At Issue: My hair

I cut my hair like Vicky Beckham. What do you think?

At Issue: The Tan

So I have to be Puerto Rican for an upcoming role. Which means I have three options:

*fake bake
*hit the tanning booth
*lie outside on the lawn of our apartment building while dozens of people walk by (mind you it's still 40 degrees here)

Any guidance from y'all?

At Issue: The Short Story Vs. The Novel

So I just borrowed a book (I love the library again - it dawned on me a few months ago that I could simply "borrow" books I wanted to read instead of "buy" them at Barnes and Noble, saving me oodles of cash and my bookshelf some room.) by Richard Ford and was so thrilled to read it because I LOVED The Sportswriter, Independence Day (especially) and The Lay of the Land.

When I got home, I opened it and quickly realized it was a collection of short stories. (You really can't judge a book by its cover - but you probably could judge by its table of contents - lesson learned for the next time.) I felt an immediate wave of disappointment wash over me, as I realized the long, indulgent process of getting lost in a novel would be condensed to the 20 minutes it took to read each story.

But then again, short stories do have their role, no? If you are waiting at the doctor's office, or if bedtime is fast approaching when you creep under the covers, then short stories do a great job of satiating your desires. I mean, they still have a beginning, middle and end; a protagonist and all that jazz; and often leave you with more questions to ponder than your average novel.

But when you want something that might shape your life for a week or even a month (or heck, sometimes it takes three months to crawl through one) - a novel that, in a way, becomes a temporary friend, a short story just won't cut it.

Am I right, or am I right?