Myspace does have its moments. For example, my friend Molly advised me to add xxx Salon as a friend and to subscribe to their blogs as they often would advertise special events and model calls. When I was younger I was asked to hair model once but couldn't or wouldn't for some reason. It's been a while.

My hair is particularly good for this sort of endeavour because it's never been colored (I did tint it a few times about 10 or more years ago) and it's long, a little wavy, and great to work with. It's like a blank slate, essentially, and I've been letting it grow out over the last few months while trying to find a new hairdresser and/or get some hair inspiration.

So xxx Salon did post a myspace blog post calling for hair models. It was just for cutting and they advertised that it COULD be very short or even styled in a very elaborate manner. I needed to open to bangs, layers, all that fancy stuff. I was to submit a picture of my hair and my phone number, they would confirm or release me by 4pm the same day. I had Demoyne take front and back pics and emailed them round 8am.

At noon the salon owner called me, told me I had beautiful hair, and asked me if I had any preference. I told her no, that the short might not be flattering given my round face, but I was essentially open to whatever they'd give me ("kids, it'll grow back"). I excitely shared the news with a few co-workers and tried to contain my excitement for the rest of the day.

xxx Salon is very cool. It has a great reputation in the city, is known as a very hip place, and the owner is a stylist to the stars. I'm not going to post the name in this blog. They did a great job and I have no complaints, but I'm just being discreet. I will recommend this salon to anyone, but for this post I just feel more comfortable not. Watch this space as I will likely go back.

After class I headed out and settled in where I immediately started my model-like behaviour--I drank a fifth of whiskey, assaulted an assistant, snorted a few lines, insulted everyone around me, and promptly passed out in the corner drooling and vomiting on a 10000 couture gown. Well, no, but I did some phone texting. I was brought a glass of cucumber water (told you it was classy) and settled in with my knitting.

It was to be a workshop for the staff. We looked at several pictures of runway and hairshow styles and the stylists talked about what designs to look for in the future, what people were asking for, what people didn't want. Posh's hair is referred to as the "pob." There's a new shoulder length. Stylists should not be afraid to tell the clients that the style isn't right for them. Layers look better when cut this way, rather than the other way. Modern styles reflect both 40s and 80s elements. Here's a good method to fix last season's popular style. It was a lot of information, and I learned a lot about the technical and artistic aspects of hairstyling. At one point the owner turned to me and aked if I was overwhelmed. I sure was! But it was valuable information, it will help me in the future to figure out styles that work for me.

There was only one other model, and she had a layered cut that they "fixed," and then proceeded to give her a second cut and style. I was next and was used as a blank canvas. The staff were asked what they'd do with my hair and it was debated and discussed--seriously, there were many opinions given, and decisions defended. I ended up with a nice blunt cut (seen here) that was flat ironed like crazy. Really, my hair has never been that straight. I was surprised they didn't want to do layers as EVERY time I get layers cut. I like it; it's simple and easy to care for, but has a lot of potential to be more.

I left my address and yesterday received a gift card for future services. I'll let you know how it works out when I go back.

Labels: hair, pictures

Thank you, thank you, and thank you! It will defray the cost of my books for my opera class next semester, and it looks like someone out there will have a very happy holiday season.

I get so annoyed with online folks who "panhandle." I try not to do this, I think I've kindly pointed out the links to amazon and etsy a few times when times are tough. I don't have a tip jar because I personally don't care for them (though I understand a discreet link on a page), and I absolutely hate listening to podcasts and hearing the host go on about who's given them money. It's tacky. If you're going to sell ad space then be honest about it.

Really, there's nothing wrong with a thank you e-mail, people! I would do that very thing except the process is completely anonymous which is the way I prefer to do things. So instead I'm posting. Thank you.

Maybe I'm bitter and jealous. After all, I don't have the talent some folks have and I obviously don't have the social connections/aptitude that many online do. I'm broke with a property tax bill coming up next month (do not even ask about why there's no escrow account for this purpose--that is a long story).

Anyway, I haven't forgotten you guys. I've actually not been doing a whole lot lately, but I'll update you on the whole lot of nothing later on.

Oh, and anonymous buyer, you and I have similar tastes in books.

Labels: books, gratitude, open letter

State Capitol


Korean War Memorial


War Memorial Auditorium


This shot really makes me miss Summer Lights. I remember many times over the Summer Lights years standing up here and looking at the melee happening down this street.


That's the Hermitage Hotel in the center. It's beautiful, isn't it? It's like the grand old society matron impeccably dressed in a classic Chanel suit standing in a crowd of brassy new money broads draped in Versace.


Andrew Jackson.


Tomb of Sarah and James K Polk


View of the Bicentennial Mall from the Capitol. It was at this point that I suddenly developed a fear of heights. We're not talking mild anxiety, we're talking full on feeling the Earth shift, and an intense need to get down and crawl the rest of the way to flat ground.


Captiol


Statue of Carmack, a staunch Prohibitionist who was assassinated by a tippler. Underneath this statue is a tunnel to the Capitol named after Motlow, a man who was a partner in the Jack Daniel's distillery.


St Mary's of the Seven Sorrows, the oldest church in Nashville. There's also an interesting ghost story tied to this church but that's for you to google. Or take the Nashville Ghost Tour.






I then visited the Tennessee State Museum where they had an exhibit of country music memorabilia owned and exhibited by Marty Stuart. Of course it was Marty Stuart heavy but was definitely worth the visit. The items formerly belonging to Hank Williams were most interesting--letters written to/from Hank (the from usually requested money, the to seemed to be concentrating on Hank's poor behavior), his job ID card, and his report card (he was no good at PE). Oh, and a letter from Patsy Cline to Nudie detailing two dresses she wanted, measurements included. That Patsy was stacked apparently.

Then it was time to meet mom and the hotel. She waved to me from her room as I walked up the street. I was a little shy to ask to see the men's room, so mom was going to take me for an adult beverage in the Oak Bar where we would ask an employee.

Well, adult beverages were ditched in favor of a chocolate malt and a fancy lemonade--crisps on the side. That was a FINE chocolate malt shake, and the Oak Bar is just the classy sort of place you'd go to smoke a nice cigar and drink a fine scotch. Our waitress agreed to take us into the men's room which is just as cool as I thought it would be.

Shoe shine stand


Original floors


If The Matrix had a men's room, this would be it


If you find yourself downtown I do highly recommend you visit the Oak Bar and men's room. They're happy to show you, just ask. And ask them to show you the window where they'd serve women (the Oak Bar used to be MEN ONLY).

I love downtown Nashville. I love this city! The people I'm not so sure about, though.

Labels: downtown, nashville

My mom organized a conference and as a result got us tickets to the Friday Night Opry. Good times! There is some weird family joke that one of these days I'm going to get in a fistfight with Little Jimmy Dickens; sure enough he was one of the hosts that night. It was a ton of fun as it always is but I was a little upset that the dancers don't perform on Fridays, only Saturday night. Still, the house got rocked by Charlie Daniels. He's a badass.

Now, before you go pooh-poohing the Opry, I want you to recognize it for the institution it is. When a performer is asked to join the Opry that performer is obligated to perform a certain number of times per year. And sure, some have seen more successful days, but this contractual agreement means that even the one hittiest of wonders still have an outlet. The crowd loves it--like I said, I was at the Friday Night Opry, not even the biggest night, and the house was PACKED, people were having a GREAT time. In fact, the house is often packed and people always have a great time. While I have little love for country music produced after 1990 I do have mad love for the Opry.

In addition, the Opry is now available on XM.

But let's move on.

Saturday I decided to take a trip downtown to visit the classy Hermitage Hotel where Mom was staying. I needed to bring her a couple of things and, let's be honest, wanted to check out the hotel. It's ridiculously cool and luxurious and I really wanted to see the men's restroom. I'll explain more on that later.

Mom handed me the room key in a small book/envelope; inside the book was a map of the immediate area around the hotel. This helped me plan my downtown visit. I am terrible at geography and the downtown area is a mystery wrapped in an enigma and covered in a gorgeously intricately designed Nudie suit. I started at the Library and walked over to Mom's room where an immaculately dressed doorman opened the door for me. Yes, I said "thank you" and thought about even saying "but you don't have to do that for ME. I'm only visiting."

Here's her room:
Foyer table


Bathroom (not pictured: the large shower and the water closet)


Bed (there were tiny directed reading lights in the ceiling for each side of the bed)


View from Mom's room


My flash doesn't work so this hallway looks ultra eerie. I'd never set foot in this hotel before but several years ago I had a particularly vivid dream about a hotel with nearly identical hallways.


These classy phones had the hotel's insignia on the center of the dial. The insignia was very similar to that of the Hollywood Tower Hotel (Disney fans will love that)


more in next post...

Labels: downtown, nashville, opry

Believe me, this is something I could've gone my whole life and not known and I would've been just fine. I'm only sharing it here because you have to find the interesting/borderline humorous side of things or you will absolutely die of sadness. Do not think I am posting this because it's funny. It's really not funny, but it is interesting and does prove that you can find anything on the internets, and this is not a topic I would've searched for if I didn't have a reason.

Dog Seizure search results on YouTube.

Tonight we three dogs were on the couch snug and comfy and little Flash starts writhing around. This being Flash I didn't think much about it because he's always doing spastic little things like this, and I assumed he was either trying to burrow under the covers or scratch his doggy nose. He then fell to the floor, wetting himself in the process. He was rolling around as though his legs wouldn't work, he was coughing. I took his collar off wondering if he was choking (he wasn't). I thought maybe he'd awakened out of a bad dream and tried petting him. After a minute or so he recovered and was fine, but he was scared as he could be, shaking and cuddling when I picked him up. While I was trying to figure out what to do I called my parents' house where my sister answered and promptly rushed over (Mom shortly behind her).

I took Flash outside (he ran over to the door where he usually stands when he's ready to go out), he peed like crazy. He was fine, and then the sister shows up.

I thought maybe if I could see a video of a dog having a seizure it would help me decide if this is what happened or if it might be something less serious, but sadly I now think it was indeed a seizure. Flash is staying with the parents/sister for the next few days where he can be watched.

Labels: drama, flash

So, one simple day after getting the good news about my appraisal I hear a story on NPR. Allegedly some mortgage lenders are colluding with some appraisal companies. Of course, it is neither of the companies I am working with, but it still gives one pause.

Meanwhile, I come home to see a square cut out of the garage ceiling. To some this is a terrible turn of events but to me this is the start of something beautiful. There's been a problem with a leak in the over-garage condo for some time, and I'm sure I've documented it here before. The cut-out shows signs of progress! Signs of change in the wind! The landlord of the over-garage condo is apparently a lawyer and a bit of an ass; he has made it known to other neightbors that he only intends to do the minimum required by law and doesn't really care that his tenants are loud, arguing, late night partying, drug dealing idiots (allegedly).

Good things are ahead in the Acres. Good things.

Labels: divorcee acres, homestead