Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Off with her dreads

I've had dreadlocks for over three years, and I've been psyching myself up for a while now to cut them off. I really liked them, loved them even, but they were often a pain and impossible to make look respectable (not that that's a look I often go for). And I missed being able to have fingers run through my hair (my fingers or someone else's), plaits (although it will take a while before I can do that), and dying my hair (the colour never took on the dreads). I couldn't cut my dreads off before now, because then it would look like I was just cutting them as soon as I stopped being a student, and I don't for a minute believe that to have a good research or academic position I shouldn't have dreads. But, I don't know, I guess it was just time.

So, here I am before the deed.

We decided that of course it would be hilarious to have a dreadlock mullet. I mean, who can resist a mullet?


The worst bit was unknotting the stubs of dreads that we'd kept. Oh but what a fantastic hairstyle it created.


The next day I went to the hairdresser's and said: "I just cut off my dreads. What can you do with this?". As much as I dislike short hair on me, I'm rather impressed with what she managed. Not that you can really see it in this photo. It's kind of a bright red choppy short bob.


I don't know what to do with the dreads. At the moment they're in a Trader Joe's bag in the boot of my car. D wants me to donate them to rastafarian cancer patients, but I can't really see them wanting them. I might sew some of them (there's 77 of them!!!) to my rasta hat to wear to parties. Or, instead of telling people I've cut them, I could just send a dread to them in an envelope. But I'm not sure that I know 77 people who would appreciate that.

It's so weird. I can't stop playing with my hair. And a few people have failed to recognise me, which is amusing.

I'm kind of missing them.

Also, sorry I haven't posted for a while, but I just hadn't gotten organised with the photos, and having cut my hair on Friday it didn't seem right to blog about anything else in the meantime.

R.

posted by flying kiwi @ 10:41 PM