ago.  The re-growth appears painfully slow, I needed to see that for myself.  My son will probably go to Boston University, or if accepted to Johns Hopkins.  The second part, Colonial Williamsburg was very educational for my son and I, but, it was torture for my daughter.  I was very unsettled, but enlightened by the horrors of slavery.  The public talks with Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry were awesome, I am just sorry we did not catch the public audience with George Washington.

In the jail

This is where those awaiting trial stayed, the jail, not a pretty place, but a jail is/was not meant to be a comfortable place.  Life in this era was harsh, inside the legal system, as a free person especially so as a slave.  Even though the conviction rate was 54%, many convicts got pardons.  A pardoned convict got branded on the left hand, very painful, but most convicts got hanged.  It was almost guaranteed that a branded, pardoned convicted that was tried again for a felony was hanged – two strikes and you are out.

We heard an actor playing Thomas Jefferson speak the first day, today we heard an actor playing Patrick Henry speak, as I mentioned above, I quite enjoyed the first presentation.

I love traveling, learning and spending time with my children, but I am looking forward to going back to real life being a Palm Harbor Dentist!

A circa 1920′s wedding gown

Every year since 1996 I have enjoyed a spring break with my children.  In 1996 there was just one, then in 1998 came the second bundle of joy.  As time marches on, my first child is 18 and will be heading off to college next year.  Next year he will probably want to spend his spring break with friends, normal and natural.

For this years spring break, I began planning approximately 6 months ago, trying to poll multiple personalities, to find some common happy median.  It was a futile effort.  Either we could not agree, or no one wanted to discuss it “now,” after all, it was months away.  After painful negotiating, I was somehow able to choose Colonial Williamsburg.

About two months ago, after my son, Mathew, was accepted to Case Western Reserve, I decided to include an excursion to visit the school in Cleveland, OH in this vacation.  Pictured is one of the wedding gowns displayed at a Case Western historical gallery exhibit.  This gown caught my daughter Kendall’s attention.  It very shinny and just what a “flapper” getting married might have worn.

After a very early flight yesterday and a 9+ hour drive from Atlanta to Williamsburg, we will tour Williamsburg for the next three days before getting taking the AutoTrain back to Tampa on Monday.  Then Monday afternoon I see a patient for extractions, dental implants, immediate temporary fixed bridge work and under sedation.

I hope to blog a little about history after immersing ourselves in the Colonial and pre-Colonial time periods the next few days.

This blog has nothing to do with dentistry, but I was so proud of my daughter after reading this.

Written by Kendall Jordan Caputo:

It is commonly accepted that William Shakespeare was one of the most brilliant poets and writers of all time, but what is not so well known is the conspiracy behind it. There is much evidence to believe that Shakespeare was not who everyone thinks he was. William Shakespeare, though he was recognized for writing many works, was not the poet responsible for the construction of various plays submitted under his name.

There is no evidence of Shakespeare even being a poet at all. The amount of information linked with other famous philosophers and poets of the time compared to the little to none about Shakespeare are uncommon and unusual (Pinksen 78). There are no letters, journals, or any other type of personal writing found by Shakespeare that had anything to do with his plays or literature. He never made public appearances to bring attention to himself, which was out of the ordinary, because given desire for fame and notoriety it is almost unheard of that someone would want to go unrecognized for their work.

Shakespeare simply did not have enough education to write the types of literature that he is commonly known for. Judging by the information that is pulled from the two universities, Oxford and Cambridge, schooling records show that it is impossible that Shakespeare attended a college (Pinksen 80). In fact, the highest level of schooling that he could have possibly attended was up to age fourteen! Through the so-called works of Shakespeare we find that the writer had an extremely high intelligence level that could only have come with great amounts of schooling. His extensive knowledge of languages, culture, and politics of continental Europe are too high given his education, especially with the fact that he supposedly had no familiarity with any of these things. “The writer of the Shakespeare plays had the greatest vocabulary ever seen in English history – nearly 30,000 words in his texts alone”, says Daryl Pinksen in Marlowe’s Ghost.The extent of this vocabulary cannot simply be attained or learned through everyday life. The depth of such plays could neither be understood, nor written unless intensely studied for years. “The vast compendium of learning, omnipresent in the plays, forms the canvas on which the writer displays an unparalleled understanding of human nature. The ease with which he can paint these essentially human stories on his medium reveals that he had not just read these books, but studied them closely”, says Daryl Pinken, again. The comprehension of Shakespeare with only limited education at a grammar school level is unheard of and cannot be explained. The idea of “miracle of Genius” to elucidate how Shakespeare did such things is accepted by many, when in reality one must not only be genius but also have countless years of study and schooling under their belt because grammar schooling education is not enough to accomplish such things (Pinksen 81).

A theory among many is that Shakespeare’s plays were written and submitted under his name by another party, not William Shakespeare. The Arden of Feversham, Edward II, and The Birth of Merlin along with countless others are plays that have been falsely credited to Shakespeare (Kennedy). Close to half of Shakespeare’s plays are recognized as very similar to that of Marlowe, one of the most famous poets of the time, based on creative style and much of Marlowe’s word usage and syntax is quite similar to those used by Shakespeare (Cynthia Morgan; themarlowestudies.org). Common nuances and touches of Marlowe can be found in Shakespeare’s plays along with various characters. Shakespeare’s works were written and published not by Shakespeare, but by other poets under his name.

Sources point to the fact that Shakespeare did not even in actuality spend most of his time commuting to the theatre district in London where his play were, but actually spent most of his time in Stratford (Pinksen 83). His neighbors and other townsfolk did not recognize him as a famous writer, which is odd considering that he was said to have been one of the most famous poets of the time. On the contrary, people knew him only as a cold businessman with lots of money. Another thing that is questionable is the fact that until years after his death, he was not even talked about. This is very strange because during that time poets were often praised and talked about soon after their deaths. In his will there is no mention of him being a writer or a famous poet (Pinksen 81). There is actually no evidence whatsoever that even links him to his so-called colleagues in it (HiWAAY.org).

Shakespeare was not the writer of the plays that he was credited for. The lack of evidence that Shakespeare was even a writer at all, the fact that he did not have the formal schooling and education required to write such works, and the evidence of no claim to fame on his own behalf show that Shakespeare had nothing at all to do with “his” plays. In all, there is no reason to believe that William Shakespeare was the great poet that he is recognized to be.

This picture was taken in New York City in November of 2011.  It was the last time Mike,r my sister Luciana or I saw Morten.  Thomas Berg, Morten’s best friend, traveled to New York City to visit, sight see and seek another opinion for possible treatment for Morten Sadolin’s prostate cancer.

Morten was also happy to see Bennett and Debbie, mutual friends, who arrived the day after this picture was taken.  We all had a great time.  Morten knew this might very well be  the last time he would be in the United States.  Morten enjoyed his life to the fullest.  I understand that Morten wrote a very touching speech, read by Thomas at Morten’s service.  Morten had a very full, yet shortened life.  I quote my friend Morten Sadolin, “you sleep when you get old.”  Morten never got a chance to get old, but he sure did live to the fullest in his 52 years.

Morten was always full of ideas and plans.  He was an tireless optimist.  He was loved by many and will be missed by many.  My deepest condolences to his widow, Bonnie and his three children, Emilia, Victor and Sophia.

R. E. Olds, creator of the Oldsmobile settled in what is now Old Oldsmar in the early 1900′s , this begins the history of modern Oldsmar.  He had plans for the almost 40,000 acres of land he purchased at the northernmost tip of Tampa Bay.  R.E. Olds designed and developed tree lined streets, built a 60 room hotel, grocery and hardware stores, a library, school, restaurants, cafes, dairy farms and plantations over eight years.  A powerful hurricane devastated most of the city in 1921.  Very little survived, just one factory and two hundred residents called Oldsmar home in 1923.  Olds shifted his focus, selling his investments in Oldsmar.  Tampa Bay Downs, his newly completed racetrack was traded for the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater.

Oldsmar was little noticed for many decades.  As the entire Tampa Bay area grew exponentially in the 1980′s, Oldsmar was revived.  Oldsmar’s central location between Tampa and Palm Harbor helped its rediscovery.

Homes from the early days survive today.  Visitors can take a walking tour of the downtown area which includes several historic buildings and homes from the 1920′s.  History is celebrated with a festival called “Oldsmar Days” sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.  The City and Chamber are working together to renovate the downtown area while preserving the “old Florida look and feel.”  Current residential dwellings in Oldsmar range from traditional residential development to master planned communities.  Amenities such as golf and country clubs, swimming pools, tennis courts and more are offered.  Several beautiful parks and nature preserves span Oldsmar.

My Daughter, Kendall Jordan Caputo, at Berkeley Preparatory School

What an incredibly happy surprise I received this Monday morning when my friend Tony showed me this page in Tampa Bay Magazine.  Although Kendall said she had told me that Berkeley Preparatory School was going to use her picture, I had no recollection.  I guess this happens more than I would like.

I love being Mathew and Kendall’s dad.