Sunday, July 15, 2012

Parting Words

In August I’ll be moving to Tucson where I don't know anyone. Since no one there knows me, I thought it might be fun to change something about myself. I discussed changing my name with some friends and the top contenders for my new title were Benny, Benji, Benjamin, and B-dog. Referring to myself as Benny or Benji makes me feel like a little kid, Benjamin sounds like I take myself too seriously, and B-dog makes me sound like a tool. I’ve decided to stick with Ben.

Someone suggested that I consider dressing differently (a very subtle hint), but that would cost way more money than I’m willing to spend. As Suze Orman would say: Denied! My frugality (aka Scrooge McDuckery) is something that I don’t plan on changing.

There is, however, something that I might change – my hair. And no, I’m not going to dye it, just grownupfy it. I’ve been spiking my hair for many years and now that I’ve passed from my mid-twenties to my late twenties it might be time to have a more adult hairdo. Last week I started parting my hair and asking people what they thought. My mom and my aunt loved it, absolutely loved it. That was encouraging. On Friday I went to a bonfire hosted by a 19 year old girl from church. The 19 year old’s 15 year old sister and her friend were there (as well as people my age too). All three of them agreed that the part made me look too old (I would have assumed that the grey hairs would have already done that). I went into the bathroom and spiked my hair and they liked it a lot better. That was discouraging.

This left me with a tough decision: do I try and attract 60 year old women with parted hair or teenage girls with spiked hair? Neither option was very appealing. I parted my hair today and when I got home from church my brother and sister-in-law were at the house and they both raved about how much they loved my hair. Jay even said that he wanted to part his hair like mine. That was not the reaction that I was expecting from my brother because he’s already so handsome (just ask my mother). And I really respect my sister-in-law's opinion especially since she was smart enough to marry my brother. So it looks like the part may be here to stay, but I’ll let you judge for yourselves. Here’s a picture of me with my hair spiked last summer in Portugal.


Here’s a picture that I took for this blog post. I have to admit that I’ve always thought it was a little tacky when people take pictures of themselves in the bathroom mirror, but I couldn’t think of a better way to get a picture of my hair. I apologize for being a tacky hypocrite.


I also may try using a new word when I move to Tucson. I’ve been trying to reintroduce the word rad back into popular usage for years and it hasn’t caught on. I think it’s time to give up on that one.

9 comments:

Yao said...

Part it! Parting it is actually pretty contemporary and you should trust your bro and his wife.

Unknown said...

The part wins.

Joleen said...

I like the part! It makes you look sophisticated. And that's just the look you want for a future Dr. of Philosphy! :)

Michael said...

Why not do both to hit your target market?

Leslie Elaine said...

Ben. I don't think you've thought about this as much as you should. You say its been teenage girls and 60 year olds, you want to meet in the middle. I'm thinking the new faux mullet-part in the front and spike in the back or vice versa. Or the new Cruella Da Vil-one side parted and the other spiked. Haha, just kidding but those would be some awesome pictures.

I like both but you could try spiking it into the part. Evan used to do that and I loved it. Now he shaves his head and it undoubtedly makes him look older, so steer clear of that.

Chantelle said...

I like the part! When you described parting your hair I imagined it more flat to your head and that sounded nerdy. But then I scrolled down and saw the picture and I was pleasantly surprised. Speaking as a member of your target age group (albeit a married one), I vote for the part!

Malfisio said...

Try to attract twentysomethings with your personality. I once dated a girl who was over 20 years old and I'm pretty sure it was my personality rather than my hair.

Anonymous said...

hey sr.schilaty its one of ur students the one that asked u for a hug and helped u out and was the youngest i think that u should keep ur hair spicky it looks better and the parted doesnt look like u u should mention in ur log that im a nice person and asked u for a hug :)

Anonymous said...

its sol