I cut my hair

So yeah... later on the day I returned the Wii, I chopped off about 12 inches of my flowing red locks of hair! Well I can't actually say that I cut it, my buddy in the department is pretty good with a set of electric clippers, so he did the cutting. It was a pretty huge extravaganza! I invited a bunch of people over to watch the football game on my new tv and participate in the removal of two years worth of hair growth. I was a little disappointed with how many people actually showed up. I invited nearly 85 people and had less than 10 show up. Admittedly I sent the invitations out with fairly short notice and through Facebook, which may not have been the best way even if it was the easiest. I think I figured out today that FB doesn't make the invite very easy to spot since most people have their email notifications turned to the least invasive setting, so maybe people just didn't hear about it. But I did have a moment or two where I wondered how many real friends I actually have, and I was saddened by where my thoughts led me. I don't have very close friends anymore, at least none that are close by and able to participate in events like this. I'm getting old, all of my best friends from years past are all grownups with wives and children now, and I haven't done a good job of building new friendships that are as strong as the old ones. I feel like I'm getting better about that though, so that's good. And the people that did show up, I think that they could all become really good friends, if they aren't already. The biggest problem is that most, if not all, of them are only temporary residents of the area. In a year or two they'll all move away and I'll be right back in the same lonely situation... although I'll probably have a lot more places to stay when I go on vacation across the country :)

Back on topic... We watched the first half of the game and then it was time to say goodbye. I sat down on a stool in the kitchen and they proceeded to put my hair into about a dozen little pigtails, each one about 10" long... then came the big cut! The first tail to go was just above my right eye. My buddy leaned over me and asked, "Are ya rrreeady?!" I told him I was and he started to cut into it. The cut didn't quite feel like I had expected. I thought it would go in one swift clip, but instead he had to cut at it 4 or 5 times to get all the way through the first tail. I smiled like a dear in headlights the whole time... periodically making forced laughter.

It really didn't affect me as much as I expected it to. I thought I would cry about it, but it happened and I felt good about it. I had some killer razor burn on the back of my neck for about a day and a half... and generally my neck and ears are a lot colder now. I'm sure I'll regret this throughout the winter, but what the hell.

and I'm a little worried that the loss of my ponytail has screwed with my balance and I won't be able to turn as well for a while...

there are many pictures of the entire process and even a video on facebook... if you're not already my friend, add me to see them.