Hair

[kevin_standlee]

Some months ago, Lisa suggested that she would like me with longer hair, so I started letting it grow. There was a false start when I went to a local barber asking to have the split ends trimmed and he ended up hacking it back short again, but I started over. What I didn't expect was that I'd end up with a bunch of mousy-gray-black hair that I did not like at all, and I decided yesterday that I had had enough and was going to do something about it.



Here is what I looked like yesterday morning before taking any action.



I'm not troubled by the gray hair so much. I stopped trying to recolor it the day after ConJosé in 2002, and early gray runs in my family.



What I didn't like was how what little black was left seemed a mousey gray color that annoyed me.

While out running some errands yesterday morning, I stopped by Supercuts and made an appointment for after work to do something about all of this.



I went in and they first trimmed my hair to the fluffy parts at the ends were pushed back a bit, and then they went to work on the color.



They way they explained it, this was no so much a dye job as a "wash" that faded out the black.



I'm happier with a more uniform gray color. I'd be happier if I hadn't lost most of the hair on the top of my head. Yes, I could do something about that, but it's viciously expensive, making the laser hair work to remove (or at least significantly lighten) my beard look cheap by comparison.

I suppose this is my "Ben Franklin" look. If there was a local production of 1776, I might try out for it, although I guess they wouldn't want me wearing the earrings.

Comments

[scott_sanford]

Oh yes, very Ben Franklin.

My first thought had been 'quirky college professor' (subtype: eccentric and followed by slightly bewildered students)

[kevin_standlee]

Yep. I'm getting more eccentric as I start caring less and less about what others think and more and more about what makes me happy. Many of my recent life choices are answering the question, "If not now, then when?"

[belak]

I don't have a traditional haircut/style for my gender and age and my feeling has long been "If you don't like it, don't look at it!"

[calimac]

Yes, your look would do nicely as Franklin. Or Hopkins. If you did try out, you might want to put some roughness in your vocal tone.

Weren't earrings on men common in those days? At least among sailors, though Franklin wasn't one.

[kevin_standlee]

Oh, you're right about Stephen Hopkins, although in his case I wouldn't have any singing other than as a member of the entire company. I reckon I could put that rasp into the voice for him, though. "Rum!"

[wild_patience]

I'm very pleased with my gray and wish I'd stopped coloring it sooner than I did. As the oldest person on the job, I was trying to look less like my age. I was getting noticeably gray in my 20s. The Hispanic ladies I worked with (who were older than I) laughed at me, saying I had more gray than their mothers.

[a_cubed]

You could always wear a pair of these:
https://www.nationalarchivesstore.org/products/benjamin-franklins-philadelphia-drop-earrings

[kevin_standlee]

A little pricey, but I like the idea!

[garyomaha]

Thanks for the unexpected smile today. 1776 is one of my favorite shows but people mostly talk about it around July 4 (for good reason) so to have the tunes in my head today is love-LEE. :) (And yes, in the photos you are rocking Dr. Franklin!)

[kevin_standlee]

So I have Franklin's hair, Jefferson's height, and Adams's personality. *smile*

Mister Adams, but Mister Adams,
The things I write are only light extemporania.
I won't put politics to paper — it's a mania!
So I refuse to use the pen in Pennsylvania.