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hair, charlotte's web
Apr. 13th, 2007 02:15 pm.i. hair
My complicated relationship with my hairdresser continues. I saw her yesterday and got my hair cut/colored/highlighted, but am not wholly convinced that she is pleased with me. She told me she hadn't returned my phone calls because I forgot to leave my number on her machine any of the three times I called. Totally possible! In fact, very likely! But still: I have doubts.
She dyed my hair again, which of course means I'm experiencing post-dye paranoia. I'm convinced that I look like I took a can of black shoe polish and combed it through my hair, in spite of the fact that she talked me into getting highlights. She cajoled me, I submitted, but do I see highlights? No. No, I do not. But did I want super-highlighted hair? Not really. She said I would "barely see them" and she's right; I guess I got what I asked for.
Another potential sign of diminishing interest on the part of my hairdresser: she didn't clean all the dye off of my forehead, which I didn't notice because I'm unobservant like that. People ask me why I still live at home and not on my own, and there are several reasons (credit card debt, student loans, uncertain employment future), but a big one was exemplified last night, when my mother walked in the door, took one look at me, and said, "What's on your forehead? Why is it all black?"
And then I went to the mirror and saw all the dye around my hairline that I'd totally not noticed. I went and got Chinese food for lunch, went to a drug store to pick up pens later, all while displaying massive dye-face. Without the Mom Unit, I would have slept with it on and perhaps been permanently marked.
I feel like all my posts about my hairdresser make me sound like a paranoid lunatic. Well, more so than usual. And I will own up to being slightly paranoid about things like this. Okay, more than slightly. BUT. In my defense! My aunt and cousin go to the same person and have the same hang-ups. Is this because we share the same congenital personality flaw, where we project our own negative self-worth onto our hairdressers? Or is our shared stylist, in fact, a little tempermental?
My aunt actually brings her a coffee every time she goes to get her hair done because she's convinced the hairdresser doesn't like her, and is trying to earn her way back into her good graces. We keep going back because she generally does a good job with hair (my aunt and cousin's hair looks fabulous); as for mine, I'm still adjusting. Here's hoping I don't, in fact, look like I dunked my head in an inkwell and cut my hair with garden shears. More news as it develops.
.ii. charlotte's web
Those of you who were lucky enough to talk to me either a couple of months ago, when I saw the new Charlotte's Web in the theater, or the other day, when I watched part of it again on DVD, have been exposed to my evangelical zeal for Charlotte's Web. Evidence: The icon for this entry, which I know is super low-budg, but as I tell my students whenever I give them handouts I create featuring images of any kind, I am not a graphic artist!
ANYWAY. I am obsessed with Charlotte's Web. I feel like someone who's just accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior, and must now Spread the Word. Except my Word has to do with a children's book/movie about a spider and a pig. But! It's about SO MUCH MORE!
Watching the movie as an adult was much different than watching or reading it as a child. My memory of the story was of Charlotte as more of a mother-figure, who saved Wilbur out of benevlolence, and she does have a teacher/motherly role in the movie, but what I had either missed or forgotten was the reciprocal nature of their friendship. Charlotte saves Wilbur because Wilbur is the first (maybe only?) creature to call her a friend and not be put off by her appearance, and by doing that, he brings her into a friendship and a community she'd been cut off from before. That might have been present in the book or earlier movie, but I didn't remember it as much, so it really moved me when I saw the movie.
In general, I was surprised by how many themes the story touches upon honestly and thoughtfully: the value of friendship, the importance of promises kept, the influence one individual can have on a community, the power of words, finding worth in individuals usually overlooked, seeing beyond superficial appearances, the bittersweetness of growing up.
I grew up with the animated version, which I have affection for, but I liked this live-action version a lot. And this is coming from someone who's generally creeped out by talking live-action animals (I hate all those stupid cat litter commercials, they FREAK ME OUT). I think the movie did a wonderful job making the setting look both real and somehow magical - the colors were super-saturated, a little brighter than they would typically be in real life. And Dakota Fanning was wonderful as Fern.
Go see it! It's awesome!
My complicated relationship with my hairdresser continues. I saw her yesterday and got my hair cut/colored/highlighted, but am not wholly convinced that she is pleased with me. She told me she hadn't returned my phone calls because I forgot to leave my number on her machine any of the three times I called. Totally possible! In fact, very likely! But still: I have doubts.
She dyed my hair again, which of course means I'm experiencing post-dye paranoia. I'm convinced that I look like I took a can of black shoe polish and combed it through my hair, in spite of the fact that she talked me into getting highlights. She cajoled me, I submitted, but do I see highlights? No. No, I do not. But did I want super-highlighted hair? Not really. She said I would "barely see them" and she's right; I guess I got what I asked for.
Another potential sign of diminishing interest on the part of my hairdresser: she didn't clean all the dye off of my forehead, which I didn't notice because I'm unobservant like that. People ask me why I still live at home and not on my own, and there are several reasons (credit card debt, student loans, uncertain employment future), but a big one was exemplified last night, when my mother walked in the door, took one look at me, and said, "What's on your forehead? Why is it all black?"
And then I went to the mirror and saw all the dye around my hairline that I'd totally not noticed. I went and got Chinese food for lunch, went to a drug store to pick up pens later, all while displaying massive dye-face. Without the Mom Unit, I would have slept with it on and perhaps been permanently marked.
I feel like all my posts about my hairdresser make me sound like a paranoid lunatic. Well, more so than usual. And I will own up to being slightly paranoid about things like this. Okay, more than slightly. BUT. In my defense! My aunt and cousin go to the same person and have the same hang-ups. Is this because we share the same congenital personality flaw, where we project our own negative self-worth onto our hairdressers? Or is our shared stylist, in fact, a little tempermental?
My aunt actually brings her a coffee every time she goes to get her hair done because she's convinced the hairdresser doesn't like her, and is trying to earn her way back into her good graces. We keep going back because she generally does a good job with hair (my aunt and cousin's hair looks fabulous); as for mine, I'm still adjusting. Here's hoping I don't, in fact, look like I dunked my head in an inkwell and cut my hair with garden shears. More news as it develops.
.ii. charlotte's web
Those of you who were lucky enough to talk to me either a couple of months ago, when I saw the new Charlotte's Web in the theater, or the other day, when I watched part of it again on DVD, have been exposed to my evangelical zeal for Charlotte's Web. Evidence: The icon for this entry, which I know is super low-budg, but as I tell my students whenever I give them handouts I create featuring images of any kind, I am not a graphic artist!
ANYWAY. I am obsessed with Charlotte's Web. I feel like someone who's just accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior, and must now Spread the Word. Except my Word has to do with a children's book/movie about a spider and a pig. But! It's about SO MUCH MORE!
Watching the movie as an adult was much different than watching or reading it as a child. My memory of the story was of Charlotte as more of a mother-figure, who saved Wilbur out of benevlolence, and she does have a teacher/motherly role in the movie, but what I had either missed or forgotten was the reciprocal nature of their friendship. Charlotte saves Wilbur because Wilbur is the first (maybe only?) creature to call her a friend and not be put off by her appearance, and by doing that, he brings her into a friendship and a community she'd been cut off from before. That might have been present in the book or earlier movie, but I didn't remember it as much, so it really moved me when I saw the movie.
In general, I was surprised by how many themes the story touches upon honestly and thoughtfully: the value of friendship, the importance of promises kept, the influence one individual can have on a community, the power of words, finding worth in individuals usually overlooked, seeing beyond superficial appearances, the bittersweetness of growing up.
I grew up with the animated version, which I have affection for, but I liked this live-action version a lot. And this is coming from someone who's generally creeped out by talking live-action animals (I hate all those stupid cat litter commercials, they FREAK ME OUT). I think the movie did a wonderful job making the setting look both real and somehow magical - the colors were super-saturated, a little brighter than they would typically be in real life. And Dakota Fanning was wonderful as Fern.
Go see it! It's awesome!
