A Lap Full of Cornflakes

"What's with today, today?"

- Lucas, in Empire Records

Today seemed like an average day to begin with…

I had a shower, did my hair, put on my bathrobe and sat at my desk with a bowl of cornflakes to do my homework. So far, so good. It’s nice and serene at 8am in Siena. The clear morning sunlight streams into my room through the open window. The streets outside are quiet (once the daily cleaning truck has done its round!) and all you can hear are the sounds of people starting their day. Shoes tap on the gothic pavement as they make their way to work, school or the nearest bar to grab a coffee and some breakfast.

It’s quite warm in Tuscany these days so I decided to get up and move my fan a little closer. Then suddenly, BANG! CRASH! SPLASH!

Serenity: gone.

For a second I had no idea what I had knocked over, but the milk soaking through my robe and the cornflakes toppling into my pockets and onto the floor soon brought home the infuriating realisation.

My breakfast was in my lap.

Oh, and did I mention that I like to have HONEY on top of my cornflakes? Yep. That’s right. The sticky, soggy mess that should have been the morning shift for my stomach acids, was instead meeting its demise on the floor or on me.

After disposing of the flakes and mopping up the milk, I headed straight for the bathroom only to discover my roommate was having a shower. There was milk soaking into my skin and honey-lathered cornflakes decorating my robe – the last thing I felt like doing was WAITING. But alas – what else could I do?

To cut a long and tedious story short, I eventually got out the door (late!) and clandestinely finished my homework at the start of class while the teacher was introducing the new students. Yes, I’m a survivor.

If that were the only thing that went wrong today, I would be stretching it to call it a bad day. However, when I tell you what occurred this afternoon, those of you who know me well, will be text messaging me to make sure I haven’t tossed myself out of a window.

Generally speaking, I aspire to be a person of depth and conviction. I care about social justice, human rights and ethics. However, when it comes to one thing, I admit to being completely and unashamedly superficial. The thing to which I refer is, of course, my hair. I adhere to my three-monthly haircuts religiously and have a very congenial relationship with my hairdresser, Olivia, in Melbourne. She knows exactly what I want and she executes it with all the precision of a surgeon. I’m not exaggerating when I say, I love her!

Anyway, it has now been four months since my last haircut and I was getting desperate. A local Italian lady whom I have befriended, advised me to see her friend; a “very good” hairdresser.

I should mention, at this point, that the last time I had a terrible haircut, I cried. It’s pathetic, I know. It’s shallow. It’s infantile. It’s idiotic. BUT I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAY! It’s my hair and I’ll cry if I want to!

So, I suppose you have guessed it by now – the haircut did not go well. She chopped WAAAAAY too much off and I’m not convinced about the layers. I do hold out a small beacon of hope for the fact that your hair is always better when you style it yourself the next day. However, the fact remains… I am shattered! I didn’t cry, but I confess, I came close to shedding a tear when I came home and inspected it in the mirror. The icing on the cake was when I reached in to my handbag and found that much of the hair she had lopped off had stowed itself away amongst my things. You know... just in case I wanted to glue it back on later.

Hmph.

Anyway, I guess you all think I’m a big baby now, but at least having this little vent has helped! There are other frustrating realities associated with sharing an apartment with two 20-year-olds, but I am trying to remain positive! I won’t go there.

Tomorrow I’m going to Firenze (Florence) for the day to see my good friends Cass and Neil, from Melbourne. I also have a couple of interesting things lined up for Friday and Saturday so things are looking up!

I’ll let you know how tomorrow's hair review goes. If I don’t post another blog for the next few months, you can assume that I am busy rocking back and forth in a corner, waiting for it to grow back!