I call her "Red"

OH-EM-GEE. So, remember when Jordan Catalano wrote that song called "Red" in that big warehouse where he rehearsed with his band Frozen Embryos and Angela thought it was about HER but it turned out it was really about his CAR?!

Didn't you just DIE?!

I still do, every time. 'Cause YEAH I own the whole series on DVD. Obvi.

 [ girl crush! boy crush! CRUSH! ]

The last time I dyed my hair that colour, it happened to coincide with Angela Chase's own awakening as a faux redhead. She was me, I was her. The show was for-sure-for-sure written just for me. Then I found out that every girl born between 1977 and 1984 believed the very same thing (they are WRONG, I tell you!). I am prone to delusions.

I guess my inner transformations need to be marked by some sort of external metamorphisis. An indication, a badge of sorts. Like: "Hey, look at me, my brain and my heart are acting super sketchy right now but you can't see it so I'll just dye my hair to match so that you know you're supposed to pay attention to me!" 

Spotlight-whore for life.

Oversharing to the moooon!

Anyway, I did it. See? I'm not just a big mouth.This totally happened. It's fading like crazy already - who knows if I'll be diligent enough to handle the upkeep? It may be short-lived. In the meantime, it's kinda fun, yeah?

Red.

Oh yeah, we're doing this. Talking about hair again.

To be fair, my hair restlessness has been on hold for quite a while. Haven't blogged/whined about it in a good few months (hallelujah!). That constant urge to chop it all off or be blonde or get a wave-perm? Gone. I had successfully grown out my angled bob (the short bangs are now past my chin!) and dyed out years of bad drug-store colouring. I tried out the (almost) au naturel thing for a while. And I liked it.

But the only way I can continue to be a normal human every day is to shake things up every so often. Hair is easy. I can feel like a new/different person without, say, quitting my job and buying an Airstream or VW bus and living out the rest of my days on the road selling jams and macramé flower pots and not paying taxes. This.

Things need a shake.

Let's think about hair colour, though, and how we/society/whatever attribute certain personality traits to specific hair colours. These are entirely ridiculous and stereotypical, and no one really believes them, but just entertain me, OK? So blondes have more fun (and/or are dumb) and redheads are wild (and/or evil) and dark hair is mysterious and "exotic". Then there's me. I always felt that, thinking in these terms, my mousy/dusty brown hair didn't quite reflect my personality. I'm fun and wild and sometimes evil, yeah? (Say yes.) So I dyed it. From the age of 13. Red, blonde, black. Hard facts: I look best (probably) in something closer to the real thing. But I've been rocking this "me only better" brown for a while. Ho-hum.

My mother is a redhead. A real one. And she's pretty textbook, if you go for the stereotype-thang. I felt cheated. Strangely my parents - red and black-haired as they are - managed to spawn 2 brunettes and a blonde. Milkman?

 (w/my mom, 1980. oh god. she was so YOUNG.)

Aside from a few (bad) early attempts at becoming a ginger myself (anyone remember "Flirt"? That "temporary" hair colour that never washed out? I have actual photo evidence but I'm way too lazy to use our scanner) I haven't given red - done right, by a pro - a real chance, like, ever. Is it time? Yes folks, I believe it is.

What does my "likes me the way I am" husband have to say about it?

This fortuitous combination of lighting and Instagram filters in this photo did wonders in convincing him that I wasn't just acting rash. He's on board too. Not that I wouldn't just do it anyway, but it's nice not to make him grumpy.

(oh, and that's Superbowl face paint. I became weirdly attached to it. Tattoo time, obvi.)

So red. Yes. Once I stop chickening out. I might need some cocktails first. Who's in for some sloppy pre-salon pep-talk drinkin'?

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Check out my Pinterest board, "Hairs" for more ginger inspiration! (Gingspiration? No.)