(no subject)
last night I boarded the subway with an articulated life-size model of a human spine and hips (and part of the legs). I had brought it along to show it to morninghood at the Burren though I ended up not going.
on the other side I saw a woman, about fifty, wearing a mushroom-shaped hat, black with white lace, like a stovepipe hat turned upside down. on one wrist she wore a homemade bracelet made from brown chess pieces. on the other she wore a bracelet made from off-white chess pieces and also another bracelet made from Scrabble tiles. it reminded me of an abacus, a pre-industrial age computer. she also had large wooden home-carved earings. all her clothes belonged to the spectrum of earth tones: ivory, off-white, beige, black. she even had hair that matched.
I sidled over to her and asked her about the acoutrements. thought she had maybe just performed somewhere. no, she said in a neutral tone, she dresses that way all the time.
last Tuesday ago I shaved most of my head. though people on the street find me less attractive this way (judging by their body language) I like doing this (once I get over the novelty of it... it concerned me more that I had also cut most of it before shaving, because I like at least part of it long) because when I have conventional hair I can act surly. when I have hair like this I have to make an extra effort not to appear threatening so I smile more, act more open and accepting.
with the legal situation pretty much resolved I have no compelling reason not to cut or shave my hair as I like. not to imply that I shaved as a conscious decision, no, I sort of get drawn into cutting and trimming more and more until often I shave off all of my hair. this time I managed to stop myself before I went all the way.
on the other side I saw a woman, about fifty, wearing a mushroom-shaped hat, black with white lace, like a stovepipe hat turned upside down. on one wrist she wore a homemade bracelet made from brown chess pieces. on the other she wore a bracelet made from off-white chess pieces and also another bracelet made from Scrabble tiles. it reminded me of an abacus, a pre-industrial age computer. she also had large wooden home-carved earings. all her clothes belonged to the spectrum of earth tones: ivory, off-white, beige, black. she even had hair that matched.
I sidled over to her and asked her about the acoutrements. thought she had maybe just performed somewhere. no, she said in a neutral tone, she dresses that way all the time.
last Tuesday ago I shaved most of my head. though people on the street find me less attractive this way (judging by their body language) I like doing this (once I get over the novelty of it... it concerned me more that I had also cut most of it before shaving, because I like at least part of it long) because when I have conventional hair I can act surly. when I have hair like this I have to make an extra effort not to appear threatening so I smile more, act more open and accepting.
with the legal situation pretty much resolved I have no compelling reason not to cut or shave my hair as I like. not to imply that I shaved as a conscious decision, no, I sort of get drawn into cutting and trimming more and more until often I shave off all of my hair. this time I managed to stop myself before I went all the way.