Thinking I'm Hip (enough). Episode 1.

I don't like to admit my age (64.9), and I like even less to realize that sometimes I'm just not as hip as I think I am. Or I want to be.

Case in point.

It all started with us watching a Netflix series called Money Heist. It's a terrifically intense several-part crime series set in Madrid. It's got great character development, and the lead woman bad-ass law enforcement negotiator has this cool way of always pulling up her long hair before she talks to the kidnappers. Every time I see her pull her hair back, purposefully swirl it around (she's got a tough job, you know and her swirl means business), then slide a pencil in to make a bun, I dream of having long hair again.

So, I have long-hair-swirl-into-bun-hostage-negotiator-policewoman on the brain right now. Every night she looks for her pencil, she swirls and wraps, and BOOM - bun up, headset on, conversation commencing.

Stick with me here....

This morning I was mindlessly scrolling through Instagram and saw an image for the MOST beautiful hair-pencil-thingy - like the pencil idea only with beautiful beads and wires and fabulous colors! And I thought to myself: "That's so cool! Cate should make these!" Cate is one of my dearest friends; she’s incredibly creative, and an exquisite jewelry creator. Cate is hip. She's a bit older than me but she's just plain hip. Cate the Cool Cat is how I think of her. She's just awesome.

So, I take a quick screen capture of this gorgeous beaded-hair-pencil-thingy and get ready to send it to Cate. Bad-ass women who are hostage negotiators are all going to want this beaded-hair-thingy! She'll make a fortune!

Except before I send it to Cate, I look at the post and read a bit more. And the hashtags are things like #womenwhosmokeweed and #potmama and #nomoreburnedfingers ... and I scrunch up my eyes like I do when I'm working something out in my head, and think: "Why do women who smoke pot need a beaded-hair-pencil-thingy? Maybe to keep their hair away from catching on fire?

And then, slowly, (because ... my age …) it dawns on me. The clip on the end? It's not for holding the swirled bun of a bad-ass hostage negotiator. Nope. It's for not burning fingers.

Mic Drop. (That's what the younger generation say when there's an epiphany of sorts.)

When I send the picture to Cate (along with the hashtags I didn't understand at first) - who as I explained is FAR more hip than I am - she's know exactly what it is and she gets a big laugh on my account. But she's gracious enough and I love her enough that I don't mind.

I'm telling you though, once the rest of the world gets hooked on Money Heist every woman with long hair is going to start doing the bad-ass, hostage-negotiator, swirl, bun, pencil, headset routine.

I personally think a beaded-hair-pencil-thingy would be the perfect statement piece.