REACTIONS TO THE EVER-CHANGING MOHAWK

Once RAAM was over, and my hair had faded from red to orange for the second time, I figured it was about time for another color. I put the following picture on Facebook for people to vote on:

A couple people voted for pink, but the overwhelming majority was for blue. My husband was one of them. I figured if I can’t make him happy by growing all of my hair back, I can at least make sure the small amount of hair I do have is a color he likes! I bleached out the orange once, and let it rest, so for a day it was almost pink:

Lately I haven’t received any funded ideas for patterns to shave, so I decided to start at square one. The first pattern I ever shaved was a heart:

Design prep 

Bleached and ready for color!

Adding the blue

Just for fun - a wave!

Final product - always have to match the shirt!

It’s been fun matching my clothes to the current color of my mohawk, but I have to admit that the whole process of changing my hair by adding patterns or color has become less fun/interesting since lately it’s been only my own ideas. I miss shaving different patterns that were other people’s ideas. So if you have an idea you’d like to fund, please let me know! In the meantime, the mohawk grows and the sides stay shaved until I reach my goal of $2800…

It’s getting pretty long – I wonder how much longer I’ll be able to spike it straight up!

It even spikes pretty well when I just use water and let it dry:

After about 5 days the blue was fading, so I added more:

I’ve taken so many pictures of my hair that they’re all starting to look very similar… Here’s another picture of my spiky hair, after a Future of Forestry concert:

My husband and I actually met a couple at the concert who had a son and a daughter who both had mohawks. It was the strangest thing, because the woman was a runner and a drummer. And we had more in common; her name was Beth (also a shortened version of Elizabeth). Too many coincidences? Anyway, she approached me because of my mohawk. Who else knows a girl with a mohawk? I like to think it’s sort of a unique thing. Not that it’s about that. Not at all, in fact. I just don’t like to do things to be like everyone else. But there’s nothing I can do about it if other people have done similar things! Apparently celebrity kids are into blue mohawks too:

And I met a guy in Starbucks the other day who told me his son used to have a “Smurf blue” mohawk. So I guess since I’m very white with a blue mohawk, Smurfs are exactly the opposite, with a blue body and white mohawk-looking hat:

One of my co-workers told me the other day that my faded blue pastel-colored hair reminded her of My Little Pony:

There was one detour in this blue mohawk story: my RAAM team had a photo shoot after the race, which I was not expecting! So since my hair was blue, I put red gel on top, so that it would sort of match our red jerseys:

The gel was so strong that I actually slept with it in and kept it for the next day:

Then I went shopping in my closet. Hmm, do I have anything maroon with a hint of blue? Why, yes I do!

YWAM Homes of Hope shirt

A few days later, I finally got to show off the mohawk to the first two people I shared my fundraiser idea with:

They thought I was crazy, but in a good way, and they said it fit me well. Sorry Greg, my awesome husband who misses my long hair, everyone seems to like my new style!

So far I’ve only really gotten positive feedback about my hair style. The first problem I encountered is when I played for a concert at my church, for a NACM (the National Association of Church Musicians) conference. A lot of people attending the conference are conservative, and seeing my blue mohawk might offend them, or at the very least distract them from the music. I tried my best to find some black gel (a surprisingly hard feat!) but finally gave up and wore a beanie instead. Really, a beanie, in the middle of summer?!

Hat hair!

It actually wasn’t too bad, because although the A/C had stopped working for our Monday night rehearsal, it was repaired in time for the Wednesday night concert. A good thing too, because I just about passed out a few times at rehearsal because the heat was so intense. It felt a little weird having my beanie on, and a few people who’ve seen my hair actually came up to me after the concert and asked if I was hiding my mohawk, or if I didn’t have it anymore. I don’t know if anyone would have minded if I didn’t have my beanie, but I figure if even one person would have been offended, it was worth it.

A couple days later though, I played drums for a small workshop that was part of the conference. I wore my beanie again just in case, but the music directors actually told me to take it off and tell my story, because we were in a small, intimate setting and they were sure that people would be ok with it. And they were! I was glad that my head was “free” again – it felt like I was hiding a part of myself, and I have to admit that was a strange feeling.

At work and basically any other setting, I’m free to share my blue hair with everyone! I recently decided to bring back a past pattern, shaving “B” and “L” on the sides. It can either stand for Bald Love or Back to Life, my friend’s chiropractor company:

Hopefully this will bring more attention to my project!

My husband pointed out the other day that my mohawk gets more attention than my bald head did. I didn’t even realize this until he pointed it out…
Once, when we went out to lunch, he told me later that the entire restaurant, even the cooks in the back, turned and stared. Apparently I’m oblivious, because I didn’t even notice! I think that’s a good thing, because while I enjoy the conversations that arise when people notice my hair, it’s tempting to just want all the attention on myself. And that’s just an honest thought, because that’s how we (people) tend to be. But the great thing about this project is that it can’t be about me. It’s about my students. And the more attention I get, the more I get to shine that attention on my amazing students and their creativity, and how I can’t wait to see what they’ll do with a computer!