Waltzing into THE BEST
STYLING SALON IN THREE STATES, my favorite STUDIO 924 HAIR DESIGNS, 924 E. Johnson, last week with my
usual frazzled mop in dire need of dressing, or at least concealing, I was greeted with something less than
enthusiasm. "Gay," says Janice, co-owner of the whole shebang ( with
Marci Anne being the other). "I read your article in the last
issue-u-u-ue of the newslett-t-t-t-t-er."
Thinking immediately that
of course she was referring to my political rabblerousing about housing stuff, I said , "yeah, that's a real
mess‚ blah, blah, blah," and proceeded to plunk myself down in the
chair of NICOLE, who is possibly the MOST OUTSTANDING AND TALENTED AND
BEAUTIFUL stylist in the whole Midwest and possible the East.
"That's NOT the article
she meant," says Nicole. "We expected to see you walk in here with a
big hat on-like a Spy versus Spy hat.
In fact, we're surprised to see you at all." NOTE: To everyone who doesn't read each
issue of the entire TLNA Newsletter cover to cover: Shame on you, but also this article is not going to make
much sense to you-how about skipping to the meatier issues? To everyone who DID
catch the last issue in which I THOUGHTLESSLY and CALLOUSLY made fun of past
hairdressers I have encountered-- albeit long before I moved to Madison and met
the Goddess-like crew at STUDIO 924, those wizards of scissors, those magician
beauticians, those transformers of dross into golden lockets-- read on.
Apparently, at least a
few of the excellent craftspersons at STUDIO 924 took offense at my comments,
thinking naturally that my blasts from the past might be misconstrued by less
savvy readers as a reflection on the skills of the virtuosos of tints and dyes
at their establishment. Nicole
says she defended me and my stupid poetic license to lie and exaggerate and
plain make up stuff out the whole cloth (as they say) for nothing worthier than
a laugh. Writers are notorious for such hijinks.
The lovely Nicole argued
in my pitiful behalf that if I were so unhappy why would I keep coming back and
bringing along my most excellent son, Alex, where NINA, a truly hip and
entertaining artist of hair, keeps him spellbound, or Sarah makes him look just
like Leonardo DiCaprio in his 12-year-old days. (Alex hates that comparison, so don't mention it to him, but
compare pictures sometime.)
You know what? Because I am a wretched self-centered
laugh-grubber, it never even occurred to me that anybody reading my paltry
article would make that mistake.
Of course, there's also the fact that while some might call me
notorious, no paparazzi follows me around scoping out which shops I
frequent. I'm no Jennifer
Anniston, Lopez, Flowers, or any other public figure. Also, the male
beauty operator I mentioned in the article is NOT a real person, but rather a
composite of the people from the bad old hair days of yore.
Now, have I groveled and debased myself
adequately? Please, may I come
back? (Just kidding--they not only
allowed me to come back to their beautifully decorated (a beach motif that
week) and well-stocked shop at 924 E. Johnson where they sell a lot of Aveda
natural products that smell great, but Nicole also gave me a
"value-added" (read: free) makeover with their lovely line of makeup
products after she gave me a haircut and 'do that caused my husband to
notice!
So, I love you all and
hope that you now like me again.
If so, put a big "X" next to "We like you still" and
send this note back.
WE LIKE YOU STILL
WE STILL DON'T LIKE YOU
-Sincerely,
Gay
Davidson-Zielske, COGS
As Puck says at the
end of A Midsummer Night's Dream: "If we shadows have offended/ Think but
this and all is mended/ That you
have but slumbered here/ While Gay with a bad haircut did appear."