21 February 2010

It's like a mood ring...

...on my head.

Per Ky's request, I will jot down a "tiny" blog about my hair.

I have been dying it since I was 14. My hair has ROY G BIV pretty much covered: ranging from platinum blonde to violet-tinted black, with some strawberry-blonde & neon green (well, it glowed neon green under florescent lighting...) thrown in for good measure.

You see, when I was 11, my sister was diagnosed with Cancer & I spent the next 9yrs working with children with cancer & their siblings. I realized at a relatively young age that hair really doesn't hold much value in the grand scheme of things. I had moments where I would have been fine shaving it off, honestly. But I never did. The one thing I could do was give it its rightful place as an "accessory" in my life, rather than a staple.

That said, I ended up with an addiction. To hair colour. Sad, eh?

But it's fun! Basically, my hair changes with my mood. Thus the title of this post, haha. I'm so witty!

I went a few years in my mid-twenties with my natural colour, but then I went to see the movie Troy. Ang & I were running late (my fault) to meet Graison at the theatre, I hadn't looked into a mirror all day & my vanity got a hold of me, so I did a quick check. My hair was about 2-4 inches long & it was raining that day... I literally felt like I had a Q-tip on my head when I left for the movie! 3hrs later, immediately after the film ended, Ang & I ran to the bathroom and as I was washing my hands there it was: A GRAY PATCH. what??? I blame Brad Pitt.

So after a couple months of "the patch", I broke down and dyed it - a really dark brown, the darkest my hair had ever been. And I loved it! Every 6wks or so, I would dye it a new shade of brown & the shades were so obviously different from one another that the ladies in the back of the church would play the "I wonder what Steph's hair will look like THIS week" game - all in good fun, of course! :)

I found that I really liked having dark hair & eventually found a great colour that I used for a couple years... pretty crazy, eh? And then I moved to Ireland. After 6months of RAIN, RAIN & oh wait! MORE RAIN, I needed a change. So I went to my safe place: the hair.

Highlights it was!

Then I moved back to Canada & found a stylist with reasonable rates who was willing to give me the violet-black I decided I wanted. And I kept that for a whole 6months or so, until I moved to the Carolinas...

Apparently, the sun & the heat got to me & I went back to blonde. For 6months.

See a pattern? Or two?

Last month, I went into the salon not knowing whether to keep the blonde or go back to black... I decided that if I can't decide, then I'll make a drastic change. wow. That says a lot about my personality right there!

But after only a couple weeks as a brunette, I am learning that it's not only the moods that determine my hair colour, it's also the weather. I went back to black after several months of cold, gray, wet (& tiny bits of snowy) weather. I associate cold with brunette in my head, apparently.

But what I have learned in the past month is that warm, humid sunshine brings out the blonde in me for several reasons: easier upkeep - the sunshine (& chlorine from pools) wreaks havoc on the black hair, the humidity is really bad on my scalp (weird, eh?) and black hair just magnifies any flakes & makes me paranoid, and to be honest, blonde looks better with a tan - something I do not have right now, so black is okay for a while.

So, in conclusion, I have multiple personalities that can all be found in the colour of my hair!

Apparently, Canadian Steph is a brunette, Irish Steph is split-personality & Carolina Steph is a blonde, experimental Steph is neon green, insecure Steph is a redhead, and happy Steph bounces between blonde & black, depending on location (see above).

Unlike most people, I don't colour my hair because I want to feel better... I colour my hair because I feel good & want to express my happiness.

And there's a little more SS psychoanalysis than you expected! You're welcome :)


(this month's shade)

Love,
SS

19 February 2010

Timing is everything

So it's been over a month since I last posted and I have wanted to post at LEAST 5 times in the interim... as you can tell, that hasn't happened.

In the past month, I have*:
1. dyed my hair back to black (temporarily - it will more than likely be blondish by summer)
2. been to a secret concert**
3. "enjoyed" the enlightening experience of reading Judith Butler (aka the reason for weekends filled with suicidal thoughts)
4. had a migraine-turned muscle spasm-turned strained muscle-turned tension headache that lasted over a week
5. learned how to WIKI
6. visited (& decided to volunteer at) an urban sustainable farm, located within the Columbia city-limits
7. made GREAT strides in my dissertation topic (WOOT!)
8. seen an Ansel Adams exhibit
9. received my official letter of offer from the University of Haute-Alsace inviting me to teach English this coming school year in Mulhouse, France, and
10. seen New Moon, Leap Year & When in Rome in theatres (I see a theme... hmm...)

but you know what I actually made it onto Failte to tell blogland? Things I never thought I would say:

It feels SO GOOD to have a clean house***!

Today, I bought my very first ever real vacuum cleaner - not one of those dirt devil hand vacs & not one that someone lent me or that came with the house (in Ireland). It was on sale and my carpets were gross & I have classmates coming over tomorrow, so I figured "now is as good a time as any". So I got home with my vacuum and immediately set to work. First, I piled all my crap from my floor onto my bed, then I vacuumed my bedroom. It made me so happy, and the vacuum is for hard surfaces, too, so I semi-vacuumed my bathroom, because I could! Then I put all the stuff on my bed into their respective homes. Then I went into my bathroom and cleaned it (not spotless, but decent). THEN, I went into the kitchen and put away my dishes, washed the dirty ones by hand & scrubbed down the counters. THEN, I cleaned the stove top, WHAT? I even pulled out the burners & washed those under-burner thingys****. Then I vacuumed the living-dining room.

I set up the DVD player to make sure it would work, seeing as that's why classmates are coming. We have to watch a "potentially" uncomfortable film on gender theory for discussion on Monday, yay. And after all that, I got to dusting my bedroom furniture.

Most of you who know me probably think I've been possessed by some cleaning fairy or something, and I totally understand! I wasn't cleaning to avoid homework (like I usually do) and I wasn't cleaning to make a good impression - although trying to avoid being judged by my classmates was an ignition for the entire experience, it did not motivate the entirety of my work. More like 20%. And I was SMILING as I cleaned, WHAT??? :)

So yeah, of all the adventures I've had since my last post, THIS is what you get!

Love you all ~
SS

*If you would like to hear more about any of the listed items, please let me know & I will actually write something in detail. I may get around to them eventually, but it's doubtful that I'll get around to it unless someone is actually interested.

**the link to the secret concert is the story told my by friend & classmate, Lydia. She is a HUGE fan (he's kinda like her Jason Mraz) and she told it so well, I would not have been able to do my experience any greater justice. I will state a few minor differences between our stories: I found out through twitter, I arrived just before they let us in, as the people were chanting "LET US IN" and tweeting JM saying "we're outside, please let us in!" (or variations of that plea) & news cameras shining in my face, I actually liked the 'stage condom', & WHOAH can that man make a tat sleeve sexy!

***Lydia, no inspections when you get here, haha! I have already noticed several things that need addressed, but I'm tired. I truly believe that the reason why I avoid cleaning so much is because I am a perfectionist & once I get started cleaning one thing, I notice every other little thing & they drive me crazy!!! How's that for an excuse? :)

****I have cleaned them before... fyi...