I think my hair is sentient. I went out to the drugstore specifically to buy magazines on hairstyles, planning to find a hairdresser and cut this heap off. I cut off five inches at the end of February, and the whole thing seems to have grown back already, although I know that's impossible: hair only grows a half an inch a month. Still, it's well below my shoulders again, and blows around into my face unless I keep it back in a ponytail or a chignon all the time, and what's the point of that? I might as well hack it off to some sensible length.
John doesn't care what I do to my hair. He's seen it go through more styles, colours, and cuts than Linda Evangalista's hair (ob. model ref.), and he always smiles and says, "That looks good." Lovely man, my husband. Most men have a knee-jerk reaction to a woman saying she's cutting her hair. They always think they like longer hair better than shorter, and maybe they do, but it's not their hair, is it? Anyway, I no sooner went out and blew $12 on hairstyle magazines than my hair began to behave. It's now waving gently, fluffing out at the crown without having to be blown dry, and looking very glossy. I can't quite work up the urge to cut it when it's looking this nice.
I have to say, I didn't really find what I wanted in the style magazines. Most of the hairdos are very "piece-y", sort of pomaded into chunks and lanky bits. Think Jenny McCarthy hair. Er, no, wait. Don't think of Jenny McCarthy. Think any of the Friends girls. That's "piece-y" hair. Definitely not me. I prefer to look tidy. Also, let's be real: I am not going to put goop in my hair to achieve a style. It's going to have to do it all by itself based on cut and condition.
Of course, there's another issue underlying the hair thing. My hair is silvery grey in front. Truly. I'm talking all over, not streaks. If I go with short hair, the coloured ends will be cut off and the grey will show and I'll look my age, which is sort of terrifying to a baby-faced woman who's always revelled in looking 10 years younger.
Anyway, the hair stays, for now. I think it knows.