Hair's the thing...

I recently got my hair cut. After a ba-jillion years with the same to-my-shoulders bob, I decided I'd chop it off. My stylist used various tools to sculpt this mane -- scissors, a razor, a cup of coffee (she was getting tired) -- and when she was done I was quite happy with the outcome. I really looked forward to less time blow-drying my hair in the mornings.

As I took in my new look in the mirror, a raspy voice from behind me said, "You got your hair cut!" Seeing that we were sitting in the salon and there was enough of my hair on the floor to knit a really funky sweater, I didn't know if I should respond or just let the comment sit there. I chose the latter.

"You got your hair cut now?!" she continued. "You did it backwards. It's winter. Now, you'll be cold!" The woman with the wrinkled face and 1950s updo stared at me from the chair where she held court.

Oh, no!

What a fool I was! I'd thought of everything -- a new look, less time with a hair-dryer, a little mousse for styling... but I forgot that it was going to be WINTER soon in the north east. It's the time of year where temperatures and leaves drop, summer shorts get swapped for winter cords, and the heat is turned on inside. It's a time for soup and hot cocoa.

What to do? What to do?

I climbed out of my stylist's chair, grabbed my coat and stepped outside into the brisk fall air...and, just to make sure it would work, put my hood on.

So there you go.

Flip-flops and funky feet

I'm not sure what the practice is in the rest of the US, but in the northeast there is a trend among women to wear flip-flops during their commute to work and then (ideally) change into shoes at the office. Not for anything, but this makes my stomach churn. I can't help but notice that the vast majority of these women have feet that look like they are caked with dirt. Each step reveals a charcoal gray sole. I know that some of these women have walked through the subways, stepped into the gutters, and God-only-knows where else, no doubt picking up feces and urine along the way. They've got the latest fashions, the hottest hair styles, and make-up worthy of a Covergirl model. Guys are probably drooling all over them and, wait--their feet are covered in muck. Now, that's sexy!

Researchers have taken swabs to toilet seats, the folding trays on airplanes, and other everyday items to look for e. coli, why not swab these feet? Ugh.