I actually don't think that people get more closed off as they age, but that those who are naturally closed off feel more comfortable being that way. You are allowed to limit change as you age. You can say you don't care about newfangled music or books or styles without it seeming odd. I am lucky that I have had a lot of older people in my life who remained engaged and interested in the new. I want to be curious and excited about culture and places as long as I live and I hope to be so.

Javachik - I know I tend to get stuck in my music ruts, but I also love discovering new music. Interesting idea. Will need to think on that some more.

Got another update on J. The neck portion on the surgery "went well" and now they are working on her wrist. I wonder if there is a Giants get well anything I could get her. Hmmmm.

Yeah, not at all trying to be or sound judgmental (except in the case of bio-mom whose hair was the absolute least of her problems).

Suzi, I hope your cousin makes it through these surgeries okay.

I kind of have a hair rut, but a lot of that has to do with what kind of hair works for my face (very long - the face, not the hair) and willingness to do stuff with it (low on both the effort and skill sides).

I do have a soft spot for music that was popular when I was 12. I'm not very musical, and don't listen to music on the radio any more, so I'm not exposed to much new music. (When I was 12, of course, music was a vital part of identity.)

. I think of my biological mother and how she had the exact same hairstyle for her ENTIRE life: long hair to her waist, with bangs. That hairstyle was super hot in 1965. But she never changed it. It's funny because I've had a zillion different styles of hair, but I've had bangs a lot. And one of the reasons I am growing them out yet again is that I don't ever ever ever want to be stuck in time.

Some people just really like their hair a certain way. It looks and feels "right" to them. Some people change it frequently. You could call the first in a rut and the second a slave to fashion -- but apart from other variables I don't know that either can be some sort of diagnosis of a person's nature.

I think it's different to figure out what hair works best for you as an adult, and sticking with that, as opposed to keeping whatever was trendy when you were 18. See, for example, Rachel Maddow. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

Somewhat relatedly, my mother was telling me about a friend of hers who was stopping coloring her hair, out of concern for a weird dark hair/old face dichotomy.

I generally have had a bob, long hair or an angled bob my whole life. Very briefly, in 1986-87 my hair was feathered with bangs, but I quickly learned that bangs look horrible on me. Also I tend to cut my own hair, and have since about 1990, so a bob the length of the mirror works for me. Any time I go to the hairdresser, I get "mom hair".

So what makes a hair cut "mom hair"?

WOW! Just clicked on the Rachel Maddow link!! WOW.