30 Days of Writing - #14 - The Short Hairs

Aw, look at that guy. Isn't he gorgeous. He's a short-haired pointer. Although he's not pointing at the moment. If I had a dog this is the kind of dog I'd have. We'd be pretty evenly matched, I think. I just had to run this pic of a dog. If only to restore some balance to all those people who post pics of their cats during this 30 day exercise.

Anyway, onward and upward. Today's prompt is "the short hairs". (Points already for the photo, right?)

As I started to research today's prompt I came across an interesting article. Most people, myself included, might think the expression "got me by the short hairs" was in reference to one's pubic hairs. Au contraire, mes ami(e)s. Turns out it has to do with the hair at the back of your neck. Yeah, imagine. Did you know that? I certainly didn't.

The meaning of the phrase refers to being trapped by an opponent, in a position one can't easily escape from. Funny. I would have thought it would have been easier to escape from someone who has a hold on your neck hair than someone who's got a grasp on those short and curlies. Go figure.

You know there are many expressions about hair, be it long, short, or none existent.

Did you know that when you Google "Hair Expressions" you get 7,070,000 listings for beauty parlours? Yeah, so if you're ever going to do this Google "Hair Sayings".

Here's a few sayings and what I think they might mean:

Hair of the dog - has nothing whatsoever to do with hair, eh.

As fine as frog's hair - which is ridiculous as everyone knows frogs don't have hair.

Baby let your hair down - I think it was a 60s thing.

Tear my hair out - used for effect. No one actually tears their hair out.

A hair trigger - I think that's close to the short and curlies.

Made my hair stand on end - my Goth friend introduced me to this great gel, dude.

You know (of course you don't, but hold on, I'm about to tell you.), as a kid I had short hair. Yeah, something called brush cuts were all the rage. And the barber would put barber's wax in my hair which would drip down my face in the hot weather. Cool, eh?

Maybe it was a uneventful youth spent with short hair but as a teen I had long hair. And as an adult I was always very reluctant to visit the barber for a hair cut. I looked like a latter-day hippie at times. I grew a beard in the 70s. Shaved it off then grew a moustache in the 80s. These days I sport a goatee. A goatee in search of a perpetual trim.

Regular readers of my blog will know I've gone through several stem cell transplants for my cancer. Each time, the process was accompanied by a period of chemo and radiation. Needless to say my hair fell out. And I mean everywhere. The shower, the bed, the kitchen, the basement... no, no that too but that's not what I meant. My head, my face and...elsewhere. I was as bald as a baby's butt - but (pun intended) all over my body. Everywhere except, oddly enough, my eyebrows.

You talk about the short hairs? I had no hairs!