I like to share with you stories that are a little out of the ordinary. And if the story happens in the town where I attended high school, so much the better.

This is the story of a college football player who was kicked off the team for fighting. He never played his senior year IN THE SIXTIES! Due to the intricate rules of the NCAA Division II, that senior year of eligibility never went away.

At 59 years old, this grandfather and AARP member went back to his college and made the team. You can read his story here.

Now, I am a big believer in following your dreams, but I doubt that most of us could do this. Granted, Sul Ross State University is no University of Washington, and their football program may be less prestigious and their tryouts less demanding, but how many 59 year olds do you know who could hold their own with a bunch of 20 year olds chasing him down?

Good for you, Mike Flynt. And good for you Alpine, Texas. This is so much better than when you were on The Daily Show.

Pull your hot rollers out from under the sink and go watch another great How To video on StyleBell.  (The same place that brought you “how to curl your hair with a flat iron.”)

We have been seeing lots more curl and movement in finished hair lately.  Really.  You don’t need to flatten your hair anymore to be hip and cool.  Sexy glamor is back.  Think Brigitte Bardot.  And think about using a heat protecting product while you are at it.  Just your luck, we happen to sell such a thing in the salon!  Ask your hairdresser for a demo.

As any mother knows, a little nagging is helpful, but too much is counter-productive.

If you need nagging but don’t want a loved one to be the nagger, you can use HassleMe!

It will randomly email you reminders (nags) of your choosing at an approximate span of your choosing.

I think mine will be: Did you exercise today?

I just read a story (with pictures) written by a young woman about her devastating salon visit and her oath to never visit a male hairdressser again.  Objectively I can say that a.) she is percieveing her end result differenly than most of us would and b.) the gender of the hairdresser had nothing to do with what happened.

I want you to read it because it will help you understand that what you see and what the client sees are often different.

This client states that she only wants a maximum of 2″ cut from the bottom.  She also makes it a point during the cut to chat about past cuts that had gone awry where she ended up too short.  When you have a client in your chair that is giving you these signals, please heed them!  Hairdressers have a reputation for being scissor happy and for wanting to chop off long hair.  Please do your best to listen to the client and when they give specific requests, please grant them.  If you think the client needs more length removed, explain what you think and why and then let them make an informed choice.  My favorite technique is to turn them around and use a hand mirror to view the back of their hair.  I show them where the cape can be seen through the hair and suggest that the hair might look thicker if we trimmed it up to that point.  It is often effective.  (I know that to us their is no difference between a “cut” and a “trim” but to many clients there is.  Try to pick up on their cues.)

When they say 2″, I grab my old-school plastic comb from the back of the drawer (you know, the one you used in beauty school that has the inch markings on it) and I show them 2″.  Then, using the comb as a guide, I cut 2″ off the bottom and show them the hair I removed.  Next I ask them if that is OK.  Now we can proceed with the rest of the haircut and the client can relax.

When you meet a client who has already had bad salon experiences, handle them gently.  Talk them through the process so that they feel that they are being heard.

Anyone disagree?

Continuing with the theme of “you put bacon in that?” I have StumbledUpon this recipe via Tastespotting.

How do you think this would taste with the Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies?  Feel free to taunt me with your comments. I can take it.

Candied Bacon Ice Cream

March 9, 2008

Who doesn’t like bacon and eggs?

Ok, maybe vegans. And folks who are kosher. And people who don’t eat eggs. Or those who don’t like bacon. But I’m not sure that’s possible. (I have a great bacon joke, but it’s not ‘pc’, so I’d better keep it to myself.)

I’m a big fan of both bacon and the beautiful, bright-orange yolked eggs we get in France, so why confine them to breakfast? I was pretty sure Candied Bacon Ice Cream would work. I mean, it’s got salt. It’s got smoke. So why not candy it? Inspired by Michael Ruhlman, l wanted to see what would happened when they all got together.

Read the rest of the recipe here.

Read all the way to the bottom for links to other odd bacon recipes.