Let Your Hair Down

Today's Cryptoquote is great because it's fashion-related. I love all the fashion-related quotes. This one is by W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965):

Vidal Sassoon

"A good hairdresser can express ever mood and every passion of the human heart." 

How true this is! I enjoy going to my hairdresser. I tell her everything that's going on in my life, and I always feel so much better when I leave. The best hairdressers love to make people feel good and look great. I wish I had been around during the 60s. What I would have given to have my hair cut by Vidal Sassoon, who changed the world of hairstyling forever. My mother-in-law was one of the lucky ones. In March, we had the pleasure of seeing a documentary about his life, from his tumultuous childhood in the East End of London to his stint in the Israeli army to the opening of his first salon. The shops are still around; they're simply just called "Sassoon." He is also an activist and has worked tirelessly to wipe out anti-Semitism.

In contrast to Vidal Sassoon, we have the classless trash of "Jerseylicious." Even though this "reality show" is probably scripted, it's my guilty pleasure. Most of the "employees" don't even work for the Gatsby Salon. On last night's episode, that bee-yotch Tracy was looking for an internship with Vogue. Ha ha ha ha ha ha!! First off, she dropped out of college after six months, and most interns work for college credits. Second, Vogue would NEVER hire trash like her! You either have to be an Ivy League grad or know someone there. Third, if she showed up to work in the clothes she wears, she would be sent home by Anna Wintour herself. So she makes herself an "apprentice" for a local lifestyle magazine. How shocked she is when she finds out she has to style food! She learns a valuable lesson that it's not about the smoky eye or the right handbag!!! 

As for Somerset Maugham, he was a from a wealthy family and studied medicine initially. Real-life experience, such as medical school and his world travels, was the basis for many of his works. Maugham was best know for his novels The Razor's Edge and Of Human Bondage, both which were turned into classic movies. He was bisexual--he married and had a daughter but had a lover named Gerald Haxton. However, he showed disdain for the gay artist. He seemed to live the kind of lifestyle most of us envy--the wealthy man about town and world traveler.

You Say "To-May-To", I Say "To-Mah-To"

Gail Grabowski's puzzle is called "Tomato Cookbook." Here are the theme answers:

20A: Nightspot with Latin music (SALSA CLUB). The most famous salsa club of all was probably the Copacabana. It's still around but doesn't maintain its former glory of the '40s and '50s. The original location at East 60th Street is the club of legend. So many famous musicians have played there: Xavier Cugat, Harry Belafonte, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., Marvin Gaye, Celia Cruz, Sam Cooke, etc. 

51A: Skillet relatives (SAUCE PANS). Nothing much to say. I hate cooking

11D: Full range (SOUP TO NUTS). I've always loved this expression. Origin of this phrase came from formal dinners that started with a soup plate and ended with mixed nuts. 

27D: Business-card paperstock (PASTE BOARD). I love collecting business cards.  think it's because I find it fascinating to get so many graphics and text in one small space. In fact, I belong to a group called the International Business Card Collectors. I didn't even know there was such a site until about three years ago. There are over 500 members and we do trades and round robins. 

That's all the puzzle news for today. 

I had a great time at Diane's Mad Hatter party over the weekend. The hats ranged from silly (Diane's jester hat, Adam's "pimp" hat, Vicki's tall hat) to the sublime (the homemade creations by Tara and Debbie.). Diane's husband, Dave has great taste in music and knows how to barbecue those ribs! Because her house was such a schlep, I slept over Saturday night. Diane's house is so whimsical . . . she made great use of small space!

Till tomorrow. . . . 

Signing off,

The Puzzlechick

New Zoo Revue

I took off from blogging yesterday. It was a cold, rainy, lousy day. I spent the morning at the gym and the afternoon catching up on the NYT and Newsday puzzles.

Yesterday's Newsday puzzle used common animal metaphors:

23A: Go-getter (EAGER BEAVER) (Note: Eager they weren't, but "The Angry Beavers" was one of my favorite Nick cartoons. Here is a video of the classic episode featuring the Barry White bear. No copyright infringement intended).

25A: Cowardly one (FRAIDY CAT) (Note: I was a notorious fraidy cat as a child. I was scared of my own shadow). Here is some interesting trivia about the Cowardly Lion's (Bert Lahr) costume from "The Wizard of Oz."

45A: Usurer (LOAN SHARK)
76A: Courtroom whiz (LEGAL EAGLE)
84A: Experimental subject (GUINEA PIG) (Note: My parents would often tease me that I was the experiment that failed. Very nice, mom and dad! As an animal, however, guinea pigs are so cute!).

105A: Person above criticism (SACRED COW)
107A: Easy mark (SITTING DUCK) (See below Michael Bedard's famous lithograph). I didn't realize there was a book and a TV series based on this lithograph.

I'm still working on the quote-acrostic, which is nearly impossible. I will report on it when I'm finished.

Today's Cryptoquote is by Robert Frost (1874-1963): "Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." I looked up his bio on Wiki (not always the most reliable source) but he was prolific poet! His most famous poem probably is The Road Not Taken. There is a collection of his poems at the Jones library in Amherst, MA. For more information:

http://asteria.fivecolleges.edu/findaids/amherst/ma181_main.html

A more detailed bio of Frost is posted here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/robert-frost

Gail Grabowski's crossword theme was "Air Force", which had nothing to do with the armed-forces branch:

20A: Energy for a new effort (SECOND WIND)
40A: Has a chat (SHOOTS THE BREEZE)
60A: Early-stage manuscript (ROUGH DRAFT)

Saturday night there was a surprise party for my friend Vicki's birthday. I went to middle school and high school with Vicki but didn't know her very well. She is one of the most positive people I have ever met and she never complains about anything. Vicki married her life partner Flo in Connecticut almost a month ago.

John Rich won "Celebrity Apprentice" last night. This season was not the most exciting, but there were some very colorful characters (Gary Busey, Star Jones, Nene Leakes). Marlee Matlin's interpreter should get his own show!

Also, I watched the clowns from "Jerseylicious." It's all so phony and fake but it's a guilty pleasure. The best scene from last week was Christy jumping down Alexa's throat for not asking her about her pregnancy or her child. . . . Gayle (the salon owner) wants "world domination" and they tried to get into Guinness World Records for the most haircuts in an 8-hour day. The geniuses don't know how many centimeters are in an inch. Alexa compares the Gatsby to a used car lot! Last night they started a medispa and the employees told Gigi she needs like $100,000 in procedures. Needless to say, the medispa didn't go over too well. . . . Olivia made 2 snide remarks about Tracy's clothes (go Olivia!). . . . Filippo (the Gatsby's intern) got accepted to beauty school. There goes the neighborhood!

Jeff Conaway is still in a coma, and there was a story going around that George Clooney fell off a cliff (a hoax)!

Today at Loehmann's I bought the matching jacket for the workout pants that I bought on Friday, along with a matching t-shirt (TJ Maxx purchase).

We are finally getting our kitchen sink fixed. The pipe was all corroded and we need a major part. Our bathroom sink needed a new washer, which was repaired easily. No more drip, drip, drip.

On that note, have a great night everyone!

Signing off,
The Puzzlechick