Hair today, gone tomorrow

Today is a self-imposed isolation day. It's technically the day when my immune system is the lowest, so I'll be Internet shopping and reading and, big surprise, sleeping. On the whole, I feel pretty good. Thanks to Marlene, I tried some Maalox with dinner yesterday and knocked out the nasty heartburn problem I've been having. Sometimes you just need someone to point out the obvious.

I have a couple of random points of interest I would like to bullet here. They aren't really worth a full blog in and of themselves, but are definitely worth a mention.

1. I love Craigslist. (We found a new tv for $80, and the guy threw in a stereo system to boot.)
2. Vegan cookies don't suck. I accidentally bought one yesterday (they look so normal!) and began to eat it with minor disdain. But it was pretty good. Major apologies to Jen and Jessica, my vegan cousins.
3. If you like going to craft fairs, check out this website which sells people's crafty things www.etsy.com. Definitely worth a surf.
4. I have developed a new empathy for the gastrointestinal issues of the older members of our society. So, next time an old man unabashedly passes gas right next to me in public, I will not hold my breath in disgust but breathe in with solidarity and rip one right with him.


There. I feel better getting those things off my chest.

Finally, I would like to raise some thoughts about men vs. women. Now, I am in the camp that believes that men and women are equal in their humanity but that they are not the same. I am not a guy, and I don't think like a guy. Case in point: hair loss. I have found that there is vastly different reaction from men and women when I talk about losing my hair. They guys typically say, "It'll grow back," and offer to shave their heads too. The woman react by offering to buy me cranial prosthesis (wigs) and talking about the ways to still look pretty, etc, etc. They know that even if one isn't a glamor girl, that hair loss is traumatic. Femminity has traditionally been tied to hair through the ages. A woman's hair symbolizes her beauty and fertility. When Justin and I went to the medieval torture museum in Germany, there were several displays on the torture of unchaste women. Can you guess what is one of the first things they did to punish and shame the unchaste woman? They shave her head. I could go on and cite literature and history and whatnot, but I won't. And just because we have in many ways made leaps and bounds in gender equity in the past century and we've burned our bras and made it on occasion to be ceo's and presidential nominees, that doesn't mean that we don't love our hair, or that our femininity isn't judged on it. Remember the hulabaloo when Britney shaved her head? Or the political pundits who discuss Hilary's new hairstyle. It definitely matters.

So, what's my point? I guess it is just this. Guys, I know that somewhere deep down you've been mentally preparing yourselves for baldness since you were teenagers. I realize that you can shave your heads and it be grown back to your normal length in mere weeks. And I can understand that there are probably parts of a female that you appreciate more than our tresses. But our hair is important to us. So the next time your lady spends a little too much at the salon, swallow your comments and just tell her how pretty she looks.

And we'll tell you we don't even notice that saucer sized bald spot on the back of your head. :)