Birthdays, Barbershops, and Baghdad

Hair. Must be talked about, stewed upon, and agonized over. I've worn my husband out with my hair woes, agonies, and desires for opinions, so now I must blog. Hair in Portland takes on a whole new personality. What you think you've done to it at home you can pretty much forget about it when you walk out into what is affectionately known as the "Oregon dew." In my case, it curls. So, for the last five years the nice, tidy stacked bob I've sported is now becoming more of a poof head tragedy. In light of this I've decided to grow it out. So far, this has been a painful process. Without enough hair for a ponytail and not little enough for a short styled cut I'm left in hair limbo agonizing over how to handle this new found CURLY hair that asserts itself despite my best intentions. So, with dreams of long wavy brown locks I persevere. Any encouragements? Hair stories or woes? For the sake of my marriage I must find an outlet. Hair. Hair. Hair. Oh, so back to those long wavy brown locks. I decided yesterday that what better way to celebrate my birthday (Yes, 33 years, scary) than to get a trim. I had what turned out to be quite a cool hair experience. I went to Rudy's Barbershop (check it out @ http://www.rudysbarbershop.com/), and got a wannabe comedian/writer cut my hair for half the price I usually pay. Turns out he used to cut hair for $175 in LA. He was awesome. So, with Camel cigarettes and candy bars behind the counter Rudy's has a unique West Coast 'hipster' feel. Mike, my barber (or more accurately stylist), told me fantastic stories about his life in LA. The best one was his account of the "AIR CUT." Haven't heard of it? Nor had I, but then I've never lived in LA. Apparently, the AIR CUT is for women who are convinced they need a haircut- even if it has only been two weeks- and demand that the stylist cut their hair to "freshen it up." So, for $175 the stylist will fake a haircut by pulling the hair and doing some dramatic snip, snip with his scissors. Crazy. So Mike and I began pontificating on beauty and what sort of delusions folks will stir up in order to convince themselves they have it. Caroline, long hair? Perhaps I, too, am deluded. Time and humidity will tell.

So, my birthday celebration continued with a coveted night out with Jason. We saw a great movie which I recommend (very intense and sad, though) called The Valley of Elah. Part of what made the movie fun was seeing it at the Baghdad theater, a renovated 1920's theater that lets you eat and drink beer while you watch a $3 movie. Check it out at http://www.mcmenamins.com/index.php?loc=9&id=176.

So, happy birthday to me and here's to long hair :).