'Christmas can be a lonely time for people with no family.'

There's something about getting into the chair at the hairdressers that robs me of any social skills. It's always been this way. I don't know why, but I suspect it's the awkwardness of having someone so close to me and not having anything to talk about. This morning was no different. I sat down and we had the usual, 'how are you?' chit-chat. Fine, no problem. 'Can I take your jacket?' Yep, yep, fine. Had my hair washed, all want AOK. Then I got sat down in front of the mirror and started to gabble like a crazy.

'How long was it before?' she asked.
'Oh, I don't know. Maybe six weeks or so. Does that sound right?'
I saw her confusion in her reflection and realised she was talking about the hair length, which actually makes more sense anyway than how long it had been since I'd last had my hair cut.
'Oh, you mean the hair,' I said. 'It was a bit longer than it is now.'
'And how much do you want cut?'
'Quite a bit.'
She held up some hair. 'About this much?'
'Yes, that's fine.'

And then she set to the job. In silence. I'm normally okay with silence, but not when I'm getting my haircut, so I started talking:

'Are you watching X Factor this year?'
'Yeah.'
'The final tomorrow night.'
'Oh, yeah.' Snip, snip, snip.

Then, to the other side of me, a woman having her hair dyed blonde who'd been quiet since I'd come in said, 'Christmas can be a lonely time for people with no family.'

What a conversation starter! I wish I'd said that. The guy doing her hair, asked, 'Sorry?' and she repeated herself. I don't think he said anything in response, but then heard her again say, 'Sometimes I wish the baby Jesus had never been born.'

I don't know if she was 'joking' or not. But if she was or wasn't, it's a pretty amazing thing to just come out and say. Not, 'Are you looking forward to Christmas?' 'Done all your shopping?' No, 'Sometimes I wish the baby Jesus had never been born.' Priceless. I might start saying that mid-conversation as if it's been playing on my mind all day.

Anyway, that was a nice start to the day. After that, I went into town and picked up a few Christmas presents. I say a few, I actually mean two. One for Ian, one for me. I think this 'one for you, one for me' policy is a good way to tackle what's otherwise a very stressful time.

Writing is going well. I think I'm on target for 50,000 by this time next week. I started writing Daniel's diary entries the other day, which I'm really enjoying, but haven't had a very productive couple of days. I've taken on some other work that's great, but means I need to section novel aside for a while.

Right, that's that. Off I go. Only one week left in Falmouth but, as Ian said, the end of one era and the start of the next.

xx