Tuesday, September 26, 2006

only your hairdresser and whoever happens to stumble across your blog know for sure

So, I got my hair cut yesterday and, while I was at it, had it dyed as well. This is not my first time messing with God's intended palette for my pate. I did this hideous half-bleached-half-brown thing to my head when I was a freshman in college, and I dyed it various at least not intendedly unnatural looking shades of brownish-red a few times in graduate school. But this is the first time I dyed my hair specifically because I was tired of seeing the increasing number of gray hairs in the mirror and feeling the generalized geriatric-je-ne-sais-quoi these provoked. I know that there is a hundredstrong chorus out there who think that I have reached the point in My Recession where I should start shaving my head, but instead I've resolved to hang onto but re-hue what I have left.

According to the stylist, what I did strictly speaking was called "color camouflage," which is some technique that is supposed to blend in and appear completely natural. The color she chose seemed darker than my nongray hair actually is, and I left the salon suspecting I looked a wee too much Professor Goth for my tastes. This was confirmed this morning when I came into the office and the program assistant from twenty feet away said, "Hi, Jeremy. Hey, you got a haircut. And, wait, did you dye it black?"

I have a Very Important Talk to give in November. If I decide to continue down this path, I might retain the services of a more expensive colorist before it, just to avoid the appearance that I've taken a break from my Cure cover band to come speak.

14 comments:

tina said...

I fully support your dying your hair unnatural colors.

Yeah, I know, big surprise there.

Anonymous said...

Pictures please !!

Anonymous said...

where's the VIT?

dorotha said...

your hair color will probably fade to something more normal by the end of the week. i know that the red dye is still washing out of mine from dying my hair last week.

Ang said...

So Astrid, I guess that means you are Jeremy had a thing once, and you were scorned?

Anonymous said...

The thing to avoid is dyeing your eyebrows black to match the new hair color — the 'Death in Venice' look is a no-no.
But don't shave your head! Try growing out your beard (neatly trimmed) and see how that looks. A bit of salt and pepper there will give you professorial gravitas and divert attention from your dome.

Anonymous said...

First, I can't believe you would post this and not offer up some photos. (Maybe some of that dye seeped into your head and you lost focus.)
Second, I think I know what the VIT refers to and I would like to clarify that it is not a VIT, it is simply a T. You're all about confusing us today, aren't you?

jeremy said...

Okay, Absolut, correct on both fronts.

jeremy said...

AJ: I appreciate your, um, support, and I won't go dying my hair or parts thereof magenta.

Anon: To my knowledge, I have no gray in my beard yet.

tina said...

at close to 40, he's far too long in the tooth for it.

That hurts my magenta-stripe-headed soul, astrid jane.

Anonymous said...

Oh, go gray! Harvard can use a little Memento Mori.

Anonymous said...

I always thought that, to an extent, features of people's appearances always look ridiculous if the person takes it really seriously as a part of her/his identity. I know that looks are big part of people's identity, but I think the whole "look at me, I'm edgy!" thing is lame at any age. It's like the guy who always wears a bandana, ironically or not. We get it. You're the bandana guy.

Anonymous said...

If there's no gray in the beard yet, streak it in.

Anonymous said...

Hey - will your hair still be black for the Very Important Discussion (VID; as a discussant) you have scheduled for Thursday? I'll take pictures...