far too much writing, far too many photos

runswithscissors


Saturday, August 09, 2003

A few days back, I dragged myself into Montpelier for a haircut, something that almost always feels like a major deal to me, something I tend to put off until my hair -- my thick, wavy, blessedly abundant hair -- has become a hulking, aggressive mass of badly-behaved cranial adornment.

I hadn't been sheared since April, when I went to a clip joint a few blocks from my piso in Madrid and a slightly chunky 30ish woman gave me an excellent cut. Clip joints, for some reason, are unbelievably plentiful in Madrid -- they're everywhere, seeming at times to pop up overnight like mushrooms -- and almost every one I've walked into has given me a disastrous cut. So disastrous that I've needed to flee home immediately afterward, grab a pair of shears, attempt damage control. The cut this last April was the first decent one I've received in all my time in Madrid. The very first, a smart-looking job leaving me nothing to repair. I was not bright enough to get the woman's card, didn't remember her name, and when I stopped at the shop for a trim before heading back to the States in June I didn't see her around. Rather than try a different person and risk another disaster, I went home and trimmed it myself, which turned out okay. And remained okay until sometime in July when it grew big, bulky, rude, unkempt.

I like change. I like contrast -- at least once I make the move away from whatever rut I've settled into. I tend to get into a comfortable place, stay there for a while, then as the time approaches to make a change of any real size -- haircut, beginning a new writing project, heading across the Atlantic for several months -- I tend to drag my feet until they can no longer be dragged. And once I've lurched my way through whatever the shift we're talking about, I discover all over again how great it is to have a change of scenery/routine.

So my hair. It grows at an amazing rate, and the weeks and months post-cut see it going all sorts of phases, loads of 'em phases I like. The longer it gets, however, the more unfavorable the ratio between nuisance and great visuals becomes until we arrive at the point where another cut is unavoidable. At which time I usually get a drastic shearing and rediscover how much fun the so-short-it's-spiky look is and how little care it needs when it's that length.

It had gone well beyond the point of manageability by the time I made the trip to Acme Hair this last week. Tamsen -- proprietor, source of haircuts and nonstop entertainment -- gave me a fast, short shearing that I went home and improved upon, leaving me with an extremely, extremely short do. So short that a couple of nights later, mid-early-hour shuffle to the bathroom, I turned on the light, got a fast glimpse of a stranger in the mirror and jumped in half-asleep surprise. Literally jumped, as if I'd just spotted an ax-murderer.

I've adjusted. I jump no more. My hair is totally bitchen. Life goes on.

rws 2:49 PM [+]
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BLATHERINGS

August 2001
September 2001
October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
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July 2002
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December 2008
January 2009
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March 2009
April 2009
June 2009
July 2009

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MORE FOCUSED BLATHERINGS


Travels:
London '01
Pamplona
Italy '03
U.K. '03
Sevilla
Casablanca
Stoke-on-Trent
Barcelona
Québec/Ottawa
Boston/Lisbon/Madrid
Italy '04
Montréal
La Sierra

Events:
Madrid -- arrival
9/11
Emergency Room I
Holidays 2001
Holidays 2002
Holidays 2003
Holidays 2004
Holidays 2005
A neighbor's passing
Madrid -- March 11 bombings
  and aftermath
Emergency Room II
Israeli friend/Madrid Marathon
Madrid -- Royal Wedding
The DELE exam

GONE, a novel:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

THE BASTARD CHILDREN OF
JOE ROCCO, a novella:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
-- Part 3

BURBANK SHRUGGED,
a screenplay:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
-- Part 3
-- Part 4

Short stories:
Murphy's Wife
Another Autumn
La Queja de Una
  Hermanastra Muy Conocida

Autobiography
-- Personal History
-- Hormones On Parade
-- Accidents, Random Mishaps,
    Personal Problems

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


OTHER SOURCES OF WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT

People/Weblogs:
dooce
foxvox
fudge it
fear not
rebekka
bookslut
802online
idle words
madhaiku
wockerjabby
grow-a-brain
rebel market
letting me be
out and about
kung fu grippe
fanatical apathy
baghdad burning
wfuv's music blog
kexp's music blog
mimi smartypants
between the miles
just a hippie gypsy
the impossible cool
tomato can brushes
vermont homestead
sugar mountain farm

Good Clean Fun:
gizmodo
futurismic
postsecret
dave barry
human clock
mcsweeney's
spaceweather
book-a-minute
internet archive
self-portrait day
my cat hates you
out of context quotes
surrealist compliment
  generator
strindberg and helium

Makin' Musical Whoopee:
last fm
stereo8
pandora
soma fm

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ABOUT RWS/CONTACT





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