Friday, May 22, 2009

Humidity and Hippies and Hermione

Apparently my fair city is once again in the top five bad hair cities in the country. The main factor viewed for this designation is humidity and rainfall, but I think the hippie factor plays in pretty powerfully here too. Anytime you live in a city where showering, shaving and washing your hair are not only optional, but opting out of them sends some kind of political statement, well, you can bet that high fashion is not going to follow your regular man (or woman or some transgender combination of the two) on the street.

I have loved my long hair (I've only revisited this look for the last couple of years); when it is combed I really feel like myself for maybe the first time ever when I look in the mirror. WHEN IT IS COMBED. Four very important words. Today I look a bit like Hermione Granger.
No, no, not adorable Emma Watson on the red carpet at the latest Harry Potter premiere.



Hermione Granger. Circa Hogwarts year one. I couldn't find a single picture to really do her mop justice. I think this first must have been for the press shoot and is practically tame.
This next one looks a bit more like they gave her 100 strokes with the horsehair brush. Still, the Hermione I really see in my mind is the one that tells Ron and Harry to sneak into the library at Christmas time to read books in the restricted section. Or when she is trying to tell Ron how to pronounce Wingardium Leviosa! (Incidentally, if you Google search that last term, there are videos and pictures of people actually doing magic. Amazing.)
And here is the close up. You know, this could have actually been be at age 12. The hand raised, the earnest expression, the know-it-all answer-girl, the lack of friends, and, oh, yes, the bushy hair. Now I'm all naturally bushy. I had a perm in 1987. What I wouldn't give to do THAT year again! After all, who didn't love the 7th grade?

On the upside, my own look is not nearly as bad as the wig that is modeled on Hermione. This child is going to one day hunt down and murder her parents for agreeing to let her pose in this thing:

So, a ponytail it will have to be. Though I've been told recently that a ponytail is not actually a substitute for showering. Sorry Emma and all you fellow Eugene-ites!



7 comments:

Unknown said...

When I was 13, my parents were considering a career move to Eugene. Mom told us that we were going to have to embrace the mold that would live in our closets, because really, with all that rain, things just never dry out.
Truth? or Fiction?
Also, it could be MUCH MUCH worse for you... you could have baby fine and thin hair in a humid climate. Love your locks.

chris w said...

We should compare middle school pics one day. *shudder* I definitely feel for you. That is just one reason I love living in the desert (except for static in the hair).
Hey, at least you fit in with your neighbors. :)

Amy T. said...

I'm also trying to make it back to myself with long hair. It's so tough, but we're just over the shoulders now and living in dead-end land. Strange natural curling in random spots has only gotten worse after four pregnancies, and I've got more hair than any hairdresser I've ever met has ever seen. I remember spending 5+ hours at the beauty school by Fashion Gal in North Ogden to get my hair permed as a kid.

Funny how in my twenties, I cut it off into a Mom-do because I was grown-up and now in my thirties, I say screw being grown-up, I want to be myself.

Sunnie said...

oh i love harry. i can't wait for july. and i think houston ranks right up there for bad hair cities. it is horrible some days.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock said...

I'm still laughing at the look on that creepy wig model's face. You're the best!

chicagosapps said...

Here we have both problems--incredibly humid summers that make my curly locks even more wild, and cold cold winters that cause static-y hair. And I say a ponytail is a great substitute for a shower.

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