Zeus v. Athena (Jupiter v. Minerva)
Most people know that Zeus was the god of - among other things - Weather. Well, here in Italy ... the Romans adopted most of the Greek gods & goddesses, just with different names. Zeus became Jupiter. And when near Rome, I will do the same. So ... using ancient mythology as a reference, someone here in Tuscany must have pissed off Jupiter: Today down in the heart of Florence, it was 35 degrees C, which according to my favorite 'convert just about anything to just about anything else' website is 95F. And average here for this time of year is about 85, so everyone here in 'noairconditioningland' is a little miserable but trying to put a stoic face on things. Heavens, NOW I know why everyone closes for the month of August. I mean, if late June can be this bad... !?!? Florence also rivals Swampy Washington DC (or N'awlins) for sticky-no-air-movement. BLECCCCCH! So hot you can't concentrate. Fratello Guido, Il Cavaliere and I just sort of sat there in the office staring miserably at each other. Then of course, we were crazy enough to get steaming hot Chinese food for lunch .... (!?!?!?!?) I'm sure my body will adjust, but my office girl 72-perfectly-climate-controlled-degrees temperature gauge is going through its own version of culture shock.
Tonight, however, Jupiter went a little schizo on us ... it's downright chilly. The house sits at about 600m high, on a ridge, which is .372 miles (just less than 2,000 feet). Thankfully, it's cooler here than in the valley - there's some goofy 100 meters / less one degree rule of thumb, but I don't know if that really works...?!?! ... I think owning a thermometer would just make me more miserable, and what can I do about it anyway, so I don't have one. Either way, there's usually a breeze in the evenings - and the last two nights, there's actually been a stiff wind. Last night's was warm and vicious - I only know the Santa Ana winds by rumor, but this was what I imagined them to be - warm, loud, and almost stinging when it hit you. Tonight, a cold front found us, winds were brisk right around dusk (oh, I vaguely remember something about sun/land/heat/cool/convection/air ... where's Mr. Fig when I need him?!?!) and I actually am sitting here typing at midnight in a sweater and light scarf!
Since today's topic is weather, that's an ideal segue into my other favorite weather-affected topic: hair. (Deep breath). (CAUTION: Totally vain, obsessive rambling ahead). Okay. I'm COMPLETELY self aware enough to know that I've got more high-maintenance hair than ... um, I'm running through the list here... 99.44% of you, blogodites. Virgin Blogger *may* be a tie with me, depending on the year. (I say with reverence and admiration!), and some of ye metrosexual tendency boys out there are equally FUSSY, but once it's done, it's pretty much done. Mine, on the other hand, is an organism unto itself - morphing continuously throughout any given day if not properly situated at the beginning.
One of my biggest emotional hurdles in this move is going to a simpler hairstyle. Less 'fluff.' (Blossom gets credit for trying - in his sometimes not-so-gentle way to edge me in this direction for years now.) AKA - as just about any gal out there knows - the excruciating process of 'growing out' Add steamy summer days, no AC, and the fact that - I'll admit it - I'm a 'head sweater' ... blow around a bit, and, voila': stewed, drowned rat.
But, apparently, all my kissing up to the goddess Minerva (Athena in Greek, i hope you're following ... legend has it turned Medusa's hair into snakes, so I've been kinda hoping she can use her power for good, too ...) seems to have worked. It's just now long enough to twist up and put in a clippy on the back of my head. Which I've learned to just start out with on hot days, rather than even try for anything else. AND, glory of glories, I caught a glance at myself in a mirror today, and I was shocked to find that while I looked a little flushed, my head itself did not look like it had suffered the proverbial 'swirly'. You rock, Minerva. I owe you one.
Hey, DC dwellers, hold me accountable for not going back to 'fluff-osity' when I'm back next month: you know how addicts go right back to their habits in their old environments. If I can pull off Minerva 1 - Jupiter 0 here in Tuscany, I bet I can do it there too.
Tonight, however, Jupiter went a little schizo on us ... it's downright chilly. The house sits at about 600m high, on a ridge, which is .372 miles (just less than 2,000 feet). Thankfully, it's cooler here than in the valley - there's some goofy 100 meters / less one degree rule of thumb, but I don't know if that really works...?!?! ... I think owning a thermometer would just make me more miserable, and what can I do about it anyway, so I don't have one. Either way, there's usually a breeze in the evenings - and the last two nights, there's actually been a stiff wind. Last night's was warm and vicious - I only know the Santa Ana winds by rumor, but this was what I imagined them to be - warm, loud, and almost stinging when it hit you. Tonight, a cold front found us, winds were brisk right around dusk (oh, I vaguely remember something about sun/land/heat/cool/convection/air ... where's Mr. Fig when I need him?!?!) and I actually am sitting here typing at midnight in a sweater and light scarf!
Since today's topic is weather, that's an ideal segue into my other favorite weather-affected topic: hair. (Deep breath). (CAUTION: Totally vain, obsessive rambling ahead). Okay. I'm COMPLETELY self aware enough to know that I've got more high-maintenance hair than ... um, I'm running through the list here... 99.44% of you, blogodites. Virgin Blogger *may* be a tie with me, depending on the year. (I say with reverence and admiration!), and some of ye metrosexual tendency boys out there are equally FUSSY, but once it's done, it's pretty much done. Mine, on the other hand, is an organism unto itself - morphing continuously throughout any given day if not properly situated at the beginning.
One of my biggest emotional hurdles in this move is going to a simpler hairstyle. Less 'fluff.' (Blossom gets credit for trying - in his sometimes not-so-gentle way to edge me in this direction for years now.) AKA - as just about any gal out there knows - the excruciating process of 'growing out' Add steamy summer days, no AC, and the fact that - I'll admit it - I'm a 'head sweater' ... blow around a bit, and, voila': stewed, drowned rat.
But, apparently, all my kissing up to the goddess Minerva (Athena in Greek, i hope you're following ... legend has it turned Medusa's hair into snakes, so I've been kinda hoping she can use her power for good, too ...) seems to have worked. It's just now long enough to twist up and put in a clippy on the back of my head. Which I've learned to just start out with on hot days, rather than even try for anything else. AND, glory of glories, I caught a glance at myself in a mirror today, and I was shocked to find that while I looked a little flushed, my head itself did not look like it had suffered the proverbial 'swirly'. You rock, Minerva. I owe you one.
Hey, DC dwellers, hold me accountable for not going back to 'fluff-osity' when I'm back next month: you know how addicts go right back to their habits in their old environments. If I can pull off Minerva 1 - Jupiter 0 here in Tuscany, I bet I can do it there too.
posted by Viaggiatore | 6/30/2005
2 Comments:
Kel, at least your hair is STRAIGHT! I know we've had this discussion over drinks on more than one occasion, about how I loathe my curly hair and straighten it whenever possible, of course following the "we all want what we don't have" adage. But this summer (while suffering in the same heat and humidity you are) I decided to try something new and bold. I bought mousse for curly hair (what a concept) and after showering put the mousse in my wet hair and, gulp, let it air dry!!! I have to say I am mystified by the power of mere mousse to my rat's nest hair. It hangs in almost perfect curls (if such a thing actually exists) and I get to forgo the blow-dryer-in-humidity hell. If you've ever seen it air-dried without product, think Monica in the episode of "Friends" when they all went to Bermuda and within 24 hours they were calling her Diana Ross. Okay, maybe it doesn't quite require Geri Curl, but nonetheless it's been the bain of my existence since puberty. What WILL I do with all the extra time not spent drying and flat-ironing?
A trip to Mario Tricoci to have my hair washed, dryed and straightened: $50.00 + tip. A $6 bottle of Tresemme Curl Care Mousse: Priceless.
As always,
N.Winkust
P.S. This would have been more profound had I been able to use the HTML tags. I did the tags as written above but it kept saying "tag is not closed." ENGLISH please, Bill Gates!!!!!!
LOL at the comparison of 'high maintenace" hair...and had to admit the truth in it! Love the new concept of hair..sorta of hoping to see a photo of that!! I, too, am going for a more simpler, summer look (and color!!!) go for it in DC!!!
when we see each other next, we'll see who maintain 'their new look' the longest!
virgin blogger
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