Cutting it short
So I've finally acquiesced and have migrated to Flickr for all my photos. Next stop, get a better camera. 1.3 megapixels ain't gonna cut it.. even for snapshots. The roadblock? Money, that naked ugly beast that clambers all over me and sticks to my gums, rotting me from the inside out. In the last month, I've charged more than half of what I have in my checking account. So much for saving up for the trip.
Damm. What am I going to do? I have no idea, except that faith somehow is a jester waiting to mock me when reality catches up to my present escape from time.
Started scooter cam. Much like Fishercam, except that I'm' on the scooter. Things look different on wheels, and pixelated and all, I'll do what I can.
Nobu and I ran into Kate, Claudia's friend, while I was dropping him off on Friday in his building. She and Wendy was going out with some people to Coffeeshop, that bastion of standard nightlife leftovers in Union Sq. I really don't like this place as it is overrun with people with an extreme skewed view of self-importance who are past their prime. Note to self: connect with Kate at some point since she seems like a cool girl. But whenever I spend time with Nobu, inevitably I have to spend a lot of money – it's just how he parties. Note to self: find friends who spend less money – or better yet, get current friends to spend less money. Easier said than done, as most of my friends shed money like dogs shed hair.
Had much more fun with Stellargirl, her friend Maison and Nick on Saturday night at a beer garden in Cobble Hill. Ramon and his gf came, but they were out of it. I felt bad from Ramon since I knew him in college... and now after with this girl, he seems so subdued. The guy used to go crazy and we'd have the best times laughing and .. well, laughing because the world was so funny. But yesterday, he was clamped down, "tired" and whatnot. Perhaps life is heavier now. Life is heavier as you grow older, and you are borne down by the increasing expectations of everyone else. I find that the more I look for the kernel of dharma inside, and the more I let it grow, the constellations appear, exploding and shimmering all around, spinning and expanding so that my life, my living is lighter and the weight is lifted.. then your blessed thoughts can take flight.. pulling you into the vast world of the beyond.
I hate cheap people. But I never know what to tip after getting my hair cut. What's the normal rate? If it's $30, then is $10 ok? And when do you give it to the stylist/barber? Cause in most places, you pay at the register, to a different person than the girl who cuts your hair. Do you give it before you pay – right after you get blow dried? Cause then, it's sort of awkward to reach for your wallet with your grubby hair carpeted hands.. and isn't it a tipping rule to be as smooth as possible when handing out a tip? Almost like psychologically, you don't want to give the person you're tipping to the impression that you're 'giving' them money, as tipping is really fair payment for a service well done, and not 'extra' money that you have to give. Because giving is demeaning somehow, communicating to the service person that they didn't really do anything to deserve the tip, rather, it is only by the goodness and benevolence of the customer that they are getting paid.
Which is confusing because tipping is really an addition payment on top of what the price is. Why doesn't the price for service just include tip? That would make it much simpler.
So I usually just pay first and they awkwardly try to fish a $5 or $10 out from my wallet (I usually have to ask the attendant for change cause I never carry cash), and walk the long walk back to the hair station to lay the tip as casually as I can to the barber before walking the long walk back to the door and head outside, breathing heavily.
Oh yeah. So I got a haircut too. It's pretty much buzzed now. No more helmet hair!
