I lived by myself for most of 1998. During this time, my best friend Abed was living in Los Angeles. I got to go up and see him a couple of times. He booked a solo show at a restaurant/club called "Lumpy Gravy." He was supposed to be the opening act, but the headliner canceled. That meant he was the main act. It was nice to see that happen. I told Chud, my best friend from college, that I was going to be in LA and he should come by and see the show. He actually showed up and got to meet Abed for the first time.
Toward the end of October, Abed moved back to San Diego. We decided to be roommates. The plan was that we would live together at the cottage for a couple of months, then we would find a two-bedroom apartment together. This arrangement worked out very well financially for the early part because we were both only paying about $200 a month in rent. This would allow us to save money for a deposit on a new place.
Less than a month after Abed moved in, I was about to take a vacation to New Mexico for Thanksgiving. Up to this point, I had gone seven years without cutting my hair. In addition to having a few follicles ripped out of my skull, I had a lot of split ends and my hair would stretch when I tried to comb it. I knew that wasn't good. And it went back and forth every day between looking good and looking like my hair was thinning. I decided to try to do something about it.
I had been planning to shave myself bald and start it all over for the longest time. The only thing keeping me from doing it was that I thought that I had badly damaged my scalp with all sorts of scrapes, bumps, bruises (not to mention acne), and that time I got the head of a nail stuck in my scalp. (I've never written about that.) But I figured that if it really looked bad, I could wear a cap until it grew back out.
I figured that the best time to shave my head would be the day before I was set to fly to New Mexico. Abed had an electric shaver he allowed me to use. I couldn't believe it when I actually started putting the razor against my head and could feel the hair being removed. I left maybe a quarter-inch later of hair on my head. Abed helped do some touch up on the areas I couldn't see very well. After it was done, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was pleasantly surprised. There didn't seem to be any obvious problems with my scalp. It looked much better than I was expecting.
One thing I needed to do after shaving my head was shave my face. At this time, I only shaved once every three weeks. Abed said that without the hair on my head, it looked like I had an actual beard. It felt good to be clean-shaven.
I still had to go to work the next day before I left town. Everyone was shocked when they saw me. When I went outside, I felt something for the first time in seven years: The sun on the back of my neck. Even though it was November, it felt REALLY warm. I didn't know if I would get used to it.
I flew from San Diego to El Paso. My Dad was going to pick me up. I saw him waiting in the lobby area. He glanced my way, but continued to wait. I walked straight up to him. It took him a little bit, but he realized it was me. Dad really seemed to like the new me.
After we got home, I went over to Mom's house without telling her I was coming over. I rang the doorbell. She opened the door, saw me and then slammed the door in my face. She REALLY wasn't expecting to see me like that! Mom was also surprised how good it looked.
And they weren't the only people who got to see the new me on that trip. I'll go into more detail tomorrow.
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