On Cutting My Hair (A Short Story)

DISCLAIMER: This was a true story, in 1992! So you can stop worrying, I haven't cut my hair.

Well after midnight, my tiny apartment in High Park felt like an oven. The heatwave gripping the city continued into the fifth day. I lay naked on top of my sticky sheets trying to feel a breeze through the small window in my bedroom. The fan on my dresser in front of the window pushed waves of muggy air back and forth over my tired, limp, sweaty body. A mass of overpermed hair, contained by an elastic band and an intricate series of barrettes, lay snarled on my sweat-stained pillow. I simply could not cool down. I hauled myself up and headed to the bathroom for another shower. As I padded down the hall, the tiled floor felt cool on my feet. My hair felt heavy piled on top of my sweating head.

I stepped into the shower and turned on the tap without adjusting the temperature. I had turned it to cold earlier in the evening when I got home from work. I didn't even flinch as the water hit me. This was my fourth shower in eighteen hours. I briefly considered the possibility that my rent would be increased due to my over-consumption of electricity and water. Fat chance, I thought. My landlord, Mr. Shang, loved me and hadn't raised my rent in over three years. At only $510 per month, including utilities, my apartment represented a bargain in Toronto's overpriced rental market. I inhabited less than 500 square fee on the top floor of an old house, conveniently located two blocks from the subway.

I considered sleeping in the shower and although it looked big enough to hold four adults standing, I couldn't lie down in the 4' by 4' stall. I reluctantly turned off the water and grabbed my towel from the rack. It still felt damp from my shower at six o'clock. Nothing dried in this humidity. With the snap of broken elastic, my hair suddenly tumbled down in a lank, tangled mess in front of my face. The sheer weight of it caused a metal barrette to fly off and hit me in the neck. I dropped my towel on the toilet seat and pushed the dark red scraggly jumble back from my face as I looked at myself in the mirror. A witch with dark circles under her eyes stared back at me.

I opened the door to the vanity under the sink and held my hair at bay with one hand as I bent over to scrounge around for an elastic with the other. My search proved fruitless. I remembered prforming a similar search that morning and finding only one elastic buried under a box of old makeup. I meant to buy some at lunch and forgot. I stood up and let my hair fall halfway down my back. It was so heavy when wet. Hot again from all my exertions, I removed the remaining barrettes and grabbed the wet towel. I hung upside down as I wrapped the towel turban style around my head. I straightened up and flipped the end of the towel behind me so I could tuck it under the edge running behind my head. I headed back to bed and prayed for sleep.

*******

Early the next morning, I left the house after another cold shower and decided to pick up a few necessities before the heat of the day struck in its entirety. I strolled through Bloor West Village on the shady side of the street, enjoying the relative coolness offered by overhead awnings. Suddenly, I found myself standing outside a beauty salon, reading the words "Grand Opening" across a banner in the window. I looked inside and saw a man standing behind a reception counter. He smiled and motioned me inside. I opened the door and entered the air conditioned sanctuary.

"Welcome! Hot enough for you?" he said.

"Too hot", I replied. "When did you open?"

"Earlier this week but our grand opening is today. I'm Roberto, the owner."

I glanced around the shop. The chrome gleamed on the salon chairs and the room was tastefully decorated in soothing tones of sand and peach. Three workstations displayed all the accoutrements of the trade -- blow dryers, curling irons, combs, brushes, clips and curlers. Three pristine sinks stood ready for business at the back of the shop. The shelves over them held large containers of shampoo, conditioner, hair gel and chemical solutions. The ceramic floor looked like it had never seen a single strand of hair. Posters of women and men, beautifully coiffed, adorned the walls.

"Can I help you?" he asked. He was around 40 years old, casually dressed in soft tan pants with a matching shirt rolled up at the sleeves and open at the neck. Fine leather sandals encased his feet. I did not detect an accent but his elegance and style made me think of Europe.

"Well yes, actually, I have this problem", I said.

"What is it?"

I moved my hand to the barrette as the back of my head and snapped it loose. My hair, freed from its restraint, escaped down past my shoulders.

"I think I need a cut", I said. "And I had a bad perm recently."

"What do you mean?"

I turned around and showed him.

"Oh my goodness! Who did this to you?"

"Someone I'd like to forget. Can you help me?"

He moved swiftly to the first workstation and swung the chair towards me. "Have a seat."

He swivelled the chair so I was facing the mirror. His face registered dismay at the condition of my hair. I watched him closely as his hands tenderly separated my locks into strands. He held the ends up in front of his face for closer inspection.

"Well, I can give you a trim but that really won't solve the problem. There's only one way to get your hair back into shape and that's a major cut. Let me do a sketch for you. Would you like a coffee?"

Suddenly my mouth went dry. "Something cold would be better", I said.

I looked in the mirror, trying to imagine what I would look like without this massive volume of hair. He handed me a cold glass of water and settled into the adjoining chair, facing me, his sketchpad on his knee. He looked at me and then proceeded to sketch vigorously with a pencil. He looked a me a few more times and then appeared satisfied with his result. He stretched across and handed me the paper with his sketch. I took it with trembling fingers.

"What do you think?" he said.

I looked at the picture in open-mouthed amazement. He had drawn a remarkable likeness of my face from the side. The hair in the drawing was short. Really short, with wisps around the face and neck.

"I don't know how else to fix it other than to cut it all off", he said sadly.

"I know it's bad but do you really think this is necessary?" I asked.

He came to stand behind me once again and turned me towards the mirror. The sketch rested heavily in my lap.

"There's nothing I can do to save it. It's in pretty rough shape. I think the best thing to do is to start fresh. What do you think?"

I looked again into the mirror. I looked at the sketch in my lap. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Do it."

I'm A Heartless Bitch!

Yes, it is official. I made an application and it was accepted. You can read more about it at www.heartless-bitches.com. LOL

We are finally getting some serious rain! We had a mini-drought for one whole week, during which temperatures climbed to more than 45C (115F) with the humidity. Everyone started getting cranky and sleeping at night was downright uncomfortable. The skies broke on Friday afternoon around 4PM at which time I left work and waded two blocks in ankle deep water. It rained so hard, I decided to take the bus four blocks instead of walking. I got soaked anyway but what a relief! Big rain again on Saturday night, with thunder and lightening. Cloudy and rainy yesterday and today. It's actually a nice change to have cloud cover instead of the same old boring, blue, sunny skies day after day and I never thought I would say that! :)

Most of the restaurants are closed for September and into October. There are only two places open on Basilio Badillo -- Fajita Republic and Panchos Tacos. I had dinner at the former on Saturday night, during the rain storm and while edible, it certainly did not impress me much. In fact, I've never understood why this restaurant does the business it does. The food is mediocre and the prices are pretty high. Three of us paid $250 pesos each for a dinner without any booze. We each had a small salty steak, five shrimp, a limp caesar salad and fries. The fries weren't bad. :( In comparison, I had dinner at Casa Naranjo last night with two girlfriends and we paid $230 pesos each for a fabulous dinner with great wine, yummy appetizers and delicious entrees. So sorry Linda, but next time I get to pick the place for dinner! LOL

Things are starting to gear up at work for the high season. A group of new recruits are being trained in anticipation of a very busy winter. The cruise ships are starting to return; in fact, there will be five in port this week alone! So far, no merchandise has arrived but it is out there, somewhere, and once it starts rolling in, it won't stop until Easter! I'm as ready as I'll ever be but I know this year is going to be incredibly busy. *sigh* There is already a list a mile long of suppliers from which we've re-ordered and my boss is still overseas (mainland China right now) buying all kinds of goodies for the store. So far she's been to London, Paris, Milan, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Barcelona, Hong Kong and points in between. So if you've never been into the store before, come this year! The variety of merchandise will be extraordinary.

Thank You!

Many thanks to everyone who wrote to me in response to my last blog. Your positive feedback has been so wonderful! Even my Dad commented on how much he liked it. I think it is important to acknowledge that all is not right in the world but also to remember there is something we can do about it. Anyway, your emails were all very sweet and I just wanted to acknowledge them.

I have been living here full-time for a year now, other than the five weeks I took off to Toronto this summer. It seems like I've been here forever some days. I guess I can now say I live here full-time. Actually, when people ask me how long I've been here, I usually say two years and neglect to mention the four months I spent working in Toronto during that cool, rainy summer in 2003.

And another birthday is looming in the not so distant future which means I will have to make more resolutions. Hmmm ... I think I've probably already made them but have yet to put them into operation. More on that soon. In the meantime, I found this really cool site where you can plug in your birthdate and get back a "blurb" about your personality. I'm always a sucker for this type of thing (and horoscopes) so here goes:

Your birth on the 2nd day of the month adds a degree of emotion, sensitivity, and intuition to your life. The 2 is a very social number allowing you to make friends easily and quickly. Yet you are apt to have a rather nervous air in the company of a large group. You have a warmhearted nature and emotional understanding that constantly seeks affection.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do on that date. It will be special this year because my friend Medina will be arriving from Canada the week before and she is staying for three months! YAY!!! Anyway, it is always a treat for me to spend my birthday with a close friend. Not sure what we're doing yet but a trip out of town might be in order since I have a five day weekend!!!

I'm Only One Person

In the middle of last week, I started to write another one of my silly, yet (I hope) informative blogs about living down here and I never got it done. Then I realized today was September 11th and now I don't feel like writing about anything frivolous. For the most part, I try to keep my blog light and interesting but today is certainly not a day for that. Is it just me or do the disasters befalling us all just seem to be getting worse? The death tolls keep rising (first 9/11, then Iraq and now Katrina) and the political climate turns more volatile with each year. I often wonder what the state the world will be in five, ten or twenty years from now.

Most people think that the politicians are the ones to blame but how did they get to their positions in the first place? Some will say the electorial system is fixed or they bought their way in with money and status. Is no one willing to take responsibility? Frankly, I think a society that, for the most part, idolizes wanna-be rap stars and wrathelike fashion models, is the culprit. When did we get to be so obsessed with other people's lives? Who cares about the Scott Petersens of the world? Why does Michael Jackson warrant so much air time when the people living next door need help?

We need to start caring about ourselves, our families and our communities. We need to start repairing this broken society of ours, the one littered with apathy, neglect and callousness. We ALL need to do something! It's not right to let your neighbour or your co-worker be the volunteer or the one making the donation or the one helping the unfortunate. We ALL need to do it. We need to build self-esteem as a world, so that we will be healthy enough to help others. I am so tired of the trivialities of our lives and the attitude that someone else will do it if we don't. You know what? It's not working!!!

And I'm afraid things are only going to get worse. :( Sorry to be so morose today but it is a terrible anniversary and, as far as I can tell, no one has learned anything from it. I'm going to try to turn it around, starting with me. What are you going to do?

Burned at the Bayview Grand

Someone sent me this by email the other day and I kind of like it: "...I remember when I got it about saints and goddesses. The difference, I mean. Saints are too good to be true, and goddesses insist on being both magical and real. It is because they're good and bad and because with them, anything can happen, that they're goddesses." This is an excerpt from Alice Walker's "By the Light of My Father's Smile". Thanks Katherine! :)

Today I coerced my friend John into giving me a lift out to the marina so I could hang out at the Bayview Grand with my friend Laura. John needed to go to Sam's Club and since I have a card (and he doesn't), we made a deal that he could use my card if he dropped me off afterwards. Turns out the item he needed to purchase didn't work when he got it home and I got sunburned. Oh well!

The Bayview Grand is one of these huge mega-condominium complexes out in the marina. Laura's friend is one of the original owners, having bought when the prices were high. Now they are very high. :) The grounds are stunning, with acres of well tended lawns, palms trees and flowering bushes. The crystal blue pools (4 in total) cover the area of two city blocks and are surrounded by white chaise lounges and covered cabanas which offer some coverage from the sun.

Her friend's villa is a two storey deal, with three bedrooms and three en suite bathrooms upstairs. The winding staircase leads down to the main level which includes the living room, dining room, kitchen, study, laundryroom, another bathroom and an outdoor patio. Our hostess was a former spa owner so the condo is decorated in soothing pastel tones of aqua and white (main floor), lavender, pink, blue and white upstairs. There is a whirlpool tub in the master bedroom as well as one in the living room, which affords the person languishing there an unfettered view of the Bay and sometimes, fireworks from the Marigalante. I enjoyed my day out there! :)

Back to reality now folks. LOL I went to Woolworth's yesterday to pick up a few things and went upstairs to check out the housewares. They are selling heaters next to the fans. ??? The artificial Christmas tress are out and there are hundreds of bikes and trikes hanging from the rafters. The aisles and walls are packed, floor to ceiling, with everything from dolls to plastic trucks. I wish I had a camera ... I guess it is never too late to start your Christmas shopping is it? BLECH!

A friend from Toronto surprised me by arriving in Vallarta on Friday, two days after booking her trip. She's here with her daughter and three of her 20 something girlfriends. Since she's not really into going to discos, we decided that the two of us would go out for dinner. I took her to El Arrayan because she's never been there before and wanted to try it. I had my usual: lettuce salad with jícama, toasted sesame seeds and Mexican herbs, with the house vinaigrette. Anne Marie had Nopal cactus pad salad, with panela cheese with a fresh marjoram vinaigrette. For the entree, I again had my usual: beef tenderloin with mole sauce made with 21 ingredients, ground and blended. Anne Marie had a boneless fish filet, grilled, with 'Axiote' sauce from Yucatán, ground annatto tree seed and other tasty spices. YUMMY!

If you think my memory must be fantastic to remember all those ingredients, think again. I copied them from the website! (www.elarrayan.com.mx) The new wine list was also a nice surprise. I had a lovely Syrah-Cabernet from Chile and A.M. had a red Mexican wine which was full bodied and smooth. If you haven't tried this restaurant before, give it a chance on your next trip to Vallarta.

It is still raining here, pretty well every day now which is a blessed relief from the heat. We have another couple of months of this weather so I am adapting. The nights are relatively cool (27C, 80F) LOL! I must be acclimated because I sleeping with the fan on low, under a sheet and a blanket. Hmmm ... toasty! That's pretty much it from paradise this week. Oh! I almost forgot! I bowled a total of 355 this week which was enough to beat Kathy AGAIN. This is my only goal. Hahaha