Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair. Shinin', gleamin', streamin', flaxen, waxen . . .

And if you don't recognize that song, you are NOT as old as ME!

In an odd coincidence (Jules?), I was contemplating what I might blog about, and I thought I might blog about my hair. Then, while awaiting a work-related email reply, I was skimming blogs, which is my favorite way to kill a few minutes (or hours). I read Elizabeth Berg's blog about her bad-haircut-related bad mood. May I just say, madame, I second that emotion! (Another song for OLD people - though I prefer "ripened" - or does that sound like almost stinky fruit?)

Let me begin by saying that I think my hair is probably my best feature. Not that I have tons of good features, but I have always had pretty good looking hair (except for a few unfortunate forays into perm-land in the 70s-80s and that one mulletish do which I believe they called a "bi-level" at the time). It's pretty thick, has quite a bit of body, and is sort of straight but has a little bit of wave. And the last few years, I decided to let my gray go free, and the result has been a really nice salt and pepper shade, a little more in the front, that I really love. It gets me lots of compliments, and some people even ask if I have it done that way. I just smile and tell them it's all God's handiwork. It is flattering to my complexion, and I now wear different colors than I used to, to go with my hair. Gray is the new blonde, or hadn't you heard?

So, I have worn my hair pretty short (think Sharon Stone or Winona Ryder's short cuts) for a number of years. This year, I decided I was a little bored with the shorty short cut, but I don't want LONG hair either, as I just think women of a certain age can't pull it off unless they are models or movie stars. I just wanted a bob sort of like Katie Holmes has been sporting (without new scary bangs). Her hair is a little curlier than mine, but her bob was sort of natural looking and went with some of her waves. My hair won't do the stick straight, slick and smooth bobs that you see, without the application of a lot of work with the flat iron, and I don't have time for that. That's the reason I had short hair all those years - I'm lazy. I want GREAT, FABULOUS, people think you just came from the salon hair, but I don't want to spend more than 15 minutes or less on it.

I have managed to survive the dreaded period when you are growing out short hair and can only manage matronly looking styles or looking like a teenage boy. My hair is now in a shortish bob shape, but the layers are in need of attention, because, as anyone who has done this knows, you don't want to cut ANY off while you are growing it out, so it's been quite a while. I have been trimming the nape myself, just to keep it in check. And I trim my bangs myself, as I just have learned how to do them the way I like them.

You know how it is when you get to that place where one day, your hair looks pretty good, and the very next morning, you suddenly need a haircut and your hair won't do a thing? Well, I reached that place about a week ago. But I was in search of WHAT exactly I wanted to do with it next, before I go to my daughter for a trim (Lindsay has gone to hair school, but does not work in a salon). She prefers that I have a picture so I can tell her EXACTLY what I want. I have, on a few occasions, gone to a stylist and just told them to do something interesting that they thought would look good on me, and the results were usually good. I'm pretty adventurous with styles. But that's a dangerous route to take with your kin . . . so we go with specifics. Works out better for both of us, believe me.

I bought a hairstyle magazine (I have a bunch, but I wanted something new) and found a style that I think will work with my hair. Basically all I need is to get the layers trimmed and texturized pretty heavily so they are choppy (I like funky, choppy hair, rather than a smooth, too-styled look - again, another reason why I kept it short), and the picture had some shorter angled bangs. I did the bangs this morning, tried a new way of drying it, since I was not happy with the way the round brush thing was making it look (it was faster too, bonus!). Also used a different combo of product (I am a TOTAL hair product junkie, so I have all sorts of concoctions in my cabinet, but that's a whole different blog).

Pretty happy with the results, but I know I need that trim for sure now. It's a little round-head looking at the moment. Not a good look if you already have the round, I've gained weight and my face is sagging, look going for you. Going tomorrow, and praying that with the trim I can get my hair to at least sort of look like the photo, which is pretty cool. I wish I could find the pic online so I could post it here.

I will update tomorrow after the trim and we will see if I'm in a GOOD mood or a BAD mood! Elizabeth is totally right, a bad haircut can really bum you out, especially if it's your best feature. I mean, what else do you have to work with after that? I can't exactly put the girls on display (my hubby would say *they* are my best feature, but they are for his eyes only . . . hehe). So my hair's gotta be workin' it for me. I refuse to have old lady hair. If I was younger, I'd have freaky colored streaks or something.

BUT, as Elizabeth also pointed out, there is so much happening in the world that really puts anything to do with personal appearance squarely where it belongs - in the NOT REALLY IMPORTANT column. In this election year, it is exciting to see that so many people are actually talking about issues, talking about change, talking about where we might go from here. It's about time. We can't go on the way we have been, no question about that. Maybe I'll blog about that next.