Maddening!

I realized on the way to the haircut appointment (study up on part 1 and part 2) that I'm the nutty one living in this environment. It all seems nutty to me, but really, I'm the one who just doesn't quite get it.

Case in point:

I was on my way today somewhere in the car. It was 3 degrees outside. I was early to my destination and needed to return a phone call, which I did in the car while waiting for the time to tick. (Irony: I was calling California.) I knew 15 minutes in a warm-ish car would be ok and that I wouldn't freeze. What happened, though, is that my respiration collected inside the car as condensation. And froze. All of my car windows are covered on the inside with a layer of ice. It's a real bitch. I now have to scrape the ice out from inside my car.

(If you don't live in a cold place: CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? Eesh.)

I mean, it's got to be common sense for the locals. It never occurred to me to not breathe in my car in the winter while the heat isn't running. Just like it didn't occur to me that accidentally not locking the back door might cause pipes to burst.

While the title of this blog is "Those crazy Minnesotans!" I am quickly coming to admit that half or more of what I need to talk about here has to do with my total lack of intuition for all things northern.

It's so maddening! In social work talk, it's a paradigm shift.

Haircut, part two.

Ashlee should be a lawyer. She talked me into it. I told her, "I don't know what I want but I know what I don't want" and explained the whole mom and boss situation. She convinced me to let her cut my hair the way I wanted it cut because a) I have a personal life and I shouldn't let my boss' haircut affect that! b) It's just too sad to not get what you want! and c) It didn't have to be *exactly* like my boss'! Ashlee sometimes talks in exclamation points, another reason I adore her.

You know what though? I seriously de-emphasized the mom part. It's fascinating to me what I/people choose not to talk about. I can't tell you why I did that.

During the cut and after she cut it, she kept raving about how cute it was. It is cute. I do like it. It is what I wanted. And I can't stop rehearsing my explanation to my boss. It occurred to me in the car that men get their hair cut alike all the time. This should be no big deal, right? It feels like a big boundary no no deal. Ug.

Should I get it cut like Prince?

The best haircut I've ever had was in Minneapolis a year ago. I've been a faithful customer to Ashlee at Maude Salon ever since. Who would've guessed Minneapolis? I know San Francisco has an overwhelming number of highly capable hair folk, I just could never afford them. The Midwest is nice for that - more bang for your buck, on most things. (Except for persimmons in winter.)

Today I'm going for a haircut. What's funny about it this time is that I have no idea yet what I'll come out with. Three days ago I'd decided on something different than what I've had for a year. The next day, I went into the hospital (where I'm doing my internship) and my supervisor had just cut her hair in that same style. Then I realized my own mother had that haircut right now.

Imagine going around looking like your mom and your boss. What a Freudian field day! My mom and boss are incidentally two of the most naturally fashionable people I've ever known.

I have no idea what I'll come out with.

I wonder which haircut would make me look least likely to be from here? I'll take that one. Because Prince is from here and you'd never guess it.