Super Bowl Update

I don't know what to do about my hair. I have been growing it out since September of 2010, which is a long time. One of the weird New Year's resolutions I made in 2011, along with my Year Without Cookies and Soda, was that I would grow my hair out longer than its ever been, just to see what it looked like while I still had the hair to do it.

While it was transitioning from short to long, several people asked me just how long I wanted to grow it and I would always say Elrond-length, but that of course was not gonna happen. Still, why not aim high? The longest I ever had my hair before now was probably my sophomore year of college when it was roughly chin length on the sides, but the back was kinda short - we're going back like 13 years at this point. I'd finally say that my hair now is longer than my hair then (though not by much) so Arbitrary Mission O-Complished! But what now? Do I chop it all off again? I am tempted. Some people tell me they like the longer hair, but I suspect that they would like it just fine if it was shorter too, or that it doesn't really matter to them either way since it's not their hair. Here are some arguments for and against.
Reasons For: I would have shorter hair! Seriously ladies with long hair, I don't know how you do it. They say being a mom is the toughest job out there, but long hair maintenance seems just as time-consuming and fraught with stresses. If you have young children and long hair, God Bless You. How are you awake or even alive right now?

Long hair requires a lot of brushing, a lot of washing, a lot of styling products, a lot of drying to look decent. Especially if it's long enough to have some body but not actually long enough to tie back or up. And then you can do all this work on it and if it's rainy humid or windy out the whole thing can be shot to hell the second you walk out your front door. Who needs it? Plus you are always thinking about it because it is always in your face. Your hair becomes part of your peripheral vision, and thus you're always wondering how the rest of it is doing or what it looks like or running your hands through it or twisting the ends around in your fingers. At least I do.

ALSO, it's very easy to start to look homeless when you have longer hair. Let's say you are rocking like 3-day stubble, because shaving is time-consuming and annoying. With short hair, it can look kinda sexy, or at least simply like you're letting your beard grow in. But with long hair, especially if you've already been attacked by, wind, rain, and or humidity, it can look like perhaps you lost your job and fell off the wagon and spent the night in the waiting area at Penn Station. It's tough people. I've found most people are not attracted to that. Unless you're trying to give off that you don't care about your appearance at all, long hair requires a lot of upkeep.

So now Reasons Against:: I would have shorter hair! I just got my passport photos redone. If I cut my hair now, will I not look like myself in international travel for the next decade? It took me 18 months to get to here. Do I want to go back? What if it no longer looks right short? Plus change is a pain in the ass. And is it really change if I just go back to what I had before? Can I find a haircut that looks good that I've never had before? Is that possible? I just don't know. I don't know! I don't like not knowing.

So the debate rages on. I guess I could cut it for the summer and if I consider it a huge mistake just allow it to grow again as I did before. Or get extensions. I could totally rock extensions. I've never done that before. That would be new. Maybe I could be Elrond after all. More to think on, for sure...