Blah,Blah, Blah, Blah!

Kinda blah day today. Gee could you tell by the headline? Okay am just a tad sleepy/punchy/whatever. As usual, after a big snowstorm, a minor snowstorm or any type of snowstorm at all, our super goes into hiding and the tenants pretend they're employed by the Ministry of Silly Walks and leap like crazed psychotic deer over the snow and ice. Such a brisk way to start your morning.

Went down to SOHO to the Oscar Bond Salon, 42 Wooster Street www.oscarbondsalon.com to get my fine feminine feathers (getting a wee bit carried away with the alliteration) in English now...To get by hair blown dried for FREE! Yuppers, free. This is a tres chic salon that harbors a delicious secret, you can get your hair done--cut, blow dried, color for pennies by their apprentices. The apprentices are watched by their teachers, who hover about them like hungry hawks so you don't end up looking like the Bride of Frankenstein. Yoshihide was my stylist. He's nice friendly guy, just moved here from Japan and is learning all about American hair and American customer service. We spent a lot of time talking about cultural differences and behaviors. He's been here a few months and is still reeling with culture shock.

On my way over this morning, and oh the streets were empty, I realized that a savvy NY'er can get her hair done in all the top salons and pay, at the most $20.00 for services. I'm talking anything from a blowout (which would have cost me $85.00 at Oscar Bond) to color and highlights at Bumble+Bumble www.bumbleandbumble.com, which is...Let's just say expensive, but I pay $20.00.

I know where you can pick up a Perlina wallet for $1.99, a DKNY coat for $14.99, really chic prescription glasses (frame & lenses) for $39.99, a box of contact lenses for $14.00, in short I know how you can look like you've just stolen the wardrobe and the furnishings of the cast and set of SATC and pay maybe $100 for it all. The ironic thing is that I've been pitching this to editors for about a year now and no one's interested in it. Yet, everyone I know and friends of friends call or email me asking me where to get the really good shit. Go figure.

Am awaiting to hear from another mag if I'll be freelancing for them. I seem to spend a lot of my time waiting and hovering over the in box of my computer lately. I keep hearing that the economy is getting better and that ad sales are finally up, but when and where will it kick in here? When will publishing and New York City, for that matter get better. I know so many talented, educated and PUBLISHED writers who are dying for a gig. It seems that there's a hiring freeze going on everywhere or if you don't know the secret handshake, you're dead in the water.

Sometimes I'll send out my resume and wonder if a human really does read it, or is there some automated program that just deletes it when it gets into an inbox? Not to sound snotty, but there are some staff writers out there, who can't writing a decent opening line, who don't seem to understand what a transition is, or how to create a good piece. I read their work and am astounded by the fact that they've got a full time gig with bennies! This is highly ironic coming from me, the girl who slept during sentence diagramming and other grammatical delights in high school. But, it's true, pick up a free NY paper, I won't say the name and look at some of the pieces that are printed in that thin little broadsheet, and you'll cringe. Then pick up The New York Observer www.newyorkobserver.com and you'll swoon by the excellence of their prose.

Turning to music news--despite the foul weather the Toby Lightman showcase is on tonight, I'll write about it later. Also got the new Brides of Destruction CD and the soundtrack for the film Intermission y'know the one where Colin Farrell sings...Will be writing about them shortly. Throbbing Gristle will have a remix album out 3/23.

Met up with Ivan for lunch today. Lucky boy had gone to see Iron Maiden a few nights ago. He was chortling over the fact that Metal is supposed to be this heavy duty macho genre and there he is at the Hammerstein Ballroom,surrounded by long haired guys all wearing black tees, watching a guy prancing about on stage, singing in a quasi operatic voice about castles and demons and wearing costumes. Metal is such a funny fantasy land, you don't have to spend much on admission and it's way more fun than Disney ever dreamed it could be.

As usual the talk turned to guitars, and I asked him how his lonely little bass was doing. Okay, here's the deal, I periodically come down with Tina Weymouth-itis, this is where I start hungering for a bass. Mind you, I don't know how to play one, and my guitar teacher used to cringe when I walked thru the door, but I am in love with them. Sometimes this ahem, passion rears its ugly little head, and I have to scurry away from guitar shops lest something really bad occurs. Ivan has occasionally mentioned that he'd lend his to me, so I could see if I could actually do something with it instead of mooning about the bass, then he starts to play it and it stays home. Not to say this is a bad thing, it isn't, I just wanna try a bass. Once.

Ivan is now practicing with two bands and it looks like the last week in Feb will be when he performs with both of them. So the dates have been cleared off and I'm ready to rock n'roll. Now if he'd only tell me the names of the bands....