Split Ends

Though it defies logic, since I’m still cash strapped and living in limbo, I had a pretty great Summer. Summer’s over now though. Well, according to the calendar, Summer won’t really be over until next week, but the leaves are already starting to change colors. There’s a chill in the air. I’ve been wearing lovely jewel toned sweaters…. (OK... OBVIOUSLY none of that is true! :) School has started again, though, which means that whether it’s official or not, it’s Fall.

It also means that I am substitute teaching again. (Though my Summer did include some fun surprises, none of them were a book contract/a five or six figure advance, an offer letter for my dream job, a winning lottery ticket or a wealthy, handsome gentleman seeking my hand in marriage.)

Yesterday, I subbed for a Cosmetology class at the high school. Did this kind of class exist when I was in high school? I really don’t know. If it did, I know I didn’t take it given that I was all wrapped up in those pesky college prep courses, which were supposed to all but guarantee my stable financial future.

If we did have Cosmetology at my high school, I can’t imagine that the classroom was anything like this one. Honestly, I half way expected to see an aging Frankie Avalon come sauntering in with the Pussy Cat dolls and performing a hip hop version of Beauty School Drop Out.

In my Baby Boomer mind, high school classrooms have gray floors, desks, chalkboards and pencil sharpeners. They don’t have black and white checked floors, pricy electronic equipment, capes, adjustable chairs with dryer hoods and bins of mannequin heads with eyes that would scare Chucky.

What really blew my mind though, wasn’t the appearance of the classroom. It was the lesson plan. The students in three of the classes were supposed to either style their own hair or work their magic on the mannequin heads. The other three classes were supposed to watch The Style Network’s show, Split Ends, and then answer a few questions about the episode they saw.

For those of you not in the know, Split Ends is the salon version of ABC’s Wife Swap. A stylist from one type of salon temporarily trades lives with a stylist from another type of salon and hijinx ensue.

For example, in one of the episodes we watched on Wednesday, a glorified barber who generally comes to work in flats and no makeup and who works at a salon/antique shop in rural Washington state which caters to a local logging community trades places with the owner of an East Coast high end salon known for its very fashion forward, highly trained staff. The Washington state salon charges around $20 for cut and its counterpart charges somewhere in the several hundred dollar range for a precision cut and color.

It was another one of the many out of body experiences I have had since my hiatus from corporate America. Here I was being paid to watch bad reality tv while bored 17 year olds whispered back in forth about what they're going to wear to homecoming. Anyway, I left school yesterday afternoon a little more current on teen fashion and more grateful than ever that I don’t live in a community where I have to look at plaid flannel, decoy ducks and old furniture when it’s time to get my hair cut and colored.

What did you do yesterday? Did you go to Hot Heads? If you were smart, you did. (See my last post about the advantage of going to Hot Heads on a Wednesday.)

Wishing you a day with no Split Ends. Be back soon! The HHG

TGIW - Thank God It's Wednesday! :)

When it comes to days of the week, I think we all agree that Saturday and Sunday are by far the hippest, coolest, most fabulous ones on the calendar. Following a close third is Friday. Whether it’s a paycheck you’re after … or a hot date… or after work cocktails …. or a high school football game, Friday can usually pull it out of its hat. In fact, so celebrated is Friday that it even inspired a national restaurant chain*.

*I used to work at one of those restaurants, by the way, right after I graduated from college. My parents were thrilled! :) Working at Friday’s was just like college too. I learned a lot of stuff that is not helping me pay the bills in 2010 and I was exposed to things that were not part of the life I knew as a Winter Park teen. I learned to carry five glasses at a time. I learned how to garnish a chicken fried steak dinner. I learned that I probably shouldn’t wear red & white stripes and I was introduced to a number of outwardly very appealing things that the smarter girls knew were only meant to be enjoyed in moderation, then set aside… specifically Long Island Ice Teas, Brie cheese and the man I ended up marrying.

If Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the favorite days, Monday is the red headed stepchild. Who doesn’t share Karen Carpenter’s take on the day in the 60s era hit Rainy Days and Mondays… or the perspective offered by The Mamas & The Papas in Monday, Monday? Who among us didn’t feel creeped out by The Boomtown Rats’ I Don’t Like Mondays and whose blood pressure didn’t climb at the start of the work week when The Bangles’ Manic Monday came on the radio?

If I were Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, I’m sure I’d be tempted to pull the covers over my head and just stay in bed. Between the three show off days and all of the exciting things they have to offer and the unsavory day stealing more than its share of the spotlight with all of its gloom and negativity, it would be so easy for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to just feel overshadowed and unappreciated. It would be so easy for them to buy into the whole “Middle of the Week” stereotype and just throw in the towel and not even try to compete.

Sadly, it appears that Tuesday and Thursday have done exactly that. As days go, they just don’t stand out. They’re boring. They seem to run together and as a general rule, the public seems quite eager to hurry them along so as to hasten the arrival of their more glitzy, glamorous calendar mates. Sure Thursday made an effort about a decade ago with its NBC “Must See TV” line up, but since then it’s brought absolutely nothing to the table. As of today, Thursday barely has a pulse …and Tuesday? Tuesday has yet to even suit up for the game. It’s kind of tragic when you think about it.

Anyway, I could go off on a tangent about Tuesday and Thursday’s unrealized potential or I could do something more positive and direct your attention to a day that is much more deserving… the unsung hero of the week… Wednesday! I think I’ll do the latter! I’m an unabashed Wednesday fan and if you have a few moments, I’d like to tell you some of the reasons why.

You know that kid in school who made a name for himself despite that fact that he had neither a flashy sports car he had gotten as a birthday gift from the parentals … nor a genius level IQ … nor the athletic prowess of the kids who set county records and who lettered in every sport … nor the effortless good looks of homecoming royalty? Well, Wednesday is just like that kid. Wednesday refuses to get lost in the crowd, but it won’t sink to Monday’s level in order to get its recognition. Wednesday just works harder.

Wednesday has branded itself as a day to celebrate. In addition to the fact that it’s known in the professional arena by it’s nickname “hump day”, a nod to it’s role as the official half way point of the workweek, it also answers to the name “short day” in local academic circles. This is because, as every Central Florida parent, teacher, student and administrator knows, Wednesday’s final school bell rings about an hour sooner than any other day’s.

When it comes to TV, Wednesday’s offerings are among the finest. I have a niece who does her homework earlier every Wednesday night during American Idol season so she won’t miss a minute of the results show and there has been some talk among my circle of friends about initiating a standing Glee viewing party every Wednesday night this Fall.

Even the name Wednesday has a broad appeal. Like Tuesday (i.e. Tuesday Weld) and Sunday (Sunday Rose Kidman), Wednesday has reached out of it’s comfort zone to become not only the name of a day of the week, but the name of a real person and/or television character. While I am fairly sure that somewhere in this great land there lives a Wednesday Smith or a Wednesday Jones, I know for certain that there was a Wednesday Adams and that makes me smile.


Anyway, I could go on and on about all of Wednesday’s wonderful attributes, but I won’t because I don’t want you to spend your day at your computer reading about Wednesday. I want you to get out and enjoy your Wednesday. :) I’ll close with some news that I’m sure will make you happy. I just found out that Wednesday has offered up another gem. Wednesday is now a day where you can get more beautiful for even less money. Though I can’t give you all the details as they will vary from week to week, Hot Heads is now running every Wednesday specials. Want to know what they are? Pick up the phone and find out. 407-671-0480.

Well, I’m off to enjoy my day! Happy hump day and happy short day and happy get beautiful for less money day! Be back soon! The HHG