Cassidy
Niece Cassidy was born in August 1994. While she waited a little while to start talking, she demonstrated an early understanding of human attention. She's a skillful social animal.
She's multitalented and unafraid - writing, art, music, fashion - she likes to show what she can do. I expect that to last in her.
She put my hair up in that topknot above - she played with my hair that day and reminded me about it a few times afterwards. That gave me an idea that she might enjoy the chance to get serious and give me real hair styling.
In the Fall of 2003, I asked her to give me a haircut. It was her first time chopping human hair. Nine may be young, her fingers were small for the scissors. But I figured she wouldn't poke my eye out, ears heal from small cuts, and any aesthetic damage she did would grow out. Really, I thought it would be awesome to see how this young woman would style me! Short, it turns out, fun! and a bit rough around the edges:
She kept my hair in a baggie afterwards, for an Annie Oakley puppet she's making she said:
Verdict? Solid short cut, but noticeably uneven. She had the shortest attention span of any barber I've ever had. But she did a fantastic job, considering it was her first effort. She smiled and laughed plenty, between her intent moments. I've gotten haircuts from punk rockers who left my hair more shaggy.
When she was done she sat back and asked if she could make my hair purposefully weird. I was intrigued - obviously she'd worked to do something nice here, but she had other ideas. What would that be like? I asked.
I would cut all the hair off from up here, she signalled to her forehead. And I would make a bunch of bald spots in back.
I must admit it was a strange thought - a blank forehead up to my hairline, with regular hair behind. It reminded me immediately of Bjork's rather advanced hair when I saw her last. Maybe Cassidy is my ticket to cutting-edge hair! This is hair play - a vision for radical style from a young woman fond of extensive short stories about princesses with cloned parents. I told her we might give it a shot when the weather starts getting warm again.
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