Yes, I am Bald!

Boy, was that fun!

I left Logos at 6 and walked around the corner to DeVere's Pub where the shaving was taking place.  Every time someone was finished, a cheer went up from the crowd watching.

I had to wait for Ned and for the photographer, both of whom were scheduled for arrive around 6:30.  There were lots of people there to cheer us on. There was Lee Riggs, of the band Riggity Jig, a Celtic band that we love.  I handed him my camera and he took most of the photos for this entry.

Ned arrived and changed into his Seymour shirt, to match my Toby shirt.  This was our "shaving uniform."

There were Ellen and Shelly, the most photographed couple in Davis.  Shelly said "Some people will do anything to get attention."  She also took one last opportunity to run her hair through our heads.

Nancianne was there too, but there to have her own head shaved.  She was waiting for her family to arrive to cheer her on.

There was also Susan, from Logos; Zoe Tilton, MD, one of the doctors I used to work for when I worked and a few other people.  When the photographer arrived, it was time to get the show on the road.  When I sat down with Ned and looked at the bank of cameras aimed at us, I was so overwhelmed I forgot to get my cell phone out so I could take a picture from MY side.

Ned had them shave our heads into mohawks first.  It worked OK for Ned, but my hair was too long for it to really look the way he hoped it would.

So take it off...take it all off...and they did.

(photo by Marta)

When it was over, we got to take a look at ourselves in the mirror.

Then we went into the pub for dinner (beer and fish 'n' chips for me), after which we had to go to Atria to show my mother.  Thank goodness Marta was taking a video when we knocked on the door because the look on her face when she saw me should definitely have been recorded for posterity.  She looked like someone had just shoved a bag of dog feces in her face, she turned away from me and hid behind the door, in the dark kitchen.  She didn't want to turn around and look at me again.

Turns out she thinks Ned looks fine because he's a man but I'm a woman and she can't stand to look at me.  Several times through the short time we were there, she glanced over at me, grimaced and looked away again, though eventually she did accept it.  She's going to have to get over this real quick because we're spending the day tomorrow driving around looking at wildflowers.  (She says that's OK because wild flowers can't SEE me like people can).

So what does it feel like to be bald.  Not cold, as everyone told me it would.  In fact the breeze blowing actually felt good, until I got in a draft at home and then put on one of my new knit caps.

But it's finally done.  Three more donations came in today, so I don't know what our actual final total was yet.  I suppose I'll wait until St. Baldrick's gets all the paper work figured out.  But it might be close to (but not quite) $3500.

We done good.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

The good news is...after tomorrow you don't ever have to hear about St. Baldricks or shaving my head ever, ever again.  The time is upon us and tomorrow's entry will not be "Today at Logos," but will be about our adventures in Baldrickland, becoming bald, and my mother's reaction.

I realized how big this had all become when we went to review a show tonight.  The first person we saw was Mitch Agrus, beloved old actor of Sacramento theater.  Mitch is getting more feeble and is in a wheelchair now.  My colleague Jeff brought him to the theater early so he could sit in his chair off in a corner and let people "pay court" to him, because everyone knows him and loves him.

I went to say hello and he said "I thought you were going to shave your head." I assured him that I will be bald tomorrow and then explained to the people around him what I was going to do, because they thought I might be having my head shaved prior to a medical procedure.

I went into the theater and sat down and the next person I saw was LaRue Carnes, wife of Sacramento News and Review critic, Jim Carnes.  LaRue was asking me questions about what was going to happen and about St. Baldrick. She was impressed to hear that we had raised more than $3,000.

Jeff came in to ask when the event was taking place.  I told him and thanked him for the article he wrote about us for The Enterprise, which resulted in the neighbors contributing $250 for the event.

At intermission, Patti Roberts, critic (and fierce Word with Friends competitor) came over and started stroking my hair and said she wanted to say goodbye to it.

After Patti left, the woman sitting in the row in front of us turned around and asked if something was going to happen to my hair tomorrow.  I explained about St. Baldrick and our project.

When we got home, my cell phone was ringing.  It was Ned making arrangements for tomorrow.  He decided we should wear the Toby and Seymour shirts he had made at Christmas.  Toby and Seymour were our dogs when the kids were living at home.  Ned made t-shirts for Walt and me with the dogs on them.  He wants to borrow Walt's shirt to wear and I will find my shirt and those will be our "team shirts."

I asked if he was going to shave his beard because someone on Facebook said she'd make another donation if Ned would keep his beard.

I also checked our total and found that Connie Dees, who had issued the Challenge Grant had made a donation, as per her promise, for the $100 and $25 donations that had been made in the last week or so.

I think we've finally maxed out on friends who are willing to support us and so our total will be $3,053, which ain't bad for someone who hoped to raise $500.

So I'm all set and I have my knit caps to take in case it's cold tomorrow (though at least at the start, I want to answer questions about why my head is bald)

Now just work the shift at Logos, show up at DeVere's pub, and take lots of pix to fill this space with tomorrow.

And then I promise not to bother you about this ever, ever again!

Before

We need your help!

Somewhere around 2003, when I had lost a lot of weight, I participated in a fund raising walk to raise funds for AIDS.  I asked readers of Funny the World if they would help me raise funds by donating through the web page.  I was overwhelmed and very grateful to the number of people who donated.

I decided NOT to turn to the public to raise funds for the bike ride I did for the homeless, which ended my newborn biking career by wrecking my knee.

But now I'm asking for your help again.  I mentioned this a few days ago.

Ned and I are going to do a mother-son head shaving to raise funds for children's cancer research.  Every 3 minutes a child is diagnosed with cancer and, like so many good causes, research into childhood cancers (which are different from adult cancers) is under-funded.

This year the shaving will take place on March 12, at DeVere's pub (where Walt goes for his Guinness every Thursday before picking me up at Logos), as it does every year.  They set up a shaving station with 3 or 4 chairs and shavers outside the patio of DeVeer's.  In the past, the pub has also given free beer to a shavee after the deed is done.

Readers may remember that our friend Nancianne (who is older than I, and a university professor) has had her head shaved for the last two years.

I came along as the designated photographer for both events and last year, surrounded by a lot of bald people, as I watched her white hair fall to the ground, I realized what a wonderful opportunity it was to help children and decided then that I would participate this year.

Since Ned is no stranger to "doing things" with his hair, whether the odd way he has it cut...or shaved...to the many colors he has regaled us with over the years, I thought that it might add a bit more interest if we did it as mother and son.  He has agreed and so we now have a page at the St. Baldrick's fund raising web site where they make it very easy for you to donate.

https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/746970/2015

Ever the publicist, I also saw a human interest story in it.  We are not exactly unknown in town, and I work for the paper, so I contacted the editor and asked if they would send a photographer to cover the story for me.

Not only will she send a photographer to the shaving, but they will do a pre-event story too, to raise awareness and perhaps get a few donations from the community that way.

Perhaps I am being optimistic, but I set a goal of $500 to raise by March 12.  I would love to exceed that goal, but I'll be happy for anything that people are willing to donate to help me meet my goal.

So here is my plea.  Please look in your heart and donate, whether $1 or $100, I don't care.  Unlike other political fund raisers that I hear from all the time, I don't promise that if you just donate $3 today we can cure cancer, but if you donate today, I will love you forever.  Every little bit helps and I will be forever grateful to the best blog readers on the internet.

Bald as a Billiard Ball

Well, I have taken the first steps in making good on a promise I made a year ago.  I signed up to become a "shavee" at the St. Baldrick's fund raiser for children's cancer research on March 12, losing my grey locks and going bald.  Ned and I will do a mother-son shaving. It is too early to start asking for contributions, but sometime next month I will post a link to my page and beg readers to contribute something...anything...to help me meet my $500 goal.

In truth, I was thinking about not doing this, but someone just signed the guestbook from my March 9 entry last year, leaving a message for my friend Nancianne, who was being shaved for the second time.  She wrote:

Nacianne, Thank you for being a hero to kids with cancer! My son will be celebrating his 12th year of being cancer-free this March. He first fought cancer at 10 months, and then again just after his 4th birthday. Each time you shave your head, you are not just funding childhood cancer research, you are also sending out a message of hope to families like ours. You are amazing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

How could I possibly think about not going ahead with my plans, when I realize how important it is.

I chose two kids to honor in doing this, both children who have died of the disease.  One is a girl named Caroline, who died less than a year after her diagnosis.  I chose her in honor of Peach (Carolyn) and her fight with breast cancer.

Of course my mother says she wants to know how long my hair will take to grow out because she doesn't want to see me bald and she certainly doesn't want to be seen in public with me.  Well.  Whatever.  That's her decision, but I kinda hoped she'd be proud of me for doing something to help children with cancer, but apparently appearances are more important than curing cancer. 'Twas ever thus with her, I fear.

I had lunch with her today and we were joined at lunch by my cousin Niecie, who is a beautician and comes occasionally to give my mother a pedicure.

I'm lucky that she enjoys this time with my mother because I have a mild phobia about touching other people's feet and her toenails had grown very long and something needed to be done.

I had to park a block away from Atria today and this is my parked car.

 
I used to be an excellent parker. I could parallel park on a steep San Francisco hill, between two cars, driving a stick shift. Lately I can't park for love or money. When I parked here, there were no cars ahead of me, no cars behind me and it took me three tries to get it parked this close to the sidewalk.