Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Wearin' Her Wig Hat And Shades To Match


Let's talk hair.
I'm going to get my hair trimmed today which is significant in that I can't even remember the last time I got my hair trimmed and no, it's not down past my butt although there were times back in the old-hippie days (as opposed to now, the new-hippie days) when it was.
Now it's a few inches past my shoulders and it's...just lying there. No sass, no style.
No shit.
I've never been a hair-do person. Well, I gave it a whirl in Jr. High and high school when the deal was to achieve this cute flip which I attempted through various curling means but none of them worked. The popular girls could do it. No problem. Me? My flip had flattened by the time I got to school. And I didn't have any real Villager shirtdresses either, but that's another topic.
So when the whole long, straight, parted-in-the-middle hair of the hippie became the do to do, I grabbed on because that's what my hair wanted to be anyway. Long, straight, and parted in the middle.
That picture up there is from my high school yearbook and I'm the cutie on the top row on the right. If you look really closely, you can see that there is a tiny rain forest of new hair springing forth from the top of my head and that's because I'd almost died of mono the year before and lost at least half of my hair and when that picture was taken, it was in the process of growing back. Some of it. It never all grew back, which is sad because I had hair that was thick and amazing but it's still thick enough to have survived the menopausal fall-out and leave me enough not to be too distressed over.
Anyway, blah, blah, blah. We all have hair or least a lot of us do, and I think it's probably quite possible that a woman's hair will tell you a great deal about her. Women who are open to hair experimentation when it comes to cut and color are more likely to be women who are open to change.
Obviously, I am not open to change.
When Lily told me that she was going to make me a grandmother, I had this feeling that I should grow my hair out as long as I can and wear it in braids because that's what I did as a young mother and my infants and babies were positively enchanted with those braids and stroked them when they nursed which was sweet. But I'm not going to be nursing Lily's baby (I promise, Lily, I won't!) but still, there's something about the idea of a granny with long braids which enchants me.
Well, I have nine months to get over that idea.
But today I'm going to go get a trim, which is overdue and which I need. And I'll tell the lady the same thing I always tell the people who I go to to cut my hair: Leave it long enough for me to pull back.
Because that's mainly what I do with my hair. I pull it back. Untidily for day-to-day-wear and neatly for going-out-wear.
And I have this play which is opening this week and I wear my own hair for three characters and a wig for two others and last night I actually did get the wigs on my head and well, it was interesting. One is a short, curly granny wig and the other is a brown, sassy, page-boyish wig. They gave me the desired effect which was to change the way I look and to tell you the truth, the way I felt. Which is good. In a play.
And for one of my characters I came up with this outrageous sort of Fundamentalist Mormon lady in the front hairdo and it's ridiculous and I love it and it was perfect and I didn't even have a thing to do with it- my character just came out and said, "Here, give me the damn hairpins."
So I did.
And I realize now it's fun to play around with the hair on our head and it can certainly make us look different if we change it.
But that's the thing- I am who I am, old hippie-hair and all. If I got a short, sassy do I don't think it would be me. And besides that, I'd have to blow dry it or something. Style it. Eck. Not me.
I'm fifty-four years old and I wear the clothes I wear and I wear my hair the way I do and that, my friends, is that. I have fooled around with curls and with color and bangs (bad idea, bad, bad idea) and I've always come back to the way it is. It's growing in gray now and I wish it would just go ahead and do it. There's something so beautiful about a woman with gray hair or white hair. To me, it says that the woman is comfortable with who she is and where she is in life.
Although, one never knows. I might wake up one day and decide to get my hair cut short and dyed red.
I may be an old hippie but I'm still a woman and damn it, sometimes I see women with short hair and it just looks so GOOD. But would it be me? Besides, Mr. Moon would cry and might leave me. That would be bad.
So today I'll tell that lady today to just give it a trim, make sure I can still pull it back, and I'll laugh when she wants to blow dry it.
And then I'll go down to the local wigs-and-mobile-phone-service shop and buy one of those caps you put over your head before you put on a wig and some hair pins so I can feel secure in my dynel hair for the play. Because I need to change myself into five different women on Thursday but let me assure you, Ms. Moon will still be the woman underneath.
With her boring hair. Her graying old hippie hair.
Which suits me best.
For today, at least. Who knows about tomorrow?

19 comments:

  1. YES. I love your hair. It is you. You are exactly right. Sometimes, we just are who we are, and other styles will only be an act. It's always great to change things up, but deep down, no matter what hair you have [or don't have,] you will always be you.

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  2. I hope the cut goes well, and you are more than happy with the results. But as long as you are happy with yourself then I am sure the haircut will be OK no matter what. Or you can just wear a hat like I do when I am not happy with my hair. Anyway I hope at least it works out well enough so it doesn't mess up your play.

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  3. Funny. I'll be waiting for the results although I think the braids will suit you best!
    I just got my hair colored VERY BLONDE. It was accidentally cut short (I let an American friend here TRIM it :()) so I needed to do something fast to bring back some funk. So I let this Mexican gal just go for it insisting I wanted it chunky blonde. Then she tried to blow dry it with a brush, I just took the dryer out of her hand and threw my head upside down and shook and messed it like I like it. I am so mortified when they actually give me a "do" that I would definitely need Mr.Shife's cap! I heard one gal say to the other, in Spanish, "She doesn't like it formal." No shit! lol!

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  4. AJ- might as well not even try to be someone else. You're right. But change can be good too.

    Mr. Shife- aren't you sweet? I am very happy with the results and loved the lady who did it. I am going back tomorrow for highlights. See? I can be wild. I can be crazy!

    Ms. Lopo- I can just see that, too! "She doesn't like it formal!" Ha!

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  5. You were such a cutie! I like you hair the way you describe it, it sounds like you. But, I think that the braids sound pretty rockin', too.

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  6. PS - Did you listen to the song I posted you yesterday?

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  7. Ms. Lemon- I did. Then I pulled that post down. It was too depressing. But thank-you so much.

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  8. I knew that was you in the picture when I first saw it. And, I loved the part about the braids and the babies! Crap, that's cute. :)

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  9. Awww, love the yearbook picture. And the long hair. It absolutely suits you.

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  10. My wife cuts her hair every couple of years when at least 9 inches can be cut off and she still has a nice bob thing. She then donates the hair to chemo patients or similar-there's a program for which I can't recall the name. I didn't really get it but thought it was a nice thing to do.

    Anyway, I nice lady in our office showed up today after a long weekend of treatments. She's loosing her hair and she's wearing a scarf now. She jokes about it, but I think she really misses her hair.

    I get it now.

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  11. LOVE that picture! Also, may I say, I cannot believe you actually like a cut on the first day. I have got to see it right now! This is a first in our friendshop... I'm not sure how, but I'm sure Obama must be behind it somehow. :-)
    xo pf

    Magnum, sorry to hear about your friend being sick. You're right, she probably does miss her hair.

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  12. I've always wanted braids but don't have the face or the hair for them. When Loie and I were little, we would sneak into our mom's room and find her little treasure box where she kept our older sister's braids that had been cut off when she was about 9 years old. We would try to bobby-pin them to our head.

    Nope. I've got the thick, naturally wavy hair with so much body it could actually get up and walk away. But I'm letting it stay gray after coloring it for years. It doesn't seem to grow long so much as it grows "big." And I must have bangs. MUST. It's sort of a white woman's Afro and definitely not styled. No do for this woman.

    I vote for braids.

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  13. Nicol- I was pretty cute, right? I had no idea, either. Hey- I miss being able to comment on your blog but I'm reading it and enjoying it.

    Mamabear- I know that older ladies are not supposed to have long hair. Which is probably why I do.

    Magnum- Locks of Love? Something like that? Yeah, it's a serious thing to lose your hair. Our hair represents so much to us. I hope your friend is fine and that her hair grows back in, strong and healthy, when she grows that way herself.

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  14. Oh, I've done bad, bad things to my hair. I'm glad it hasn't retaliated by falling out and/or refusing to grow back.
    I always dyed it right before my mother showed up, since she always told me she could see some grays. Mind you, NO ONE ELSE, including me, ever found a single gray hair on my head (and I had several friend check closely!)
    I am just done with it now, and if I ever decide to change the color again, it will be because I want to, not because my evil mother is hovering.
    Good for you, sticking to your hair principles. I must admit, that Mr. Farty stroking my hair while he has his bed time bottle is a priceless gift. It's not nursing, I know, but apparently babies and my prescription for coumadin don't mix.

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  15. Nanny- sounds like you've got it going on and you're lucky to have so much beautiful hair.

    Rachel- as long as you're holding that sweet boy and letting him touch you, all is well. Why does your mother care if you have gray hair? What's up with that?

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  16. I can't wait to see this play, and your new highlighted hair. I'm glad that the wigs and hairdos are making you feel more into your character. Isn't it amazing how clothes, make-up and hair can make a person feel and act so differently? I sound like one of those hosts on a makeover show.
    Hehe.
    By the way, you were so freaking cute in high school, and now you're beautiful in your middle life years, no matter how your hair looks, (although for some reason, I really like you in braids.)

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  17. Oh HoneyLuna- you know me. The braids will never entirely be gone.
    I love you!

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  18. Hello Ms. Moon! A fellow blogger gave me an award and Iam giving one to you too as you so deserve it! Its a Lemonade Award and been going around from blog to blog. You can get the pic from my page and save it in your pc so you can post it in your blog. To display it in your sidebar, you need to get the HTML of the pic using your photobucket. have fun!

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  19. Ms. Moon your hair is beautiful - I've always admired and loved long hair (just not my own) - plus most men (and women) love it too! I chopped mine off b/c I hated it and b/c it's not me! I can't wait to have it pixie short again (next step - had to get the boyfriend in slowly) - I can just get up and go. I hate hair. If I were a man I'd be bald. But I do love hippie looking, long, braids, etc. hair. Sigh. So you just be you and don't worry about anyone else! And I'll do the same (; Whatever makes us happy right! LOL

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.