Carrots and Gravel

**I was recently told that I need to be more regular in my use of 'product' to make my hair look good. What?? 'Product'? You've got to be kidding! What the fuck is 'product'? Then, due to my obvious and all-encompssing ignorance I was informed that 'product' consists of things like mousse, gel, volumizer, shine enhancer, conditioner, and a whole plethora of other things that I never knew existed. Or ever even bothered to condsider caring about. Given, I used way more than my fair share of hairspray in the '80s, but I was pretty much a mess at that point in time no matter how you look at it. But this whole idea of needing not one, but an entire array of things to maintain your hair in some state of imaginary airbrushed perfection is entirely ridiculous. Count me out. I know I'd much rather have toys than 'product' anyway. Guess it's about time to start shaving my head again.

**Who'da thunk that floor exercises could be so much damn fun?

**More Bamboo!
Trying to get the basement set up the way I want to is proving to be more involved than I had thought it would be. The books from the Drama Queen have proven to be highly valuable in my undertaking to actually put some planning into this effort. So now I'm playing at being an interior designer with my tape measure, my graph paper, and my colored pencils. I'm just trying to get stuff as close to right on paper as I can before I actually start spending money on things. May look like total overkill, but it is actually helping me understand hopw things are going to fit and work in the spaces where I want to put them. More importantly, I am keeping myself amused. And hopefully all this extra effort will help me assemble the space I actually want to have with a minimum of frustration. I've already been able to spot and modify some things that just wouldn't have worked had I tried to do them on the fly. The more I work on the sketches, the more I want to have a bar. Not that it has to be overly functional, since I think it will mostly serve as storage for the parts of my collection that I don't have out on display. But I just can't not have one. The tiki gods would be most displeased.

**I don't really think the sesame seed oil made as big a difference in the green beans almondine as I thought it was going to.

**I don't think I'm as fond of Billy Joel as I thought I was. I enjoy the classic stuff that everyone knows, but I find myself skipping a lot of the stuff on the greatest hits CD that I'm listening to. Just doesn't hit me right, I guess.

**Boomerang
My car went into the shop again. This time it was to replace the damaged control arm, and the insurance was going to pick up the cost for that. While they had that wheel off, they were supposed to replace the axle seal on the same side. Please notice my rather deliberate use of the word 'supposed'. Turns out when I called them this morning to see if it was done, the repalcement seal that they had recieved was the wrong one. Go freakin figure. The right one will be in in a couple of days, supposedly. So, I will need to submit my car once again, sometime next week, if luck holds. At least they're gonna give me a break on the cost of labor to replace the seal, since they were going to do it when they did the control arm.

**I need to touch base with Big Bri and see if he's up for a poker night next week. Harleymon keeps asking when the next one is. Any other takers?

**Depending on my mood I find barbershop quartets either quite pleasant, or annoying beyond belief.

**HI! Billy Mays here for the Formald-o-matic 2800! Save thousands on funeral costs by doing your own embalming right in the comfort and privacy of your own home! It's quick! It's easy! Imagine being able to preserve ten bodies in the time it used to take to do just one the old fashioned way! And best of all, it's now available directly to you through this one time only offer! Order now! Operators are standing by!

**Save yourself! Kill your television!!