Change is good, and not just in the abstract sense either...

So I seem to have misplaced about 10" of hair today.

I actually made my way into a barbershop for the first time since my senior year of high school today (though to be fair I had my hair trimmed twice by a friend during that time). I definitely wanted to keep the long hair, at least for now, but I wasn't sure just how much I wanted to lose. It was then suggested to me by the hair stylist that if I have 10" to spare they could donate it to cancer patients and I would get the haircut for free. Sounded like a win-win-win to me.

I now have a head of hair that is slightly less than shoulder length and I think actually looks pretty reasonable. I was also once again reminded of the fact that I have a helluva lot of thick, heavy hair. It's a little silly. While I can wear it in a ponytail as per usual, it's a pretty damn short one and I think I'm gonna leave it down for a while--mix it up. The little changes, it occurs to me, sure can help when the big changes seem to be slightly out of grasp.

I got complimented on it quite a bit at rehearsal* tonight, which always makes one feel good, especially when one is still pretty bad at girls. I was even referred to as "fluffy Will" as the cast dispersed--quite amusing.

Another point of interested: both of the hairstylists at the barbershop informed me that I look very much like John Lennon. I can definitely think of worse people to be compared to. I've been told this before by a handful of other people too. I don't really see it that much, at least not any strong resemblance... but I guess you never do when looking at yourself.




*For those that may not know I'm currently rehearsing for a production of Monkey: Quest to the West (written/adapted and directed by Fred Curchack) up at UTD. The performance will be in mid-April. While I don't have any big parts due to my limited rehearsal availability, I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a great show even without me as the lead. Lawl.

So I never thought...

...that Garfield could actually be this damn funny...

I'm not used to using CUNT as anything other than a satirical insult.

On Saturday I attended a production of The Vagina Monologues done by the theatre group on campus. I had been meaning to see/hear them for a while now and am quite pleased that I actually got the opportunity to do so. Both the content of the monologues and the production itself were quite good, as I expected them to be.

It's definitely something worth seeing. A few of the monologues were damn funny, especially the one concerning the various types of moans that women might let out while having an orgasm. Others were quite moving and touching. There was one added recently that deals with Katrina that really tugged on my heart strings (my heart is a marionette, you see). While I may not have a vagina, I was born in New Orleans and while I only lived there for about a third of my life, I still feel a strong connection to that place and can't think about the Katrina situation for long without strong emotions of all types bubbling to the surface. All in all, it was a worthwhile evening.

In related news, a new phrase has been added to my household lexicon:

"VAGINA MOTHERFUCKER!"

Neither my roommate (who also attended the production) nor I have quite figured out how to work the phrase in to our everyday conversations in a way that isn't total non sequitur, but when we heard it exclaimed we both knew instantly it was a keeper.

That, in addition to the other recent addition (courtesy of David Wain) of "I would totally fuck a baby into that vagina" has led to the use of the word vagina during conversation more in the past few days then in the previous few months at least, if not longer.

And before you get the impression from the use of such ridiculous phrases that I'm some type of misogynist (too late probably), all of these conversations are held in my generation's usual language of complete sarcasm and satire. Young, disillusioned, and overly political members of the armchair intelligentsia have to relieve stress with a little stupid from time to time just like everyone else out there. All smart and no dumb makes Will a dull boy.

In fact, along those lines, I would be lying if I didn't admit that one of the main reasons I actually wrote this post was so that I could use the words vagina and cunt a few times. Because, really, how many times to you get to type the word cunt in a (semi)serious piece of writing?

hope/despair

Politics is a love/hate subject for me. While I am sometimes filled with great hope for the future as mankind seemingly becomes more enlightened as time progresses, I am just as often filled with dread and a sense of hopelessness regarding the things that I see happening in the world around me. It's enough to make a young college student bipolar.

Anyway, here's this, something I saw today that gave me a sense of optimism.

And here's this, something saw today that makes me shiver at the thought of where we are and where we are going.


Two notes on the above:
Yes, I'm most likely voting for Obama (though Hillary will do if Obama doesn't make it)
Keith Olbermann is an American hero.