juliloquy

shameless romance

Eight years plus one day ago, HPCPC* and I started smooching in my silly apartment in Pazardjik. One of the ways the apartment was silly was that it had a kitchen bed. I guess it made sense since the apartment was just a living/bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. So if you were swooning from cooking or romance, you could just lie down for a spell.

But I digress. And will again. As I walked home from work this past Wednesday, Josh Rouse's Sweetie came on my iPod. The words and the mood of the song are so evocative of that time in our lives. I don't know a better way to embed it, so here is a YouTube version. You can also play it on Josh Rouse's Myspace page (currently #5 in his playlist).

We'll sleep on rooftops
We'll ride on bicycles
Maybe we'll get married
Don't you want to sweetie?

*Handsome Peace Corps Poster Child, remember?

The Sweet Hairafter

Our hairstory left off in 1987. I'll dive right in with the college shots.

Sophomore year. The perm has calmed down. But look out, she's feisty.

A friend dubbed these "tsunami bangs." Documented for 10 years in my passport.

Departing for a semester in Lancaster, England, fall 1989. But ruh-roh, I didn't bring a blow dryer with me, so I couldn't get the tsunami effect for my 14 weeks abroad (normal looking hair: not pictured).

This must be 1990 - spring of junior year or fall of senior year. Back to the perms. I really really liked that sweater. Would you say that's 3 inches of bangs?

College graduation, 1991. The beginning of growing out the bangs.

Spiral perms of the early 1990s: Do you remember me from Twisted Sister?

One could also put it up in a barrette with a kicky side-ponytail. Oh and I used to put brown stuff on my eyebrows.

A little softer, a little nicer. This was the last of the perms.

Then I straightened it (rather than let the spiral perm grow out). Ha ha. Someone entrusted me to cut the hair of their tender offspring, 1993. (I currently cut Shmooie's and HPR's hair.)

1994 and 1995. Spider-Man encouraged me to avoid "product" for the remainder of the millennium. Talk about spider sense!

Turn your head and coif.

OK folks, I have a bunch of half-posts bouncing around my brain. Until I finish them or they dissolve into the mists of time, you'll have to be satisfied by a hair post. Inspired by my age-mates, Lori and Jennifer, who did their own great hair posts.

I have had my current hairstyle for nearly 15 years, although now I have long layers whereas before it had been all one length just below my shoulders. I did have a brief short-hair experiment in Bulgaria in 2001, but I grew it out since I found shorter hair to require more product and styling than I was willing to deal with. I rarely even blow it dry.

My hair has always been straight, but since having Shmooie, the hair from my ears down has come in wavy, whereas the top has stayed stick straight. Wonder what's in store for me post-partum Polly. (Photo above is from January. I'm due for my twice-yearly haircut.)

Anyway, here we go. I think these must be first, second, and third grade, although the ponytail one is marked 2nd.

With the option for an occasional bun or braid. (I didn't ask my family members' permission, but the photos tell hair side-stories of their own.)

Internet, are you ready for 1980s awkward age? Here ya go.

Yes of course that's Garfield shirt.

And then I ditched the glasses but started getting perms.

Gah. I can still conjure up the stench of perm solution if I think about it. I threw this one in because my siblings look so cute. (Including Michi, exchange sister from Austria who lived with my family my senior year of high school. That's a chocolate pizza she's holding.)

Prom theme song: "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now." Not even Bo Peep in her size-too-small borrowed dress. (Sorry Brian, I guess I should have asked your permission to post, too. And I'm sorry for making you wear a pink cummerbund.)

Onto the perm and winged temples-bangs combo. Always a classic.

All right, I'm tired and need to go to bed, so the college and post-college years are going to have to have their own post. So I leave you with this hott photo of me on the mighty Pinto against a lovely North Dakota backdrop. I learned how to drive stick with the Pinto. Everything else has seemed easy since then.