Black Is The New Black

Everyone should be so lucky as to have their very own personal stylist. Mine came to me with quite the resume -- a signature, eclectic personal style; a wardrobe of clothes and shoes that fit me; a killer sense of aesthetics; extensive experience cutting, dyeing and funkily coiffing hair -- mostly his own. This was impressive, because hair defies me. I was afraid to dye my hair black the first time. (Yeah, I know.) My stylist can even cut a fade into his own hair, which I am told is quite difficult to master.

I've contracted with him for about 10 months, and I hadn't even utilized his hair styling skillz until now. Mostly I confer with him as my Secondary Fashion Director -- second to me. If ever I have any doubt, especially on finer points ("Which of these 5 pairs of black shoes goes best with this style of black skirt? Considering the details on the sweater I'm wearing? With this necklace or no necklace?") my stylist is there to give me totally dead-on, undisputable advice.

Based on these merits and a few others (including the fact that he's freaking hot), I negotiated a deal to make him the Assistant Fashion and Beauty Director for the House of Megan. This is an interim appointment, as he is currently closing a deal to become the resident Co-Director of Aesthetics -- to include fashion, beauty and environmental ambience -- for the forthcoming House of (edited), set to finalize mid-February 2008. Anyway, he rocks. His most recent project was re-dyeing my hair black. Check his work:

Wow, he looks so serious when he's working. And please excuse the cell phone camera. I'll have to post a photo of the finished product, but as you can imagine, it looks excellent. Would you expect less from a personal stylist?

Good News and Bad News

Well, I've got good news and I've got bad news. Which do you want to hear first?

Well, let's get the bad news out of the way. My mom called me on Sunday to tell me my little Beeber passed away. That's my nickname for my cat, Long. I know it sounds silly to eulogize a pet, but if you've ever had a pet die, I hope you understand.
Long was so cute. He was just the sweetest cat. I found him as a kitten, abandoned, up in a tree. I had to climb up it to pluck him out. I called him my Baby, which evolved to BeeBee and then Beeber. Um, anyway ... I thought he would live forever. He seemed so young, and he was 12 this year, which is actually kind of old. But he has been sick recently with an upper respiratory infection, and my mom said he started to sneeze blood. Turns out he had developed a bad case of pneumonia. My parents had him put to sleep. I don't even know if that was Sunday or Saturday. I'll have to ask my mom. They buried him at their house next to our other cat, Toe, who died last June; 6/6/06, to be exact. Toe, who had extra toes like mittens, was 16.

Long's littermate, Short (Long had a long tail, Short has a short tail) is still kickin'. He is retarded. No, I'm serious. So it's amazing he is still alive. Very sad that they are all reaching their life expectancies.
I feel very sad especially because I knew Long had been kind of sick. I kept thinking that the next time I talked to my mom, she would say he was fine. I feel really badly because I have been so wrapped up in my life and all the changes and excitement going on that I feel like I forgot about or neglected Long. And other things in my life that matter. I feel like Long was like the Giving Tree. I hardly ever go home to my parents' house anymore. I feel so bad because last week my mom kept seeming like she was really wanting me to come visit. She kept saying things like I had mail to pick up, or I should see the progress on their kitchen remodeling, or she wanted me to stop by to visit because my dad was away on business. Now I realize she wanted me to come say goodbye to Long. I did go home last Wednesday, and was shocked at Long's deteriorating health. I wish I would have spent more time with him. I love you, Beeber.

*******

Now for the good news! I GOT A NEW JOB!!! I am SO excited! This is absolutely crazy, but I am actually working at my dream job! I don't even know how to say it, but I recieved a HUGE blessing. I am now working as a copy editor for Gannett News Service! This is amazing. Gannett owns USA Today and 85 other papers across the U.S. They are huge. I am working at the Gannett and USA Today headquarters in McLean; a supersweet, architecturally mindblowing building:

I work in the Gannett building on the left. USA Today is on the right.

I am SOOOOooo glad I took the chance and had faith that in quitting my old job something better would come along.

Gannett News Service is like the Associated Press of the Gannett company. All the papers they own look to them for redistribution of local stories that are of national interest. So I am copy editing stories sent to the headquarters from all over the nation. I also design the Markets & Money page and the Nation & World page. So, for example, if your local Gannett-owned paper has a Market Watch section, or a World News section, chances are I designed and edited that. C-R-A-Z-Y. It also sounds way more big-time than it is at this point, since I am just learning it and there are several editors who oversee what I do. But still! I feel so blessed. Right now it is a temporary position through January, but it has a good chance of being permanent after that. Let's hope!