Weekly Wrap: Authors and their Hair

Okay, before I get to the Weekly Wrap, I have to show you the coolest thing. I got a note earlier this week saying that my 6-word-memoir (yes, six words) was selected for an anthology that’s put out by HarperCollins and Smith Magazine. Maybe Huffington Post is involved, too, though I’m not sure about that.

My six words were: “Mistakenly kills kitten. Fears anything delicate.”

The person who contacted me asked for a bio photo but said she preferred something creative. So I asked my pal, Brian – you can see him in the “3 Trees” link to the right – if he’d draw me. Here’s how to make me cry:

Brian, you are totally and absolutely the coolest!

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Okay, on to the Weekly Wrap. How fun was that to hear stories of all your various hairdos throughout your career. I was ready to show the changes in my hair, but when looking through my photo albums, I discovered I have only had two looks:

Long with bangs (I’m on the right – this was back in college) . . .

(and for some inexplicable reason, I used to powder my face like a geisha)

And currently, medium with bangs (this summer, South Africa) . . .

Here’s a quick little hair story from my college years, and then it’s time for the weekend . . .

I had a date with my professor. We were going to see the play he directed; I didn’t know it was a date until he added, “Wear the red dress.”

I had already said yes, but now was determined not to wear the red dress because…of all the professors I wanted to think of me as hot…he was not one of them. The dress he liked was tight, uncomfortable, and unfortunately the only one clean. My favorite dress was made of denim with a round skirt that came down to my ankles. The hem was frayed. In the summer, I wore nothing underneath. In the winter I wore thermals and combat boots underneath. It suited most occasions, and with tights and smaller boots I made it suit this one.

With my dress still damp from washing it in the sink and then sneaking it into someone else’s dryer at my dorm, I left my room in time to meet him around the corner, as he had requested. I carried a book but forgot my key. (I always carried a book, to look casual and preoccupied because being “non-plussed” was “in” that year.)

My hair was long, down to where my back dipped inward, and when I left my dorm, my hair got caught in the door, and I was locked there. So I read, waving occasionally to people I knew and asking them in a non-plussed way if they knew where the R.A. was.

I was eventually released. And even with the delay, I was nearly on time for the date. When my professor put his hand around my waist, it was damp. He didn’t look proud to be walking with me. I regretted immediately not wearing the red dress, realizing I preferred to blow him off rather than vice versa.

*

Thank you to Neil Gaiman for sharing the history of his hair and just for being Neil Gaiman and making us all swoon.

(Oh, come on. I know you wanted to see that photo again.)

And thanks to all of you who answered the Question of the Week: Simon Haynes, josh kilmer-purcell, Sarah R. Roundell, Ric Marion, mikel k poet, Tish Cohen, Robin Slick, Betsy, *Joe*, Aimee, Lance Reynald, Richard, Kaytie, Aurelio, Carolyn Burns Bass, n.l. belardes, Terry, Juliet, Jason Boog, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Megan, Mark Bastable, Claire Cameron, Alexander Chee, patry, kim teeple, Jon Armstrong, Julie Ann Shapiro, Jordan, viciousrumours, and J.D. Smith.

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Blurry cell phone photo of Sue and Kenny gossiping at House of India last night.

Don’t forget, now, I’m no longer blogging on the weekend, so I’ll see you Monday for another Question of the Week. A few quick things and then I’m off. First of all, thank you to my Indian-food-on-Thursday-nights friends – Kenny, Ritchie, Candy, Mike and Mike and Jim and Jon Rose and Aida, missed you Kathy. And to my Friday Chinese-school folks – I’m bringing donuts tonight, sorry, but you really don’t want me to cook. Thank you to The Beat and Journalista for linking LitPark! And finally – remember I ran a little contest a few weeks back? And remember how Daryl was the first to correctly identify Neil Gaiman’s baby photo? Well, I was planning to post my interview with him today but it became far too interesting and important for such a small space. So as soon as I can shuffle some things around on my blog schedule, you’ll meet Daryl properly. We’ll be talking about bi-polar disorder.