wool hats

So I am in the market for a new wool hat.

I volunteered at a homeless shelter on Christmas Day, and a homeless man stole my hat (and my down vest and shearling gloves). I feel guilty about even feeling bad about it, because whoever he was, he obviously needed the warm clothes more than I did. Plus, he left my wallet totally untouched. (Yes, I really was stupid enough to leave my wallet and jacket unattended as I wandered through the bunk beds on the "hard core homeless¹" floor of the shelter, wiping down bed frames and walls with bleach solution. I kinda deserved to have it stolen.)

I am very particular about wool hats. When my mother went to Iceland on vacation, she brought me back the warmest hat I've ever had. It was made from Icelandic wool, completely lined with fleece, and it had ear flaps that you could tie under your chin. Wool is warm, but as I'd discovered during my first Western Massachusetts winter, it doesn't necessarily keep out the wind.

This hat did. The fleece lining acted as a wind breaker, and the fact that I could tie it around my chin created a seal that meant no cold air could sneak in under the edges and disturb my large, sensitive ears. It was wonderful.

And then I lost it.

I searched for a replacement for years, and finally, after deciding I couldn't justify spending $44 plus shipping from Iceland to buy a hat that looked, from a blurry picture like it might be the same, I settled on buying one very much like this (though it cost significantly less). That's the one I lost on Tuesday.

So now what? I live in freaking Maryland. It's 53 degrees outside right now. A fleece lined wool hat with ear flaps is the very definition of overkill.

But I'm attached. And besides, I might not always be in Maryland. Maybe I'll move to Boston (or Canada, if Huckabee gets elected. I'm dead serious about that.) You never know! So I'm once again surfing around looking for a replacement.

Here's my current favorite. I can't decide if I'm willing to be seen in public with cat ears on my head. In college, no problem. But shouldn't I have grown up a little by now? yeah, not really.

(1) According to the director of the shelter, the "hard core homeless" are those who only want to come inside when it's cold enough outside that they risk hypothermia.

Hillary Clinton

Summary of Maureen Dowd on Hillary Clinton: "People really are sexist assholes who harp on her looks too much, and it is unfair that people have fewer problems with aging men than aging women, but I still don't like her. She's too focus-grouped."

Actually, I kind of agree with her. Maureen Dowd has a way of getting on my nerves even when I agree with her, though. Everyone who doesn't like Hillary Clinton but doesn't want to come across as sexist talks about how she's too packaged. I don't trust them.

Maybe that's why this Rush Limbaugh quote caught my eye: “Let me give you a picture, just to think about. ... The campaign is Mitt Romney vs. Hillary Clinton in our quest in this country for visual perfection, hmm?” He's even more poll-driven than she is, and if she comes across as kind of plastic, he's a freaking Ken doll.

On another note, I hope this country isn't stuipd enough to elect Huckabee. I'm really worried, though. I think if they did, I would seriously consider moving to Canada. Particularly if I could get into grad school at Waterloo, but even if I didn't.

w00t.

ham

I heard about this on NPR this morning. :)

pic (and original story) from NancyKay Shapiro.

makeup

All of my female cousins in the area have been conspiring to try to teach me to put on makeup. On Saturday, one of them finally dragged me to the MAC store at the mall.

It's not that everyone else somehow got the "makeup gene" or at least lessons from their mothers and older sisters and I just missed out. Instead, I think most women spend their teenage years learning about makeup through trial and error. Gradually, they catch on that no, bold purple eyelids really don't look good, sparkles should be kept to a minimum, and even if you really wish you were more tan, buying a foundation that doesn't match your skin tone is a bad idea.

I missed out on this formative phase, probably because of where I went to school. It's not even so much that at co-ed schools the girls all doll up to impress boys. It's just that my single sex schools (high school and college) were very casual and since I did not really go to parties or dances, I just had no reason to play with the sparkly eyeshadow.


The other thing, as snooty as it sounds, is that I had (have) vague philosophical objections to makeup. It's always seemed unfair how much work women are expected to do, relative to guys, to have a socially acceptable appearance. Plus, I've always wanted to think of myself as the type of person who isn't concerned with outward appearances, and not wearing makeup helped me do that. Also, wearing makeup kind of seemed like playing dress up. I once read a short story where a woman had a line about how she'd never leave the house without "putting on her face." Why should women have to basically put on a mask (aka hide their true selves) to interact with the outside world?

But the thing is, I get it now. Makeup is fun. I know that I'm probably wrong, but while I was in the MAC store on Saturday, I kept thinking how much fun the makeup artist's job must be. It's marginally creative, because obviously there are guidelines for what colors look best on which complexions, but you basically get to choose how to paint someone's face. Painting is fun! Especially when you get to wear a little utility belt filled with like 75 different brushes. And then, they have these handy little worksheets for explaining what they did, and it's basically like filling in a coloring book. I love coloring!

Obviously the experience of putting makeup on at home is nowhere near as varied, so you might think that it's not as fun. But when I said before that putting on makeup kind of seemed like playing dress up, I was right. And dress up is fun too! Maybe there are problems with feeling like you have to put on a mask to face the world, but if the mask is pretty cool looking, you don't object to it too much.

So for the time being, I'm a (sort of) makeup convert. I bought some stuff at the counter, and for the last 3 days, I've managed concealer, foundation, and lip gloss. That's significantly less than the MAC lady used, but it's something. It looks nice. We'll see if it lasts.

I'll post pictures at some point.