Hair, part II

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I am growing out the hair on my legs.  (I do not remember the last time I shaved them, but no razor has grazed the skin on my leg since this year started.)
Not because I want to look less traditionally feminine (although it has that effect).
Not because I think looks nice (it doesn't).
Not because I'm a swimmer or biker (ha!) waiting to de-fuzz until just before a big race.
But because I want to.
Because it's practical (it saves me time and money)
Because I'm curious to see how long it can get.
Because I'm lazy, and can't be bothered to buy razors and shave my legs
Because I wonder how many people will notice (although I have no sure-fire way of knowing).
Because I can, I am growing out the hair on my legs.

Instruments and the people who play them, part II

click here for part I

Trumpet/cornet players
Not a shy bunch are these musicians.  This isn't to say that they're all in-your-face extroverts, but generally trumpet players don't have a problem speaking their minds and making themselves heard.  The brass section is usually pretty male-dominated with a few females sprinkled here and there. 

Trombone players
In my experience, trombone players have the best sense of humor out of all the brass players.  Trombones always go in front in parades because having them follow any section would be hazardous, to say the least (the slide part extends preeetty far out).  To me the trombone is sort of the odd man in the brass section because there are no valves to press down and it takes a certain kind of person and precision to differentiate between the positions for notes.

French horn players
I think that at one point in time French horn players were considered unreliable, but all the ones I've met are very reliable and intelligent.  Definitely some of the smartest people I knew in high school were French horn players.  I've been told that the instrument has the smallest mouthpiece and therefore is the most difficult brass instrument to play-- it's hard to get a really good sound out of it.  Also, it seems that French horn players are constantly transposing ("translating" from the key of one instrument to another). The French horn is unique in that it has an ambient sound that emanates in all directions, whereas most brass instruments just project wherever the bell part is focused.

Baritone/tuba players
Unfortunately I lump these two different instrument groups together because I just have not met enough of either type of musician to make a fair stereotype out of them.  They are an eclectic bunch and defy definition.  There's a sterotype that tuba players are large men who are about the same size as their instrument, but the ones I've met are all on the slim side.  I think baritone horn players are slightly more goofy/ humourous than tuba players, but I find most brass players to be pretty good-natured and relaxed in comparison to other instrumentalists.

Verb a noun!

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My seven favorite words of the week:
exoskeleton
phalanx
elegiac
lachrymose
traipse
lumber (verb)
pad (verb)

Think of the words "message" and "text".  I'm sure these words have been around for a while, but today I'd say they're most frequently used as verbs, i.e "She texted me" or "He messaged you", instead of "She sent a text message to me" or "He sent you a message".  I imagine that a different part of the brain lights up whenever a word is used in this way.  In high school a friend of my told me how she unintentionally verbed a noun, saying "He Oedipized himself" when trying to get across that, like Sophocles' tragic hero, someone stabbed his eyes out.  I was bemused because it was like her to say something like that, and I thought it rather novel and clever. 

Things That Drive Me Batty, part II

If I ever got a one-off from behaving properly I would probably take that chance to stand outside a tanning salon and punch people as they come out, fresh from their tanning session.  It's mostly the tanning beds that I rail against, and I completely support any and all efforts to ban them.  Too many people-- especially young women-- have been diagnosed with skin cancer and malignant tumors and it makes me sick to think that this type of disease is one of the most easily preventable.  Lying in a tanning bed is so much more UV exposure than just spending a summer day at the beach without wearing sunscreen. Gah! And for what?  For skin that is temporarily darker, for the fleeting opportunity to look slightly slimmer or whatever.  And I doubt that it's cheap.  And in the long run these same people will be shelling out loads more money to counteract the wrinkles and age spots they wrought because their excessive exposure to skin-toasting treatments have sped up the aging process of their skin!  I feel myself launching onto the broader issue of The Beauty Myth, a topic for another day and time... I have only slightly less acerbic feelings toward spray tanning.  But mostly I take umbradge in the use--nay, the existence of tanning beds and the salons that own them.

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On glasses, contacts, the way I see the world, part II

Two days ago I wore contact lenses and decided to get a closer look at my face. I don't generally spend a lot of time in front of the mirror, much less inspecting my features. I said before that the prescription on my glasses is slightly stronger than that of my contact lenses, but wearing contacts feels like seeing the world in HD. I could see every hair, every pore and suddenly I was reminded of all those makeup commercials. I suddenly felt compelled to put on a little makeup. (I guess this post isn't as aptly titled as I'd envisioned. Eh.)

Like I said before, my glasses take up much of my face and is probably a big part of how I am recognized: "that short Asian chick with the glasses" and etc. Without them on my face looked bare and felt like it was lacking something. If I put some makeup on I wouldn't feel so naked.

So with my contacts in and face made up I not only (felt like I) looked like a different person but I started to feel like a version of me from a parallel universe. My actions and reactions felt subdued and I didn't feel like my slightly bubbly/bumbling self anymore. In a literal sense the way I saw the world changed, but the way the world saw me was probably markedly different.


Note: I probably didn't need to dedicate a "part II" to these rambling thoughts. Yesterday I felt like I had a lot more to say, but I've lost some steam, lost track of what exactly I was thinking.