I’d like advice on hair products to tame static.I’m a wash-and-go kinda girl with baby fine hair, and I don’t use any product on a daily basis, but I am willing to add a minute or two to my daily routine.In the summer, I really don’t have a huge problem, but as soon as the cold weather hits, my hair starts to crackle.I’ve been using Static Guard, which works but smells pretty bad.I would like to keep the finger-in-a-light-socket hair to a minimum and still smell pretty.

J

Dear J,

I use a tiny daub of hand lotion — if you pick a nice scented variety, your hair will smell lovely.

Readers, any other suggestions — traditional hair products or non-?Email subject line: “static hair.”

Hi Sars!

I never learned how to type properly. This is a
problem, as I am now in my third year of undergraduate
studies, majoring in Philosophy. I NEED to be able to
type faster than I am capable of now, given the length
of the papers I am called upon to write, and the fact
that I cannot put down my ideas in a first draft
without major frustration…or without first wrting
them out by hand. I want to be able to type at least
as fast as one word per second, and I don’t want to
have occupy my efforts in the act of typing itself. I
also want to be able to go straight to the computer with
my ideas — screw this “scrawling and then transcribing”
bull. And I want to be looking at the screen when I am
typing. Not down at the keyboard.

Is there an online course or something I can take? How
else can I learn to type? Any suggestions?

Love,
Dexterously delayed

Dear Dex,

We had to take a typing class in high school, freshman year — I hated it, the room was stifling and our teacher was mean, but it was a godsend.

So, I’ve never used any home/online courses — I think Mavis Beacon is the big name in touch-typing educational software, but I don’t know how effective it is.Let’s see what the readers have to say.

Email subject line: “typing.”

Sars,

I am taking a “Chinatown” bus into NYC just for the day.I am planning on arriving early morning, and would like a diner recommendation for breakfast.The bus drops us off in Chinatown; I’m willing to walk far, take the subway if necessary or call a cab, but let’s say I’d like to be able to get to the diner in 30 minutes from Chinatown.I have never been to the city before.I know you have a diner blog, so I’m hoping you can help me out.Thanks!

Sincerely,
I Want Hash Browns, Which Apparently DC Hasn’t Heard Of

Dear Hash,

I don’t know that neighborhood well enough to recommend anything, so I’m going to let the readers tag in, because I can suggest a few diners you can probably get to in half an hour, but they’re not necessarily anything special; I just know them because either I or a boyfriend lived near them (the Gemini, 2nd Avenue and 35th, and the Cosmos, 2nd Avenue and 23rd — great tuna melts both places).

Readers, let’s hear it.Email subject line: “downtown diners.”

[12/22/06]

Share!