The Pink and Blue of It

I'm thinking about coloring my hair again. It's so short now that I'm not sure what color would be best. My hair is brown, darker now that I keep it so short, though yesterday I noticed that a lot more of it is grey than used to be. I guess I have to stop being smug about certain other people's hair being grey when mine isn't. Vanity, it's all vanity!


So, shall I go for blue, true purple, or back to hot pink?


I have dyed my hair pink twice. The first time was in 1988 when I used Manic Panic by just spreading it on over my hair. It barely showed and only lasted about a week. The second time, YaYaWOT did it and bleached streaks in my hair first. When Denver D picked me up at the airport and saw it for the first time, he said he would probably prefer my new hair color in the dark.

Yes, I am wearing a pink tiara in this photo, but the pink fluffy stuff is my hair.

I did the bleaching/hot pink job not long before attending my first CASFAA conference (that's where this picture is from - I'm looking through a zero in the number 2000). I had been in financial aid only about four months and a lot of the sessions were over my head - there was so much I didn't understand! But I kept asking questions during and after the sessions and asked them of the presenters as well the lender representatives I knew, who would sometimes direct me to someone else. No matter where someone is in the organization, or who they are at their home institution, at the conference everyone is always willing and able to share knowledge with the newest financial aid officer.


Shortly after the conference I was asked to sit on a committee, which I agreed to do because I knew it would help me get close to a lot of people who knew a lot of stuff, which I thought was important because I worked with only one other person (she thought it was important for me too). As the year went on, and I attended meetings and trainings, I was surprised at how many FA people seemed to know who I was.



At some point I realized that not only had I asked a lot of questions at the conference, but at the time I'd had pink hair.