The Phantom Zucchini

So, I made this hair appointment for a certain big event. I called the salon suggested to me by my "person," Laura. Now all I want is a wash and blow dry so that my usually naturally curly unruly mop can be silky and smooth and straight. In order to book this appointment I had to give them a credit card to hold my spot. And also. If I cancel it must be 48 hours before or the entire cost of the service will be billed. I mean, have you ever?

Why, I remember back in the day when I was a little girl and blow dryers were not invented yet but women sat for hours under bonnet dryers, my mother used to drag me along to the hairdressers (they did not call them salons then and they didn't have names like Frederick Michaels or Loft 364) so that she could get a "wash and set." Women back then liked to have their hair set in curlers, dried under bonnets until they sweat off 9 pounds and then they sprayed the hair with carcinogen laced shellac so that the "do" would stay put until the next week's appointment. They did this in places called Margies or in this case "Millie's." Milly was a curvy women with platinum hair all teased up high like a member of the B 52's. (See Blog Title - "don't go on the patio!!")


Yeah, those were the days. Unfortunately, those were also the days of the "Toni," often the style of choice for the Easter season. For those of you too young to have witnessed the horror, the "Toni" was one of the first home permanents - guaranteed to turn the average white girl's thin, straight locks into something that resembled a dandelion "wishie", only frizzier so maybe more like a porcupine and they didn't call them permanent for nothing. There was no undoing a Toni - you had to wait until it grew out and you got a hair cut. Luckily, having been born with curls I was spared fads like the "Toni" and also that ever famous summer style called the Pixie Cut. I did however get a Julie Andrews (ala Sound of Music) cut one summer. That was attractive.

Anyway, my point is, back then Dottie would not ask you for a credit card because there were no credit cards then, except maybe department store cards and besides, it was Millie. She wore stretch pants and smoked and gossiped and offered advice and iced tea in colored metal glasses and Good Housekeeping and Archie Comics if you were a kid. She understood if you had to cancel.

Warning: Abrupt Subject Change: Dave turns 50 tomorrow - it is a weekend @ The Big Top starting tomorrow, his actual birthday and continuing through the weekend, first with the party on Friday and then with Star Trek on Saturday. So stay posted. Pics and tweets will be aplenty.