Day in the Life of an Idiot

 It's Monday, so I thought I would recount some of the events of the past several days.  First of all, I dyed my hair. 


Image: My new hair color = mallard green.

I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, I like the color, but I am really getting sick of my long hair. I miss being a cute, short-haired lesbian. The straggly long hair is making me feel like a long-haired bog witch lesbian. Both valid lesbians? But, I'm not used to all this HAIR... and I don't feel particularly cute right now. Sometimes it doesn't matter to me? But the other day, I was ready to find the razor set at home and just buzz it all off. So... I may have to figure out if I feel up to a barber finally, or not.

Given that I just had to tell a friend 'no' to a restaurant date I'm not sure if I can reasonably do a haircut in good conscious. To be fair, you have to take your mask off to eat and I don't to get my hair cut, However, it might just be the principle of the thing. 

Anyway, this is me now, mallard duck green, mostly black. 

On Sunday, I attended exactly one event at Gamehole Con. My friend tallgeese was the "Demiurge" (Game master) for a Lex Aranca game and I have a secret love of all things Roman Empire. It's a GUILTY pleasure, but I would totally watch Russel Crowe's "Gladiator" a million times. "Spartacus" is on? I'm there! Like, historically, the Romans are fairly terrible, but sign me up to be a Magical Praetorian Guard in fantasy historical Rome--yes, please?  And, that's basically what Lex Arcana is like. I explained it to someone as "Imagine a Rome that didn't fall because they used the magic of the Britons to to foresee and forestall the Gaul's sack of Rome."

The game itself was really fun. Because it was a one-shot, we picked from pre-generated set of characters. There was one among them that was perfect for my needs--a giant Germanic, red-head named Wulfgar. I basically got to play a barbaric version of Renji, which feeds my soul on a profound level. I even memorized a few German phrases for veritas. Not that I used them, but I was ready.

I was the only woman gamer in this group, which honestly didn't surprise me. I mean, I picked a Roman RPG, for gods' sake. I feel like the only other place you might expect fewer women is in a WWII RPG.  All I cared about is that people let me be a manly man among men, and they did. And, I had some fun character moments, because being a Germanic barbarian who happens to be working for Rome is kind of inherently interesting in terms of loyalty, etc. It was too short a game to explore all that kind of character stuff, but the situation we ended up in did give me some FEELS. So that added to my fun. Because I am there for character. Game mechanics, whatever. But, characters, yes--and one of the reasons I like gaming with tallgeese is that I know there will be a good mix of mechanics, character, and clever, engaging story.

All and all, an excellent experience. 10/10, would again.

Otherwise, Shawn and I spent much of Saturday doing some around the house projects.  With Mason off at college, we've gotten into a pleasant weekend routine, in which we go out to the recycling center in the early morning of Saturday (our recycling is terrible about picking up oversized cardboard pieces, so we have a lot that doesn't fit in our bin) and then we hit the coffee shop. Thus fueled, we tackle various projects that we've been putting off.  Last weekend, I finally got around to planting the bulbs I ordered--I have this dream of having a yard full of crocuses of all shape and color, though usually the squirrels dig them up and eat them. So, we went to Menards and got turkey grit so that I could fill in a layer around the bulbs that would make it a little more difficult for them to pull them out. I also bought bags and bags and bags of dirt because my front yard is at the top of a hill that gets a lot of erosion. Hopefully between the grit and layers of new dirt the squirrels won't be able to smell this crop of bulbs. I suspect I'll still lose some but if a few can be established, there is hope they will spread.

Speaking of Mason, he spontaneously contacted us to hang out on Friday. We chatted a bit about how classes are going, etc., and then he surprised me by offering to watch the first episode of Campaign 3 of "Critical Role" together!  That was wonderful. I worked on some of my sewing while watching and chatting with Mason.  It felt like he was here. And, I could not be more pleased that he thought of us... we have been very intentional in letting Mason go to do his own thing, so it was rewarding to have him come back to us on his own, you know? 

I think that was the majority of the weekend.

Oh, I just picked up a Yuletide Pinch Hit for something I haven't read--but the original source material is right up my alley and very short. This the first time I've done something quite like this, but I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do for the requestor. 

Okay, I have to head off to the laundromat to do a few of our rag rugs. 

How's by you?

As per the agreement with my partner, now that Detour is over, I have gone back to my "normal" haircut. This, according to her, will reestablish equilibrium in our relationship, as it is now clearer which of us is the butch.



And, yes, I'm stuck with the fuschia/cherry red "highlights." I'm telling myself that my hair is time-travelling back to the era when it was cool to have two tone hair. 1984, pehaps? All I know is that I didn't have it. Story of my life! When it was cool, I didn't have multicolored hair or eyebrow piercings or safety pins stuck in my nose or on my clothes. No, nearly thirty years later, I'm finally doing it. Now, when no one else is.

*sigh*

I think I'm going to miss my long hair. It was an adventure, if nothing else. And I learned some things I can use in fiction.

My folks came up to visit Mason (and to deliver two dressers -- my folks are perpetually "downsizing" their possessions.  It's some weird Me Generation thing, I think.)  Shawn took the day off too, and we headed out this morning to Shady Acres Herb Garden and bought a couple hundred dollars of herbs... Dude!  No, not those kind... anyway, we spent much of the afternoon getting some gardens ready and even planting some things.  We have a spiral-shaped herb garden, and I always try to outline as much of the stone path as I can in johnny-jump ups and parlsey.  It makes for a nice boder.  I got about half-way before we all got too hot and had to come in for lemonade and several games of shoots-and-ladders.  

The memorial garden for Ella is starting to come together.  I've only got one line of the poem Sean M. Murphy wrote on the anniversary of her conception, "Samhain Girl" because I have to mix one or two bricks at a time.  Still, I planted some kid-friendly flowers -- strawberries, day-lilies and a russian sage -- in the hopes that it will be the kind of place that Mason will like to play in, too.  He's been very funny about his sister.  He knows about her because we talk about her, and of course, he's been very active in helping plant this garden, which we all call "Ella's Garden."  The other day he said (much to the mortification of his mother, who is a bit more senstitive about all this -- I process by talking; Shawn doesn't.), "When I die, I hope someone writes a poem for me."  

My response was, "I hope so too."  Shawn reminded him that he wouldn't have to worry about that for a long, long time.  But, I don't think he was freaking out about death at that moment (he has on other ocassions, as any kid will).  I think what he was really wishing for was for someone to remember him.  I think, in a lot of ways that's the measure of a life, being remembered.  That's all I really want, too.  Someone to sing a dirge or write a poem or, hell, think of me on a sunny day, you know?

Mason has really started to want friends, generally.  He doesn't actually have very many because we can't afford pre-school (hence the pre-K public school option that starts next fall) and I suck at making friends with adults with kids.  I tend to askew fake friendships -- I don't have a lot of lesbian/gay friends because I tend to prefer to have more in common than sexual practices.  My friends are genre fans and genre writers.  Not nearly enough of them have kids Mason's age.  As I was telling a friend we met up with for a picnic dinner on Thursday, I think that the other stay-at-home moms can tell I'm a lesbian and don't tend to try to make friends.  Plus, Mason and I go to places where there's casual attendence -- we've never done ECFE or that sort of thing -- though we do hang out at specific parks and such like.  I know that this friend problem will be solved once he starts school in the fall, but I wish there was something I could do about it now.

Oh, yeah, and SHE made a few bestseller lists.

And I dyed my hair blonde.  Interesting social experiment note:  only men have commented on my hair color change.  The men at Wyrdsmiths mentioned last Thursday (though none of the women did.)  My male barista, Paul, commented on it when he saw me.  My FATHER said something... a stranger that I see at Cafe Amore on a regular basis (male) also said something.  Very strange.  The only woman to say anything has been my mother.