Friday, February 04, 2005
in a purple haze
So...I love my purple hair. But for the most part my reasons are unrelated to whether it looks good or not. I love the way people react to me when my hair has very obviously been dyed a very unnatural colour, seemingly overnight.
I get a lot of double-takes. Those are fun just because they make people look like cartoons. Some people are overpolite to me, maybe because they assume I'm a bit of a loose cannon and they had better treat me with a modicum of respect unless I try something funny. The guy at the library today was SUPER nice and accomodating. Other people react with something close to revulsion and horror, which just makes me laugh. Others really peer into my eyes, as if looking for some kind of profound answer as to whether I am indeed a no-good little punk, an actual anarchist, or just someone trying to make a fashion statement.
Let me say for the record that with the exception of shunned high school kids, certain gay men, the punk and goth 'communities,' and hairstylists, purple hair is not particularly cool among most of the population in these parts. It may have been cool back before Kurt Cobain committed suicide, but my city these days is a haven for hippies, intellectuals, health nuts, and laid-back hipsters who sip lattes in Yaletown, but not really for people who dye their hair purple for no better reason than because they can. I didn't really do it because I thought it would be trendy. In fact, I was pretty sure that it wouldn't be a trendy thing at all. I don't even really like trends, unless they're Harry Potter. I was actually hoping it might make me a little different from everyone else, and also force me to stop doing what I do best and most often -- intentionally and willingly blending into the walls.
As a result, I feel like the angel fish in the goldfish bowl, and I like it just fine. Until it loses me a job interview, I won't worry about it in the least.
Anyway, this is an annoying, self-absorbed subject which I'd like to change, if it weren't for the fact that I have to be at a birthday party right...now.
It'll have to wait.
Later.
-N
