80s Hair Day — Confessions of an Accidental Rock Goddess

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1980s hair, 80s hair day, ann wilson, bad hair choices, hairstylists, heart (rock band), hoda and kathie lee, nancy wilson, perms (hair), rock goddesses

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Some friends of mine had a soiree for creative types last weekend and they accidentally put my name on the guest list.

One of the truly creative guests was the hostess’s hairstylist, a hip guy with a French name and a lot of tattoos. Jacques and I had a delightful conversation that touched on the sanctity of the hairdresser-client relationship and my deep and abiding love for My Girl Heather, the only person I trust near my head with scissors or any sort of chemical substance.

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Dear February – It’s Not You…No, Wait…It IS You

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ash wednesday, baseball, ennui, fat tuesday, february, football, groundhog day, leap day, leap year, lent, presidents day, shrove tuesday, soccer, sports metaphors, valentine's day, winter

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It’s still February.
It has been February since the middle of January.
It will probably still be February until the middle of April.
February is the longest month of the year.
Every year it seems to get longer.

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What’s the deal with site stats moving?

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abraham lincoln, birthday cupcakes, cell phone pictures, chuck norris, family heirlooms, family traditions, good'n'plenty, information-seeking behavior, Internet search terms, jackson browne, justin bieber, lady gaga, madonna, moving day, natural language searching, sexy popeye, site stats, snickers, stink bugs, what's the deal with zombies, zombie dentist

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By now you’ve probably noticed the message that site stats will soon be available on the WordPress homepage only. I’d like believe this doesn’t mean much to me, that I don’t pay much attention to site stats, that it doesn’t really matter how many people visit. The truth of the matter is I’m a little bit frantic about this move.

We all know what happens during a big move. Precious heirlooms can be dented, chipped, scratched. Lost.

As soon as I read that message, my mind raced through the boxes in my closets, mentally searching for the little toys that were all my grandmother had to play with growing up during The Depression. That’s what my aunt told me when she handed them to me as we sorted through Grandma’s things at the post-funeral, “She Always Liked You Best So You Owe Me That Food Processor To Make Up For It” scramble. My family is big on tradition.

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A Valentine From You To Me

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angie z., david beckham, good greatsby's caption contest, lenore diane, man on page 602, marky mark wahlberg, sears roebuck 1975 fall/winter catalog, shameless campaigning to win a blog button, susie lindau, valentine's day, zoot fenster

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With less than six hours to go (US Eastern Standard Time) this Valentine’s Day, I’m sure you’re wondering what token of affection you can send my way.

How am I sure of this? Because the work day is winding down and your flowers haven’t arrived.

Nor has the box of chocolates I’m sure you were meaning to send.

The mail cart came around and your card must have been sorted incorrectly or delayed in a snowstorm. I’m sure it was something like that.

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Ten Proven “Facts” from The Grammys

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lady gaga, paul mccartney, adele, grammys, dave grohl, foo fighters, skrillex, glen campbell, blake shelton, miranda lambert, ll cool j, niki minaj, bruno mars, joe walsh, bruce springsteen, beach boys

I don’t usually watch awards shows much any more, for no particular reason or maybe for too many to elaborate upon. I decided to watch the Grammys last night because my next door neighbor Chip was excited about Skrillex and I wanted to have some idea what I was talking about when we have our post-Grammy analysis session.

I have a feeling that that session with Chip is going to be a lot of my saying, “Uh huh” and “Wow” and “That’s cool.” I didn’t really learn a lot about Skrillex last night.

Here’s a little of what I did learn:

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Dear Guest Blogger: Can I Crash At Your Place?

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bob mcdill, country music stars, george jones, hank williams sr, harlan howard, jack white, nashville, nicole kidman, peabody hotel ducks, scott hamilton, sheryl crow, taylor swift, tennessee

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My sincerest thanks to this month’s Guest Blogger, a genuine Kentucky Colonel and recovering Star Wars aficionado, a tall drink o’ water who’s more Mayberry than NASCAR and appreciates the tragedy that is the loss of the Statistical Abstract. He puts the “friendly” in Nashville and (reportedly) the “messy” in desk. Pour yourself a glass of sweet tea or lemonade and come along while he helps me consider my dream of becoming a world-famous egg-shaker/tambourine girl on the Opry stage. And then be sure to visit his blog (or go back to visiting) for some really great blog reading.

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My First Marathon (and Hers)

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katharine graham, katharine hepburn, law school, little tykes kitchen, marathon training, mothers and daughters, oshkosh and pigtails

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This is one of those posts that took a direction of its own. I set out to write about marathon motivational cheer signs. I guess I’ll save that for another day. Today’s the day that I tell you that my princess ballerina is running a marathon in March and going to law school in the fall and that I am a terrible mother who has not converted my children’s VHS tapes to digital format.

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You Gotta Have Dreams

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doughnut girl, doughnuts, joe mantegna, krispy kreme, last train home, pulitzer prize, unfulfilled dreams, world peace

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Last week a senior colleague stepped into my office and made an important announcement. . .

One of your dreams is about to come true.

. . .to which my immediate reply was. . .

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The Secret To Winning My Vote

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bush administration driving habits, callista gingrich hair, campaign platforms, focus groups, iowa caucus, maryland, obama administration driving habits, political surveys, porsche drivers, primary elections, rachel green hair, student driving, u.s. presidential campaign, volkswagen beetle drivers, washington dc traffic

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About a month ago, I had a conversation with a visitor to the DC area from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was just a couple of days after the Republican caucuses, where the good people of Iowa climbed out of their split-levels and ranchers and predicted ten more months of robocalls and attack ads, at least eight of which will have me worrying that the Callista will become the new Rachel.

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If a nickel were had by me. . . .

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active voice, canterbury tales, chaucer, college days, grammar, learning before Google, nickels, passive voice, retirement

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It makes little sense that I remember her fondly. She was cranky and dour. The thunder of her condescendingly didactic reprimands belied her tiny, withering frame. Very early in our acquaintance, I came to appreciate that she was justified in the less flattering traits. They are the reasons I smile when she comes to mind.

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