A Close Shave

On the evening of Friday, May 5, 2000, the hair on my head became at least as short as it was on the day I was born. It all started on the night of Friday, April 7. We had just seen the Dirty Dozen Brass Band play live at the Highdive in Champaign. We all had a good time, and I was high on life. WEFT's pledge drive was just starting that night, so it was a natural conversation topic. I said to Zach, "If I raise $1000 on my show [Scrambled Eggs], I'll shave my head!" Zach's response was something to the effect of "Funny that, I was going to pledge $1000 to WEFT anyway." Well, Thursday morning rolled around, and Zach, Annie, Marc, and Ayleen were all around to help pitch for the pledge drive, and we raised over $1100 during those 3 hours. Certainly a record for a morning menu program on WEFT!

Of course that meant another thing -- I still had to shave my head. May 5th, Cinco de Mayo, became the date for it. I was sick of my stubborn hair, and this haircut was overdue. Zach's sister Rory was in town for the weekend, and she wanted to do the honors, and so she did. We ended up using a pair of scissors and then Zach's beard trimmer, and finally a Mach 3 razor. The whole process took about 90-120 minutes, but then I was as bald as I will be when I'm 40.

Rory begins to trim
Rory starts off by removing big clumps of hair with a pair of safety scissors.
A little brushing
Rory brushes away some hair.
First buzz
The Norelco beard trimmer is brought out for a bigger task than it was meant.
Another look
Here's a different angle a few seconds later.
Buzzed side
A little bit later, and one side is nearly buzzed.
Crosshatch
Nearly done buzzing, and here's a posterior view.
Thumbs up
Thumbs up from Arun for a good buzz.
Squeeze
Rose watches as Rory wipes a wet handcloth on Arun. We're moving onto the shaving phase, folks.
Happy face
Rose makes a happy face in the shaving gel. We moved to the bathroom by this point.
The other side
And here's the sad face. Rose was making the tragic/comic faces on Arun's head.
Half-shaved
Almost there... The right half of Arun's head is shaved.
Done
Okay! No hair!

Photography by Zach Miller.

Arun Bhalla/bhalla@uiuc.edu