the great lopping of 2008

Yesterday will go down in the annals of my personal history as a lopping-off day.

During the Monday meeting, our pub director announced that January sales were down 48% over the previous year, which were down 36% over the previous year. Not good news. Sales figures and a combination of other factors have led to some drastic cost-saving measures, and I have been asked to trim the page count on the next five issues. Two of these issues have already been planned, and one has already been laid out. “Inconvenient” and “challenging” are two words that immediately sprang to mind. Fortunately, I kept my mouth shut. My editorial schedule had been a little light lately but lopping pages off work I’d already done was not what I had in mind for filling that time. When people ask what I do for a living I say, “I lop pages.”

The saving grace of my day was a pampering haircut with my gal Anna. She has been styling my hair for seventeen years. I know. Seventeen years is a long time and a lot of haircuts.

Anna has become a friend. John introduced us back in 1991 when he and Anna worked together for the late Kenneth Riley (John did a short gig as a receptionist). Way back before we had kids (she has this amazing three-year-old), we'd hang out and catch bands at the Uptown (her best friend Judy is married to Noah L. of the Picadors, which became the Honeydogs; Noah was a good friend of my friend Frank R. of the Sycamores). Anna is an avid reader and we have very similar tastes so I always look forward to these visits. You’d think I’d get my hairs cut more often. Sheesh.

I’ve been feeling really shaggy and frumpy lately. It’s a JanuFeb thing. As I was driving to the salon, I tried rehearsing my answer to Anna’s usual “what do you want done with your hair?” Usually I just want a trim and reshaping on my shoulder-length layered ‘do, but I’ve been toying with having a shorter cut. When I walked in the door and saw that Anna had cut a foot off her rocker-stylist hair, I was inspired and encouraged to lop off my locks. I’m now sporting a bob that is slightly longer than ear-length with layering in the back—and I love it.

To truly do myself justice, I'm looking for before and after pics. Stay tuned.