How I got 80's hair (again)

I've been putting off getting a haircut almost since the day we arrived. I dread them even in the States. I seem to lack the gene that enables one to talk about hair. When stylists ask "How much should I take off? Do you want it chunked or layered?" I want to say "I don't know! Just fix it so I don't look stupid!" Sadly, we often fall short of even that modest goal.

So I was really scared to get a cut in Jakarta, but a week or two ago my I just couldn't stand my limp, shapeless hair anymore. I went to the salon on the first floor of our old hotel because it was close and cheap.

Before the cut, we had to get through a lengthy negotiation over Reza-the-stylist's proposal that Chad and I buy a hotel down the street. I knew it wouldn't work to explain that we aren't rich, or that we would probably be the worst hotel owners in history.

"Foreigners can't own property in Indonesia!" I finally pointed out, with an air of triumph.

"Oh, you can put it in my name," he said, right on cue.

Anyway, when we got to the actual cut, things seemed to start off well - Reza was snipping along in a way that suggested competence, and he didn't scrape the comb painfully across my ears (another reason I hate haircuts). At one point my hair looked really looked great. But maybe he was waiting for a signal to stop, because he just kept going till the style was somewhere between Early Annie Lennox and Contemporary Drill Sergeant. It's only a little longer than the buzzcuts I used to get as a summer-camp counselor in 1988, when I lived in a tent and washed my hair at the water pump every morning.

It was a bit of a jolt, going that short. But actually I kind of like it now. I don't spike it out the way Reza's doing here (he's trying to earn his extra $2 "styling" charge). I just wear it a little messy. The sides look all bald in the picture, but Chad assures me they're not in real life.

Anyway, it'll certainly be a cooler style for this hot, sticky clime. And now I won't face the horror of another haircut for a really long time!

p.s. - Dan Gorenstein, if you happen to be reading this, I will brook no Flock of Seagulls jokes at this time. No.