Time for a key change

Does knowing you have a spare key make you more careless, and more likely to lose your key? This is a question of the ages.

Regardless, I need to have a spare key around. My talent for losing keys is legendary, whether or not there is a spare. Last week, post-loss, I went to the hardware store to grab a few copies to have around in case of emergency (read: lose in my room). The key master was making about ten copies of one key for someone; I waited semi-patiently until a voice behind me piped up, "Sorry, I'm taking forever with my order."

I turned around; it was a Cute Guy. He smiled at me. We chatted a little bit, and then the conversation turned to keys as it usually does in the key department of a hardware store. We looked at cool key rings available for purchase. It went something like this:

Cute Guy: "What about that one?"
Alli: "Yeah, like a whistle on your key ring is gonna save your life."
CG: "I know. Wow, he's still on my order!"
A: "Serious, that really is a lot of keys."
CG: "Yeah, well, gotta do it right! I don't believe in doing anything halfway."
A: "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well."
CG: "Exactly!"
A: "You're going balls deep in key making!"
CG: ...

He kinda laughed, but it wasn't the same after that. He paid for his keys and left. Either he had never heard 'balls deep' before, or our relationship was just too new for that. Didn't we have a connection? No? Sorry, my bad.

You know those hairstyling magazines they have at the salon? You always end up looking at them while you're waiting for your running-late diva of a hairstylist. The pictures inside are of perfectly coiffed women, and at the bottom of each photo is a little byline: "Super Salon, Marietta, GA." Or whatever salon it was. But a lot of them seem to be in Marietta, GA.

Here's what I want to know: does a stylist decide ahead of time to create a hair sensation for the express purpose of taking a picture? Or does he do a cut and then say, "Gee whiz, that'd look purdy in a magazine!" Furthermore, what are the guidelines for submitting photos to these magazines? Can an independent party (e.g. me) just cut some hair and submit a photograph? Are these hair journals peer-reviewed, or does any submission with enough product make it in? C'mon, Medium Cuts for You, inquiring minds want to know!

hey there little guy

I ran into the cutest kid today. I was on a run on the Capitol Crescent Trail and I was being all meticulous about measuring my mile splits... until I saw this boy riding his bike up the hill at River Road. He was struggling with a big gray thing while trying to pedal up the hill. He ended up steering right into the retaining wall and eating it! I wanted to laugh, he was so not even close to making it up that hill by himself. I didn't though, and offered to help him out in the most dignity-preserving way possible. I ended up running him home, holding his PE gear (the big gray thing turned out to be a sweatshirt/sweatpants phys ed fashion statement).

As he biked and I ran, we chatted about junior high, and what a pain it was to bring home PE clothes every week. I admitted that I'd sometimes forget. About halfway to this kid's place I realized, "Hey! It's still hot out! This is no weather for sweats!" I shared this realization with him and he told me that the sweats were a purchase made in anticipation of the coming wintry weather.

I kind of wish I had asked his name; then I could write about this here without calling him 'kid' and 'little guy.' I figured that it was a stretch for him to accept help from a stranger, though, and a name query might have set off the warning bells. And then he'd have been crashing his bike every three seconds all the way home instead of getting help from me. I gotta tell you though, it was such a trip talking to this kid. He was nonplussed that a random runner was carrying his gym gear. By the time I dropped him off, I had backtracked a good distance and my mileage was incalculable (which was a shame because I was running fast today). It was totally worth it though. What a sweetie.