Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I have big news. See, when I’m stressed or anxious or generally going through big stuff in my life, I take it out on my hair. Or rather, I use my hair to get out all the crazy urges I have to do something drastic (well, usually). So today, I went to a salon, and showed the man a picture.

“This,” I said, “is what I want.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “All the way up to here?”

“Yep,” I answered. “I’m going for a big change.”

“It certainly will be a big change…” he mumbled, as he grabbed a razor and started hacking.

And now? Now, my hair is shorter than it has been since I was about two years old. And I LOVE it. Absolutely adore it! One of the other hairdressers came over at one point and said, “That’s adorable! It’s such a great cut!” Another customer, having just been shampooed, waiting for her stylist to cut her hair, said, “Oh my goodness – it frames your face so well! You look like a model!” And my sister, when I came out, said, “Wow, you look like a New Yorker – very cosmopolitan.” As for me, all afternoon I’ve felt cute, and bouncy, and fun, and attractive, and it’s been a very long time since I felt any of those things. It’s amazing how big a difference one little haircut can make in how I feel about myself.

Are you ready to see it?

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I mean really ready?

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Really really?

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You’re sure?

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Okay, here you go:

[I had to cover my face – you know, preserving anonymity and all. But if anyone wants a regular picture, feel free to email me and I’ll send you one.]

And a picture of the back, too:

So yeah, big, HUGE change. But I am soooo in love with my haircut! After Aly’s most recent post, I feel very blessed to have come out so happy. :)

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In other news, thanks for your thoughts on what I should call comments. I did end up going with Sassy’s suggestion of “Hands Raised.” However, I was somewhat ambitious in my plans. What I wanted was to have it say “Raise Your Hand!” when there were zero comments, “1 Hand Raised” when there was one comment, and “N Hands Raised” when there were N comments (where N > 1). Makes sense, right? Should have been possible, right?

Wrong.

Tpiglette and Baleeted worked hard to help me, and they did a great job, but Blogger was not so cooperative. Here are the subject lines from the sequence of emails in my inbox from last night while we worked on this, complete with commentary:

• 10:14pm – “script to insert in your template” – The initial attempt, based on a successful script implemented in Tpiggy’s blog. It makes the comments disappear completely.
• 10:26pm – “try this…” – The second attempt. Comments are still gone.
• 10:35pm – “try #3” – The third attempt. Comments are still gone.
• 10:41pm – “the Test ;)” – Baleeted decides to test the script, just to see if it’s working at all. It is.
• 10:53pm – “the Test #2” – A second test, this time to check if *any* links will work. They will not.
• 11:00pm – “the Test #3” – The third test, slightly different than Test #2, but still checking if links will work. This time they do.
• 11:03pm – “try #4!” – Notice the exclamation point here. We are all highly encouraged by Test #3’s success, and are sure we’ll be done here. Comments disappear again.
• 11:06pm – “try #5…” – Notice the ellipsis. We’ve become suspicious again. Comments are still gone.
• 11:11pm – “back to the Test #4” – We return to testing, to try and find where it’s breaking down. This yields no information whatsoever.
• 11:14pm – “where’d the comments go!?” – Sassy Student, with a poorly timed visit, finds herself unable to comment, as the comment links have all completely disappeared. I reassure her that they will be back… eventually…
• 11:15pm – “the Test #5” – Still testing. We still know nothing.
• 11:21pm – “try #6…” – Based on a sudden inspiration, we return to trying, instead of testing, but notice that we’re suspicious again. This try fails utterly.
• 11:28pm – “the Test #6 :-P” – Funny face means we’re getting slightly frustrated at this whole fiasco. I tell Tpiggy, “It’s like a mystery game!” She responds that it’s more like “reverse Jenga.” I claim that’s better than drunken Jenga, and she agrees.
• 11:34pm – “the Test #7” – This one works again. Hooray!
• 11:48pm – “the Test #8” – This one breaks it again. Boo!
• 11:50pm – “the Test #9” – Nope, still not working. [Are you bored yet? Imagine doing this in real time…]
• 12:38am – “try this?” – Baleeted, after creating his own Blogger account solely for the purpose of testing things out, comes up with a code that has worked for him. However, he established this code by building it and testing it piece by piece (hence the time delay). Handing me the final version doesn’t work.
• 12:48am – “piece #1” – Tpiggy and I decide to build it piece by piece too, in the hopes that we can recreate Baleeted’s success. This first piece, however, doesn’t work.
• 12:52am – “piece #1, improved” – Tpiggy had made a typo, so she sends a new version. It still doesn’t work.
• 12:53am – “piece #1, yet again (because I’m stupid)” – Tpiggy had made yet another typo, so she sends a new version. This one works.
• 12:56am – “piece #2” – It also works. This is getting exciting…
• 1:01am – “piece #3” – Also works. We’re getting close! The giddiness gets Tpiggy to include the phrase “Lara rocks!” as part of the (temporary) script.
• 1:04am – “piece #4” – Still working, still including “Lara rocks!” Could this be it? Have we solved the mystery???
• 1:08am – “piece #5…” – Notice we’re back to the ellipsis? That’s because Tpiggy knows this is the one that might break it. We wait anxiously only to find out… that it breaks it. Comments disappear, as does “Lara rocks!” We all heave a sigh of disappointment.
• 1:13am – “temporary piece #6 ;)” – Returning to what worked in piece #4, Tpiggy sends me a humorous version to use until we can figure it out. It, however, also doesn’t work. We are all baffled as to why. Consensus is that Blogger is drunk and/or mentally incapacitated.
• 1:20am – I give up and use “Hands Raised” for all three (zero, one, and more than one).
• 1:28am – After Tpiggy and I commiserate for a while longer, I finally head to bed.

Doesn’t that sound exciting? Don’t you wish you could have been a part of it too? Well, at least we’ve changed from “comments” to something with a bit more flavor. Thanks to Tpiggy and Baleeted for all their (attempted) help!

** Update: Graham fixed it! Thanks, Graham! I have no idea what you did, but thanks! It works now! :)

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Day 20 of LaBloShoeMo: The Cream Mary Janes

The last of the cream-themed shoes I so recently bought. These have a super comfy rubber sole, and a soft linen lining (the bit of pink you see there). Yet at the same time, they’re feminine and classy, so they will make great teaching shoes. Also, what do I love about them? All together now: “They don’t make Lara too tall.” Yep, that’s it exactly.