I Chopped My Hair Again

Hey, the celebrities are all doing it – lopping off all their locks – plus I needed a change. This is yet another part of the cycle I've been in since college of growing my hair out; getting sick of it and whacking it off in one swell foop; letting it grow out long again...

So, to document this latest foray into pixie land (okay, it's not a true pixie but for me it's so short I just call it that) I have the "before" and "after" proof ...

Here's me sitting in the chair while the hairdresser (LaRae from Hair Matters) mixes the highlight stuff:

 
Now, while some of you might be thinking the orangey-yellowy cast to my hair might be caused from the lighting in the salon, it's not. That was actually the color of my hair after a summer's worth of being outside on weekends in the sun. Not very flattering. The word which comes to mind is "sallow."

After a couple hours' worth of transformation (and having shown her pictures of cute Meg Ryan 'dos I liked), here's the result:

Is she good or WHAT?! Everyone should go to LaRae!

Okay, for real – here's the finished product:

I can make it look messier – sorry, Meggier – than she did at the salon. It's SO fun, and QUICK! No more blow-drying my locks for 10 minutes (or more) every morning. I might even start getting to work early because of this :)

Thank you, LaRae, for my cute new 'do!



*Meg Ryan image borrowed from this site.

Hey, Behr – I Need Your Advice for a Paint Color!

Alright, all you Behr Paint users: I need advice on a paint color. Namely, a shade/hue of blue. This is sort of a continuation of our Town Home Makeover Project (which I have yet to document here but soon shall) and partially a result of me buying a really cool piece of art.

Enter said piece of art into the house and the consequence: needing to paint. First of all, the entire downstairs living room is white. All walls. Plus the carpet's beige. MLEH. While I never in a million years thought I'd EVER willingly paint "beige" in a house, I did choose Toasted Wheat for the upstairs living room/kitchen and then I accented with red...some orange...etc. I'm kind of a fan of the "neutral" base colors with accents.

Anyway. My idea for this room – our downstairs living room – is a combination of browns (again, carpet's beige; couch/chair/ottoman are dark brown) and blue with orange accents. I just love orange. In addition to red, it's probably the color I can't do without. SO. With that color palette (mostly) chosen, now what do I do with all these nooks n crannies in this room? Paint just one wall? Paint all of it? Bleck...I don't even want to think of painting all of it. My idea is to ONLY paint the wall on which the new art will reside.

Here's the new art – it's a bigun, measuring ~42" tall by ~65" wide – which is to go behind the couch:

Cool, huh? I found this gem in the Lazy Turtle while antiquing with my friend in Anoka a couple weekends ago. So you can see it's the perfect wall art for me – it has neat horses in it, it's historical (Clint loves Egyptian history), plus it has the colors I want for that room – BUT since it'd be going on a white wall something needs to change. I can't do white-on-white.

Here's the room in question last Christmas (hence the lights; no I haven't started decorating already):

First and foremost: yes, I got rid of the pillows on the couch – except the orange one, of course – so no advice needed there.

Secondly, as you can see the room has a LOT of extra surface area on the south side (fireplace, TV nook, stairs) so painting that wall would probably do me in.

Thirdly – and this is a biggie – I'm considering ONLY painting the north wall (behind the couch) with some shade of blue. Thoughts? Suggestions? Am I crazy??

C'mon, Behr...help a gal out!

Hey, Idiot, Press "Enter"

Boy, Google Instant sure has the world in a tizzy. From "I don't want to be shown a SERP without hitting 'Enter'" to "Why don't they censor Google Images like they censor Web searches?" C'mon, people, admit it...Google has more (perceived) power over you than you a) realize and/or b) will admit.

Upon reading Danny Sullivan's article about G is for Girls Breast Feeding Each Other I saw the video Max Goldberg – some random stand-up guy – did in which he spouts off about how Google's censoring the entire Interwebz and not allowing searches on certain words. He's actually kinda funny, but he's either trying to stir up a hornet's nest or he's an idiot. If he truly thinks Google won't allow him to search certain words, he might need a lesson in how The Google works.

So, here's a quick tutorial on how to MAX-imize your SERP (PS, buddy, that means Search Engine Results Page)*:

Step 1: If you don't have a Google toolbar, then type google.com into your address bar (if you don't know these terms, I can't help you). This should get you to something that looks like this:

Step 2: Type in a word – ANY WORD – to start searching.

Okay...here's a better example:

Here's the neat thing with Google nowadays – it'll not only suggest results (without having to hit "enter" on your keyboard or even the "Search" button...which is SOOOOO 2004); it displays them REAL-TIME! Sweet! However, that might not work for all searches, which brings us to...

Step 3: If your search is "censored" from Google Instant – meaning Google doesn't want to automagically display results for certain, shall we say, sensitive keywords – you're still able to research that material. Hang onto your hats, folks, I'm going to tell you how to get around the "massive, unforgivable censorship" imposed on us by The Google.

Ready???

PRESS ENTER.

That's right, I've have single-handedly found the way around Google's censorship. If Google doesn't want you to see Instant results, you hafta hit your 'enter' key. Whew. I'm gonna call it a day.

Of course, maybe I WANT to see "blacklisted" results without having to hit "enter" – define lazy – and that's what this whole thing is all about. Then you'd think They would let Us define this by setting our filters.
 

BUT, what about shared and/or public computers? Poses a rather delicate situation...one which I think Google is – overall – handling very well.

But I digress. So, to recap, it's as easy as 1, 2, 3 to search on Google. For those of you who REALLY can't figure it out – like Max Goldburp – here's another, quicker, live tutorial. I.e., let me Google "lesbians" for you, idiot. 



*Disclaimer: I'm not a teacher nor do I have any special ed type of background, so results when utilizing this tutorial may vary based on the IQ of individual searchers.

Crosby & Aitkin Team Up To Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This video brings a tear to my eye – not just because it's well done; it also hits closer to home. As in, 14 miles from home...I didn't grow up in Crosby, Minnesota, but I did attend kindergarten through my senior year of high school there.

I was a tried-and-true Ranger fan, hell bent on hating the Gobblers (from the not-very-far-away neighboring town of Aitkin). I realize high school sports rivalry doesn't extend into the health care system, but it was still touching to see the two rival towns unite in this awesome video in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Some familiar faces in here, and also a great message. Not just for women – and men! – to be aware of breast cancer and its risks, but that a whole community is supporting a cause and spreading awareness.

Well done, Crosby and Aitkin! (Not to mention the videographers :)