New Me

Today, I had to make a deposit on behalf of the condo association, so I decided to get a haircut while out and about. I've been meaning to get a haircut for sometime, as the picture attests.

Ron and I went out to dinner (Matamoros) with Perry on Sunday. In the course of our conversations, Perry told us about going to one of Wheaton's barber shops, and finding out that it was an African-American shop, strictly neighborhood like out of a Spike Lee film (well, Perry didn't say anything about Spike Lee). So on my way to the bank, I stopped by Derrick & Darren's Barber Shop at 11261 Triangle Lane to check it out.

Derrick asked me if I needed anything, because I guess I obviously looked like I was in the wrong place. I said I needed a haircut, and he assured me I was in the right place, indeed. I don't think D&D have too many white customers, and this place really is a neighborhood shop. The TV was playing a tell-all show feature Countess Vaughn of Moesha fame. I had heard of Moesha, but not of Countess Vaughn. Parts of the show were laugh out loud. Even Derrick was laughing. It's just weird how black culture is totally blind to white guys like me. I shouldn't be surprised; after all, gay culture is pretty invisible to anyone who isn't gay and under the age of 30.

So here's the result. It's a little dramatic, but that's what I wanted. Derrick cut my hair exactly like I wanted it. I've been trying to get hair stylists and barbers to cut my hair short, but nobody would cut it short enough. I told Derrick what I needed, and he solved my problem. Derrick's my new barber.

In diet news, I really was full of shit yesterday at 178 pounds. This afternoon before dinner, I weighed 174.8. Yeah, I know that you aren't supposed to weigh yourself everyday, but I do anyway. Besides, today I earned 14 activity points, so I'm less inclined to follow the advice. The diet does get to be kind of a drag, and to think that I will be doing this for the rest of my life. Maybe, just maybe it will become habitual before I die. Thank God for my stash of Oreo cookies.

The Weight Watcher web site is one of the most upbeat places on the web. No bad news resides here, just an awful lot of optimism, and some surprisingly sound advice that actually works. I do struggle to stay on the diet, but it's going pretty well. If you want to see any of the good stuff on the site, you have to join :-( I joined the Men's Online group, which works just fine for me. I'm pretty self-motivated about this. What I like best online are the recipes. Maybe it's just the photos of the food. I don't know, food porn and all that. The food tracker online is kind of clunky. I actually like the mobile version on the iPad better. For doing serious diet planning, though, the web site is best.