Thursday, May 25, 2006

Hair dryers of my mind

While I was taking an (unusual) afternoon bath & shower just now, I started thinking of hair dryers.

My parents aren't very image conscious people, and my mom has always had simple hairstyles - long and easy or short and easy. When I was small, we had a blow dryer. It was black, hard plastic and was kept in a storage case. It had attachments - a directing nozzle, a comb, and a brush. It was rarely used. I remember a babysitter (whose name is lost to history) from when it was just me and JD, in Woodland Hills, saying that I shouldn't use that hair dryer, as it was a man's hair dryer. In all honesty, it probably came into the household with my dad - he was a VERY clean-cut guy when my folks met (you should see some pictures).

When I lived with my great-grandmother, Gram, she had a completely different kind of hair dryer - a bonnet, like a shower cap, that you placed over your whole head. If you put it on, you couldn't hear anything but whooshing around you. It was probably designed for roller sets, but I was a little kid with long and easily tangled hair, so we sometimes put that bonnet on my head to get my hair dry after my bath.

My aunt Cathie had the "real" women's blow dryer, with a nozzle and switches and the whole she-bang. That's probably the first place i ever used a woman's hair dryer, other than having my hair styled post-haircut at the SuperCuts or whatever place mom took us to.

The first blow dryer I ever owned myself came courtesy of my Aunt Victoria, when we were roommates. She had gone on a date (with the man who is now her husband) to the horse races, and they had won. And with her winnings, she bought me a hair dryer. Because she lived together, and she knew I needed one. It was one of the most thoughtful and surprising gifts. And I had that dryer for a long time. At one point before my sister Colleen came to live iwth me, I thought it had died, and bought a replacement dryer at Target. When Colleen moved in, she revived that hair dryer, and it lived in her bathroom. When I was dating B, I took that dryer to his place, and left it there, so I could actually make my hair look decent if I bathed there.

As a little kid, you don't care about your hair so much, as long as it is (relatively) clean and not in your way too much. And when my hair was long, I didn't need to blow dry it to make it do something - ponytails were great. But I keep my hair shorter now, and a blow dryer is key.

I don't know that there was a point to this, other than I remembered the weird blow dryers of my youth. I guess it is about memory lane, and the weird details we remember.

I haven't had my nap yet, and it is over 90 degrees outside. I'm going to lay down and enjoy some rest.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sounds much like the thoughts I have passing through my head whilst I shower.

Speaking of hair care, I remember a quasi-funny story of me in the shower, scrubbing my hair, minding my own business. Then out of nowhere, my two older siblings burst through the door (one leading to a bedroom that was close to the shower curtain), throw open the shower curtain, and start singing "King of the Mountain" by Midnight Oil. I wonder why that came to mind when you said hair care with that huge black blow dryer?

Tis also kinda funny you should mention roomies and hair dryer, as since I have mine GF moving in, she was asking where my blow-dryer is. I mean, am I the kind of guy that would have product and accessories for my hair?

Friday, May 26, 2006 6:56:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jess,

Clean cut with occasionally long hair. Never long enough to braid. Never quite as long as either of my sons.

Remember that one Christmas the grandparents (P & R) gave all the girls hairdryers. Or was that after you were already in college?

Shower pranks? Remember the water pressure (or lack thereof) before I replaced the incoming pipe at the Arletadome? Flush. followed by questionable language. Your mom hates cold water showers!

Dad

Sunday, May 28, 2006 9:41:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

once, i was trying to use that durn hair dryer in combination with a round brush back in the arleta house... i recall much pain after that incident.
by the way dad, it was curling irons, 2 sizes per kids, and i think it was san diego xmas too... sheesh! next year i think it was walkmans.. then swiss army knives.. i love my grandma pat, but she was a unique gift giver.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006 9:34:00 PM  

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