My hair's been growing without the interference of a 'stylist' for nearly a year now and, although I'm very glad to have left that particular six week observance go by the wayside, now I'm thinking about wearing a hat.Dreadlocks might be a good idea. Back in March Gary did a post that had a picture of my nephew Ryan with his new dreads. I knew nothing about them but Ryan being a very sweet young man sent me a note with some history that included the fact that men wearing short hair actually just dates back to the Prussian Empire when Kaiser Wilhelm decided he'd prefer all his soldiers to look the same and sent them to the military barbers. Cutting everybody's hair gave them something to do besides pulling teeth.
So here I am with my hair getting longer by the day, the weather's getting warmer and hair falling over my face whenever I try to do anything drives me crazy. Having your hair ends soak in the silk dye is no fun either but what did I ever care about sophistication? In the meanwhile I've been using pins, clips and slides when I twist and tie it into one of those knots that looks like a bird's tail section. I rather like it but I did spend some time looking at knotty boy a salon in Vancouver BC that specializes in dreads. Out of their 3000 pictures I found one picture of an 'older' woman with dreadlocks - a Finnish lady of about 70 years sitting in a big blackwood frame chair wearing a dark shirt, jeans and boots. Her dreads hung down to the floor. I want to grow up to be like her.
Lately, I could not leave the house with out at hat on my head. My hair was driving me nuts. Today, I got my hair cut for the first time in almost 2 two years (except for that raffle stunt of coures).
ReplyDeleteGo for the dreads. You'll look amazing. Being follicely challenged myself, I can only dream...
ReplyDeleteGary, I too have dread-nots - the psychic consolation prize afforded those of us who covet Jah's Own 'Do, but haven't the resources to grow our own.
ReplyDeleteAnd Susan, at the risk of sharing TMI, women with Heads'O'Dreads give me, um, wood.
Good thing you're waaaay over there, eh?
I've been toying with the idea of cutting my hair, which has grown to the middle of my back. I can't take it anymore. I find myself trying to work my schedule around the time I need to wash and dry my hair. If I go for a run in the morning or work out on the elliptical machine, that means it will take 2 hours out of my time to accomplish that (one hour for exercise, one for shower, hair washing and drying). So, unless I get up two hours earlier than planned, I have to wait until evening, which means I have to take two hours before bedtime (and holding back on sex) while I exercise and shower.
ReplyDeleteIf my hair was short...I would save almost seven hours a week, just by having short hair.
Mathman- I can't wait to see before and after pictures on your blog! You're students are going to freak in the fall!
There is nothing like dreads. Go for it. And thanks for the Finland link, it is most definately the place where I want to be... eating breakfast, or watching teevee.
ReplyDeleteI'm still getting used to Mike Campbell with dreads, and I don't even know him. I think if the hairline recedes any further, I'll have to get even more chopped off. Damn you all with lush heads o' hair.
ReplyDeletemathman - I'm sure your new do will look fine and I look forward to seeing the pics. You're a nice looking guy no matter the hairstyle. I've known my husband for more than 30 years and in that period he's had 3 haircuts - each because of work interviews. 14 years ago was the last one for a job at the children's hospital where he still works as a surgical tech. The kids think it's cool, nobody else minds and I still get to run my fingers and toes through it whenever I want.
ReplyDeletegary - You're so nice to say so. I may just do it one of these days but I may have to fly to Vancouver for the experience. That would be okay too.. be seeing you :-)
cr - There's certainly a kind of spiritual connection to the very idea of dreads and they're very sexy too. Hmmm..
me - My hair's almost halfway down my back but it's also very fine so the washing and stuff doesn't take so long. I just got to really resent the time taken with the appointments and the truly vacuous conversations going on around me. It sounds like you might just enjoy having short hair. Imagine where you might go if you spent even half that care time with sex instead?
divajood - First I wanted to tell you that the cunning runt came by earlier and left an explanation about the acoustics of caves and sound on my last post. It's perfectly understandable but I didn't guess.
I may go for dreads but after watching the video on knotty boy I'd have to think more than once about doing it. Maybe if there was a place around the corner but Portland doesn't seem big on that scene.
rg - I've considered having my head shaved but I have some deep grooves in my head from surgery to remove an aneurysm a few years ago. You see then I'd have to get tattoos of baseball stitching and I'm just not getting ink.
I think you should try the dreads. You could pull it off, I suspect.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the process of growing my hair out again. It's just getting to the annoying stage, but I'm determined to see what I look like with silver hair down to my shoulders or longer.
I bet I'm in for plenty of ponytails to see it through.
I saw a great reggae/hip-hop band over the weekend and there were more than a few heads of dreads in the audience. It was great.
ReplyDeleteI like the way the hair looks in dreads but someone who had them once told me that the hair actually begins to rot if kept like that for too long? Not sure if it was just her perception or not.
dcup - I never have been able to braid my own hair and it's very fine so mistakes show. I think it's going to have to be longer than it is now before I could get dreads since dreaded hair is a third of its length.
ReplyDeleteI like the long silver ponytail idea. A few years ago I was making beaded hair jewelry which were neat but heavier than was comfortable. I'll post a picture when I find the ones I still have stashed.
pagan - I bet it was a great show - reggae is still some of my favorite music.
I watched the video of how dreads are made - basically, they backcomb sections of very dry hair then roll and wax the sections. As the hair grows you keep rolling and waxing. I saw that it can and should be washed but didn't read about how. The one caution the girl made was that damp hair should never be waxed because then it can get nasty. Makes sense, eh?
Susan - it's #3 clippers for me. I like it short and low maintenance. I can't wait to see what you look like in dreads, though. I'm sure you'll wear it well.
ReplyDeleteWell, it's like they say, 'Hair today, gone tomorrow' I just get it cut when it bothers me. It is my beard that really bothers me. I've had a beard since High School....shit grows so fast it is really a pain. there was a time in college when it was looking very ZZ Top-ish. I have to trim it every ten days or birds start nesting. And screw this shaving stuff....pppfffft
ReplyDeleteSo with the silk dies and the length, are you getting all funky colors on the tips of your hair?
ReplyDeletespartacus - Truth to tell there'd be nobody more surprised than me if I actually got dreads. I'd probably end up looking like a pinhead ;-)
ReplyDeleteokjimm - zztop, huh? I liked it when they all spun their guitars at the same time. Could you do that too? Cooool...
ben - Yeah, I kind of like it and just lean over that teensy bit more. I tell the folks at work it was an accident.. hehheh
Pinhead...you? C'mon...no way!!!
ReplyDeletefor years i had very long hair, and share mary ellen's disgruntletude aboout the time needed to keep it clean and untangled. and i found that all that weight pulling on my scalp was contributing to my migraines. go for the dreads, su. if i wasn't afraid of the migraines taking over my life again, i'd do it too.... and dipped in silk dye!!! ta dye fer!!! you could hang around with weavers and kniters and get bits of bright yarn 'accidentally' caught in them too! :0)
ReplyDeletespartacus - Thanks for the words of encouragement :-)
ReplyDeletegfid - I never had hair thick and heavy enough to cause me that kind of problem. At the hairdresser's mine is so light it's usually dry before they're halfway through cutting. Interesting about yours causing headaches. I've heard similar stories about women's breasts being so heavy they get chronic back pain. I don't have that problem either :-)
So, are you going with the dreds?
ReplyDeletescarlet - Probably not :-)
ReplyDelete