And have we learned a valuable lesson, young lady?

So, Tuesday my hard drive crashed. My beloved MacBook was in desperate need of a transplant and unfortunately, laptops do not as "family members" so you can't take sick leave to take them to the computer doctor. Can you believe that? So I had to wait until after work to drive to the Apple Store where I had reserved time with a Genius. Genius Brian, or Brain as he was known in the store, diagnosed the problem. We had a brief discussion about data recovery and the need to back up files, etc. [Sidebar - kids, if you want to go into a very lucrative career, go into Data Recovery] I remembered that I had all of my music except for a few things I purchased on Monday but hadn't loaded on the iPod yet and all of my photos, contacts, calendars, etc. on my iPod and almost all of my necessary work files on the work server so felt pretty safe in saying c'est la vie. My warranty was still in effect so the transplant was covered. Genius Brian and I discussed how my old hard drive wasn't really "Dead" per se, but that it was going to live on a farm with other hard drives. I mourned the loss and vowed to do a better job of backing up data . . . especially photos.

Some of my 600+ photos are still living in cyberworld thanks to Flickr, Walmart and Snapfish but the rest are gone. Gone I tell you! GONE! deep cleansing breath - Ok, I'm better. But my favorites were still on the iPod. Like a smarty smart, I figured what goes on, must come off. Little did I know that the Apple gods had planned for just such a problem by making it a one way transfer. Rats, foiled again! Then I remembered reading something about a Photo Liberator. I found it, downloaded it and hooked up the iPod and SHAZAM - bye bye photos. At this point, I walked over to a co-worker's desk and proceeded to crawl under it. Seriously. I did. She calmly asked if I was ok and I said that I just needed a minute. She knows me pretty well so just walked away.

Once I crawled out from under the desk, I returned to my own and sent a frantic email to my own personal genuis - my brother. He sent me a link to a site that would retrieve the other stuff from my iPod like the 4000+ songs, videos, movies, etc. and it did. Not a single thing lost. Movie of my nephew singing Pat-a-Cake? Retrieved. Photo of nephew - gone. Movie of nephew asking to ride the motorcycle as only a 2 year old can? Retrieved. Photo of Star Wars Freak Son at the Star Wars Exhibit at the Science Museum - gone. [sidebar - if you know my son, PLEASE don't tell him. Mommy's not ready for that, yet.]

I do know that with all things computerized, nothing is really gone gone until you write data over it so now Genius Brother is charged with the task of finding software that I can use to data mine my iPod to find my photos. Yes, I know that even if I get them back, chances are they won't be "print" worthy but I will take them in any form I can get right now.

SOOOOOO.... what have we learned from this? Duh, back up your data. All photos will be uploaded to Snapfish as well as saved in my iPhotos. When iTunes asks if I want to back up my library, I will do so and if I don't, I give iTunes permission to say, "Are you sure, Dummy? Remember what happened last time!" And lastly, I will remember to post my bookmarks to my del.icio.us account like I used to before I got my laptop.

Who would have thought that in less than one year I would have so much of my life stored on a computer that I would need to post a HUGE blog about my loss?

Kids these days

It's been awhile since I've posted. I made a conscious effort to not be glued to the computer all day! Believe me, it's been a challenge.

Here's my other challenge -- teaching my children how to play. Seriously. Just play. I never wanted to use the phrase, "When I was a kid" but I find myself using it daily! Yesterday, I dragged two of my kids (ages almost 9 and almost 7) outside and forced them to [gasp] use the garden hose to make mud in the driveway and play in it. When I a kid, that would have gotten me grounded. What is more fun than walking barefoot in mud! Ok, maybe rolling around in the mud is more fun but that would be taking it too far. My youngest really got into it. She said that Dad would be mad if he knew what we were doing [little did she know that he knew all about it and totally approved] but that I was the coolest mom ever for letting them do it. The almost 9 year old played for awhile then wanted to go back in the house. And do what? Lay around? No way! I actually told him to call Child Protective Services and tell them about how his mean mom was making him play outside on a lovely day. How cruel she was about handing him a garden hose and forcing him to make mud puddles. How she tore off his shoes and socks so he could feel the mud between his toes. After awhile, he started laughing, realizing how ridiculous it sounded.

When I was a kid, we got up at the crack of dawn, inhaled breakfast and took off on our bikes only to reappear at meal times. Granted, it was the 70s and I lived in the country where I knew all my neighbors and they knew me. We knew who was home during the day in case we needed a bathroom break or glass of water or wiped out on our bikes, needing a ride home. My home is located on top of a hill, next to a very busy highway but we have over 15 acres of bike-able land to traverse and explore. There are no less than 10 climbable trees in the yard in addition to the playground equipment we have. Heck, we even have two lovable dogs who would like nothing better than to chase a ball thrown by a kid. And don't think that my kids are allowed to sit on the couch and watch TV, play video games or use the computer all day. Nope, my summer mantra is, "play play play or you can help with the household chores." Get this, sometimes, they'll actually fold the laundry instead of playing. Seriously? What's wrong with my kids? Bedrooms full of toys and games but they'd rather sit in the living room with me and fold clothes. Weird.

Tell her what's she's won, Johnny . . . .

I received my flash drive in the mail and it was a welcome addition to my tech ensemble. I had need for one and had forgotten mine at home, but lo and behold, there was my new one - waiting for its initial assignment.

Then, a couple of days later, what to my wondering eyes did appear? But a miniature MP3 Player and matching arm gear! I am going to load it with all of my husband's favorites and present it to him for Father's Day. He's a big techno-phob so has resisted the whole MP3 culture. He's finally made the switch to CDs from cassettes but he didn't go willingly. Trying to explain why he would want to have an MP3 player goes something like the scene in Spinal Tap where Nigel is explaining to Marty why his speaker goes to 11. note - this conversation did not actually take place . . . yet . . . .
Me: You need an MP3 player.
Hubby: Why?
Me: So you can listen to your music wherever and whenever you want.
Hubby: That's what CDs are for.
Me: But this lets you have access to ALL of your CDs at once.
Hubby: When would I have time to listen to all of them in one sitting? I'll just bring the CDs I want.
Me: But what if you bring those CDs and then suddenly wish you could hear a song from a CD that you didn't bring?
Hubby: Then I'll wait until I get home, Miss Must Have Instant Gratification.
Me: But this would have all of them. ALL of THEM. Right here. No waiting.
Hubby: Too many choices. I'd never make up my mind.
Me: But you could make playlists of favorites.
Hubby: That's called a mixed tape. [see - still clinging to the old and familiar]
Me: Mixed tape? Yes, dear. It's like a mixed tape, only better. This one can last longer than 60 minutes. It can go on for hours.
Hubby: I don't have time to listen to music for hours. That's why one CD is just fine for me.
Me: But this one has all of them. All of them . . .


See what I mean? This one goes to 11.

Thing #23, the sequel

I found my regional representative and let her know about my completion of the 23 Things. She was very proud of me. As much as I begged, (ok. . . I didn't really beg that hard) she wouldn't tell me what the prizes were. C'est la vie!

Thing #23 So long and thanks for all the fish

I just finished the survey and need to inform my regional representative. Who is that? I guess that will be my final Thing to do - find my regional representative.

I think I covered most of the things I was suppose to blog about in my previous blog. Things I really enjoyed - the wikis, Flikr fun, Ning. Things I didn't enjoy - having to register for a whole bunch of websites that I may or may not use again later, reading a lot of articles, having to rely on the kindness of strangers to "friend" me.

I would definitely repeat this experience.

Thing #22 - Well, boys and girls, what have we learned today?

This whole adventure has been just that - an adventure. My husband has teased me about being a geek and a nerd, terms which I have fought against. But now, after spending HOURS online doing these Things, and doing my masters program online, and even correcting papers online, I EMBRACE MY INNER GEEK. I am so geeked out, it isn't funny. I am going to continue to blog; although, I don't know who would want to read my random thoughts. It will probably morph into a knitting blog where I record all of the many things I'm knitting.

I will definitely revisit the 23 Things to keep up with what's out there and if the program runs again next year, I'll definitely sign up again. I'm always interested in what's new and niffy. It's been fun to share these things with my co-workers and friends. I did start a wiki for planning my girlfriend getaway vacation and they are having fun adding and posting to it. It's a whole new world and I'm hopping on that magic carpet.

Thing #21 To Infinity and Beyond MySpace!

I have found my people. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a MySpace page that I now use to connect with friends from college. I set up a Facebook page and found a friend from high school that I had wanted to reconnect with and one that I didn't. [She stole my prom date.... long story.] But now, in Ning, I have found my people. Book people. Ah, home. I don't feel like I'm going to run into one of my students on the 23 Things Ning, like I worry about on Facebook and MySpace. I did feel odd about sending off random friend requests but so far, no one has turned me down. Thanks everyone.

I am still exploring this site and figuring out how it all works. I started a discussion thread but I think I put it in the wrong place. I don't know how to move it. Sorry! I did get one response already though so that's cool.

I have also been exploring other people's blogs and am surprised at the inactive blogs. I'm glad I'm on the tail end of the exploration. I noticed that most people posted fairly short posts about their things but some people have posted really in-depth responses. Are we being graded? Are there points assigned? What's the curve? Competitive nature rising, must control urges to compete. [I wasn't an athlete in high school but still have a really competitive drive. My husband won't let me keep score when I play games with our children. It gets ugly.] I'm doing my best and that's all that matters, right?

Thing #20 Whose Space is this?

It's confession time. I created a MySpace account a few years ago with the sole purpose of keeping tabs on a family member's page. I sent her a friend request and she accepted me without knowing who I was. I never lied to her or tried to deceive her in my identity. Eventually she asked who I was and I told her my identity. The things I learned about her online life were shocking. I couldn't believe the things she posted. After about six months, she blocked me but by then I had shared enough of what she was posting with her parents that they couldn't ignore it anymore. Her parents didn't believe me when I told them about the dangers of unsupervised MySpace access for a girl her age (13) and they thought I was exaggerating or reading too much into it, blah blah blah. I finally started printing out different postings and gave them to her parents, along with copies of photos she had posted of herself, etc. Suddenly, it was very very serious. I was really concerned about her getting herself in serious danger and was really frustrated with my relatives, her parents for not wanting to believe that their daughter could really be that naive. I don't want to go into a lot of detail but a lot of changes in that house took place. There was a loss of trust between that girl and I because she felt I had betrayed her. I'm slowly rebuilding that connection because as she gets older, she realizes that I was trying to protect her but it's not the same as it was. I think I need to stop posting about this now. It's starting to get to me.

Took a little break and am feeling better now. I did create a Facebook account but am thinking I'm going to remove that. I just don't want my information out there. It would be fun to try to find old classmates but a lot of my students are also out there and frankly, I don't want them to "friend" me. We had a staff member who really got in hot water for doing that with students. It blurs the adult/child - teacher/student line. I've had friends from college who I found on MySpace tell me that they had searched for me but couldn't find me on MySpace so I guess I have successfully hidden myself there. Facebook is a lot more out in the open and I'm uncomfortable with that.

Thing #19 Pick a Pack a Podcasting

I was introduced to podcasts last summer and was instantly hooked. I think I have subscriptions to about 30 right now and have loaded a few random episodes of others as well. I don't even want to think about how many hours I have to listen to. I'll never catch up but hate to delete any, just in case! It's cyber-packratting?

I subscribe to Grammar Girl, Stash and Burn, They Might Be Giants, and a bunch of literary ones. The best literary one would have to be Disney's Last Minute Book Reports. HILARIOUS! I used one podcast to play Romeo and Juliet for my class. I burned each scene separately on a CD which was really handy to lend to students who had been absent.

I have also taught some students how to make simple podcasts using Garageband - one program that wasn't listed on 23 Things. It's so simple, even my kids can do it. I also have used G Cast, which is very simple and only requires a phone.

I am helping our German teacher to create a walking tour of Germany podcast her students load onto their MP3 players before they take their trip to Germany this summer. Plus, I told her they can use G Cast to record their reactions throughout the trip.

Thing #18 - I Tube, You Tube, We all Tube

This was too much fun! I found two animation shorts that I haven't seen in YEARS! One is The Cat Came Back - the song will get stuck in your head. The other is Vincent by Tim Burton, my all-time favorite director. I put that one on my blog so all can view it. I can't believe it's there!

I'm so grateful and yet, I feel a bit guilty about it. I didn't purchase it. I didn't get permission from Mr. Burton to post it on my blog and yet, simple as pie, it's there. We are getting farther and farther away from definitive copyright. I have had numerous discussions with students, friends and even family members about the need to purchase music and movies, etc. - not steal them off the internet. The artists, musicians, and film makers do this as their living so we need to legally, legitimately purchase their works in order to encourage them to continue making more.

One family member, a teen, said that she never paid for the music she downloaded off the internet because first, if they didn't want it available, they would protect it better; second, the music industry is corrupted anyway so it served them right if people took the music; and third, they make way more money from concerts then music sales so who was it hurting. I told her that what she was doing was the same as shoplifting but that fell on deaf ears.

I have loaded all of my CDs into my iTunes and am using Handbrake to load my DVDs (something I wish iTunes would have as a feature). I do not view this in the same venue as this is material that I legally purchased and am simply converting it to a different format for viewing. Just like I believe that I can legally convert all of my VHS purchases to DVD. Am I wrong?

Thing #17 Searching for . . . answers

I had a lot of difficulty with doing the tasks for this Thing. I couldn't get the quicktime movies to work. I couldn't get the RSS feed to work. I couldn't figure out how to do the tasks we were asked to do. I'm pretty techno-savy but maybe I just didn't explore enough. I have some experience in this area though so don't feel too bad about just pushing ahead. I have used a number of tools like this for my masters classes and have taught my students how to use these search tools. We have many of them linked on our school media center webpage and encourage the use of ELM versus "googling" everything. I haven't connected searches to bloglines before since I hadn't used bloglines or other RSS feeds before so that was one thing I was looking forward to getting more experience with. I may go back and revisit that at a later date but for today, I'm calling this Thing done.

Thing #16 Research Tools

This is the answer to a prayer! I have been working with another teacher about teaching researching in the digital age. She and I have been struggling with how to explain why it is necessary to check your sources to make sure they are legitimate, how to use search engines, plus the general mechanics of organizing a research paper. This is a whole new ballgame for us. This is not the way we wrote papers when we were in school and I'm not that old! :-)

As I was typing this, I got a phone call from a friend (also a teacher) and coincidentally, she was wondering about this exact thing! So, I told her about the whole 23 Things project and emailed the website to her. She was going to check it out this afternoon. Talk about timely information!
Thanks 23 Things Organizers!!

Thing #15 Get a Second Life

I spent some time exploring Second Life. I can see where it would appeal to some people. I read through all of the FAQs and was absolutely astonished to read about the millions of people and millions of dollars, real dollars, being spent in a virtual world. Crazy! I have no frame of reference for that. I have friend who spend hours on My Space and Facebook so can believe that people really do immerse themselves in an online world. Therefore the need for different services would be apparent - like virtual libraries. As with most of the other Things I've been experimenting with, it won't be something our school will be taking advantage of do to our filtering, monitoring, etc. of student activities. Our students aren't even allowed to access their email at school so I really don't think they'll be establishing second lives at school. Most have a hard enough time dealing with their actual lives. Isn't there a line in a song about being much cooler online? I think we're heading down a slippery slope of not being able to conduct ourselves in actual real settings. It's much easier to be the person you'd like to be in the semi-anonymous online world.

Thing #14 LibraryThing

We recently upgraded our Alexandria system to allow us to include accessing the system through our school website. This will allow our patrons to search and reserve what they want to read. I don't think that LibraryThing is right for our library. I create bulletin boards of "Did you like [insert book title here] - then you'll love ...." lists. Once they come off the bulletin board, they are posted around the library. Master lists are kept behind the desk, available for request by patrons. I also plan to add those lists to our school website.

I did create an account and started to add some books but realized that it would be a HUGE time commitment for me to do all of the books I own. We have a veritable library in our home. I don't think this is a Thing that I'm going to use right now.

Thing #13 Making Time

I LOVE THIS THING! I have spent too much time playing with all of these great tools. I added a counter to the vacation planning wiki I created. I created a calendar in 30 Boxes that I now share with my husband so he has no excuse for "double-booking" our weekends. I chose 30 Boxes because it said I could sync with iCal but it wouldn't accept my subscription? I have created a fun iGoogle page. I added the penguins - which are just too much fun, as well as the ladybugs that the penguins will chase. Don't know what I'm talking about - check it out when you create your iGoogle, choose add stuff and find the penguins and ladybugs.

I have shared the information about these tools with a number of co-workers and even a couple of students! It's fun to be the resident online expert - thanks Things!

Thing #12 Digging for information

I spent some time looking at these sites, mind you not an extensive amount of time but the intention of this whole Thing exploration was to quickly go through all of the things. But I digress. Using these sites would be an interesting way to plow through the vast array of websites generating news. But I just don't think it's a big time saver. Maybe if I spent a lot of time each day pouring over online news, it would be an aid but I really don't. I listen to the news on the radio as I'm getting ready for work. I scan the headlines when I change the newspapers in the media center. I watch the evening news. That's pretty much it.

My information digging is mainly on a subject to subject basis. I was hoping these sites would act more as a research gathering device. I was hoping I could type in a subject and pull articles about that subject but it didn't work that way. I did read a couple of articles that came up when I was messing around with each site but don't think I'll revisit these any time soon. I like my news from reliable, legitimate sources and I don't think John Q. Public needs to be a collaborator on everything. Somethings just need to be left to the experts.

Thing #9 Google Docs

Ok, I've been messing around with this Thing for a few days now and it was giving me trouble but now I think I've got it. I really like Goggle Docs. The contributions to the Declaration of Independence were really pretty funny. I would imagine that the same kind of "collaboration" would happen in my classroom of comedians. We'd have some fairly serious additions but then the goofballs would take over and it would fall apart. So, I won't be using this on in my classroom.

I would use it with co-workers though. I can see where it would be more efficient than emailing a document around. It could be a committee meeting without meeting. I've never been one to really enjoy committee work. Remember - a camel is a horse designed by committee. Plus, there's a lot of "get ready, get set . . . get set . . . get set . . ." but not a lot of go. Sharing documents, organizing information, collaboration on the fly are all steps in the right direction!

I'm definitely sharing this the rest of my department when we are working on policy and procedure.

Thing 11: Tagging and Delicious

I am skipping Thing 9 for a little while. I started a Delicious account last summer and LOVE it. At the time, I didn't have my own computer so was computer hopping a lot. Having a delicious account was so nice. Keeping all my bookmarks and favorites together was really helpful. Now that I have my own computer, I was able to quickly access my delicious bookmarks to add to my new computer.

Working in a public school setting is a lot different from working in the general public sector. There are many of these tools that would be fun to use but aren't really appropriate in our school setting. Our administration is very particular about what we can and cannot use via the school's website and server. I don't think I'll be able to use many of these networking tools in my professional life but in my personal life, it's a lot of fun to think of the possibilities.

Thing #10: Wiki, wiki, woo!

I LOVE Common Craft videos. My son watched with me and he wants to make his own Star Wars wiki. He's 8 and quite sharp, if I do say so myself. I might let him try it. We also watched the Common Craft video on zombies - if you haven't seen it, definitely look it up. It's hysterical. But I digress. Back to wikis.

I find the concept of wikis to be really fun and interesting to be part of the collaborative common; however, as an educator, I do not allow wikis as a valid source for research. I have also educated my co-workers on wikis and advised them against allowing wikis. I explained that wikis allow both your brightest student and your most challenged student to post information with very little in the way of verification.

I would like to start a Book Talk wiki to which my library patrons could add their picks. I worry about having to constantly monitoring it for content. I don't think our administration would approve an unfiltered/ unmonitored wiki to be connected with our school webpage. I might look into that.

I added a post to the Library Success wiki, Best Graphic Novels for Teens section. I had just finished reading Plain Janes and added that to the wiki. When I get more time, I might add a couple more.

Now, I'm off to create a wiki for my girlfriends in our planning of the annual Girls Getaway Weekend.

Thing #8 Share Your Creations

I'm having way too much fun working with photos. I've been playing with these sites for TWO HOURS! My husband is about to confiscate my computer. Must post quickly... can't have computer taken away... must set a good example to the children....

These photos generators are interesting to use and fairly user friendly. I didn't like being hit with so many ads when I set up my picture trail account but found it simple to use. I realize now that I'm going to have a bunch of open accounts with all of these online resources. I don't know how I feel about that....

Ok, I have to be done now. Hubby is looking quite displeased.

Thing #7 - Web 2.0

Email is my primary means of communication with just about everyone in my life. I keep tabs on my kids via email with their teachers. I check in with my mom and my husband during the day. Email flows around our building constantly through the day. When it goes down, we're temporarily crippled until someone remembers that crazy thing we call a phone. Talk directly to another person? In real time? What a concept! I don't like calling my co-workers during the day because I know how annoying it is to have to answer the phone during class. Email is quieter and the recipient is able to answer at their leisure. It also creates a paper trail when documentation is necessary. Students, however, do not have access to email and are not allowed to use it during school hours.

Most of the other things mentioned in this task are not available for use at our school. IM, chat, texting - all not allowed. Students can use their cell phones in a certain hallway area but not during class. Our filtering system blocks access to personal email, chat rooms, IM, etc. so students cannot use these features. Foreign exchange students can received special permission to email family at home and students taking online classes can also receive special permission to have access to whatever their instructors require.

Thing #6 - Online Image Generator

This is my trading card that I made at Big Huge Labs. Like I said in Thing 5, I would use this to create What's New in the Media Center cards. It would be fun to make a bunch to leave out on the tables in the commons area during lunch or use on the back of the media center pass. One side is the pass; the other side is a book talk. Ooo--- I really like that idea!

On another note, I'm going to make these for my kids' soccer teams. The kids will think it's so cool to trade cards!

Thing #5 - More Fun with Flickr

Check out my lettering! I'm such a geek. I'm spending way too much time playing! Thanks a lot 23 Things on a Stick! Just kidding.

The trading cards would be fun to set up to introduce and spread the word about new books. I can envision taking a photo of a student with the new book and putting his/her review on the card. The cards could be handed out to get the word out about what's new. The other mashups and such are fun to play with but I haven't come up with a practical application for them . . . yet.

I'm of two minds about sharing photos on the web. The copyright line is really blurred on this one. It is entirely too easy to steal and use someone else's work as your own. I have had to school many students on copyright enforcement. They feel that if it's on the web, it's free and clear to use. Sites like Flickr perpetuate that belief. Some are free to use. Some aren't. Either way, students need to know to give credit where it's due.

Thing #4 - Flickr

I created a Flickr account and even uploaded some photos of a couple knitting projects I did. I tried to add a slideshow element to my blog using my photos but it wasn't recognizing me and I'm tired so will have to leave that for another night. I need to pay attention to my kids now. I am going to see if I can add at least one to this posting. Keep your fingers crossed!

Hey - I think I did it! There's a weird open box at the top of this post that links to my Flickr photos but how do I make that box a label or something so people know what they're clicking on. That will be an adventure for another night. I'm out.

Thing #2 - Library 2.0

I look at my job as media specialist as a gate keeper to knowledge. Technology is constantly changing and the library must keep up. A library's job is to provide access to all types of information, in all of its forms. From actual books to eBooks, from actual magazines to online articles, the library is still the first source for research. We need to keep pace so we can assist our patrons in their pursuits.

Thing #3 - RSS

First, let me say I'm totally digging the whole Thing 1, Thing 2 deal as I am a huge Dr. Seuss fan.

Second, I am having a bit of trouble with RSS feed task. I chose to subscribe to Blogglines and to the Unshelved cartoon feed. I registered with Blogglines and put the button my toolbar but now am wondering how that links to my blog? Is Blogglines different from my blog? I'm so confused.

THING #1

I have never been good at reading and following directions. I'm a total kinesthetic learner so likes to jump in and muddle around before seeking direction. This usually works well for me but sometimes it causes me to miss an important step. SO this blog is to formally set up my Thing 1 for the 23 things on a stick project I've taken on. I'm always up for new learning new technology so you'll have to watch and see if I follow directions or skip a few in my "let's just see what this does" approach to life!

Work? Full Time? How am I suppose to get anything done?

After taking a five year leave of absence, I returned to teaching full time this fall. My children are all in school full time now so back to the daily 9 to 5, or in my case 7:30 to 3:30. The adjustment went fairly smoothly and I really enjoy my job. The problem is - when do I buy groceries? Get my hair cut? Go to the dentist? The doctor? Have coffee with my girlfriends? When did I do all those things when I worked before? I know I did it, but just haven't gotten back into a rhythm of fitting everything in around my work schedule.

Instead of getting my haircut every six weeks, it's eleven weeks. I got my son's hair cut the day before school started in September and it hasn't been cut since. It's pretty shaggy but hasn't taken on a Wookie appearance yet. Although, knowing my son, he'd like looking like a Wookie. My girls have long hair anyway so can go longer between haircuts. I cut my husband's hair so he's always looking sharp. He's offered to return the favor but so far I've passed.