Friday, June 1, 2012

storyboarding myself


Along with running with them another thing we're not supposed to do with scissors  is cut our own hair. I'd been meaning to find somebody new to cut mine for a while but so far just hadn't got around to it. I hate going to the hairdresser almost (but not quite) as much as going to the dentist. Sitting still in the chair staring at myself in a large mirror for half an hour or more while someone fidgets around with scissors, combs, clips, sprays, and blow dryers is already not my favorite thing. Then there's having to listen to the usually inane conversations going on about hair, make-up, fashion.. or worse. Once finished they charge the approximate value of an arm and a leg and tell you to come back in six weeks.

Nearly two years had gone by since my last appointment. A few days ago I got fed up looking at the split ends of my now very long hair so I picked up a pair of large sewing scissors and a hair tie and ran to the bathroom. First, I lined the counter and sink with paper towels then brushed all my hair forward and made a ponytail at the top of my forehead (I didn't draw it that way). Then I measured the hair to the bottom of my chin and cut. Next, using a smaller pair of scissors, I trimmed at an angle into the flat end to soften the look. Ten minutes of snipping later I ended up with a look not too much different from the girl I've been sketching:


It might not be for everybody but I quite like it :-)

Have you ever cut your own hair?



22 comments:

  1. Bears? Cut their own hair? Surely you jest.

    OK; I know your name is not Shirley, and you probably are to jesting.

    Still, I mean, really — how would I get my paws into those tiny little scissors things?

    Meanwhile, love the pictures. The story continues!

    Blessings and Bear hugs.

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    1. It's easier for you bears to groom yourselves against large trees. No scissors required :-)

      Glad you like my scribblings.

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  2. Snirl hasn't been to a hairdresser since the late 90s. Every year or so she just cuts a few inches off the bottom and that's her sorted for another 12 months

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    1. She always looks great in the pictures you've taken of her. I guess it does work!

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  3. Oh no way. My hair is way too thick for that. The stylist always starts off optimistic but then quickly realizes that even a quick trim is going to take some doing :)

    I second you on the hairdressing experience not being my favorite thing. I only go when I absolutely need to. That's why I color my own hair but I probably miss spots in the back.

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    1. I figured it was worth a try and if I did mess up there'd still be more than enough left for a hairdresser. Thick hair is quite a different matter when it comes to cutting your own.

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  4. Even doing all that, wouldn't it be easier to set up a series of at least a dozen mirrors to make sure you don't mess up, provided you don't accidentally elbow your way into bad luck.

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    1. At my age I prefer as little contact with mirrors as possible.

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  5. I've been cutting my own hair, what there is of it, for decades. The results have ranged from admiring looks to hysterical laughter, sometimes accompanied with shrieks for others to come quick and see what the idiot did to himself! :)

    If the reference sketch is accurate, you may have given yourself a Lori Anderson, in which case I think I'm in love. ;)

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    1. I offered to cut my husband's hair but he said 'no'. Maybe you've answered the why of it for me.

      Yes, I like carrying a lit bulb in my mouth when I go for evening walks too.

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  6. boy am i out of date..... and it's way past my bedtime.... your fault, as i had to watch the 'i'll get the ice creams' clip a schnazillion times. laughing so hard the dog is worried.

    yes, i cut my hair once.... aside from the usual preschool stuff.... the next time after my own ministrations, that i had a cut was in a high-end place in a hotel i was staying at on one of my Habitat jaunts. the stylist looked like he pumped serious iron... i didn't even see my own reflection - i was staring at his and drooling (maybe you could find a place like that, and you'd like getting a haircut more). he asked, in horror, who gave me my last cut. when i confessed it was self inflicted, he practically begged me never to touch scissors again, and said, "Sweetie, come to me when you need your next cut. I'll do it for FREE if i have to, but PLEASE don't even think of cutting it yourself." As that was far from home, I couldn't take him up on his offer.....

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    1. You're not out of date at all since I only get around to posting when everybody has pretty much decided I've given up blogging or gone to join Rip Van Winkle. I loved that little movie too :-)

      Oh I do know what you mean about the danger of cutting one's own hair. I just wish I had a hairstylist like the one you describe who would admonish me with those words. I especially like the FREE part.

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  7. hi sweets! here I am...for now! still struggling with seriously disconnected computer "connection"....but YES I have but not in about 2+decades! I found a new stylist finally, a sweet woman who is an artist with hair! lucky me, thought I!

    love your painting and like the look you went for. love the tousled look. sort of the wabi-sabi style like mine. I am cutting mine short Friday and cannot wait... finally getting out of the house!yay!!! w/ new hair too! I might even post a pic if I go pink again. stay tuned, :)

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    1. Glad to see you've been able to make it all the way over here again. Sometimes I think we'll all wake up one day to find our connections gone all together but at least we'll still have addresses and a post office to deliver the mail (I hope).

      I'll come by for a special visit to see your new hairstyle. I loved the pink!
      xoxo

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    2. you mentioned the PO closing nag they are all around here in calif. even one norcal distribution warehouse closed in town and laid a couple hundred people...well, fired a couple hundred. carrier pidgin? pony express? tin cans? xxx

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    3. sorry for typos...blame ipad! xxx

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    4. It's really sad about the US Postal service practically being dismantled these days. The carriers were already being hit pretty hard a year or so before we left Portland when their routes were enlarged and they had to cover other areas for vacationing workers. It was such a good system.

      I was shocked by the cost of mail when we got here. I've always sent cards and presents at Christmas but the price of sending even a small packet makes that much harder.

      Never mind the typos - I know what you mean and love to see you :-)
      xoxoxo

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  8. Grrrrr...the dreaded stylist visit. It's funny that CR mentioned Laurie Anderson because when I look at your little girl character, I always think of her.

    I'm trying to compile everything I know about you with the new look and I believe you must look very cute. :-)

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  9. Hi Gina! You know I never even thought of Laurie Anderson until CR mentioned her but you're both right - for my little girl character, that is. When it comes to me I'm only really cute in my imagination even though I'm not the least bit sorry I cut my own hair. :-)
    xoxo

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  10. You crack me up.

    I've been cutting my own hair since 2007. It just so happens that I use a similar method. Well, I bend over, brush it all forward and then try to snip it evenly while hanging upside down.

    This weekend I pressed MathMan into service when I decided that I really had to even up the back. He reluctantly agreed and I ended up with about an inch less hair and it's still almost to the middle of my back.

    Last night I dreamed that he cut it really short. This morning I hid the scissors.

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    1. Well, I'm glad to know I crack somebody up besides myself.

      It's cool to know you've been cutting your own hair for so long especially because you always look so good in the pictures I've seen of you. I read about the ponytail thing on-line and that was enough for me. So far nobody has laughed (in my face, that is).

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