My mom has gone from 1) hinting I should chop my hair when I’m at their house, to 2) blatantly telling me to cut my hair so that I’d look younger and less heavy and listless, to 3) telling me via phone to get my hair cut, to 4) emailing me today with a huge paragraph about how I need to chop my hair off. Her argument today in the email is that when I was 4 and she’d taken me to get my hair cut short, everyone kept commenting how cute I looked, which meant that she has great taste and I should listen to her. She also said that when my hair was cut, I had said, “It’s so ugly!” My opinion about that haircut remains constant. I think she associates short hair with looking young because in Taiwan, she’s used to seeing the “student hair,” which is the required uniform haircut for schoolgirls, i.e. hair no longer than to the bottom of your earlobes.

It’s not that I’m against getting my hair chopped. I’ve had short hair before, above the shoulders, but I usually do that every few years in the summer. In the winter, I like my long hair to hide evidence that I’m cold. My other arguments for longer hair is that I can’t wear my hair long when I’m old(er), so I may as well do it now while I can get away with it. Besides, guys like long hair on girls (with exception to Mr. W, who sides with my mom on this one and has already told me to make an appointment for this weekend). I also need it long enough that I can tie it back when I’m working out. The biggest thing is that short hair is high-maintenance, whereas long hair is wash-and-go.

It’s at that final argument point that I stop and think about something else my mom said in her email. “There’s no ugly women, just lazy women.” She encourages me to play up my youth while I still have it and make other girls jealous. I don’t think she meant it in a catty sort of way, she just means that while I have something to show off, I shouldn’t hide it behind ratty clothing and a messy mop on my head. A little effort is good in youth because it takes so little to look good, and looking good just starts your day off on a better note and your confidence makes you look more attractive in general.

Maybe I should take Wilco’s suggestion for goal #8 more seriously: Be hawt like wasabi at age 30.

age 4 (sorry for the quality; I had to take a photo of a photo and my camera refused to focus) age 21 all right, i can't tell which one's better so i'm leaving 'em both.
(as always, rest your mouse pointer over the photos for captions.)