Strange

Today I got a haircut and my color done. It's pretty much the same haircut and color I've gotten for the last year or so, but Nina worked her Nina-magic on me for some reason and took her own sweet time blow drying and styling my hair, so I walked out of there (two hours later) with bouncy, shiny hair that I will not be able to replicate, ever, even under the best of circumstances (I think I hurt her feelings the first time she cut my hair by telling her "not to bother" with making my hair perfect; I pretty much let her style it any way she wants. She told me today that it's "fun" and that she likes doing it [good, considering she's a hairdresser]. Her hair is, needless to say, perfect, if a little too... blond).

Anyway, after that, I went to lunch at Souplantation, my well-thumbed copy of Robert Heinlein's incredibly long and long-winded book "Time Enough for Love" in my hand, where I ate a lot of lettuce, a couple tomatoes, and a variety of other vegetables (plus a bowl of chicken noodle soup). Following that, I decided to go to Macy's and maybe Target, which was a well thought out plan, since both are at the Lakewood Mall, where I already was.

I entered the mall by the Frederick's of Hollywood store, and was just passing Borders (where my friend sometimes works; I peeked in the window and didn't see him, and so was going to pass it by, except right in front of the store, a young man approached me.

He didn't look crazy, and I thought he was going to ask me if I wanted to test some hand lotion or ask me about my cell phone plan, but he said, instead, the following:

"I saw you from way over there [he indicated the entrance of the mall, about 100 feet away], and I have to tell you, in my honest opinion, that you. Are. Beautiful."

Up until this point I was standing there rather patiently, but at this, I have to admit, at this, I laughed. Pretty hard, but short. Like, "Ha!" Like I said, he didn't look crazy, though he did have a rather odd look around the eyes. So I thanked him, and ducked into Borders, hoping my friend Bo would show up in a random corner, because all of a sudden I felt... funny.

Bo wasn't hiding in the store, and I wanted to spend a legitimate amount of time in there, so I found the travel section, and picked out a book on Washington, D.C. (more on this later). When I left, I saw the guy again, leaning on a pole, talking on a cell phone. He caught my eye, and I looked at him long enough to ascertain that he was wearing a knee brace, a meaningless detail unless it became necessary at some point to outrun him, and then I quickly looked away and went to Macy's, where I made an unsuccessful attempt to find robes for me and Patrick.

I never did find out what he was selling.