A Hairy Exploration of my Past

So, I am ready to admit it. I need help. Big help. I need a drastically different look on top of my big ol' head, and I am not sure what look to go for. Short? Long? Middle length? Light? Dark? Red? Hmm, the possibilities are astounding.

Most of my life I have had long hair. In fact, I think I was just born with long hair.

Okay, maybe not. But it is true that most of my life I have had long hair, and I can tell you the reason why: Once upon a time I was a little girl getting my hair trimmed by my mother in her bathtub. I asked my mother if she could cut my hair, because I thought it was time for a change and wanted short hair. Her reply, which has stuck with me my whole life, was, "No, because then you will look like a boy. Boys like girls with long hair, not short hair like them."

Since I was quite a tomboy when I was younger, I figured I had to keep my hair long, since that was the only way that someone would be able to identify me as pertaining to the female gender. That and I just got used to myself with long hair, so I always kept it.

In high school I started experimenting with colors and cuts. For some of my high school years I went through a pop-punk phase where I highlighted my hair blond on the top, and then dyed the underneath hair darker.

You can't really see it in this picture, but just trust me--it was tight. (I think that was the "cool" word when I was in high school- "That's so tiiight...")

You can also see my punk-rockishness in my dark smoky eye make up. Tight.

But anyways, as I got older I started to experiment with darker hair (as dark as my mother would let me, that is).

Over time, though, my hair started to get more and more red in it. I think this was a by-product of the dye process which somehow extracted the natural red undertones that my hair always had (oooh--that sounds all scientific like I know what I am talking about, doesn't it? Don't believe me--I don't have any idea what I am saying).

Basically, though, my hair turned red--as you can see in this lovely series of very attractive photographs:

Don't judge me--you're allowed to be goofy when you are swinging on a basket swing in the park, right? Right.

ANYWAY, then I got married. And got super brave about doing drastic things to my hair.

First I got it cut short short short.

Shorter than I ever had it before. I had someone at church tell me that it looked so much better this way and that short was definitely "my look". I am sure she was trying to be nice, but it just came across a little bit weird since the whole 10 years she had known me before I had only had long hair. But it's cool. I just brushed it off and forgot about it, obviously.

Then I dyed it dark dark dark!

Darker than I ever had it before. (Can you believe that is Katie's natural hair color?? It is absolutely amazing!)

Well, since then I have let it grow out and just turn back to my natural color of nasty, pasty, pukey brown.

So what should I do now? I really liked short hair because it was easy, dried really quickly, and didn't leave long strands everywhere that clogged up drains and vacuums. But I feel like short hair makes my face looks square and blocky. On the other hand, when I think of myself, I always picture long hair. It's just what I have always had. But long hair can just look long, stringy and dingy sometimes.

So now you see my predicament. Maybe I will just get that boy cut after all, so I can forget all of this nonsense! Seriously, boys have it way easier...