balancing on one foot

Why do claustrophobic people go on cave tours? Masochistic tendencies, perhaps? Argh!

I finally got to run the darkroom today!!! It's soooo much better than working in the cave. Between tours, Jordan, the bitchily funny girl who lets things slip out of her mouth before she thinks about them, decided we should watch Say Anything. You WashUians all know how much young John Cusack looks like Shorty, so I mentioned that to Jordan (who has a big of a crush on Cusack) and that got us on the subject of college and all kinds of other things. In the span of just a few minutes, we learned that we both love Ani, Old 97s, Dar, and have other similar tastes in music. We both love Kevin Smith and Christopher Guest movies. AND we went to both Summerscape and Missouri Scholars Academy. So basically, as one of the tour guides put it, we're both big nerds. The cool think about that is that we're both big nerds who are stuck in the Ozarks for the time being. She is so much like me before I went to college. It's very cool to finally have someone I can talk to around here who isn't married with kids already.

I started the adventures of hair today. After four years of my $150 hair cut and highlights at Michael Dominic's in St. Louis (BEST SALON EVER!), I had to break down and get a cheap haircut. I'm too broke to do anything else. I actually went to Wal-Mart...and luckily, got a chick who understood why I was nervous (anyone recall the pink hair of freshman year from the College of Cosmetology?). She did a really great job, and told me how to dye my own hair to even out the Christina Aguilera-like difference in the brown underside and blonde top that my overpriced highlights used to fix. So, for the first time. in a few days I am going to color my hair. I'm terrified. If it turns green or something I'll send pics. I suppose if it DOES turn green, that'll be my opportunity to dye it dark brown. I've always wondered how I'd like dark hair :)

If you like suspenseful beach-type reads, read Dean Koontz' Cold Fire. It's not an amazing book, but I got lost enough in it that I finished it in a few hours. Also, Jacquelyn Mitchard's Twelve Times Blessed is VERY good. Great character development. Slightly Oprah's Book Clubesque, though. If you can get over that, it's definitely worth the read.

Yay for friends who send out discount cards to great retailers! Happy shopping this weekend, Mandys!