I think I’m actually less embarrassed about the fiction I write (and the reading of it by my mother) than I am about writing about myself and my mom reading it.
Armchair psychologists, party on with that.
It’s November. Halloween was quiet. I don’t know if the kids in my neighborhood all do the “trunk or treat” thing or just don’t do Halloween anymore or what. I didn’t even think to ask my neighbor what her three kids were going to be because there was no indication they were even doing Halloween.
Only a few of the houses in my area decorated for Halloween, and by the time I walked the dog on Saturday morning, most of them had all the decorations down. Some of the houses had swapped for autumn/Thanksgiving themed things, but I did see one inflatable elf waiting to be plugged in.
There are also houses in my neighborhood who still have last year’s Christmas decorations up. They’re faded and weathered and sad and I wonder if they’re going to stay up or if they’ll be replaced or have new things added to them.
Year old, faded Christmas decorations are really depressing. It’s probably some sort of indicator of the decline of civilization.
So in addition to ending October with words falling out of my brain, I also ended it with music falling into it. Last.FM tells me that I listened to 1010% more music in October than in September.
Shocking absolutely no one who knows me, my top five bands were (not in any order) Manic Street Preachers, Jethro Tull, Beats Antique, Apoptygma Berzerk, and Alphaville. Will I branch out in November? I’m listening to Beats Antique right now, so probably not.
I’m getting a haircut today and I’m slightly anxious about it. Mostly because I’m anxious about anything that involves going to a place and talking to a person about a thing specifically for me. Despite having a head for 54 years and hair for most of that time, I don’t understand it. I don’t ever do anything with it except wash it; every time I get my hair cut I get asked “how do you usually do it” or “how’s it normally styled” or “what sort of product do you use in your hair” and my answer is always “I don’t. It just kinda exists there?”
If I had a better head shape I would shave it off completely.
I like the color, especially now that it’s been getting greyer. I still dye my hair unnatural colors on occasion, although I haven’t in a long time, mostly because my hair is longer now than it’s been in years. I have enough for a ponytail now. Anyhow, the longer it is, the more of a hassle it is to rinse dye out. Once it’s short again I’ll probably go blue. It’ll be interesting to see if hanging upside-down over the edge of the tub to rinse out the dye is better or worse since the surgery. My money’s on worse, but I always go for the negative option. I like when I’m wrong, but it doesn’t happen often.