14 June 2001
I'm still not quite sure how this happened.
A few weeks ago, I guess, while things were still very slow at work, I was talking to Ashby on Instant Messenger and - as is not unusal - being silly. I was listening to my MP3 collection, and I started "singing" at him - quoting song lyrics.
I can't say we did a lot of talking about music. He didn't seem bothered by the lyrics, so I quoted rather a lot of them at him. He quoted some back at me. There was a lot of stuff we both recognized (though he's better at that game than I am - no surprise) and a lot of stuff that one or the other of us didn't know but thought sounded interesting.
So somehow, I wound up over at K.T.'s last night, offering him a bag of eight or nine CDs and accepting another bag of ten or twelve. He's planning on heading home this week, or maybe this weekend, but he'll be back again next month for what is swiftly turning into an annual summer party, so we can exchange CDs back again then.
I don't usually think much about music. It's pretty rare for me to like a song the first time I hear it - I have to listen to it a few times until I'm comfortable with at least the chorus or its main theme before I like it. Sometimes familiarity with a few songs will make me relax with the other songs a band sings. Barenaked Ladies was like that - I found myself tapping my toes to "Box Set" and amused by "If I Had $1000000" and was suddenly in love with all of Gordon; and that opened the door for their other albums, too.
Some bands play music that I can't stand until I've got it memorized. They Might Be Giants is a case in point. I really didn't like any of the songs on Flood until I caught myself humming along to "Birdhouse In Your Soul." But when I got Apollo 18, it was the same thing over again - I didn't like any of the songs until I'd heard them multiple times.
It's really rare for me to like a song the first time I hear it. Maybe it's because Ashby had already recited the lyrics for me before, but already three tracks from Savage Garden's Affirmation ("Affirmation," "I Knew I Loved You," and "The Lover After Me") are going to get put on my "frequent rotation" playlist.
And I still have ten CDs in the bag Ashby gave me that I haven't even listened to yet.
Affirmation
I believe the sun should never set upon an argument
I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands
I believe that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you
I believe your parents did the best job they knew how to do
I believe that beauty magazines promote low self esteem
I believe I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone
I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye
I believe you can't control or choose your sexuality
I believe that trust is more important than monogamy
I believe your most attractive features are your heart and soul
I believe that family is worth more than money or gold
I believe the struggle for financial freedom is unfair
I believe the only ones who disagree are millionaires
I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye
I believe forgiveness is the key to your unhappiness
I believe that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed
I believe that God does not endorse TV evangelists
I believe in love surviving death into eternity
I believe in Karma what you give is what you get returned
I believe you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned
I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side
I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye
You want some fries with that shake? To go along with the new music I'm listening to, I have an appointment this evening with my hairdresser to have my hair trimmed and highlighted.
I've never had my hair colored before (unless you count Hallowe'en wash-out sprays) and so I'm a little nervous. But I'm trying to make a concerted effort to stop being so squeamish about my hair.
When my friends do things with their hair, it doesn't disturb me. They're still the people I know, after all. K.T. was always equally K.T., no matter whether her hair was brown or black or red or blonde. Hair length? For all my apparent fetish for long-haired men, I have trouble remembering how long some of my female friends are currently wearing their hair. Kris' hair was short when we met, then long, then short again. (I'd kill for hair that grows that quickly, but that's beside the point.) I think it's long now... isn't it?
So why does the idea of a pair of scissors or coloring solution near my head make me squirm?
Matt had an answer for me.
"Amateur-psychologist Matt," he told me, "thinks it's because you had a bad experience as a kid. You cut your hair short, and then you hated it, and it took a long time to grow out, and you hated that, and so now you don't want to risk going through that again."
Well... Actually I didn't hate having short hair; I just liked long hair better. But it was miserable while it was growing out... It looked nasty and ratty, or I had a lopsided perm... It was nearly six years of misery. So maybe Matt has a point. I have sworn never to cut my hair so short I can't put it in a ponytail, at any rate.
About once every five or ten years, I forget the agony of a perm and try it again. But I've never colored it. I'd never even thought of coloring it until my mom said she thought I should.
My mom isn't very appearance-oriented. For her to say that to me was a real shock. I know where it comes from, though - she's not randomly picking nits at my looks. As a little, little child, my hair was much lighter than it is now - almost a dark strawberry blonde. I think it's a nostalgia thing for her.
Well... Okay. The last time I went for a cut, I talked to the hairdresser about it, and she said that if I'd never had my hair colored before, she recommended starting with highlights. They're a little more effort, but if I don't like it, they're easier to get rid of.
So my appointment is at 5:00, and will take about an hour and a half. I'm already a little excited and nervous. I want it to look good. I want to get over this thing about my hair. Cutting it shorter was a good step for me. It's much easier to care for at this length. If the coloring isn't awful... that might just get me through it.
Pictures tomorrow, whether it's stunning or awful. I promise.
Word of the Day:
gratuitous - done or provided without recompense, free; not called for by the circumstances
Currently Reading:
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Current Projects:
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- Hall stuff
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