(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/1.8, 1/40, ISO 200)
That will be the closest picture you will ever get of me on this blog... ever!
Okay, I lie. Does it count as April Fools even though the post was made well after 12 PM and on a different day for that matter? Even if it was meant for April 1st? Damnit. Probably not.
In any case, today turned out to be my last haircut with my barber. He's retiring and has already sold his house. Only three people have cut my hair in my life. My dad, my oldest brother, and the husband (whom I have only known as Mr. Szeto) of a couple who had been cutting my parents' hair for twenty years; pretty much since I was born. I had known Mr. Szeto when I was a child - my parents used to bring me to their house when I was about 4 or 5 whenever they had their hair done. I remember I used to stare at their fish tank and run around in the basement, which had been turned into an ad-hoc barber shop/hair salon. He had a successful hairstyle business back in Hong Kong, and decided to continue it to some extent once he moved to Canada. For about a decade, I never saw him again, until my brother was no longer able to cut my hair. My dad brought me back to him. Some things never change, minus the removal of the fish tank. That was about five years ago, when I first started getting my hair cut with him. My gut told me to bring my camera with me today, but I opted not to and pretty much regretted it once I heard the news. One of those shots that got away. Alas, in lieu of no pictures, I suppose it's story time then... about my hair.
Pretty much until I got into High School and even for a bit after that, my haircuts were the simple 'just cut it thin'. It took about 15 years for me to make the switch to "leave a little bit of the front out". Other than that, my hair has pretty much been the same. Coincidentally, I imagine around the same time that I made the decision to actually do something with my hair - spend about 30 seconds with it after showering with the blow dryer blowing my hair straight up. Yeah. Whilst everyone else was gelling, perming, dyeing pink, and doing all sorts of other crazy shit with their hair, it took me several years to decide to blow-dry it up. Despite all this my hairstyle has as become somewhat of a recognizable trademark (I think).
My friend Betty once remarked how the height of my hair is an indicator of my mood, with the higher it being reflecting the more content that I was. I guess to some extent that could be true, though I would probably be first in line to suggest not relying on it as a scientific means of measurement. Generally I like to compare the growth of my hair to that of a growing plant. Soon after it's cut, it shoots straight up for about a week or two, at which point it splits and "opens" up, such that it can no longer stand up on its own and takes the form of a curvy 'm' instead. Then it's off to the barber again! The cycle occurs about every 4 - 6 weeks, although in this case, it'll be a new barber.
I'll miss Mr. Szeto. I never really got to know him well due to a language barrier (side note: I am totally not fluent in Cantonese or Mandarin), but in spite of this he always had my hair looking the way I wanted it. He was definitely a cut above the rest.
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