like dorothy hamill

I got a haircut yesterday.

I hate haircuts.

It's not that I mind actually having my hair cut, what I mind is a total stranger lopping off my hair as casually as if I were a topiary in someone's front lawn. And touching my head. It bothers me greatly. But, that's not my only reason for hating haircuts. My other experiences with barbershops haven't been so stellar either...

I was in third grade and I decided that I wanted my hair cut like Dorothy Hamill (an Olympic figureskater-- find a picture of her and see what her hair looked like). So, off we went to the little place by the Wal-Mart where I informed this indifferent looking woman how I wanted my hair, and for clarification I threw in, "You know short, like Dorothy Hamill's hair." At the end of the ordeal, it was entirely apparent that the lady either A. Had no idea who Dorothy Hamill was, or B. Thought that Dorothy Hamill was a little boy with a horrid looking bowl cut. I looked like a little boy with a horrid bowl cut.

Do you honestly think that I'm exaggerating? Okay, so not long after I got this haircut, a new family moved in next door to us. They had two boys, both of whom thought that I also was a boy for 3 months. 3 full months. They got a clue when I got a pink bike for my birthday. The older kid got this expression of horror and goes, "Wait, wait-- you're a girl?" Why yes, I do believe you've hit the nail on the head.

So I honestly have reasons for hating haircuts. So, understandibly, I was nervous when this woman with spiky black and red hair started toward my hair with a pair of scissors. She was also chewing gum-- seriously, what if she choked and spit it out into my hair? (I am slightly paranoid/overly imaginative-- call it what you will) And she constantly commented on how much hair I had. "There's just so much of it. It just kind of hangs." she said while picking up a strand of my hair and letting it fall back in place. Of course it hangs. It's hair. Would you rather it stand straight on end? (I was somewhat frustrated). Every time she cut off any of my hair, she would say, "Oh don't worry. It's fine. It's all right."

Finally, she was done and said,"Here look at it, do you like it?"

I was rather pleased (pleased meaning, I won't have to wear a hat for six months.)

But, hat or not, I am not about to start to start trusting random strangers with scissors.

merely shadows

Does anyone else have thoughts that run the lines of, "What would the world be like without..." (fill in the blank) and preoccupy yourself for long periods of time trying to figure out what the world would actually be like without that thing?

I do it all the time. Things like ball-point pens, computers, spiders (wonder out loud in front of lots of people what would happen if there were no spiders in the world. Someone unfailingly says, "We would be overrun by bugs, you idiot. What a stupid thing. A world without spiders." It bothers me so badly.)

Anyhow, I was wondering aimlessly the other day on the aforementioned, "What would the world be like without..." and I filled in the blank with 'shadows'. And I tried and I tried to imagine a world without shadows, but I can't. I'd look at things and it turns out that the smallest things I look at are affected by shadows. You can't even tell they're there unless you think about them. Like this picture: the shadows are there. You don't think about them. But when you do notice them, you still can't imagine the picture without them.

I don't even really know what a world without shadows would mean. Maybe one less dimension or no sun or something. It just interested me, but I am still absolutely clueless.

a dancing horse

Hate to do this, but this is an amazing video. It is Andreas Helgstrand's musical freestyle from the 2006 World Equestrian Games. The horse is Blue Hors Matine.
If you can get past the guy's weird pants, it really is an amazing freestyle. But I am slightly biased in this area.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zKQgTiqhPbw

Make sure your volume is up.

For some reason these announcers make me laugh.