hair update

Sparky, what do you think of my wings? Sometimes I make it smoother, but today I went for some little wings. 
 
I bet someone out there has been dying to have an update on my hair! Well, your Thanksgiving wish is coming true!

First of all, of course I couldn't resist buying my own razor comb, as suggested by Sparky, and slicing away at my own hair. So, I've been cutting it myself for a while. I am very happy with it! It was tough to figure out to do the back myself, and it takes me a long time since I have to look in a handheld mirror and the bathroom mirror, pick up the hair I want to cut, put down the hand mirror and pick up the razor comb, and finally cut.

BUT! It is finally looking how I originally wanted it to look! This is the haircut I asked for months ago, and then two more times after that, and it never came close. I don't have the back exactly how I want it, but I don't really know what's wrong with it, so I can't fix it yet. It's good enough though.

I also dyed it brown, and at first it was black around my face and I got to wear pretty heavy, dark eye makeup and lipstick and look fairly goth. I put on full coverage foundation to get my complexion as white and un-freckled looking as possible. It was fun! After a few days, it faded to this color, and it's lasted for almost a week. I think this dye is finally going to take. I've dyed it red at least a few times and had it fade back to strawberry blonde, which would be cool except that I'm tired of dealing with dark roots and light hair for now. FOR NOW, I am liking it being similar to my natural color. I reserve the right to blondify or otherwise alter it in the future.

I had a dream the night before last that I went back to Sonia and got it cut, and she cut my bangs in a heart shape. So, they came down to a point in between my eyebrows and then arched up over each brow. I actually thought it was SUPER CUTE in the dream, but I was SO PISSED because SHE KNEW that I was growing out my bangs to have a chin-length bob, and she cut them short again. I have such a vivid memory of looking at myself in the mirror and feeling both really happy at how cute I looked, but really angry that Sonia betrayed me again. It makes me giggle to think of it.
I don't know why, but my camera won't focus on my incredible artwork. It must be intimidated by my talent.

Fun with hair

 
 
Jason's been having fun with his beard this week.

Alternate styling

 
 

Here it is a bit smoothed down and tucked behind my ears. Sonia likes to add volume ON TOP of my head, but I feel that it looks middle-aged that way. I prefer to have the volume in the back, on top, but not too much. I'm unable to undo her styling enough to show you how I will probably make it look every day, and you might not even be able to see the subtle difference, but I will. And hey, it's my hair so if I'm happy, that's what matters.

So, to pick up the story where we last left it: Jackie had told me that Sonia would be working today from 2 until 9. At 2:10, I called there to make sure Sonia was working. Donna yelled into the phone, "WHO!?" So that was a good start, because at least it wasn't Jackie! Donna finally admitted that Sonia worked there, and told me she would be in at 3:00.

I got there at like 3:15 and had to wait until 4:00, since Sonia always has a line. But, she cut my hair just like I said to, and then she styled it as though I'm middle-aged. She tried to sell me some products, but I have PLENTY of various styling agents, so I resisted! She said something like, "Isn't it great when someone else styles your hair? And then when you go home, you can never get it to look the same." And I looked at my helmet head and thought, "Thank goodness I can't replicate this at home!"

Jackie wasn't there at all, which was a real treat. Since blogging about her, I have developed a real disliking to her and her lack of professionalism and her odd behavior.

Sonia got a lot of the Jackie-too-short hair to blend in with this cut, but it will probably be another 2 months before all of it has grown out. I will keep it short until then, and probably by then a lot of the bleached hair will be grown out enough to cut it off and have my natural hair color again. It looks a lot darker to me in these pictures than it does in person.

Anyway, I'm happy now and you can relax and know that I probably won't have any further hair saga for about a month. I don't know what I'm going to write about, but I'll try to find SOMETHING.

The Hair Cut

The inspiration:




Before (with no styling products -- it's not normally so frazzled-looking):

 
 

After (with Sonia's styling, which I don't particularly like):

 
 

Hair Cut Saga

Hello, friends. Let's go back to two months ago, when I first got my hair cut short. I tried to go to a nice salon, but many around my town are CLOSED on the weekends (I know! It is shocking and unbelievable! But I called and called, and was told that I was not welcome to visit on the weekend.) The others were booked up for weeks. I have two haircut problems, and this is what they are:

1. Once I decide I want my hair cut, and I know the style I want, I want to get it cut RIGHT NOW. And I will not wait more than 24 hours. This is why I have cut it myself so many, many times.

2. EVERY time I have gone to a salon and asked for a haircut, I have gotten something other than what I asked for*. I've brought 5 or 6 photographs for a single haircut, and discussed the details with the stylist for several minutes, with the lady nodding and saying words making me think that she understands me and will do what I say, and then BAM! She does something else. Once, I asked for a SHAG, which is an extremely layered haircut, and I received a BOB, which is when it is all the exact same length at the bottom. It was like the opposite of what I had asked for. So, I have a hard time paying a lot for a haircut when I know it will not be what I want. This is why I have cut my hair myself so many, many times.

*My friend Sparky has cut my hair, and she does a great job, but I think I always say something like, "I want it about this long. Go crazy." And let her choose the specifics. I've never been disappointed by Sparky's cutting, but now she lives in Texas and I'm in Colorado and that's a long way to go for a hair cut.

I can't cut it myself when it's this short, so I had to go to a place, and the nice places refused to cut my hair IMMEDIATELY so I went to Great Clips. I know, you get what you pay for, and it was only like $7 with a coupon!!

So, I was assigned to Jackie, and she looked at the pictures I brought and then asked me if she should use scissors or a razor to cut it. Luckily, the lady next to her, Sonya, knew how to do it, so she talked her through it. Jackie did make it look good, except that at the end, she accidentally cut a handful of hair, right on my part, REALLY SHORT! Arggh!! Most of it was like 4-5 inches long, and then there was this strip that was only 1-2 inches long. I didn't know until after I got home. I've been trying to hide that hair and tamp it down for 2 months now.

Now, this Jackie had been fooling around during my whole hair cut, yelling at other people working there, gossiping about Doris, who apparently had a fight with Sonya (Sonya would not discuss it in front of customers). She stopped at one point and made a prank phone call. So, it was because she was messing around and not paying attention to what she was doing that she cut my hair badly, so it sticks STRAIGHT UP as often as it can. I don't have the kind of hair cut that has hair sticking straight up in the back, unlike Kate of "Jon and Kate plus 8." I don't want that stick-up hair -- it's just not me. So, when I finally saw her mistake hours later, I was pretty pissed off. It was an accident, but would not have happened if she had been paying attention to what she was doing.

Anyway, 5 weeks ago I went in and asked for Sonya to cut my hair, since she knew what she was doing. That went a lot better, even though she did cut the back too short. I was a little suspicious of Sonya because the first time I saw her, she had on a long, white peasant skirt that was see-through, with black boy shorts underneath (I know -- WHA????) Anyway, I went in that day and asked for her, and I had to wait because she was helping someone else, so Jackie, who had no customers, sat and glared at me while I waited, and said, "Didn't I cut your hair last time?" "Yep," I said. Then, when I was in The Chair, she sat in the next chair and glared at me and said things like, "I guess you don't want me to cut it again." It made me really uncomfortable. I didn't want to say, "Well, you fucked up my hair, you incompetent moron!" (But part of me kind of wanted to say that!) Two more customers came in to wait for Sonya, and no one let Jackie cut their hair. Finally, a mom and a little boy came in and were willing to take Jackie. So, she made him wait for over 5 minutes while she went in the back and bought all the gum.

Yesterday, I called and asked if Sonya was working, and Jackie told me that she'd be in today, from 9 until 4 or 5. So, I went in there today, and no Sonya. A stranger lady who worked there tried to get me to have Jackie cut my hair, but I insisted on knowing when Sonya was working. Finally they told me that she'd be in on Friday from 2 until 9. I will call on Friday and make sure before I go over there. It seems like some elaborate scam by Jackie to have another chance to butcher my hair!

So, the lessons are, Speak Up. If someone does not know what they're doing, just be a bitch, even if it totally outside of your comfort zone, and get out of the chair and wait for the competent person. Also, never trust Jackie.

Hopefully on Friday I can put up a picture of my new haircut by Sonya, with the back left at its current length, and with the short pieces blending in. Please send good wishes for my hair!

Blonder and Blonder AND Blonder

 
 

Blonder and blonder

 
Here's a shot of me with blonder hair. I debuted it at a wedding, at which none of my friends could recognize me. SUCCESS! I can now start a new life and no one will know me. :)

By the way, little Iris, seen here with me, brought her orange little bear (made by yours truly!) with her to the wedding and carried it around, along with a little stuffed doggy. Cute!

Things Outside

 
 
 
Some things outside at my house:

A giant moth on the neighbor's screen door. That thing could give me nightmares! Once, I woke up and a moth was trying to burrow into my ear. For several nights after that, I slept with the sheet pulled up over my head. Imagine that thing trying to get into your head!

I have a couple of teensy tomatoes starting to grow! Yay! I think it's been 10 years since I've grown food. I didn't realize how much I have missed it. I would love to have a huge garden. I really look forward to the day when I have at least a little one, in the ground. For now, I'll be content with my pots.

There's also a shot of me outside, with my blondish hair in natural light. I have about a week's worth of roots now, and they look black against that lighter hair!

Notice what there isn't? No bees! Jason filled the hole with expanding foam, so they can't get into the wall any more. Every so often, one sad bee flies around the area, looking confused and saying, "Wha?"

Yay for outside!

Blondish

 
 
Here is what my first attempt at blonde hair looks like. I don't think you want to know how long I left the bleach on to get it this light. I do really like this golden, strawberry blonde color, but I had envisioned BLONDE blonde. So, there may be further, more extreme attempts to come. My hair doesn't feel bad yet, or look frazzled or have split ends. I'll chop it off WHEN it reaches that point.

Self-portrait

Here's what I looked like the other day. Lately, Jason and I have been getting carded like crazy, and then the waitress or whoever acts totally SHOCKED when she sees our IDs. Is it a giant conspiracy to flatter us, or do we really look 12 years younger than we are? Neither seems likely.

I have a kind of big forehead.

Sparky, when I visit you, can you give me a haircut? I'm going to just have long hair until then, but I want short hair by the time I leave Texas, okay? I'll try to find pictures of haircuts that I like, but all I see in magazines is models with long, long hair. There is one with short hair, Agnes Deynes (or something like that), but I don't want mine THAT short. So, if you get ideas, good!