Dave, I have a lot of lazy deserters too. They make the decision not to jump off and plunge to their deaths, but instead take the easy way out, rappel down my neck, and implant themselves just in the collar area, under my ears, and down the back.
I agree with Sheena - "so much the worse for them"
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and sit in with the band whenever you can, to keep your chops up!
Sheena, the guy next door has the same dermatological condition as I do, unless he's got a shaving fetish...LOL... the lack of eyebrow and eyelash hair is a dead giveaway...
This happens to about 1 in 500,000 people (when it happened to me back in '83, it was 1 in 2,000,000; it's getting more common).
Under the principle of lightning never striking twice in the same spot, I think I've used up my major disease credits, so I should live to a ripe old age...I think...
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
No, he doesn't shave - frankly, he has nothing to shave. That happened to him in late 80s. In the summer, he had golden locks. In winter, he was shaving off what was left, and next summer, he had nothing to shave... but, as i said, he's a great guy, a born-to-be pediatrician & a father of two lovely girls, and that's what really matters.
Nothing will get you dead quicker than being deadly serious about yourself.
My hair has been gray for several years, but my wife has insisted on keeping it colored medium/dark brown, even though I'm 54. She says as long as I am still gigging, I should try to look younger (I guess like Mick Jagger, but with smaller lips). I told her now that Bob Barker has retired from the Price Is Right, I am going natural and auditioning for his job!
I think my wife would have a cow if I colored my hair. One of my band mates once said that he'd like to have gray hair like mine. I guess I'll keep it.
Alopecia became well-known to Toronto sports fans a couple of years ago when the Raptors drafted Charlie Villanueva (since traded to Milwaukee). He seems like a great guy and does a lot of work with kids through the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. His nickname - "Big Smooth"!
Sorry to make light of it, but the word, "Alopecia," sounds like a name from one of those pink what-to-name-your-child books from the forties.
Or one of those medications that they advertise for men that helps them throw a football through a tire. I understand that women dig guys that can do that.
When I literally lost ALL my body hair in the space of about 10 days in May-June '83, it was traumatic. No type of baldness runs in my family; this is a genetic fluke as far as anyone knows.
Imagine waking up one morning with half the hair on your head on your pillow...what would go through your head?
Mark, although I've adjusted fairly well, I continue to hurt for all of the people with this condition who are still coming to grips with it. Some of these folks--mostly boys and girls in their pre-teen and teen years (I was a late bloomer at 35) go through agony as they struggle to cope with their bodies and the reactions of their peers.
The "medication" you refer to--which is for male pattern baldness, is called "Propecia" and gets its root from the same Latin word as "alopecia" does. It's a multibillion dollar a year vanity drug.
Steve, "areata" is the mildest form of the condition. It exhibits itself as loss of hair in patches, usually on the head.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
Paul, I would think the best part of alopecia would be not having to shave your face every day. That alone I consider you lucky, besides you wear bald very well!
I think that some us who have quite asymmetrical Frankenstein heads are very fortunate to have hair. I don't think a lot of us would trade our locks for not shaving. Though on windy days, when everything tastes like hair I sometimes wonder why.
I know you know that I didn't mean to be terribly obnoxious (at least not much above the usual amount.)