Tonight I'll be moving out to college. There's still quite a lot of prep work to do, but I really hope that it's worth it. It'll probably teach me a lot about living on my own... The winters are going to be harsh, but on the flip side, I get some utilization out of having long hair ^_^. Also, there won't be anyone nagging me to go get a haircut.
Anyways here's a picture of myself a few days ago, while I was kicking back and relaxing in Cancun, Mexico. This is the three and a half month mark.
And, not having to cut my hair means that I save at least $50... enough for me to buy a new fountain pen and bottle of ink! (I collect and use fountain pens daily)
Heya .mkl!
I think you will find out that going to college is a fantastic, eye opening experience, that will teach you much more about life and about yourself than JUST your chosen trade :)
Wishing you nothing but the best, and looking forward to keep seeing your hair growing and flowing =)
Very cool, hope you enjoy college! I'm sure you'll run into a bunch of fellow long haired guys living on campus!
-Tommy
Good luck in college. I thoroughly enjoyed my years in college,
it was great being able to do what I wanted when I wanted. I grew my hair to knee length, got no complaints about it. It was slso great being able to wear what I wanted when I wanted.
I ended up meeting a lot of good friends in college that i'm still in touch with today. And one of those that I met at college is my wife of 26 years.
This is obviously totally opposite of your high school experience.
Yes it absolutely was. Where I went to high school it was filled with a lot of very rich snobs who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. But college had a lot of people who were more down to earth and living in the real world. And that town was only 7 miles away from college. 7 miles but a world of difference.
Hi Matthew,
Nice to see you embarking on your college journey! For some reason, I can't remember where you are going. I do wish you much success in college and also growing your hair! I suspect your hair will look awesome when it gets longer!
That's cool you collect and USE fountain pens on a daily basis! You will be getting double benefits-growing your hair and saving money for pens and ink! Way cool man! Thanks for posting the nice pic! By the way, what kind of drink is that?
Ted
Best of luck with college. Lots of opportunities, choose them wisely...but not TOO wisely!
Fountain pens are great...they'll mark you as an eccentric, but they are so nice to write with!
Thank you for your well wishes Ted. Im going to cornell (supposedly the best dorm food in the united states, and i have four guest passes) for computer science in the school of engineering. Im trying to grow my hair out to terminal length, and hopefully ill be able to braid a queue in the back.
Luckily I have no roommates, so I dont have to worry about the midnight surprise.
Ive used fountain pens since the middle of freshman year. Originally, I wanted to get a nicer pen body to go with my steady stream of pilot g2 refills, but the pen body that I decided on (lamy swift, black and chrome) was about seventy dollars. So instead of buying the pen body, I decided to get a 30 dollar fountain pen, and the order for 60 dollars (ink and an adapter) was cheaper and would last longer. I do not use cartridges because my pens does not take them, not to mention that all my pens would use different cartridges.
Currently, my pens in daily use are a Visconti Homo Sapiens bronze (700, i bought for 400), a Pilot VP (160, i bought for 100), and a Lamy Safari (30 dollars). Given the price of my pens, I plan on buying a beater for just under 70 dollars for taking notes. Despite the sticker shock, a back of the hand calculation say that given the number of times that I have filled my pens it is cheaper than using disposable pens. Ill post pictures of my pen collection and my dorm room after I move in tomorrow
I have a pair of Waterman Hemispheres, the marbled blue and gold one is almost 20 years old (of regular use), the brown metallic was my bus driver pen (since it matched the uniform)[1], now I am a supervisor, I am back to using the blue. They are nice and write well, but not so expensive that I would have to cry too much if something bad happened. I've destroyed two nibs over the years (dropping a pen nib down onto concrete or a steel bolt), but they are replaceable...the finish is starting to wear off the blue one, but who cares.
[1] True story: driving the bus, I tore up a brand new Saab 9000 (my fault 100%), so I get out to exchange info, and the driver is about to go spare (I can't blame him), when he suddenly says "Is that a Waterman? We use the same pen!" Then we were best friends! Both laughing when someone rammed my parked bus with a Lexus and did a hit and run.
Hi Matthew,
Ah yes, good old New York! Yes, I would imagine the Winters will be harsh! That sounds great about the food. Sounds like a decent place to end up. It is very nice you don't have any roommates. Possibly you will be able to study well and not have to worry about any surprises.
It certainly sounds like you have a serious pen collection! I am definitely looking forward to seeing pics of the collection! I can understand about the monetary outlay-I have done the same thing with some of my postage stamps! I may even get myself a fountain pen to practice with. You have made me interested in pens now. Not sure if you know it or not, but Bill Cosby also collects pens. Keep that mane growing!
Ted
How long do you plan on letting it grow?
Congrats on moving out and on the decision to grow out your hair. Moving out and going to college while growing out your hair sounds like a recipe for success. Perfect timing there my friend! good luck and I'm looking forward to updates. I'm pretty new here on this board but I have already met a great bunch here that are dedicated to growing out their hair.