These are questions from The Friday Five - and I haven't done one in a while. I thought that this was appropriate, since I just got my hair cut last Friday!

1. Is your hair naturally curly, wavy, or straight? Long or short?

My hair is curly, but not in a helpful way. It is curly in the front and wavy in back. At the moment, it is at a medium short length, and comes just at my chin.

2. How has your hair changed over your lifetime?

My childhood pictures show me with rather fine-looking, slightly wavy hair. Later, it evolved into the curly in front, wavy in back scenario. My mother and I once tried to even it out by perming the back, and I have gone to the other extreme by meticulously blow-drying and curling my hair into the "Farrah Fawcett" look. It would quickly frizz and contract as I stepped out into the Lousiana humidity. Eventually I learned to accept my curl, and have had it cut in many ways. Various cuts included:

1. the lovely short on one side, long on the other side, 80's look

2. clipped around the head - only tolerated in my most fit years

3. short in front and long in back - only then, I didn't know it was called a mullet!

4. the bob - probably the best look

5. the shag - mostly in the 70's, but accidentally done in the 90's - more on that later!

6. long and one length - not to be tolerated for long periods of time.

3. How do your normally wear your hair?

After the fiasco of my younger days, where I spent hours preening and protecting my locks from humidity - curling, blow-drying, sleeping in sponge curlers... I now take the easy way. I prefer to wash it, put on a little Frizz-Ease or Citru-Shine, some mousse, and walk out the door, letting it air-dry. When it is long, I wear barettes and headbands. When it is shorter, I usually don't, but save the hair implements for longer days.

4. If you could change your hair this minute, what would it look like?

Of course, my hair being medium brown and curly, I have always wanted long, straight (or well-behaved when curled) blonde hair.

5. Ever had a hair disaster? What happened?

A couple. When I was in high school, I experimented with Sun-in, which was supposed to give you "natural, blonde highlights." I sprayed it on, and pretty much forgot it for a while. Then, looking at some Thanksgiving pictures, I espied a rear-view of myself, with this top layer of almost yellow hair! To counter-act this, we (my mother and I) decided to color it dark brown. It came out dark-ish, and- I found out later- with a slight greenish tinge under florescent light. I didn't do anything like that to my hair for years!

The other time was not so much of a disaster - mainly because I was older and more mature. Before my husband and I were married, we got a great deal on airline tickets to France. At the last minute, I decided that my hair needed cutting, so I tried to make an appointment with my faithful hairdresser, Manny, at Van Michael Salon, but he was booked.

Instead, in desperation, I went to "Great Expectations" in the nearby mall. The hair dresser there was a very effeminate black man determined to have his way with my hair. He told me his vision: "I am going to cut it short in the front, so it's framing your face, then I am going to cut the back short, with tendrils hanging in the back." "Like Florence Henderson?" I ventured, referring to the Brady Bunch days. "No, no," he insisted, repeating his description. "Like David Cassidy?" I asked again, referring to his Partridge Family days. He said, "No, wait and see."