“Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Gimme down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer . . .”

The song from the musical Hair’s been going through my brain all day, probably because I’m having, if not exactly a bad hair day, a seriously mediocre one.

I’ve never had what I’d consider great hair—the texture’s too fine for that. However, with a good cut, and a little henna, I get by. Most of the time. Maybe it’s this nasty heat, but my head is definitely looking a bit fuzzy.

I grew up in an era of big hair. Long, chemically processed, curly, layered.

While I don’t miss the rotten egg smell and Brillo pad texture of spiral perms, I still have serious hair fantasies. One of my favorites is a recurring dream in which I have long, thick, shiny hair that looks like Cindy Crawford’s, and swishes when I turn my head.

Some contenders for the hair hall of fame:

Audrey Hepburn — one of the few people who managed to rock both long and short hair.

Lucille Ball — because she chose that color, and it looked awesome on her.

David Bowie

Michael Jackson

Cousin Itt (from the old Addams Family TV show)

Barbie (who still managed to look glam after spending an entire summer at the bottom of a backyard wading pool). Gives new meaning to the phrase, “wash and wear hair.”