Halloweeny

Yarr, it is late

So this past week I made a new friend - Hena. The one who sent me the hair article. We have subsequently and very rapidly made great progress in the "getting to know you" game. Random news for my week. I also slept a lot and bummed a lot, probably all very bad since this is crunch week.

I'm slowly getting my get-go back. I think it is correlated to my sleeping habits. The more sleep I get, the happier I am.

The hair is no longer "freshly shaved." It's not even "stubble" any more. Today at the Statesman I made the realization that I don't love it, don't hate it, but it's actually starting to look like short hair now. That's pretty awesome. I know I've said it before, but it's sort of like my warped inverted pregnancy experience with things getting easier after the drastic beginning. Haha. Not bad. I'm incoherent from sleepiness. I wonder what I will write for Brio.

This weekend I did a make-up bridal shoot for a couple whose wedding I shot in September. We ran out of time during their wedding-on-a-boat so I had to schedule them another one (it wasn't my fault on the wedding, btw). To make them relax and laugh I told them about how I had dreamed I was getting married and had no hair to pin it to. They laughed so hard I got awesome smiley pics. Glad to amuse, any time.

Here are old shots and some from today: 4 weeks yesterday. Gid commented in church, "Your hair grows back quick!" Rachel very kindly compared me to Gabby, but she's way prettier. I really think I should start caring more about my looks. Beyond just these little mental stirrings, I mean. It's getting cold. The only thing that makes me want my hair back is so I can look cute in winter clothes. That seems really superficial, yes?

Lately I've been getting a lot of little mental "eurekas" that are less-than-100%. I'm finding out a lot of small things about myself that are not so great.

A happy zit for you!

I got tired of webcam pics.

I have the last couple days' worth, but it's boring.

Instead, courtesy of Sam...

Are we behind?

Maybe in posting, but I've got my pics...

So tired.

I went to a scholarship luncheon just now. A taddy bit awkward, just me and the donor and one of the board members. Her daughter had died in 1992 and she has been offering a scholarship ever since for Christian students studying journalism at UT. I missed the lunch the first time around. ;p Anyway, she kinda stared at my head a bit. Haha. I will refine this thought and post later. I'm tired of coughing.

My bad for Wednesday

Midterms pwnt me. In that time that I did not give you a photo, my hair grew three inches and my face turned green.

But unfortunately it's all back to normal today.

That's what I get for missing a day. Oh, and I'm sickish.

At the Fair I saw a dude who had cropped hair - he had shaved some pretty fancy letters and designs into it. I wish I were awesome.

Knuckle-length

I'm up late working on a paper for a midterm. AAS kicks my sorry butt. I had a profound revelation while at work earlier, but I came home early because I was sick and because I had this paper to write. Ugh. So here's a bored/tired/so sick of school pic.

P.S. I could use some help:

1) Ideas for a kickass Halloween costume, plz.
2) Ideas for a dressy scholarship luncheon, plz.
3) Ideas for a semi-formal scholarship lunch, plz.

Oh yeah, here's the thought. Having no hair makes me a lot more aware of my face and head shape. There's no hiding it.

It's starting to come in uneven

And shopping for clothes is weird because you don't know how you'll look in an outfit after you have your hair back!

But I look awesome in hats. ^^ (Clarification: I like to pretend I do)

State Fair!

Yesterday I went to the State Fair in Dallas with Oliver. It's really interesting how reactions change once I'm outside Austin. This Hispanic couple came up behind me - the girl didn't speak any English, I guess, so she just tapped my head gently, then nodded very enthusiastially to express how she felt. It was cute. This little boy with a carrot-colored crew cut kept staring at me behind his mom's back, so I glared right back. That was funny.

The fair was not as fun as I remembered, but good company made it enjoyable. Thank you a lot, Oliver. =]

"The Little Things..."

I got an email from a classmate today. She's a grad student from Pakistan. Thanks, Hena! I really liked it. =) So nice of you to think of me.

Not to obsess too much about your head or anything, but yesterday's interaction reminded me of this article I'm sending you. The guy who wrote it is the grandson of one of the most prominent poets in Pakistan and the subcontinent within the last 50 years or so. He also teaches psychology at the school I received my undergrad degree from. He's one of the funniest, quirkiest and most learned people I've ever met...and he's only 38 or so. His parents are both actors in Pakistan, as is his sister. In his free time, he enjoys reading, his drinks and occasionally writes for one of Pakistan's best English language papers, from which I'm forwarding you this article. He's also a good friend of mine.

Obscure references:

'Class': (school) grade

Haj: Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (requires men to shave their heads. It is believed in Islam that this pilgrimage purges one of all one's prior sins. Of course, there are other factors involved too.)

Shoaib Hashmi : Yasser's dad

Arshad Mahmood: A local vocalist and composer and a close family friend of Yasser's parents

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Intense pleasures of life
By Yasser Hashmi

At eight, in class three, I first became aware of one of the smaller, but intense and undeniable pleasures of life: Rubbing my hand on the stubble of a freshly shaved head.

The occasion was the return of one of my class fellows from Haj. It was, I suspect, a mixed blessing for him. He was too young to have enjoyed the spiritual dimension of Haj, nor did he have any chance to wash away youthful excesses.

Instead, the entire class took turns sitting behind him in class and every time the teacher turned to write something on the blackboard, little grubby hands would wander onto his scalp followed by gasps of delight and satisfaction.

I was reminded of this scene because one of Pakistan's foremost composers Arshad Mehmood, has just returned from Haj, and I returned home recently to find him on his knees in front of Shoaib Hashmi who was rubbing his scalp and issuing the same gasps of delight. This proves, as I have always suspected, that it is not possible to outgrow Lahore.

I further appreciated this scene because as one grows older a lot of one's pleasures become borrowed or derived. One does or enjoys things because one has heard that they are good or enjoyable or suitable for one's age or position, to the point where one loses track of fun.

Call me a skeptic, but I insist that no more of 20 per cent of people who play golf can actually enjoy it. One of the reasons that Marketing has a bad reputation is that it is thought that it consists merely of fooling people of what they should be doing without any concern for their real pleasures. In other words, it consists of 'bullshit'.

I recently had the pleasure of reading a philosophical essay on this very topic, which as I discovered, also goes by the names of humbug, balderdash and hokum or tommyrot.

The article stated that both the truth teller and the liar are similar in that they have some knowledge of truth. The bullshit artist, on the other hand, uses a different standard i.e., whether something is or isn't convincing. As this standard becomes more widespread, fewer and fewer things retain any meaning and society 'melts into thin air'.

Since I am convinced that rubbing a shaved head is a universal pleasure and test of the genuine, let me propose a new standard of consumer judgment: The scalp test. The next time someone tells you Coke is better than Pepsi, or that one washing soap is better than the other.

Immediately rub you hand on your own head, and also the head of a recently returned Haji. Note the difference in sensations. If the two articles you are comparing cause no such change in pleasure, they have failed the bullshit test.

I am confident that as long as Lahoris have a freshly shaved scalp handy, out city will never turn into a huge pile of humbug. However, for this plan to succeed, we will have to be especially wary of those who have had hair transplants.

Incidentally, confusing bullshit and marketing is a mistake because very few people are insensitive enough to buy what they are indifferent to for any length of time. I, for example, own only one pair of 'close fitting' jeans.

Good marketing is tempting people into trying a new genuine pleasure. And the danger of marketing is that people become entirely dependent on pleasures that are purchased. Homo sapiens becomes homo consumerati.

To return to my class fellow in school. After enduring several hours of grubby head fondling, and after he noticed that people were coming back for second helpings, he complained to the teacher.

At which point his scalp was immediately declared off limits and the most recent fondlers got smacked with a foot ruler. To ensure compliance with the fondling ban, the teacher also moved the most polite and well behaved citizens of the class to the chairs behind the young Haji. This included me. Unfortunately, as I said at the beginning, at the age of eight, in class three I first became aware of one of the smaller, but intense and undeniable pleasures of life.

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Hope you enjoyed it.

H

We're leaving our teens behind

a.k.a. "Oliver has a boyfriend!"

Attempt to show off a nice new T-shirt with 80s radness on it... which was followed by a boobie shot I won't share...

I can cross just one eye!


Today's newsworthy news is this:
The top song when Oliver was born was "Total Eclipse of the Heart," which is awesome rad
My top song, however, was "Like A Virgin" by Madonna. Ew.

Day... 18?

I miss you, baby

Today I went to Express with Sam to take advantage of a sale they were having. There was actually some semi-good stuff, but I went planning to get more dress shirts for job-hunting. Well, in the changing room I found some stuff that looked good on me - from the neck down. A bit higher up, it kinda looked like a joke. Hahaha. I had a small pang then. *shrug* I'm over it. ;)

My mom called. "Do you still have hair?" Me: [split second pause too long] "Um, yes, of course." Her: "A lot?" Me: "Yes..." Technically... this is true. Lol.

I have been taking flaxseed oil sporadically for hair growth. Well, it works. Very well. Not just on my head but on my eyebrows and legs, too! So today I tried this random Sally Hansen waxing kit. OH MY GOODNESS, it's a mess. Hahaha. But I like ripping hair off my eyebrows - so much faster than plucking. I'm probably a masochist. B-)

Sweet 16

LOL GET IT? NOT ONLY IS IT 16 DAYS IT IS ALSO OCTOBER 16! And Oliver is 16! J/k, but it is his birthday.

Wow, I am so lame late at night.

It's growing quite rapidly, thanks to PR tips on flaxseed oil and such, which I have of course already forgotten to take multiple times.

15 days!

Last night I dreamed I decided to get married. It wasn't until I was standing in the foyer waiting to walk down the aisle that I realized I had nothing to pin my veil to. I bawled. I then woke up and laughed, thanking my lucky stars that I hadn't been so silly as to get married on a whim. (I don't care about the man, it would so seem - never even took a peek at his face in my dream)

It's only been 15 days. Quite apparently, if I were in that movie "30 Days of Night" or whatever (which I haven't seen), I would not be able to survive because that's a really long time for me.

I made an "online friend" thanks to katy~* - she shaved her head for her friend who was undergoing chemo, I b'lieve, and she looks good with it! That gives me hope. Haha. It's OK; I'm OK with looking chewed. XD

Remember how I said I was making a conscious effort to look girlier? I think I gave up on it. I ran around all day in a boys' white muscle T and jeans. I don't think I'm helping myself out much here. Oh well...

Weekend catch-up

Sorry for no picture. Olivia and Garrick were in town this weekend, yay!

A cheat - you can't see if I have anything on my head. Maybe that dark is ALL my hair. Sorry if I look wacked. It was taken at 5 a.m.

Yes, I drink like mad. Root beer. Yes, I broke my resolution. ;)

Hehehehehe.

My hair actually bothers me a tiny bit this week. Or maybe the lack of it. I've completely forgotten about the cut and I guess whenever I do remember, there's a tiny, tiny pang there. Meh, it'll be back soon enough.

We went to the Lacoste store in the Domain where I tried on this hat and liked how it looked. But look at that price tag. Why? I can see why some people want to learn to knit... heck, I wanna.

Since we're talking about shopping, Olivia and I both liked this jacket. $225, though, will put me halfway toward a very nice lens. Sigh.

Oh, I was supposed to ONLY talk about hair here? Gee, sorry. ;)

Then in that case... hair is now long enough to pinch. ;)

Mwahahahaha

11

Blogged out.

Here, have a picture I shot. UGL. Fluorescent lighting. Library chair. I like how Asian-studio it looks. Here's how I did it.


Meeeeeeee for the day

Sorry

Day 10

It's a little hard to keep up with lengthy blogging solely on the topic of hair on a daily basis. I keep another blog (a bit obsessively ;p) and I guess that one's a much more rounded view of my life in general - this is the Horcrux in which I have chosen to deposit my hairless soul, and apparently that part of me is quite tiny. Or something.

Anyway, as you can see, the hair is growing back quite fast despite my promptly having forgotten to take vitamins/etc. for it like three days after the deed was done. Hah.

Interesting thought - you know how people always say they recognize others - killers, actors, characters in movies, whatever (like that scene in War) - don't they very technically mean they recognize the skin, bone and hair around the actual blobs? I dunno, it sounds gruesome and stupid to think of, no doubt. But it's true. It's also like saying "I can recognize her face from a distance." Have you ever stopped to think of how much of that face (at least on girls) is framed by hair? Would you REALLY recognize them from a distance without hair? In a sea of hairless heads?

Anyway, it's really late and I've been "sick" for a week and a half now (terrible allergies - to mold, maybe? They're KILLING ME) so maybe I shouldn't say this, but I feel like it and it's hair-related.

Yesterday I "saw" my ex for a bit - we had the same journalism interns' meeting. We haven't really crossed paths in over a year and the few times we have have been very intense and pretty depressing. Anyway, he was one of those dudes who is really into long hair and liked it a lot on me - down, at that. He hadn't seen me even with the short bob, I don't think, and didn't really know about me shaving my head. (He'd been against the idea when we were dating :P) He pretty obviously didn't notice me when he was standing in the hallway because he came up right next to where I was sitting on the floor, stood there and started talking to classmates. I don't think he realized it was me until I stood up a while later to move into the classroom (he was behind me, so we never really saw each other's faces - just I, for a split second, saw him when he was walking down the hall and I just dropped my head and never looked up. I don't know why). He still might not have noticed if the intern supervisor didn't speak to me and comment on how I'd cut my hair. Heh, well, after that, he went hard left and I went hard right and when the meeting was over we both dashed out the door in opposite directions.

It's just interesting that someone who presumably should know almost everything about me - my height, my size, my profile, my silhouette, my voice - didn't recognize me at all. Gee, I know I had big hair but do I really look that different?

Stopping to think about it... yeah... I do.

*shrug*

I've toyed with the idea that maybe this haircut represents something like purging him out of my system, but the conclusion is that that's stupid. Haha. I feel much freer from things after, I dunno... not this sort of thing. Haha. Maybe freer from shampoo. Not that I feel like I currently have a ton of baggage or whatever. Just... oh, I won't try to make sense. It's so late.

Day 9

So I have mentally compared this experience to childbirth a few times (although sort of in reverse) - I was all jittery the day I was going to get it shaved, but then realized that it's in no way as life-changing as having a kid or even getting pregnant. Assured, I was then able to carry on my merry way. Now my day-by-day updates are sort of like a pregnancy follow-up thing.

Today's announcement: um, hair clumps into chunks now?

You know you're tired when...

...You make a blog post to completely the wrong blog and don't realize it until you notice the layout looks different. Which, of course, is NOT something I just did. PSH!

So since this experiment is not about me coming out or anything, I have noticed the need to make a conscious effort to be slightly more feminine. I tend to be very much of a jeans-and-T-shirt girl, and while I wouldn't exactly call myself a tomboy any more I don't have a lot of pinky-pink clothing any more. I never before thought my wardrobe was too androgynous, but hey... no hair means I must supplement my femininity in other ways, eh? I guess.

...Eh, I'm too lazy. ;) Jeans and T-shirts are so easy.

In other news, my bald head is in the news, ironically in a piece of wild art for the Texan on the Burma issue from that rally I went to (with only 6 people). But likewise, being lazy, I am far too sluggish at 5 a.m. to scan it for you or anything. Maybe later.

My steady stream of photos proves that only the insane shave their heads.

I did take a bunch of pictures this weekend, if you're bored and want to see... But they're not OF me.

*yawn*

I'm so sleepy. I've been coughing all day.


Day 7, aka One Week, in which my hair has doubled its length. Cool beans.

Me and my skin

Hm, me getting better with Photoshop last year meant that it started becoming my makeup of choice. They say that you can present yourself however you choose over the Internet because you can hide whatever flaws you have and present yourself in the best possible light. It's true when it comes to my face. I profess to be decently self-confident, yet I like getting rid of my awful dark eye circles, zits and other such wonderful flaws.

Not having hair has kinda changed that. I gave up on shampoo, harsh facial cleansers, and have been using water, baking soda, and the like. Works just great so far! (I should start up my olive oil regimen again since my skin's been really dry) I don't really mind how I look in the mornings any more. There's not much I can change. I really like that. It's kinda "Here I am, take or leave" and that's great. Very freeing.

It also leaves me a lot freer to make really ugly weird faces in pictures. I figure, "I'm bald. How much worse could I look?" I'm gonna be interested in seeing how this may or may not change when the hair comes back in. (I was wondering if the part in my hair would change because of the hair clipping... but probably not, because I've checked and my cowlick still makes my hair grow out in a slant)

I've gotten a ton of positive comments lately. People will interrupt their elevator conversations to tell me how fabulous/fantastic they think it is. (It's happened twice in the same elevator in one day, same older faculty-talking-to-younger-TA kinda deal) I think the attention whore in me likes that, but that's not the point of this experiment... and I try to remember that. But it's really kind of people to say such things, to go out of their way to break the usual polite silence barrier and try to affirm me.

Funny, huh, how an outward thing can draw so much attention? Even when people aren't commenting, I'm taking note of all their responses. It makes me wonder how many times a day I subconsciously gauge other people's reactions to me and how much I depend on their approval or disapproval for my actions.

My TA, the one who hates me, has pointedly made no comment about my radically different looks. It amuses me a little. I think he would like to forget that I exist. :)

My stubble has already doubled in length, I think. I had Andrew clip it to 3mm, which is just over 1/10 of an inch. It's definitely longer than that by now. Let's do some math... If hair grows around 3/4-1 inch per month (let's make it easy and say 1 inch), then it grows ~ 1/4 inch every week or so, which averages out to around ~6.4 mm per week, which is what, let's average again... 1mm/day? It's so awesome how I can actually feel it. (I pinch it all the time)

...Blogspot gets a bonus thumbs up from me for saving these drafts automatically. My MacBook has been randomly dying and I can't figure out why. Anyways... I uploaded pics of the shaving process, so here comes a picture-heavy post.

First I hacked my hair shorter with scissors; apparently I have a ton of hair, so it took a lot of snips before you could even really tell anything had happened.

I had a mullet there for a while.

My friend Peggy was horrified and tried to make me stop. "It's not too late still, Katherine!"

I made my friends take a picture of her face because it cracked me up so much.

The first clips! Thank you, Andrew, for buzzing my hair for me. :)

(Here is Andrew)

More trimming

First glimpse

Not bad

This is the ugly stage

Or would it be this?

Man, did those little hair bits itch!

I didn't know this, but you don't just clip through and have done with it. It takes several goes over to make sure you get everything. Check out that little tuft of long.

Ew, I look chewed

That's better

I remind me of a Pharaoh's son from The Ten Commandments

Friend Luke

Thank you, Shawn, for letting me use your place. Sorry I made a mess or whatever. :(

Thank you, Sam, for solidarity support. And thank you, Oliver, for pictures!

Day 6!