This is a linkup hosted by Christine at Bookishly Boisterous. Random thoughts of the day, both book -related and not-book-related.

1. I get bored with my hair… often. I’ve dyed it nearly ever color in nature (and some not in nature); I’ve worn my fine hair long, bobbed, banged, and undercut. In T minus 2.5 hours, I am chopping all of my hair off — and I’m slightly petrified. Right now my hair looks like this (I so wish I was as cool as her); so the whole top part will be getting a great big snip. Except for the undercut part of my hair, I’ve never had it cut shorter than my earlobes, and I’m nervous I’m going to end up looking like my brother, or my mom (Sorry, Mom). Fingers crossed I won’t need to wear a hat for the next few months.

2. I’ve never really dressed super feminine, but now that I’m getting a super-short cut, I feel like I need to offset that with jewelry, slightly bolder makeup (I’m working on my cat eyeliner — it’s hit or miss), and dresses. Lots and lots of dresses. Which means — SHOPPING!

3. My manager has a bunch of lilacs in a bud vase on her desk and during our meetings all afternoon, the scent kept wafting over to me, making me want to jump up, run outside, and start doing cartwheels in the grass. When I was younger, there was a big lilac tree (bush?) in my parents’ backyard and every spring, you couldn’t play near the swing set without a big noseful of lilac-y smell. It’s one of those nostalgic scents for me, bringing with it a whole host of childhood memories.

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4. When you move to a city where you don’t know really anyone, it’s so nice when old friends come to visit. This weekend one old friend (+ four companions) is coming to explore the great city of Chicago, and hopefully that = plenty of fun for all!

5. As mentioned in my previous post, I wasn’t staying on top of things and nearly missed out on all the BEA and Armchair BEA fun for the next few days. Perhaps if I had planned earlier, I could have even gone to the festivities in town… but I am always either ignorant of these things, or forgetful. This time, I’m calling it a bit of both.

6. My husband is a skater kid from way back, and this year he’s trying to teach me how to ride a skateboard (yikes). It’s been a lot of fun so far — of course, at this point, I’m just able to hop on the board without it sliding out from under me, and to (very slowly) carve up and down our hallway. One day soon I’ll be trying it where there aren’t walls to grab on to (or cats to terrify as I come rolling toward them).

7. Right now I’m reading Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, and I’m loving it. He meanders almost as badly as John Irving (thbbbbt), but, unlike Irving, these meanderings usually come back and mean something to the plot. His tone is wonderful; in the novel, the narrator is writing the story for you and reading it to his female companion as he goes, and it’s completely captivating (and her asides are usually hilarious). I’m only about a fifth of the way through, and at this point I’m not sure if I want to speed up and just devour it, or take it slow and really enjoy every word.

8. The whole political debacle currently going on has me watching The West Wing episodes on repeat. BARTLET FOR AMERICA. Seriously.

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