A Commitment to Writing

I have promised myself that I will write at least ONE SENTENCE of my novel every day. Yesterday was the first day and I ended up writing a chapter. I still have to do my sentence today.

So far, the book pretty much sucks. But, I'm going to force myself to finish it anyway. For one thing, the plot is good, the characters are good, and I can fix the rest in revision. For another thing, even if it turns out terribly, I still want to accomplish this thing, and take this risk at failing. I can't keep hiding out from doing things just because I might fail.

Hopefully the one sentence will often lead to more each day and maybe I could finish it by 1/01/09! I won't make any promises about that, but I am going to write ONE SENTENCE per day indefinitely.


LATER: I wrote about a page, and now I have to go watch "Weeds." Jason has borrowed season 3 from his co-worker, so we can finally find out what happened! We've seen seasons 1, 2, and 4 already.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Today I took a break from horror (sort of) to watch 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' There are two great instances of actors working together in this movie and in later movies or t.v.

Jack Nicholson is the star, and Scatman Crothers plays the night guard. They appear together in 'The Shining,' in which Scatman is Dick Hallorann and Jack, of course, is Jack. Jack gets to cause trouble for the working man in both movies!

Danny DeVito and Christopher Lloyd both play mental patients in 'Cuckoo,' and later appear together in the show "Taxi." Lloyd's "Taxi" character, Jim, used to give my sister nightmares. He acted crazy on "Taxi." It's a good thing she never saw 'Cuckoo!'

Now I kind of want to watch 'The Shining,' to see Jack and Dick Hallorann (Plus I LOVE it when that kid talks with his finger!), and I kind of want to watch 'An Angel At My Table,' to continue the mental hospital, electric shock, lobotomy theme. What will I choose??

A Better Day

Yesterday was a bad day. I guess a migraine day, though I'm not diagnosed with getting migraines (though I don't really go to doctors, so how could I be diagnosed?). I felt like I had a cold when I got up, because my ears were plugged with pressure. But, I decided to sweat it out and do a tough cardio workout before working. I got through 43 minutes of feeling cold and then feverish and a little out of it. Then I started to hallucinate a little and also see lightning flashes in my peripheral vision, so I stopped. I ate an apple and a piece of string cheese and drank a lot of water. My vision returned to almost-normal. I took a shower and stopped feeling feverish.

But then the headache set in! If I moved my head even slightly in any direction, the pain was excruciating. I checked out what was available On Demand (on comcast cable). I found "BloodCopy," which is connected to the HBO show "True Blood." "True Blood" is a vampire series based on some books by Charlaine Harris, but the show is made by Alan Ball, who made "Six Feet Under." Anyway, "BloodCopy" is a bunch of 3- and 4-minute clips from a supposed news show, documenting the events of Vampires coming out into the open and demanding equal rights in the U.S. The political ads are pretty good -- one for the vamps is "Vampires Were People, Too."

So, I like "True Blood," but I did expect it to be a bit smarter, since it's Alan Ball. It's just the usual Vampire As Other, Vampire As Different Race stuff. That's the exact same stuff that 'Dracula' was about in 1897. The new part is just Vampire As Second-Class Citizen Because We're Scared, like we were of blacks and women voting and Chinese being eligible for citizenship. I hoped for more NEW. But, it's entertaining and I'll keep watching it.

After watching TV for a while (holding my head really still and sometimes moaning in my self-pity), I took a nap for an hour. I felt better after that, but still pretty crappy.

The whole day was wasted! I couldn't work because I couldn't stand to look at my computer screen for 60-90 minutes in a row. I had planned on working A LOT, so I was pretty disappointed. Today is a new day, and I feel fine. I'm going to be PRODUCTIVE.

Land of the Dead

I watched this one last night (again). So, this one is from 2005, and its premise is that the dead have been turning into zombies for a few decades, so the living have isolated themselves in walled cities. When someone dies, they must destroy the bodies immediately. So, these people don't make anything, grow anything, or do anything productive. They go out of the city to scavenge for food and other supplies, which they bring back into the city.



The rich live in luxury, shopping and eating well. The poor live in slums around the city. All the people have to keep them busy is vices: gambling, drinking, fighting, watching zombie fights, etc....

They've become so worthless that in this movie, the black hero is Big Daddy, the leader of the zombies! The zombies are remembering more things, and they're able to communicate, and to use tools. One of my favorite moments is when Big Daddy finds a jackhammer in the street, and he realizes what it is and how to use it. He yells, "Hah HAH!" and triumphantly waves it high in the air! My other favorite scene is when he realizes that the river bordering the city really isn't a deterrent like the humans think. He walks (with hundreds of zombies following) right into the water, and right across the bottom of the river and up the other side. The visual of all those heads calmly surfacing on the city's side of the river is so good!

There is a little kid zombie, who reminded me of Eddie Munster. He distracts a human on a skateboard so that a CLOWN zombie can come from behind and grab the human. Kids and clowns = superscary!

Since I don't have 'Day of the Dead' (which fits between 'Dawn' and 'Land'), I'll be moving on now from zombies. In 'Day of the Dead,' some military team is in an underground bunker doing experiments on zombies. They discover that zombies can remember things from before, but also that they can LEARN new skills, even if slowly. I don't remember if there are any kids in that one; it seems unlikely.

Tonight Jason and I are planning to go see the Supersuckers play at the Bluebird in Denver. A local band, The Railbenders, is opening. It should be fun. The Supersuckers are a great live band.

I Voted

Well, I voted last week, by mail-in ballot, and Jason sent his ballot, too. So why do they keep making us watch those campaign ads?

One cool thing about the mail-in ballot this year was that they sent "I Voted" stickers to us!

In Colorado, they've been really campaigning for more people to vote by mail or vote early, to make voting day easier and smoother. It is really nice to not have to wait in line, or worry whether or not the machine is hacker-safe, or whether the hanging chads will make a controversy. Who knows what potential problems there are with the mail-in ballots? I haven't heard of any problems.

Four years ago, people were spreading the rumor that mail-in ballots weren't even counted, which is a pretty stupid thing to say. All the overseas soldiers are denied having their votes counted? Local issues could be so close that they really have to count EVERY ballot, even when the presidential winner may be clear without counting them all (like if there were 20,000 mail-in ballots, but one candidate was ahead by 50,000 votes).

Though I think I am missing out a little bit on the voting experience, I really prefer voting by mail. I have all the time I want to read about each issue and try to figure out what the underlying issue really is. Since anyone can put anything on the ballot in this state, many measures are horribly written and have consequences that the authors did not intend! There is a reason why legislators are often lawyers: they can actually understand legalese and write it competently, so that the outcome is likelier to match the intent. It would be hard to dissect each measure in a voting booth, with a line waiting behind you. Even with the voter guide book that is required in this state, you still have to read between the lines in some instances, and find out who is pushing for the change. It helps to have time and internet access while voting. :)

COLD!

Today the warmest it got was 39 degrees! I picked all my tomatoes and brought them inside to see if they'll ripen on the counter. Tonight it is supposed to freeze. There has been a cold, cold, spitting rain going all day, so I don't think many plants are going to survive the night.

I'm so glad that my tree turned bright red before today! Rain and freezing often ruins the fall colors, and the leaves just turn brown and fall off.

It's so nice to be able to stay in today (mostly) and do inside things while it's cold and yucky outside. I just ate some leftover chicken enchildas (that I made last night) and feel so content and relaxed today. I've been casually cleaning a little at a time, and reading the third of the 'Twilight' books (they're young adult books about vampires and werewolves and teen angst, and quite addicting!)

I got the binding on my quilt, but I undid my quilting on it. I thought I had a satisfactory way of doing it, but now I don't like it. I might -- hold on to your hats -- leave it unquilted and more like a blanket! But, I do want to make sure the batting stays in place. I'll let you know if/when I figure it out.

I hope you're having a nice Saturday!

Ah, October!

Well, you know I was resisting the end of summer, but now I'm on board for October.

I love the tree that's in front of our house.

I love how excited I get about cooking! I want to make butternut squash pie, and squash curry, and bake pumpkin cookies, and make soups and stews, and bake bread. After a hot summer of cold meals and salads, I am always ready for hot, homey food in October.

My other October love, which you may already know, is SCARY MOVIES!!!! I love to watch them all month long. This year, I started with zombie movies.

1. 'Shaun of the Dead.' This is pretty much a British spoof of a zombie movie, but it is awesome. At the beginning, the zombies haven't even come into existence yet, but we see the people in the city as zombies, going through their boring lives without noticing anything, and living in a daze. This is absolutely an homage to George A. Romero's 'Night of the Living Dead' series. Romero liked it so much that he let the two stars of it make cameo appearances AS ZOMBIES in the newer 'Dead' movie: 'Land of the Dead.'



2. The original, 1968 'Night of the Living Dead.' I love this movie so much. One thing I love about all the Romero 'Dead' movies are that the hero is always a black man. In the 60s, that was very unexpected. The black man is always the bravest, most levelheaded, and smartest person there. He is completely disinterested in, even disgusted by, the white woman. This totally undermined all the racist expectations of the 60s. The older, white man is the biggest jerk, the most selfish, the least courageous, and the one with the worst judgment.

This movie begins with a brother and sister in a cemetery, putting a wreath on their long-dead father's grave. A man comes lurching slowly toward them, and Johnny teases Barbara, who is freaked out in the cemetery. "He's coming to get you, Bah-bah-rah! They're coming for you, Bah-bah rah!" in an ominous voice. Well, that lurcher IS coming for her! He grabs her, and Johnny has to fight him off. Once the zombie gets Johnny's glasses off, it's all over for him. In 'Shaun of the Dead,' the two guys are going to rescue Shaun's mom, so they call her up to tell her they're coming. "We're coming to get you, Barbara!" yells Ed. :)

There is a great scene near the end of 'Night' with a little child zombie! Kids are so great in horror movies. They can always take the creepy up a level or two!



3. 'Dawn of the Dead.' Now it's 1979, and the zombies are coming (but it doesn't carry on as if they've come 11 years before -- it's like: what would happen if they came in 1979 instead of 1968?) So, our human protagonists are two white guys, a white woman, and a black man. The men are two military members and a pilot, so they're able to stay pretty calm and make strategies and use weapons.

They decide to hole up in a shopping mall, which were kind of new then. Zombies are flocking there, since they vaguely remember loving to shop. They just want to do things that they like, and also kill people and eat their flesh.

The humans find a way to live safely for months, and they VERY much enjoy stealing tons of stuff from the mall, until a traveling army of humans comes and wants to pillage the mall. But first, the army plays with the zombies. They steal a zombie woman's jewelry, which makes her scream instead the usual "unnh." They find cream pies and throw them in zombies' faces! They spray them with seltzer! What the heck, Romero? This one is obviously a jab at Americans for being so consumption-driven, so why the slapstick comedy?

My favorite zombies are a nurse, who keeps her little white hat on her head and CLEAN for months, and the Hari Krishna monk who tries to kill the human woman. I love the zombies riding the escalators up and down, and trying to ice skate. I love the zombie who goes to the pay phone, picks up the receiver, and then just looks at it sadly.

This one has a brief appearance by TWO zombie kids, taking it up a notch.

I'll be back with more movie-watching updates soon.

Debate!

Jason and I watched the presidential Town Hall debate last night.

I was surprised that Tom Brokaw wasn't tougher on them about the time limits -- he kept MENTIONING it, but he didn't really boss them around like I thought he might. Jason told me about some Sports Chat show where each panelist can be muted by the host if he talks too long. That seems like a great idea for these debates. A mute button or an airhorn. But the moderator would have to have enough guts to blow the airhorn at the future president, and I'm not sure many respectable pundits or reporters would be willing to do that. Maybe they can build up to it for the next election!

Anyway, I was glad a couple of times when Obama just kept talking, because:
1) It showed he's not such a pussy. He has often been too polite in debates, acting like a decent human being who doesn't interrupt people when they're talking, and who doesn't talk over other people when it's their turn to talk. But he's had to get over his well-ingrained manners somewhat in order to appear strong, since McCain has no similar manners in debate settings.
2) He was actually answering the questions! Some of these topics can't be adequately addressed in 60 seconds. The world is so complicated, and people are so complicated, that you can't always give an easy, short answer.

But, at the end, I was telling him to shut it, when the question was, "What don't you know, and how will you learn it?" He went on and on and never came close to answering the question. Of course, McCain didn't answer it at all, either. Then just shut up!

I felt sorry for McCain when he was wandering around the room. He shuffled, and he looked SO old and frail. He would have been better off staying in or near his seat and looking strong, rather than as if he might fall over at any second. It was also really creepy how he was standing six inches in front people in the audience, so they had to look at his stomach. He should have respected the normal personal space boundaries. Early on, you could see that he kicked one guy's feet while he was trying to get closer and closer -- they both looked down at their feet suddenly. If you are stepping on my feet, you are too close!

THE WEEZER SHOW!

Sunday night, Jason and I went on a date. First we ate at P.F. Chang's and then we went to the Broomfield Event Center to see Weezer.

We missed the first opening band, Tokyo Police Club. Unfortunately, we were in time for Angels and Airwaves, which we disliked. They were very melodramatic and the songs were way too long. I did like three things:
1) the singer's stance was usually a deep lunge, with his back to the audience.
2) He sang a very romantic love song to the drummer, getting right in the guy's face.
3) They had one fan who did interpretive dance the whole time, embarrassing her friend or sister so much that they didn't even stay for Weezer. She was the only one standing up in our section. She waved her arms dramatically, threw her hair around, pointed at YOU and YOU and YOU and YOU, did some high kicks, did a lot of partial backbends, draped herself over the handrail, and did a lot of big clapping. I was glad I wasn't right by her, because someone could have gotten hurt. But I was really glad I could see her because she was the most entertaining part of Angels and Airwaves.

Some bad things:
1) way too many strobe lights! It was really obnoxious!
2) the singer had on those jeans that are super baggy in the butt and crotch, but skin tight in the thighs and calves. I don't like them.
3) their music is cheesy.
4) the singer dragged their performance out EVEN longer by telling some lame story about a 6th grade sleepover. He was so disappointed that no one cared. If you are a star, people will listen to anything you say, but if you are just a Joe Schmo, your stories have to be INTERESTING (which is not the same thing as telling it in a dramatic stage whisper)

The crowd was so filled with nerds, just like you might imagine! There were a few hipster-looking people, and I saw one punk couple, but mostly it was nerds. Oh, all the asics and new balance sneakers worn in public! Oh, all guys looked they last got a haircut 4 months ago. Oh, all the glasses! It was pretty cute. We didn't feel old at all. There were some children there, but most people seemed to be around our age.

Finally, Weezer came on! The four guys all took turns singing, which surprised us. We thought Rivers Cuomo always sang. Their voices were fairly similar, so it's possible that they all sing on the albums. On the other hand, Rivers's voice was pretty scratchy, so maybe they were just giving him a break. Also, they like to mix things up on the road, so maybe that was all it was.


They started out in white jumpsuits, and I asked Jason, "shouldn't they be wearing RED jumpsuits, since it's the Red Album?" And sure enough, they peeled off the white ones and had red ones on underneath.

Rivers is pretty much a giant spaz. He wore knee pads so that he could slide on his knees over and over again. He had a little trampoline (rebounder) on stage so he could jump on it and jump off of it. When he jumped, he played guitar really off-beat since he wasn't jumping on the beat. He also played with a soccer ball while playing guitar.

They played all the songs we wanted to hear: The Sweater Song, Buddy Holly, Say it Ain't So, Troublemaker, Pink Triangle. I'm sure I'm forgetting some. There were a few songs we didn't recognize.

They took a break and put on their record, on a record player onstage. Then they came out, kicked the player over, and sang a Nirvana cover (Silver).

The show was really busy, with stage hands rushing out constantly to change their guitars, over and over. They switched instruments, like Rivers played drums and the drummer played guitar a few times. They let that cheesy singer from Angels and Airwaves and their drummer come out and do a couple songs with them. The drummer did a good job, but you already know how I feel about that singer. Jason said he ruined The Sweater Song.

Near the end, something really cool happened. It's going to sound pretty cheesy, but it was kind of moving for me. They brought out about 30 local musicians: guitars, drums, double bass, cellos, violins, flute, oboe or clarinet (too far away to tell), trumpet, tuba, trombone. They all got onstage and played two songs with the band! The songs were Island in the Sun and Beverly Hills. They also had the audience sing parts of the songs: "Hip, Hip" for Island in the Sun (you may remember this song from a movie starring Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen! When I was in college, a girl in one of my classes was SO angry at Weezer for letting those twins use their song in their cheesy movie.) For Beverly Hills, the men were supposed to sing "Beverly Hills! That's where I long to be!" and the women were supposed to sing, "Gimmee Gimmee! Gimmee Gimmee!" I didn't like to sing that part, so I didn't. Anyway, it was just a pretty cool experience. The musicians did awesome, especially the oboe or clarinet solo. We were all part of making the songs together, which is sort of the point of concerts: to share an experience with a huge crowd of people. I haven't felt like that for a long time. It made me think of this art experiment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QVQSZA9zSk

Quilt Progress

 
Last night I got the second side of my quilt put together. I also piled up the two sides with the batting (made the sandwich) and have been hand-basting them together. I have 3 sides done. Next, I will sew those seams on my machine to try to Defray future Fraying (HA!).

Then I will put on an edging, which I think I will have to do by hand. I don't think my machine can go through that many layers, but I may try that first to see if I can save time and have really neat and consistent stitching. (I just read on a website that generally the binding is machine-sewn to the front, and then hand-sewn to the back. My machine may be able to do that.)

Finally, I will do the quilting. I think I want to sew some kind of design (not just straight lines), but I haven't decided what it will be yet. Stars are the obvious answer for me, but I kind of want a more floral design. I'll see what I think up.

Alternate styling

 
 

Here it is a bit smoothed down and tucked behind my ears. Sonia likes to add volume ON TOP of my head, but I feel that it looks middle-aged that way. I prefer to have the volume in the back, on top, but not too much. I'm unable to undo her styling enough to show you how I will probably make it look every day, and you might not even be able to see the subtle difference, but I will. And hey, it's my hair so if I'm happy, that's what matters.

So, to pick up the story where we last left it: Jackie had told me that Sonia would be working today from 2 until 9. At 2:10, I called there to make sure Sonia was working. Donna yelled into the phone, "WHO!?" So that was a good start, because at least it wasn't Jackie! Donna finally admitted that Sonia worked there, and told me she would be in at 3:00.

I got there at like 3:15 and had to wait until 4:00, since Sonia always has a line. But, she cut my hair just like I said to, and then she styled it as though I'm middle-aged. She tried to sell me some products, but I have PLENTY of various styling agents, so I resisted! She said something like, "Isn't it great when someone else styles your hair? And then when you go home, you can never get it to look the same." And I looked at my helmet head and thought, "Thank goodness I can't replicate this at home!"

Jackie wasn't there at all, which was a real treat. Since blogging about her, I have developed a real disliking to her and her lack of professionalism and her odd behavior.

Sonia got a lot of the Jackie-too-short hair to blend in with this cut, but it will probably be another 2 months before all of it has grown out. I will keep it short until then, and probably by then a lot of the bleached hair will be grown out enough to cut it off and have my natural hair color again. It looks a lot darker to me in these pictures than it does in person.

Anyway, I'm happy now and you can relax and know that I probably won't have any further hair saga for about a month. I don't know what I'm going to write about, but I'll try to find SOMETHING.

The Hair Cut

The inspiration:




Before (with no styling products -- it's not normally so frazzled-looking):

 
 

After (with Sonia's styling, which I don't particularly like):

 
 

Some Petty Thoughts on the VP Debate

I can't believe how absurd this year's election is. McCain is almost dead already, and Palin has SUCH a low IQ. She has NO IDEA what she's talking about. I have NEVER seen a politician who was so completely ignorant about everything going on in our own country and in the rest of the world -- EVEN G.W. -- and that is truly pathetic.

She does have a cute smile! But I hate hate HATE those fucking glasses with no rims. I also hate her 1984 prom hairdo. The smile and her cute accent cannot make me stop hearing her butchering of the English language -- she really has a tough time putting together a grammatically correct sentence. Her consistent mis-pronunciation of "nuclear" (she says it just like G.W. does: "nucular") goes along with her exact agreement with G.W.'s policies (even though she has no idea what they are!). She has not impressed me at all. I am truly perplexed by McCain's choice. Is he going to try to repeat his own history and leave his current wife for a younger one???? She's staying at his house (the ranch, actually, in Sedona) a lot.

Tonight, her 1984 prom hairdo is crooked. She sure has a big flag pin! She sure likes to tell lies! She sure likes to harp on things from the past and then accuse "O'Biden" of talking too much about the past! She even said that for a party proclaiming change, Obama and Biden were stuck in the past. But it is John McCain whose campaign stole the change slogan, and it is they who are harping more on the past. I should watch the tape and count how many times they each talk about what the opponent did in the past. Then it would SCIENTIFIC.

Did Joe Biden get some sort of eye-corner lift? Seriously. Did his face always look like that?

He has been doing a great job at holding back with her, and not being a jerk. It would be so easy, but he won't even call her "Sarah." He keeps calling her, "Governor Palin," even when he says, "John McCain, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden." I'm sure he was ordered to be respectful AT ALL COSTS. After it's over, he will have to have a fit of eye-rolling and laughing and shouting, "are you FUCKING kidding me????" I am really impressed by his self-control.

Oooh. I just cannot tell you enough how much I HATE THOSE GLASSES!!!!

Joe could use a hair cut. But, since Sarah's prom-do is so lopsided, I will call it a draw on their hair.

She is doing a hell of a lot better than she has done in the past. It is so weird and creepy how McCain and Palin are so in love with each other, and consider each other their soul mate. She keeps talking about him like she has a huge crush on him.

One thing that's really nice about this debate is that, unlike every other debate I've seen this season: nationally, locally, and on Meet The Press, neither of them is being an asshole to the other. They are not interrupting each other. They are giving each other the chance to speak.

I can't believe that SHE is the one who is being condescending to us -- it's like she thinks we are a kindergarten class, doggone it! Come on! Shucks!

I'm so tired of hearing the word "maverick." I don't think you should call yourself one. Maybe for the next debate, I can get a group together and we can play a drinking game: take a drink every time they say "maverick," "shore up," and maybe every time one shakes their fist!

Jeez, Gwen just said this is the only VP debate. Now we'll never see another questioning of Sarah.

Why won't either side mention the poor at all? Both sides are all about the middle class, but not for the poor?

Hair Cut Saga

Hello, friends. Let's go back to two months ago, when I first got my hair cut short. I tried to go to a nice salon, but many around my town are CLOSED on the weekends (I know! It is shocking and unbelievable! But I called and called, and was told that I was not welcome to visit on the weekend.) The others were booked up for weeks. I have two haircut problems, and this is what they are:

1. Once I decide I want my hair cut, and I know the style I want, I want to get it cut RIGHT NOW. And I will not wait more than 24 hours. This is why I have cut it myself so many, many times.

2. EVERY time I have gone to a salon and asked for a haircut, I have gotten something other than what I asked for*. I've brought 5 or 6 photographs for a single haircut, and discussed the details with the stylist for several minutes, with the lady nodding and saying words making me think that she understands me and will do what I say, and then BAM! She does something else. Once, I asked for a SHAG, which is an extremely layered haircut, and I received a BOB, which is when it is all the exact same length at the bottom. It was like the opposite of what I had asked for. So, I have a hard time paying a lot for a haircut when I know it will not be what I want. This is why I have cut my hair myself so many, many times.

*My friend Sparky has cut my hair, and she does a great job, but I think I always say something like, "I want it about this long. Go crazy." And let her choose the specifics. I've never been disappointed by Sparky's cutting, but now she lives in Texas and I'm in Colorado and that's a long way to go for a hair cut.

I can't cut it myself when it's this short, so I had to go to a place, and the nice places refused to cut my hair IMMEDIATELY so I went to Great Clips. I know, you get what you pay for, and it was only like $7 with a coupon!!

So, I was assigned to Jackie, and she looked at the pictures I brought and then asked me if she should use scissors or a razor to cut it. Luckily, the lady next to her, Sonya, knew how to do it, so she talked her through it. Jackie did make it look good, except that at the end, she accidentally cut a handful of hair, right on my part, REALLY SHORT! Arggh!! Most of it was like 4-5 inches long, and then there was this strip that was only 1-2 inches long. I didn't know until after I got home. I've been trying to hide that hair and tamp it down for 2 months now.

Now, this Jackie had been fooling around during my whole hair cut, yelling at other people working there, gossiping about Doris, who apparently had a fight with Sonya (Sonya would not discuss it in front of customers). She stopped at one point and made a prank phone call. So, it was because she was messing around and not paying attention to what she was doing that she cut my hair badly, so it sticks STRAIGHT UP as often as it can. I don't have the kind of hair cut that has hair sticking straight up in the back, unlike Kate of "Jon and Kate plus 8." I don't want that stick-up hair -- it's just not me. So, when I finally saw her mistake hours later, I was pretty pissed off. It was an accident, but would not have happened if she had been paying attention to what she was doing.

Anyway, 5 weeks ago I went in and asked for Sonya to cut my hair, since she knew what she was doing. That went a lot better, even though she did cut the back too short. I was a little suspicious of Sonya because the first time I saw her, she had on a long, white peasant skirt that was see-through, with black boy shorts underneath (I know -- WHA????) Anyway, I went in that day and asked for her, and I had to wait because she was helping someone else, so Jackie, who had no customers, sat and glared at me while I waited, and said, "Didn't I cut your hair last time?" "Yep," I said. Then, when I was in The Chair, she sat in the next chair and glared at me and said things like, "I guess you don't want me to cut it again." It made me really uncomfortable. I didn't want to say, "Well, you fucked up my hair, you incompetent moron!" (But part of me kind of wanted to say that!) Two more customers came in to wait for Sonya, and no one let Jackie cut their hair. Finally, a mom and a little boy came in and were willing to take Jackie. So, she made him wait for over 5 minutes while she went in the back and bought all the gum.

Yesterday, I called and asked if Sonya was working, and Jackie told me that she'd be in today, from 9 until 4 or 5. So, I went in there today, and no Sonya. A stranger lady who worked there tried to get me to have Jackie cut my hair, but I insisted on knowing when Sonya was working. Finally they told me that she'd be in on Friday from 2 until 9. I will call on Friday and make sure before I go over there. It seems like some elaborate scam by Jackie to have another chance to butcher my hair!

So, the lessons are, Speak Up. If someone does not know what they're doing, just be a bitch, even if it totally outside of your comfort zone, and get out of the chair and wait for the competent person. Also, never trust Jackie.

Hopefully on Friday I can put up a picture of my new haircut by Sonya, with the back left at its current length, and with the short pieces blending in. Please send good wishes for my hair!