Haircut

I got my hair cut short yesterday. It looked like a dead animal on the floor when all was said and done.
Anyhoo, that's not very interesting. What was interesting to me was the social interaction I got to have with the hair dresser.
Let me preface by saying that it was an $11 deal by one of the chains (I'm sick of getting ripped off just because Curt's too much of a wuss to take a set of scissors to my locks).
It was amazing, I walked into this depressing, empty place and this woman was putting inventory away. She looked weary, but when she saw me a giant smile broke out and customer service was at it's best.
She began to tell me all about her life and I got to see pictures of her new baby daughter as she laboured away on my head. She told me about her interesting history classes at college, her husband's dogs, her immigrant parents, and about moving here from Brooklyn.
I don't know what her situation is, but she was one of the most comfortable people I've come across in a long time. If I ever feel the need for a psychiatrist, I'm just going to go back and get another hair cut from her. What a wonderful person.
Here's the end result...

...I looooove my hair cut!

The Mammals: with a vengeance

What a great show! Sadly for them, the audience wasn't very big. Happily for us, the audience wasn't very big.
They played with a wonderful enthusiasm and showed us just how fun going out to a show could be. They really know how to weave a tale and to keep up a presence between the lovely pieces.
If I had to choose, their song '1952 Black Vincent Lightning' was my favourite. The way they harmonized was so beautiful - it was actually much better than even this very good version. It's such a sort of classic Americana song besides. How could a girl, even a non-red-head, not totally go for it?
If you ever get the opportunity, definitely check them out!

The Mammals

We are really looking forward to seeing the Mammals perform next Friday. They are here in town as part of the Eastern Music Festival. We are more familiar with some of their earlier, perhaps less subtle music.
However, the new album looks to be really great too. It is called 'Departure' I believe. So far, I've heard one song off of it called 'Alone on the Homestead' which is really good.

Earth from above

So, AOL is good for something. Dad sent us a link to http://reference.aol.com/space/earth-from-above
"The Earth from above is an amazing sight. NASA's Landsat satellites capture the view in all its splendor. "
My personal favourite is the picture from off the coast of the Bahamas.

Wasabi

Yum, I met up with the book club for another evening out not talking about books. It was great! We ate sushi at 'Wasabi' (4630 W Market St. Greensboro, NC 27407 336.632.4567). Really tasty. When my rainbow roll came out, Barbara got a couple of pics...













It was so pretty I almost didn't want to eat it. I felt much better when we saw them take the 'flower' back into the kitchen. Hopefully it got used all night (hmnn, usually when one says that it sounds a little, ummmm, dirty?).

It was really neat to finally meet some of the people I've seen in email format. Sometimes I really enjoy the company of like-minded, relaxed folks.
It seems that many people have unwavering, concrete beliefs. It is nice to be able to go out and not have anyone getting too preachy, or worse yet, attempting to convert me! Of course, nobody ever thinks differently if they only interact with those who agree. A dilemma indeed.

Tracking votes

So, 'SaveNetRadio.org' has set up this tool to let you know what your Senators and Reps have voted on in the last week. Pretty cool!

No cars go

'No cars go' is one of the better songs off the new Arcade Fire album. I really liked 'Funeral.' 'Neon Bible' is interesting as a follow up - Curt thinks some of the tracks are a little like Bruce Springsteen songs (circa 1985). Anyhow, they do seem a little like kids from the high school a/v club. So, I embrace them as my people!

Gluttony

Okay, I think that summer is supposed to be a time of light eating and lots of outdoor fun. However, in the last four days (I am counting Friday night and yesterday as weekend time - since Curt gets Mondays off) we have only been outside for brief walks, evening bbq's and shuttling between the house and cars. Light eating - well, let's just say that we'll need to subsist on celery for the next week to undo some of the damage.
Okay, time to clean out the left-overs and get to the market for some produce. Let's see if I can zip up my jeans!

Supporting troops

I think being in the military must be dreadful and have a hard time figuring why anybody would want to join. I don't support any of the conflicts I am currently aware that the U.S. is engaged in either. That having been said, it is easy to judge from my nice, comfortable and semi-secure home office.

One thing that Curt turned me onto is www.booksforsoldiers.com
It requires getting an application notarized (which meant a 20-minute drive to my local ups store). I'll update how it's going in a few weeks when they've processed my application.

Funding cuts

The Greensboro Urban Ministry recently had a bad jolt. They learned that they were getting a big chunk of their funding cut. Happily, a local church stepped up and made up the difference. That covers this year, but where does it leave them in the future? Read here for the full article in the News & Record.

While we are not religious, Curt and I volunteer at G.U.Ministry once a week. We searched around and while there are many worthy, local organisations, we felt that this one was helping people with the most dire need. We encourage you to get involved if you have the time & means...the contact is Nita Johnson - nita@guministry.org

Also, check out their website - www.greensborourbanministry.org - where you can find out more information regarding what they do, and making donations/contributions (food, clothing, time or money). Anything helps.

Too sweet?

Okay, I was just a tad disturbed by my breakfast banana today. It was tasty and perfectly ripe. However, when I finished eating it, I looked for the sticker on the skin (sometimes, if it's a monkey I still put it on my hand - look everyone, Serena ate a banana!).
Here is what I found...

Now, I am all about the sugar.
But, when they start advertising candy on bananas, I kind of have to wonder if we haven't taken the whole marketing thing a shade too far.
Of course, chances are that my banana was injected with some sort of high fructose corn syrup - or at the very least rolled around in some splenda.
I wonder if I had to eat a banana that was just normal if I might have an allergic reaction - what, no sugar!
Time to go consider this over a coke and a healthy snack of reese's pieces...

Goodreads

Check out www.goodreads.com I suspect that there are a lot of other services that are the same or similar. However, this is the only one that I am on:)

Dad and Maria

Dad and Maria came to visit for about a week. They are great! Can't believe all the work they did helping to clean up this place.
Here are a couple of pictures:
Dad in their new Toyota Tundra...




Here's one of Maria getting eaten alive by mosquitoes (hence the protective sheet) at a carport dinner...