Banks County Opinions...

APRIL 30, 2003


Column

By: Angela Gary
The Banks County News
April 30, 2003

Would trade curls for straight hair
Why is it that you always want what you don’t have. Women, and even some men, spend lots of money each year having smelly chemicals put on their hair just so it will be bouncy, curly and full of body. Not me, I have what I refer to as “natural fuzz.”
Just look at my mother and you will see where it came from. It is actually why I think so many people think we look like twins. They see the black fuzz around our head and never actually look at our faces.
Anyway back to my curls, I was born with them. My childhood photographs look like Shirley Temple or Little Orphan Annie, except I had dark black ringlets instead of their blond or red ones. It was uncontrollable. My poor mother tried her best to pull a brush through the wild tangles, but it was hopeless.
Since I’ve taken over trying to control my hair, I haven’t used a brush. I don’t even own one. I just pull a pick through my curls best I can. It takes about five minutes to fix my hair. I just pull some of the fuzz up with a bow and go with it. There’s no point in trying to control it. My hair is actually a lot straighter than it was when I was younger.
I really want long, straight silky hair that swings from side to side of my head. I want to braid my hair and wear it in a long pony-tail. No matter how long my hair is, as soon as I pull it up, it curls up into a tight little ball. No swinging my pony-tail from side to side.
There are ways to straighten curly hair but I’m just not talented enough to do it myself. I guess it comes from years of not even trying with my hair. My beautician, the talented Robin Roberts, can have my hair straight in just a few minutes by “blowing it out.” I just can’t pull it off in my own bathroom.
I actually didn’t know Robin could make my hair straight until this past year. I read about a “blow out” in some fancy fashion magazine. I went to Chicago with a friend who was on a business trip. While my friend was in class one day, I made an appointment and went to this fancy salon. I ended up paying a lot of money for what Robin could do in Homer. She also does it a lot better and doesn’t charge near as much as the big city salon.
I did have quite an experience in the salon. I called and made the appointment and got the address for the building. I took a taxi over and was sure I was at the wrong place. It didn’t look like any beauty shop I had ever seen. It was a huge, brick skyscraper. There were no signs in front telling what businesses were located inside. I went to the lobby and found a security guard sitting at a desk. I told her that I had a hair appointment and she had me sign in and get a visitor’s name tag. She then sent me up the 15th floor. I got off of the elevator and entered into another world.
As soon as I walked into the salon, someone rushed over and handed me a robe and told me where to change. I nervously said I was just getting my hair styled and that I didn’t need to take my clothes off for that. She assured me that everyone changed into a robe and directed me into the tiny cubicle to change.
As soon as I came out tugging the thin robe around me, another lady hurried over and offered me a cappuccino while I waited. I got more nervous by the minute. I was sure I looked like a country hick sitting in the fancy salon.
A hyper older man was my “stylist.” He was very nice and tried to put me at ease. I was on my way with straight hair in no time at all. Like I said, it cost a lot more than it should have but I kept telling myself I was on vacation and it was special treat.
When I got back home, I told Robin about it and she said she could do that anytime. Sure enough, she “blows out” my hair straight every time she cuts it. I don’t get the robe though but I get to tease her and ask where it is and whether she has any cappuccino for me.
I was reading another fashion magazine recently and saw an article on “thermal conditioning.” It costs $300-$1,000 and makes your hair straight forever. This is certainly intriguing but probably not a good idea for me. I’m sure that as soon as my hair was straight, I would be trying to figure out how to get it curly again.
Angela Gary is editor of The Banks County News and associate editor of The Jackson Herald. She can be reached at AngieEditor@aol.com.
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Column

By: Adam Fouche
 The Banks County News
April 30, 2003

Move over Steve Irwin, her comes Fouche
Most of you have no doubt heard of Steve Irwin, AKA the Crocodile Hunter.
He’s the crazy Australian mate on those nature shows that wrestles with crocodiles, handles deadly snakes and travels the world over looking for the most poisonous reptiles known to man.
I saw him on TV the other night. He was running through a swamp in the Everglades, barefoot, jumping into the water after a small snake. It bit him twice. He wasn’t bothered.
A little while later, he spotted an alligator in trouble, its lower jaw torn. So he just leaps into the leach-infested swamp water and pounces atop the reptile to help out.
Maybe where he’s from, this activity is “Australian for party.” Over here, bye crockity, we call it “just plain stupid.”
But Steve’s little play date with crocodiles and snakes is nothing—next to me anyway.
I went horseback riding for the first time Saturday with my girlfriend. We need to talk about this a little.
We went on one of those deals up in the mountains that takes you out on a trail with three or four other people for about an hour.
First of all, they gave me a huge horse. At over six feet tall, I’m no small fellow. So I got a big, tall, manly horse. And sitting atop the saddle, I was more than a few feet off the ground.
This concerned me for three reasons. Number one, the way I figure it, there’s a high probability that the day I ride a horse is the day it decides to throw somebody off.
And number two, if this is the day, I’ve got a long way to fall. Third, I was worried about the horse’s ability to carry me, especially on a day after heavy rains, when the trail was little more than a really long mud hole.
The second reason this ride was such a feat pertains to the saddle. Now I know that men have been riding horses for centuries. Heck, this country was basically founded and forged on the backs of horses.
But riding in a saddle for an hour pounds a guy pretty good in an area that just doesn’t need to be pounded too much.
For you who haven’t been on a horse before, I equate it to standing at one end of a see-saw while a little kid jumps up and down on the other side, pounding you down there every time. It feels a little something like that.
Third, I got bit by one of the horses. Now our trail guide gave implicit instructions to keep the horses single file to prevent them from kicking and biting one another. I had no problem with these directions. I didn’t want any part of biting, kicking horses.
But some girl from Florida that I didn’t know who was riding with us (no doubt a University of Florida graduate from her blatant disregard of common sense) decided not to keep her horse in single file.
And so she passed me, more than once. And her horse went after mine, more than once. And the second time, my horse turned, and her horse bit my leg. It didn’t hurt, but it was startling.
And all the hoopla spooked my horse, and it took off running. Let’s get something clear here. I didn’t panic. And I wasn’t scared.
But for more than a few seconds, I was a little worried. I had never ridden a horse, and here it was starting into a full gallop. But my superior ability with animals allowed me to get the horse under control and diffuse the situation.
The remainder of the ride went without incident. I will say that despite my minor worries, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and plan to do it again.
And my experience leads me to one conclusion, Steve Irwin’s got nothing on me. Sure he can wrestle crocodiles and alligators.
But I can ride a horse for about an hour, a feat that’ll no doubt put me on prime time on the Animal Planet soon.
Adam Fouche is a reporter for Mainstreet Newspapers. His email address is fouche@nbank.net.


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