Today, as the previous post stated, was quite cold. But I had to go to the Upper East Side to give blood. I left the apartment about 40 minutes before my appointment and took the subway over. I decided, as I was heading out, that it would be fun to walk all the way home from the blood donation center. This is the sort of decision that seems like a good idea until you find yourself faced with a four mile walk home after having lost a pint of blood. Nonetheless, I stuck to the plan.
Now, getting down there required very little exposure to the open air, so that was no problem. But as I started off homeways, I realized that there was no way I would even make it as far as Central Park, let alone all the way home, with my nose freezing off in the chill wind. Fortunately my scarf is made of thin black cotton, and can easily be wrapped around my face in order to form Ninja Scarf (seen here from the front ...
... and here from the side):
Granted, it's not super-fashionable. I looked quite goofy walking down the street and through the park with a scarf covering half of my face. I looked like a train robber, or perhaps one of those anarchist kids who shows up at protests to get violent and break windows.
Nonetheless, it kept my nose and face warm, and that's what counts. Also, people don't mess with you when you wear Ninja Scarf. Because, while the rest of your apparel and demeanor might not signal "Ninja," who wants to take the chance?
So, I notice that you mocked them when mom gave the ear muffs, but now that it's freezing you're wearing them. Curious.
Ahem. Just because I think they look goofy doesn't mean I'm not gonna wear them. c.f. Ninja Scarf.
Also, once I got back I noticed that lots of people wear them, so it's less odd than I thought. And I still mock them; they're really obnoxious to wear, insofar as they constantly migrate backwards on your head, forcing you to frequently push them forward in order to keep them from slipping off.
You know, I think your goofy earmuffs are smaller than my headphones. Mind you, mine are multi-purpose: keeping my ears warm, playing music, and encouraging people not to try to talk to me while I'm listening to music with pleasantly warm ears. Still, if yours are goofy mine are undoubtedly goofier.
Eh. The earmuffs actually aren't so bad in terms of bigitude. The problem is mostly that they go behind the head, rather than the traditional over-the-top earmuffs. That isn't inherently goofy, just goofy by dint of being unusual.
I think I initially thought they were goofier than they are because of the packaging. The box pitches it with photos of young people in track suits and other exercise wear, looking like yuppie jackasses. But when it's worn properly, in the context of scarves, hats, three jackets, and gloves, it fits right in.
That doesn't change the fact, though, that they like to slip backwards, which is annoying.
I hadn't even noticed that they were behind-the-head earmuffs (I blame my monitor for making the earmuffs the same color as your hair). No wonder you ridiculed them; that seems difficult to use properly. What's the rationale for this cutting-edge style?
I believe it's to appeal to yuppie jackasses. I think they're supposed to look sleek and modern, whereas standard earmuffs have a "Be sure to wear your slicker whey you go outside today, Billy!" implication. They're also a bit more compact; there's some sort of joint that you can twist to compress the two muffs together. I haven't found this feature very useful, though.
They're fine at keeping the cold out, which is what matters, but they don't stay on my head, either due to my oddly-shaped cranium or just because they're not designed very well. In any case, I'm dissatisfied enough to bitch about them, but not dissatisfied enough to do something crazy like paying money for another pair of earmuffs.