I appear to have discovered a previously hidden desire to cut hair for a living.
It's curious how these things just sort of creep up on you, bash you on the head and steal all your belongings, isn't it? However, that's what's happened, in a sense*. To be honest, I've always been somewhat fascinated by barber shops and have frequented many over time. In fact, that's given me an idea for a future article. So, rather than go wandering down Barbershop Lane right now, I'll save that for some point in the future and instead get right into it by showing off some pictures of my son, Excalibur, proudly sporting a recent fade that I did for him.
Behold: the mean, moody magnificence of Excalibur, my middle son. Barely able to contain his excitement, he sports a rather fine bald fade by yours truly, which I've learned to cut by watching hours and hours** of YouTube videos. There are more photos to follow. Shall we have a look at them? Come on, then.
Blimey. Look at that. No harsh lines on the side of this young man's head. If you're interested***, that's a number three on top, fading down to skin on the sides and the back. Look at Excalibur, full of fun and joy. You can't imagine the laugh we were having at this moment.
Ow! A fade so sharp you could shave with it****. Look, I haven't started my barber training yet so I'm quite pleased I got to this stage without carving out massive chunks of hair from Excalibur's head. And look at him, cracking up and bent almost double as the tears of laughter form deep pools of fun at his feet.
Cor. You could eat your dinner off of that. But would you actually want to?Meanwhile, Excalibur, breathless with the hilarity of it all, contemplates a career as a stand-up comedian.
So there you have it. I think the photos above are from about the fourth or fifth time I cut his hair*****. The first time I did it, things weren't quite as successful and Excalibur walked away with a sort of strained smile on his face. As you can tell from the photos above, though, things have moved on since then and he's now brimming over with joy at the results******.
* Yes, well, a very loose sense. The creeping up has been the passage of time since I first started visiting barber shops, the bash on the head has been the COVID-19 lockdown which has given me loads of time to think about what I really want to do for the rest of my life and the stealing of all my belongings has been ... er ... think, Dave, think ... the desire to be a barber eradicating any other ideas I had about what I wanted to do, like being a teacher, a counsellor, a writer and a podcaster. Actually, the desire to be a writer is still there. Hence this blog.
** This isn't an exaggeration. I've taken to watching YouTube fade videos with the same hysterical fervour that I watch shaving videos. It's a wonder I manage to get anything else done, to be honest.
*** Well of course you are.
**** Difficult to say when you're drunk, I might add.
***** Which has now become a weekly occurrence, to keep him looking 'fresh', or 'safe', or 'buff', or 'sick' or 'calm' or whatever it is teenagers say today instead of 'neat and tidy'.
****** Actually, all joking aside, he said the other day that he'd be happy if I always cut his hair in the future. Which is one of those moments, as a father, that has me brimming over with joy.