Okay. I have a random (and very girly) moment to share with you. I don't think that guys have any sense of it, but what is it about getting your haircut that just sort of changes your outlook on the day? I know it isn't just me who feels this way. I've lately been too cheap to get my haircut -- and it helped that for a year and a half, I lived with a beauty school graduate and got haircuts in exchange for other services (do not bother reading into that -- I helped her weave highlights into her hair. It was a pretty cool process.) So, before today, the last time I got my hair cut at a salon was in October of 1998. I let it grow out for two years after that, with only me hacking at it out of frustration.

It is interesting that I usually think about what I'm going to wear to the salon. Part of that is that I haven't been to the same salon twice in a long time, so I want to convey some sense of how I usually dress, which says something about who I am and how I live, all of which should be reflected in the style of the dead cells that grow out of my head. It's a lot of power to place in the hands of trained wielder of scissors -- the outward expression of your identity, at least to strangers and passers-by. But regardless of what I wear, I think those places always have the same lights that department store dressing rooms have -- the ones that point out all imperfections in your skin, even under the makeup, and the ones that make me regret my choice of clothing, since it always seems to emphasize the fact that I will be carded at 18-and-up clubs until I'm 40. Can I help it that graduate school and the West Coast have combined to give me a wardrobe completely dominated by Levis (and yes, the brand of jeans is important when it's 50% of your wardrobe) and variations on the t-shirt?

[Morrissey moment: "I sense the power/ in the fingers/ within an hour the power/ can totally destroy me/ (or, it could save my life)/ ouoooooooooo" -Hairdresser on Fire ]

So, I got a haircut. Big fucking deal, right? Not really. I keep feeling my hair, as it's shorter and there's less of it. It smells different because they use different shampoo, conditioner and products (I wish I'd asked what, 'cause it smells pretty good.) And I also know that it will never again look exactly like this, because I think they teach stylists tricks to make the look unreproducible at all costs. It's like big tobacco -- they get you hooked! And honestly, since I lost maybe 1.5 inches of hair, I'm betting that my boyfriend won't even notice (actually, he should be looking for it, as I mentioned that I was going to get my hair cut.)

Regardless, to end the girly monologue, I find it strange that I can walk into a salon I've never been to before, tell a complete stranger that I need some dead cells removed from the top of my head, and walk out with a new "personality" to face to the world.

I'd like to hear someone explain all of this to a straight man. In a way that he understood by the end of the discussion. A challenge!!

You need professional help. AND you have way too much time on your hands (and overactive imagination).

As for teens of the US -- go you! At least you're getting part of it right. But I do have to ask, why the cigarettes? I understand the drugs, legal and not, but the tobacco? Why does that still have cache?

You still haven't explained the blue and grey significance to me.

There's a place in hell for you and your friends. I'm starting to think we've reserved a Southern-wedding sized block at the H-E-double hockey sticks Hilton.

See, about credit cards, they are designed to keep you in debt. When the Depression started forcing people out of their houses because the banks forclosed on their mortgages, the US government stepped in. They basically determined that homeownership, despite being, well, a pain in the ass for many people, was a symbol of American democracy and our way of life. The FHA created a new mortgage system that made it safer for banks to loan money to home buyers (though not any safer for the home owner. They could still lose their shirts.) After WWII, people bought the house, since they couldn't rent even if they wanted to, and the lifestyle that went with it. Since they had a 30-year mortgage already, a few thousand more for a car, a couple hundred here and there for the washer and dryer, etc, didn't seem like that much. I mean, when you're in debt, does it really matter how much anymore? So in creating a nation of homeowners, we created a nation of people who live on credit. Your credit rating is actually better when you carry small amounts of debt and pay them off responsibly! Someone who pays for everything in cash has no credit rating and cannot therefore get financing for a car or house! So being responsible and only living very strictly within your means will get you screwed! How messed up is that? As for selling body pieces, sell eggs. You get more for them, I think, it's not black market usually, and you have enough of them that you won't miss them. Since there are horomone shots involved, just get them harvested en masse. Then someone else can deal with your gene flaws.

As for your "discussion," aren't there more significant things going on in the world than a bunch of pundits and judges and media whore debating the significance of GOD? I am definitely a proponent of words, their meanings, and their significance. But if I remember correctly, the Pledge of Allegiance was much like the grace that we said before eating dinner -- a meaningless group of words, learned by rote, and repeated daily because someone told you to as a child. Maybe we could spend some time discussing how many of these kids that we've forced to say "god" every morning came to school without breakfast because their families couldn't afford food. Maybe we could discuss how many of these children live in substandard housing with rats and/or roaches for "pets." Maybe we could discuss the ones that have frequent "accidents" falling down stairs, or the ones that cannot read because no one bothered to take the time out to teach them or didn't have the time. We could discuss the role of standardized testing in schools, or the schools that have been closed because of budget cuts this year (two elementary schools right here, after two last year), or the fact that many teachers live below the poverty line and work their butts off. But for Christ's, Buddha's, Vishnu's, Moses', Mohammed's, Zeus', Jupiter's, and Cali's sake, WHY IS THIS THE BEST ISSUE TO WASTE TIME, MONEY, BREATH, AND MEDIA SPACE ON????? People have totally got their priorities screwed up! There will be more outrage over this than so many other much more important issues. And for argument's sake, the majority of people believe, in some vague way or another, that some "god" or higher power exists. The majority, not all.

Hmmm. That was way more fun than writing on my thesis -- to which I should return!!

Just a reminder, but I am a graduate student, which may mean that I can write, but it also means that I have to find someone to hold my hand in order to cross the street safely. Was there a proposed topice here and I missed it? The only reference that I can glean from the title of the blog is the Civil War, which I refuse to discuss. Why?? Well, mostly because it is over, but also because, like many wars, it was fought for ideals that had no relation to the real world or the deaths that were caused by it. I also cannot see you being interested in that.

So, in lieu of topics, how about a discussion of the lack of personal responsibility in the United States today? Include the lack of consideration of others, lack of personal pride and sense of accomplishment, and rude sense of entitlement that overcomes all other senses. Keep in mind that the majority of people do not _want_ to be jerks, even if that is how they tend to come off. Why? What are the root causes? Can we date this phenomena back to the settlement of the continent? Westward expansion and manifest destiny? Actually, if we're going back that far, let's discuss the Crusades, or Eden, for that matter.

I'm procrastinating, avoiding the stack of books that mock me from across the room. I must go.

Was ist alles? Soy "the Walrus!"