Somewhere in middle school, I got the idea that I should have long hair – hair down past my shoulders, gathered in a pony tail. I should have long hair, and a long tan trenchcoat, and I should wear sunglasses when the opportunity presented itself.
Also, I wanted to carry a katana under my trenchcoat. I never had a katana, though, to the general relief of the universe.
It’s important to note that I decided all of these things before I’d ever seen an episode of the show Highlander. Nobody I knew even watched the show – it wasn’t popular in middle Tennessee. So, I don’t know how the idea that Duncan MacLeod was the be-all and end-all of men’s fashion entered my system, but there it was.
I liked having long hair. Long hair makes for easy maintenance, provided I didn’t much care how it looked. I like hanging out in the shower, so the extra time required to wash was okay. I kept that hair for about ten years, until, on my way back from China, I decided it was time to look sharper. Job interviews loomed, and the workaday world still isn’t terribly pony-tail friendly. So I went to a good stylist, and got my first short haircut in ten years.
The good surprise was that it looked excellent. The bad surprise was that, with short hair, I need to visit the barber more than once every 10 years or so. I still haven’t nailed this process down. My general grooming strategy is to wait until it looks like I have a tribble growing on my head, then walk into the corner barber’s and say, “Help!” Then, I walk out, humming “C’est moi” from Camelot, because there’s not much better to hum when you know you look awesome.
Nothing like a good haircut to make you feel like you’re ready for battle. And there will be some battles this week, make no mistake.
It’s almost enough to make you want to carry a sword under your trenchcoat.