Total Perspective Vortex
What really happened to Trillian? Theories abound, but you can see what she's really been up to on this blog. If you're looking for white mice, depressed robots, or the occasional Pan Galactic Gargleblaster you might be better served here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/.
Don't just sit there angry and ranting, do something constructive.
In the words of Patti Smith (all hail Sister Patti): People have the power.
Contact your elected officials.
Don't be passive = get involved = make a difference.
Words are cool.
The English language is complex, stupid, illogical, confounding, brilliant, beautiful, and fascinating.
Every now and then a word presents itself that typifies all the maddeningly gorgeousness of language. They're the words that give you pause for thought. "Who came up with that word? That's an interesting string of letters." Their beauty doesn't lie in their definition (although that can play a role). It's also not in their onomatopoeia, though that, too, can play a role. Their beauty is in the way their letters combine - the visual poetry of words - and/or the way they sound when spoken. We talk a lot about music we like to hear and art we like to see, so let's all hail the unsung heroes of communication, poetry and life: Words.
Here are some I like. (Not because of their definition.)
Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Smart Girls
(A Trillian de-composition, to the tune of Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys)
Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
Don’t let them do puzzles and read lots of books
Make ‘em be strippers and dancers and such
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
They’ll never find men and they’re always alone
Even though men claim they want brains
Smart girls ain’t easy to love and they’re above playing games
And they’d rather read a book than subvert themselves
Kafka, Beethoven and foreign movies
And each night alone with her cat
And they won’t understand her and she won’t die young
She’ll probably just wither away
Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
Don’t let them do puzzles and read lots of books
Make ‘em be strippers and dancers and such
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
They’ll never find men and they’re always alone
Even though men claim they want brains
A smart girl loves creaky old libraries and lively debates
Exploring the world and art and witty reparteé
Men who don’t know her won’t like her and those who do
Sometimes won’t know how to take her
She’s rarely wrong but in desperation will play dumb
Because men hate that she’s always right
Mama don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
Don’t let them do puzzles and read lots of books
Make ‘em be strippers and dancers and such
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be smart girls
They’ll never find men and they’re always alone
Even though men claim they want brains
Life(?) of Trillian
Single/Zero
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
This is going to seem like a sort of girly post. And it is. Sorry guys. But. Actually. If you’d be so kind...I could use your advice, too.
Women and men have very, very different opinions about hair. Men almost unanimously dig chicks with long hair. Men dig chicks with long hair because they don’t have to take care of it. They don’t have to fuss with it. Wash it, get it dry, style it and somehow magically manage to make it stay looking fresh and styled in every weather condition and element, natural and otherwise, but not sprayed and sticky, of course. Men want to run their fingers through long hair. This is apparently very sexy to them. I have absolutely no clue why men want to do this but, hey, whatever guys. Knock yourselves out.
But these same men will become uptight, irritated and frustrated when they have to endure the waiting time required while the woman with the locks styles and maintains that hair he loves so much.
Guys: Very few of us have wash and go hair. The longer we grow our hair, the more upkeep and styling it requires. And the more time it takes to care for and style it. This seems obvious to me: More hair = more prep time. I’m thinking it’s a direct correlation.
Maybe it’s because most women are very good at multitasking every aspect of their lives. Maybe this has created high (read: unrealistic) expectations in men. Maybe women have become so good at just managing their lives that no one, including us, realizes just how much time and effort we actually put into what we do.
I have very long hair. Too long. It’s part poverty, part laziness, part ambivalence and part uncertainty.
I’m not opposed to cutting my hair. I’m not one of those: Never! No way! Get those scissors away from me! girls. I’m just: too broke to afford regular trimmings an actual hair style requires; too busy/lazy to get to the stylist more than a few times a year; too ambivalent about what my hair looks like; and too uncertain of what sort of look I want my hair style to convey.
So I just leave it long with some layers and highlights and let it rest at that. If I spend a lot of time “doing” my hair it looks, you know, pretty good. If it’s just a normal day it might look okay and it might look not so okay. Whatever. Who cares? The gay guys in the office? The style mavens down in sales? See where I’m going here? I work 12 hours a day. If I’m meeting with clients or something, you know, important, yes, I spend the time (lots of time) to “do” my hair. On regular days my time (over an hour) is better spent working or, dare I dream, sleeping.
Yes guys. Over an hour. And I’m pretty quick and adept at “doing” my hair. Other long haired women take longer than that to “do” their hair. Yes. Really.
It’s basic physics. Wet hair takes a certain amount of time to dry. If we’re using a hair dryer you can set up a formula on the per inch dry time. You have to factor in the thickness of the hair in question, the molecular density of the hair shafts. Be sure to factor in any products we may use such as conditioner, styling gel/lotion/mousse, anti-friz serum and/or shine boost. Those will all increase drying time. Hopefully they’ll shave off a few minutes of styling time, though, so, you know, it’s worth it. And lastly, factor in the grand and wattage of the hair dryer.
The next formula you’ll need to set up involves the styling time. There are as many variables to this equation as there are women. Curling iron, straightening iron, hot rollers, velcro rollers, or some combination of those styling aids will be called into acton. I’m in the middle of the maintenance scale. Not low maintenance but not high maintenance. Right smack in the middle. And I have been known to use a straightening iron, a curling iron, hot rollers and velcro rollers over the course of one styling session. Yes. Really. Because I have long, thick hair.
This is what I’m saying, guys. You cannot possibly understand what happens behind that bathroom door before we appear with our “casual, easy flowing” hair.
Left on its own, just washed and, well, just washed and towel dried, most of us with long hair would end up with either this look or this look (girl on the right. My hair does this with nothing but a hair dryer. For a little style change I could do this Or maybe this if I get my brush tangled while I blow dry. I know. Lucky me! Every day can be the ‘80s!) I think most of us can agree that none of these are exactly alluring or, well, you know, man bait hair. (Though for some reason Marcia never had a problem getting dates...)
I’m craving a more rock n’ roll look, something between this revamped Pat Benatar and the ferock standard Chrissie Hynde. But I have, you know, a day job. And I’ve never been able to fully carry off the whole heroin chic look. The closest I can realistically come to that look at this point in my life, you know, the point where there’s a very thin line between stylish and looking like a ridiculous and pathetic fool trying to be young, is this. But I don’t actually look like her. My hair would do that, quite easily in fact. But she’s gorgeous. She could pull off any hair style. I’m not, you know, gorgeous. I can’t pull off just any old hairstyle. Note how even this, erm, severe and starched style is well, I mean it is what it is, but, on any old woman, a non model, non pretty woman, this do would be even odder, funnier and severe. And I don’t actually walk around with a wind machine and crew of stylists all the time so, you know, carrying off something like this could be problematic for someone like me.
So keep all that in mind when I present the following question to the Universe: What the swut should I do with my hair?
I’m sick of it, I want something new, a new style a different look, heck any style or look would be a huge improvement on the, well, erm, um, lack of style or look I currently sport.
Chop it all off? Well. Yes. I could do that. I am not afraid. But. I am broke and busy and not able to get monthly trims to keep a short cut short. And looking the way it’s supposed to.
And I’m not pretty enough for short hair. Long hair provides an instant distraction from the rest of me. Long hair gives me a place to hide my ugly features. Long hair gives people a place to divert their eye contact so they don’t have to look me in the eyes. And my hair is the only physical man bait I have. Because on a good day, when I have the time to “do” my hair, it’s, you know, man bait for men who have a hair thing. HWNMNBS was forever fiddling with my hair. He liked me best in some windy place with my hair all over my face. He’d recreate that look indoors by flopping it in my face. This gave him something better to look at than, well, my face, no doubt, but, hey, it worked for a while, right? It's not a coincidence that he dumped me after I cut off several inches of hair. I cut it because it was dry and it was time to cut it, have a little style and start growing out some fresher looking length so it would look nice, new and shiny for the wedding. This is something else guys don't understand. Long hair needs to be cut, several inches cut, now and then. Otherwise it ends up looking old and dull and, well, not so enticing. I didn't cut it short short in anticipation of the wedding, I left enough to have enough re-grown in time for the wedding, it was still at my shoulders. But, there was less to flop in my face. Less to hide behind. Less hair, more me = broken engagement, no marriage, no man. I learn lessons from life. This is one of them. He cites me cutting my hair as one of the reasons he dumped me. I've kept my hair long since then. Not because I think it will woo him back to me, but because he confirmed what I knew was true: Men like long hair on women. They don't give a swut about all the reasons why it's a time consuming pain to take care of, they just like long hair.
Looking back on how much he liked me when I was in the wind or with my hair flopped on my face, maybe I should rethink the portable wind machine.
Think anyone in the office would notice? Or mind? I could rig up a fan, it would need to have a large battery pack because it needs to be a large fan. Right. I could rig up a fan on a push cart, maybe one of those luggage trolley things. Turn the fan to face me and push it along ahead of me everywhere I go. Then I’d have that wind blown feature hiding sexy look all the time. Like this guy. (I know. He's super cute. Going to grow into a handsome man. Shame about the hair. Maybe by the time he's old enough to vote he'll have done something with the hair.)
I know. I know. With everything going on in the world, heck with all that’s wrong in my own life, the last thing I should be devoting a second of thought to is my hair. You’re right. But I did warn you this is a girly post.
Sort of.
I have a theory. I first started pondering this after 9/11. I noticed peoples’ interests went one of two routes: Either non stop all things terrorism and government or, all things basic.
Like a new hair style. Or new coat.
After last December’s tsunami a blog which is usually political and, you know, kind of in your face with the rants about government and certain administrations, started contemplating the various types of tulip bulbs available online and which would be best for their garden.
I’m noticing more of this switcharoo in blog posting after Katrina and now the Asian earthquake.
One could dismiss it as denial. One could also dismiss it as complacency. One could dismiss it as arrogance. One could dismiss it as stupidity.
But.
I think it’s about control. This is not “happening” to complacent, arrogant, stupid people succumbing to denial. My hair style “crisis” came about the day Katrina hit. It’s been festering for a while. The whole clothes and image thing have been on my mind more than usual. Which is kind of weird for me. I was devoting more time than usual to finding a hair style when it occurred to me: This is about control. There is chaos and scary stuff happening, stuff beyond anyone’s control. It’s not that I’m shallow and don’t care about the victims. It’s strangely, exactly the opposite. I care too much. It’s information overload. I’m upset and feeling extremely helpless and insignificant in my abilities to be of any real help to anyone involved in these catastrophes. I pace around the compartment, fidget in the office, trying to get caught up in my normal life, work and all that, but the tragedy and horror going on in the world around me finds a way into most of my thoughts.
Diversion. Control. I need a diversion and control over something. Voila! hair style hobby on high volume. New and profound interest in something insignificant. Something which will over a consuming diversion and yet still allow quick and rewarding results and ultimately: Control.
Which is my own stupidity and irony because here I am feeling completely out of control over something which I have ultimate control. My hair.
What to do, what to do? Decisions, decisions. I need to do something. I know that much. I need change. Change is good. I need change I can control. Control is good.
What the swut am I going to do with my hair? People are dying, thousands of people are dying or having a really crappy time of things and I need to figure out what to do with my hair!
