The day after I shaved my head, the Pirate and I were at the Whole Foods in San Jose. We were walking up and down the aisles looking for delicious tidbits, and when we got to the cereal aisle, there were two old ladies behind us. One said to the other (without the slightest effort to be discreet) "Mira pelona!" (Check out the bald chick!)

I was so shocked that it didn't occur to me until the Pirate said it that I should have whirled around and said "Mira viejas!" (Check out the old ladies!) And then I spent a very long time laughing about the intrenched racism of humans in general. Why would they just assume I couldn't understand them? The worse thought is that they would have said it even if they thought that I *could* understand them, and they were just amazingly rude.

So...here's a cool thing about having the shaved head. I'm OCD. I play with stuff all the time without being consciously aware of it. When my husband shaves HIS head and I put stuff on it to see if it'll stick, or rub the stubble because it feels cool or pick at his skin, it drives him up a wall. However, here I am compulsively rubbing, sticking and picking to my heart's content with nobody yelling at me. I can't really tell whether that's a net plus or minus, really.

Speaking of stuff sticking. It's getting hard to put on a shirt, because it gets stuck on my head and it takes either great force, major manipulation or both to get the damned thing off again. On the plus side, I can wear a hat in a hurricane and it won't budge. It's velcroed on there good and proper.

And while I haven't actually heard anyone say the "c" word, I have definitely noticed a deference from people that wasn't there before. The deference that one gives to the sick. It's a little creepy.

NEWSFLASH: When we get home, I'm gonna shave the Pirate's head completely (he's got stubble right now) and we're both gonna put henna tattoos on our heads of the biohazard symbol! It's gonna be great!