Mary-- you do look totally glam. The smooth hair look is nice... which brings me to a serious question, for which I'm sure none of you have a suitable answer: How does one combat hat hair? My winter look thus far has been something along the lines of "warmed-up-corpse" with my hair too oily and flattened straight against my skull by my (very cute) fleece hat, contrasted nicely with my dried out skin, too much eye makeup and dark under-eye circles. The skin afflictions wouldn't be so bad if I could prevent the hat hair. The easiest solution, I'm sure, is don't wear a hat. But unlike.... some people... I am not willing to sacrifice comfort for fashion. Suggestions?

The rest of my photos that were promised to you all earlier this week are coming to you right now.

Steve is a good friend, simply because he posed for this picture to enhance my photodocumentary.

The faceless face of evil. True malevolence sometimes comes in unexpected packages... like 83-year-old diner cashiers.

I've been listening to Frank Black's "Teenager of the Year" nonstop for the past three days. It has depressed me. Here's the verdict: yeah, it's a clever fun album... I'm a sucker for that "I want to live on an abstract plain" stuff. wit. sure. Why did F.B. want to end the pixies to make this music? As good as it is, it doesn't excite me nearly as much as anything the Pixies ever recorded. No other band that I know of had such a cohesion of parts-- sure black francis wrote the songs-- but joey santiago's guitar parts and kim deal's vocals and bass lines were essential to creating the craziness. The strongest songs on "teenager of the year" are the ones that have joey s. guitar parts. The Pixies amaze me. Black's solo album (well, this one at least, I haven't heard the others) makes me smile, but doesn't blow me away. I don't want Frank Black to be endearing, I want him to be deranged.

A polite request to the residents of Cook County: Please folks, when it is 5 degrees and windy, and I am trying to cross the street with the light, don't make me wait for your right-on-red b.s. It's freaking freezing out, and you are in a nice heated car. A person could die out there, or at least lose a few toes to frostbite. Let me cross the street!