Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Old Dog (with Graying Hair), New Tricks

For Mother's Day this year, my husband went way, way overboard and surprised me with a Kindle Fire HDX.  This was not on my wish list; in fact, if he had asked me about it, I would have said, "No! It'll be a huge waste of money!  I like real books, not eBooks!  I won't know how to use it." (Ya da, ya da, ya da...same sorts of things I said when he insisted on getting me an iPhone--which has since become an extension of my arm, practically.)

Kicking and screaming, per usual, I am being dragged into the 21st century.

But much to my surprise, I find that this old dog can indeed be taught new tricks!  In fact, just to prove that my husband hasn't wasted an exhorbitant amount of money on his thoughtful gift, I'm using my Kindle to blog today.  Whoa, right?

If I can manage blogging on my new gadget, I may be able to leave my much bulkier laptop behind from now on when we travel by air; and as often as we fly hither and yon visiting our kids and grandkids, that would be fantastic. This nifty little gizmo fits in my purse, for goodness sake. And if I can not only read books on it, but also check emails, surf the net, and write and post blogs using it, it's going to be a life-changer for me.

So, let's get to the blog, shall we?

Topic for the day: going gray gracefully.

I am turning 57 this summer, and the grays are really starting to multiply.  It's weird, but they don't really show up in pictures yet.  As you can see.
By the by: all the photos for this post were taken with my Kindle camera.  It's not perfect, since it's a one-direction camera set up for taking selfies.  But with some careful finagling, you can turn it around and zero it in on things and get the shot you need.

I tried to get a close-up that would show my grays.
Still not super obvious, are they?  Apparently, the light has to be just right.  Let's give it one more try.
There they are!  The same color as that gray towel in the background.  (And as a bonus, my wrinkles show up nicely here, too!)

I don't think I'm going to color my gray hair...mostly because I can't imagine dealing with the upkeep. I've never even gotten highlights before, and I just don't want to have regular (and expensive) hair appointments to keep at this late stage in the game.
In case you're wondering who the handsome towheads are in the above photos, here's an interesting little tidbit: I've never dyed my hair; but my four oldest sons went bleach blond, along with their teammates, back when they played high school football. My firstborn was pretty blond already; but the others had hair as dark as mine or darker. It was kinda crazy!

Well, all the cool kids might be doing it, but I'm going to resist resorting to the use of hair dye. I'm going to fight the urge to hide my grays.  Maybe I'll just say that I'm going ash blond--that's a real thing, right?

And I am a grammy, after all.

A grammy who knows how to rock a Kindle Fire, that is!


(Speaking of new tricks for old dogs like me: I've noticed lately that many of the blogs I read have gone through numerous design changes, and I've only changed the look of mine once in the four years I've had it.  I've read that a blog should be mostly white, so I thought I'd try simplifying things a bit.  If people don't like it, I could always switch it back to the pink striped background.  What say you?)

7 comments:

  1. Laura, so glad that you love your Kindle Fire! I never thought I'd move to ebooks either, but well, you know how that turned out. :) I can't live without my Kindle now. It's so terribly convenient. And as for the gray hair, well... :) At 40, I get a decent amount of gray now, and my hair is so dark that it shows a LOT. :0 I do dye mine, but I only go every 12 weeks, so I guess the gray isn't that bad, huh? You rock your gray, you look beautiful!

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    1. I hate to say it, since I've always been Miss "Real Books Are the Only Way to Go"...but I do think I'm going to love this thing, because now I won't have to lug a stack of paperbacks in my carry-on, the way I usually do when I travel.

      And you know, I think if I had really dark hair, like my mom and one of my sisters, and it started to show a lot of grays 15 years ago, I might have felt differently about coloring my hair. But at this point, I just don't know if it's worth it, especially since they blend in. But never say never, I guess; because if it gets where I really feel old (who am I kidding? I am sort of old!), I might change my mind.

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  2. This is great. I love my Kindle Fire too, but I still love a "real" book. However, they are nice when you want to bring lots of reading material with you! Plus the internet connection is wonderful!!

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    1. And you rock the grays! I, however, will continue to highlight my hair. I am very vain!!

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    2. I may go blond yet...if my boys could do it, I suppose I could, too. :)

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  3. Those Kindle Fires are nice. We have one but an old version with no camera and it doesn't hold a charge much anymore. Definitely handy for reading on the go instead of packing many many books. Sign up for Book Bub's emails! Every day they will send you a listing of free or really cheap ebooks in the categories you pick. I keep a stock of free ones on my Kindle for when I need something to read on the fly. Burning question: do you have to pay for your own books Kindle version? I weirdly look forward to going gray. It's kind of like a badge of honor that life has been lived well. :) You will rock it I'm sure.

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    1. Thanks for the tip about the Book Bub emails. :) I'll check that out.

      Yes, I do have to pay for my books. Aside from a small number of paperback copies the publisher gave me right after they were published, I have to buy any extras I want, either to sell or give away as gifts (but I do get an author's discount from my publisher). As for the Kindle version, I have to order it from Amazon and pay what everyone else pays.

      I sort of feel the same way about going gray. I think if I had gone prematurely gray, I might have minded it. But it seems like the right season for me to have gray hair. And I hope I didn't sound like I was judging people who choose to color, because I absolutely think everyone should do what makes them most comfortable. It's just that for me, personally, the upkeep seems daunting.

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