Hair Stylin'

My hair is very straight and flat, so I go to a little old Japanese man to get my hair done.  He knows how to make it look nice, with more volume and movement, and he's also hilarious.  The last time I got my hair cut was just before I was going to London for a trip.  When my hairdresser found out, he said, "Oh, I'll give you an extra-nice hair style for when you flirt with all the British boys!"

This time, we were talking about the unusually warm summer here.  I mentioned that it hasn't been too much of a problem for me, as I enjoy the hot weather.  My hairdresser immediately advised me to insist to my (imaginary) boyfriend that he have a home in Hawai'i.  He said, "It should be in your contract.  If your boyfriend doesn't have a home in Hawai'i, you cannot date him.  Make him sign that."

I love my hairdresser.  I told him to never change.

Heat Wave!

We've been having a nice summer heat wave here; it's bad enough I had to turn on my air conditioning today.  That only happens once or twice a season.  (There's a tree outside that provides a lot of shade, so the temperature in my house stays pretty moderate even in the summer.)

I've been brushing my cat multiple times a day, and getting enough fur to make a whole second cat.  But this morning I noticed that despite my best efforts she had a hairball.  I may have to start vacuuming her.

Being Girlie, part 3

Today I went to buy a new pair of jeans.  I got a few pairs in different sizes, and as I walked back to the dressing room I found myself thinking, "I really hope the smaller size fits; I'll feel so much better about myself."

Really?

The size of the jeans I wear?  Is that what I should feel good or bad about?  Is that a measure of my self worth?  The respect I am owed, and that I owe myself?  Is it a way to judge the person I am?

The larger size jeans fit better, so I bought those.

And I feel great.

Another crazy conversation

I'm going to London soon, and have recently become somewhat obsessed with the BBC "Sherlock" (as well as Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the title character).

friend: are you super excited?

me: I am indeed

friend: I feel like you're going to get off the plane and just scream "Benedict Cumberbatch," then go to warp (complete with animation), and six seconds later, as Benedict is quietly reading in bed, you will fall from the ceiling into the other half of the bed

me: I'm laughing so hard I scared the cat away

oh man tears are running down my face

friend: good

then make it so

me: so I watched the first episode of another show he was in

in which he plays a mathematician

and at one point is explaining equations

hot man...talking math...it's like porn to me

friend: auto-defenestrate

me: but I'm on the first floor?

friend: you can throw someone out a window at any elevation

Maggie

Recent IM conversation between me and a friend:

friend: now if we could just get you control of magnetism, we'd be set

me: I love that you assume I'm secretly magneto

BECAUSE I AM

friend: impossible

he already exists

but you could be magenta

me: that is my other secret identity

friend: so you're both magneto and magneta?

me: Just call me "Maggie"

Geek girl, part 1

Today I needed to buy a new pair of boots, so I headed off to DSW. But I realized that every time I thought of it, I was saying "DS9." (I guess I've got Trek on the brain.)

I mentioned this to my friends, and my friend Andrew said "DS9 > DSW."

I gasped. "Star Trek or shoe shopping?? Andrew, you can't make me choose. I need both in my life."

Yeah, I'm a geek. And a girl.

The Writer In Me

Recently at work I've been doing a lot of writing (for an engineer). And I realized...I'd forgotten how much I like to write. I like sitting down with a pen and a piece of paper, and organizing my thoughts, and putting what I want to say in order, and thinking about how to transition from one point to the next. I like crafting paragraphs, closing my eyes and listening to the rhythmic tapping of my fingers on computer keys, feeling the flow of thoughts pass onto the screen. I like searching for a particular word to express what I want to communicate.

It just suddenly hit me. I've been away from writing (serious writing) for so long, and it was like a little aspect of myself popped up and went, "Oh hey, remember me? We used to have such fun together!"

In that vein, I'm hoping to participate in NaNoWriMo this year; I've never written anything novel-length before, so I expect it will be quite a challenge. Usually I start strong with a story, but then peter out and end it quickly. So I figured I should spend a year planning everything and making detailed notes. Then, when November comes, I can just write flat-out. I was getting a little nervous, because it's nearly the end of December and I still had no idea what to write about. I wanted to just get the seed of an idea by the end of the year; then I'd spend the rest of the time before November fleshing things out and creating a plot and characters and setting. I want to have a lot of notes and a detailed outline so that I know I won't lose steam on the plot.

And finally (cliche alert) it came to me in a dream.

No, I'm not going to say what the idea is. I want to flesh it out and determine a direction for the plot. But I'm certainly hoping that, come November, I'll be able to turn it into a novel.

Stay tuned...