Recently, more than one hair has begun to sprout.
Justin always wants to pull them out. Not because he cares if I have white hair. It's just that he is slightly OCD and does not like that they are "different".
I don't ever let him, mostly because I'm a baby and I think it hurts when people pull my hair out. But in the interest of not seeming like I'm a wimp, I always tell him he can't pull them out becaue I am trying to grow a streak, a la Rogue and Polgara the Sorceress.
I'm sure most of you know who Rogue is, but as for Polgara - she's a character in one of my favorite books growing up, a book written by David Eddings.
I remember the first time I read a David Eddings book. I remember feeling the words roll around in my head and thinking, "Oh, that's what writing is." Up until then I'd read mostly children's chapter books. After I read the first paragraph of "The Pawn of Prophecy," I remember putting it back in my desk drawer. I wanted to think before I read anymore. I could tell an entire world waited for me in that book.
Looking back at David Eddings from where I am now, I never get quite the same feeling as I did that first time. He writes mass market fantasy, not literary fiction. This isn't Dickens, Austen, or Tolstoy. He doesn't have the vocabulary of Nathaniel Hawthorne (thank goodness, says Justin). But he's the writer who hooked me to reading.
And that's something. That's really something.
Better than Tolstoy.
Last night at dinner, Justin and I were discussing editors and "published writers." E wanted to join in the grown-up conversation (surprise, surprise).
She said: "Is a published writer cool?"
Justin said: "Yes."
E said, after a little thought: "Then I want to be a published writer when I grow up."
I guess she's more like me than I thought.
Perhaps one day she'll write something that hooks someone else onto reading. Perhaps someday I will.
But in the meantime, I'll stick to growing my white streak. It's a tad bit easier.
And after all, it is a little bit fun to bug Justin.
3 comments:
White hair is awesome! I hope they don't bother you too much.
I found my first white hair at age 12, yup 12. I have been getting more and more since then. I have lots of crazy reddish hair to cover them up but there are a lot of white ones in there. If I do my hair a certain way they are even more noticable. Brad has a ton too, they frame his face and are sprinkled all over his beard. I suppose we're just an odd couple, but we love white hairs!
So my Grandma, you the know the one Grandma Great, Grandma poofy hair? She always said if you pluck your white hair 10 will grow in its place. Well when a women silver locks tells you that it must be true, so I have always used that theory.
....maybe I should read that book
Post a Comment