Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Me...as the girl I used to wish I was...

selfportraitchallenge has issued a new challenge for the month of July...
Self portrait as … [insert word here - a metaphor for your life]

~Head in the Clouds~

When I was 28 (I’m 40 now) and living in Colorado on my own, I went through a period of time where I was enchanted by a group of kids that were all about 17 years old. They liked to hang out at the coffee shop that I worked at on a daily basis, and they had a charisma that was unmatched by anyone I knew at the time…though I’m sure my loyal friends that I knew back then that I still know would be sad to hear me say that. One of my very best friends, Shawn, was always giving me an, albeit, good humored hard time about my “new” friends. They were the entire skate boarder ilk and were prone to do fun and crazy things to their hair. One girl in particular had emerald green locks for the longest time. Another, a boy, had gold sparkles over the tips…a look that I did manage to achieve briefly. I’m sure because it was probably the most “acceptable” for someone like me and of my age at the time. It’s funny that I would have been worried about acceptable at the time… I was sharing an apartment with a married couple and sleeping on a foam topper because I was dirt poor working for minimum wage at a coffee house. I was the happiest I had ever been. I think those kids were intriguing to me because they sparked the color in me even further than what I saw when I painted as it was. They were cartoons with big splashes. I was inspired by their youth, and music, and general rawness. I think this was perhaps the only time I ever felt like I was born in the wrong time. Most people look at it like they were “born too late”, but I felt I had been born too soon. At least as far as fads and style go. My hair was very long when I moved there, and inspired by them I cut it off very, very short. I like doing that to this day. It’s freeing. My idea back then was to dye my hair bright electric blue and then bleach out spots to look like clouds. I wanted to inform everyone that I had my head in the clouds. I told my boss one day of my intention and he told me in no uncertain terms that if I dyed my hair blue I would be fired. He wasn’t really as fond of the skate boarder kids as I was. So my dream never happened, until now…. So for Donnie, Jen, Shannon, and the rest of you kids that would all now be around 30 years old, wherever you are, this one’s for you.


See other selfportraits as... here!


11 comments:

Deb R said...

IT's fun that you did your head in the clouds hair virtually even if you never did it in real life!

JC said...

Great picture and I love the story behind it!

Anonymous said...

wonderful picture! i completely relate to your story. i live in a college town and work in an office, and sometimes i feel like i've gotten older and everyone else here is still young and free. i want pink hair!

Tish said...

Beautiful picture, and a very touching story! :)

Anonymous said...

Love the blue sky hair and the wishing behind it!
Hooray for a dreaming self-portrait theme :)

Susan Schwake said...

i love the clouds and the story. so cool!

Tammy Brierly said...

Photo went perfectly with your free spirit. Loved it!

Jamie said...

I'm glad you were able to make that wish come true here today. Great picture.

turquoise cro said...

Cool! Head in the clouds! Great photo and story! Cheers!

tiffini elektra x said...

Oh wow this is fabulous. What a great portrait and the story is just amazing. Wonderful.

Rachel said...

I always wanted to dye my hair blue, too. The jobs I've had at newspapers always prevented it. Your take on it is terrific.