Almost Cut My Hair

[Lightning Rod]

I've been thinking about cutting my hair. Most of my life I have suffered from clipophobia. I don't like to have parts of my body removed. In my adult life I've either had long hair or been in a place I didn't want to be such as a prison or a job. I associate short hair with unpleasant experiences. It's the aversion response combined with my Samson complex which provides me with trepidation when I consider this subject.

Will I lose my power if I cut my hair? (do I even have any power?). Maybe that question is irrelevant. I think that the Samson thing only applies when someone else cuts your hair. It's probably different if you do it of your own volition. That signifies that you still have power. Only when you are shorn by force or guile do you lose your power.

There is the matter of branding. Suppose you took away Colonel Sanders' white coat, cane and mustache? Suppose Aunt Jemima was replaced by Tina Turner? What if the CocaCola logo was printed in Times Roman? You wouldn't recognize them. My mother wouldn't recognize me if I cut my hair.

Oh yes, my hair is scraggly and it's thinning and it's gray. Coulda said it was in my way. Save on shampoo, easier to brush. I know all the arguments, pro and con, shove and push.

Of course vanity is involved and self-image. My vanity goes well beyond my hair, but self-image is a part of it. Would I recognize myself if I walked past a mirror? Would I be able to keep my balance? Would I get cold?

Help me out here.

[Artguy]

Cut it off, then have it made into hair extensions and reattach it whenever the mood strikes you.....

[eugeneherman]

Cut it!,and make a bonnet for young dilettantes.

[mtmynd]

around 4 yrs ago i faced that 'dilemma'... my pony tail was a symbol for me. one day i decided right then and there that the tail had to go... change was in the air and it smelled of spontaneity. the barber was a woman. she confirmed my decision before cutting off the tail. she handed it to me and asked if i wanted to keep it. i held in it my hands and was surprised how shitty the pony tail looked. it looked far different from how i felt it did... scraggly and thin. "nah... just throw it out" i told her. she continued her grooming. I felt lighter. i looked at myself in the mirror. "hey, you look pretty fuckin' handsome, dude!" i told myself (under my breath).

surprisingly very few of my friends even bothered to comment about my 'radical' decision whenever i met them throughout the next few weeks. the few that did simply said "decided to cut it off..."

[judih]

Wild bill had a good look. so i say trim it, sell it on e-bay or donate it to locks of love for some secret balding fan who would adore her hunk of l-rod. make someone else privy to the l-rod hair experience.
besides, less hair can be a huge high. think of the head shaking rockin ahead.

but in the end, it's not about wild bill or altruism, it's about what feels right to you. if the question is coming up, that's already an indication that you're thinking of a redesign.

always ready to hear ruminations...

[Lightning Rod]

I think I've told this story before
but when I was locked up I got the usual buzz-cut
I was in the same hotel with David Crosby
he had a buzz-cut too

Cros got out before me
when he left, he had the same buzz-cut
about two weeks later, I saw him on TV
he had hair down to his shoulders again
it was a cosmetic miracle

maybe I should just get a buzz-cut and then a weave
get hair like John Edwards or Elvis or Ron Reagan
it might help me in the next election

[mtmynd]

or get a 'doo like chris dobbs. strange looking, ain't it?

[jimboloco]

No way, man
be like Mr Natural!
Keep on truckin!

I always wanted long hair.
When it grows out,
it curls up like Ace Ventura.

The way I see it,
if you are stoned it doesn't matter.

How much for an original L-Rod toupee?
I got a bald spot up thar.
I had a prescription for Rogaine,
but I put it on my chest!
har har har.

I say you weave it, man,
or worse, go like Joe DIRT
mercy

[Arcadia]

it´s totally personal...!! do what you want!!
I like the way long hair fits in you!!

[Tagamemnon]

don't cut it
shave it
right down to the skull
rub those bony fingers
over your bald pate
feel the bumps
read the secret story of your life
rediscover your self
tell us all about the new you

or....
don't

[stilltrucking]

A haircut is a major decision. I would not rush into it clay.

Last time I had really long hair was because my girlfriend liked it long. When she had to move on I cut it because I did not have the patience to take care of it. I suppose I am not as narcissistic as I used to be.

When I was in high school it took me forty five minutes to comb my hair.
I had a johnny unitas crew cut, my hair was only about a 1/2 inch long. But every hair had to be perfectly in place.

[e_dog]

don't cut it. you'll regret it. if you aren't sure, stay with your hair. not easy to regrow fast. cutting is easy.

if you do tho, donate them threads for cancer wigs or sumthin.

[WIREMAN]

i got 2 words to say....."crew cut"

[joel]

lrod--
you've seen my head, so you know my feelings on bald-is-beautiful...
but i dream of having hair again,
not that it's a conscious fantasy, but i am conscious
about three days after a shave
that at twenty-six
just like at twenty-one
and eighteen
and sixteen
that i couldn't grow hair if i tried--
and i've vowed against the comb-over
and i've vowed against minimal effect highless-drugs-for-life
and i've vowed against glue
and i'm aware that a weave only works with something to weave into
(but i do think there will be a gray-head bald-man ponytail in my future)...
i can't imagine having the hair and then not having it there.
in my the waning years of my hirsute life
(which coincided with the wisdom of middle-
and high-school male adolescence)
i had a scater cut and a mohawk
and my hair was red orange blue or brassy
but once it left, it ain't never comed back.
bald is beautiful
but i figure nature will take away
the hair when it don't belong there anymore;
why not keep it till then
because you never know if this might be the last time you face the option...
but if you do decide to cut
or rather raze,
might i suggest the ladies' blades?
razors designed to slip around knees and thighs
surpass the guys' flat-cheek and strong-jaw slicers--
and wear sunglasses against the glare.
viel spass!

[mistertroll]

So, what did you do (or not).


I just can't see you without your hair, because I never have.

If you know what I mean.