Monday, February 18, 2008

Confidences, confessions, and advice...



I woke up to the most incredible feeling of dread. In those few moments of re-orientation while reaching consciousness, the full force of what had happened last night hit me. I ran my fingers along the side of my head, feeling the faint stubble on my fingertips and hardly believing what I had done.

"Ah, well, what's done is done," I sighed to myself, getting out of bed.

I grabbed my hairbrush and went to look in the mirror on the closet door. As I stood there brushing the remains of my hair -- the right side -- to a glossy sheen, I had to admit that it was rather striking as a look, although strange.

Just then Janie got back from her shower and saw me. She gasped, and her eyes opened wide behind her thick glasses.

"Oh, my heck!" she exclaimed, horrified. "What did you do to your hair?" Read the rest of the story ->

10 comments:

Lars Larson said...

You know what is really weird about reading this story? I am a 44 year-old man and I feel like I am in sixth grade reading a Judy Blume novel...trying not to let anyone catch me. Keep them coming Ms. Hanson!

And I can't help dropping a name or two and giving everyone who reads this a bit of BYU history. I was the roommate of one of the guys who started The Student Review when we were freshmen at BYU. You can read about my reunion with him 20 years later:

My Weekend with BK

News of his partner in founding the paper, and the roommate that same year of Robert who posts here can be found here:

Reachfar

Also, prior to the founding of The Student Review some of you probably remember The Seventh East Press. And if you all remember that you might also remember April Fool's Day in 1983 when The Seventh East Press went around loading in ersatz copies of The Daily Universe into the bins which contained all sorts of farcical stories for the enjoyment of the stunned student body.

C. L. Hanson said...

Thanks Erlybird!!!

Wow, that's cool!!! My brother and I were on the Student Review too, but not at the very beginning. I was on the staff of the Review from Fall of '90 until I graduated in 1992.

I posted one of my old SR articles here: Why I Hate Church.

Lars Larson said...

If I had known about SR I may have been lured back to BYU to take part in it...it might have been fun...but I am glad I didn't.

Anonymous said...

I actually remember the Seventh East Press, and I remember the April Fool's Day edition. Seems to me the lead story was about BYU men wearing shoe mirrors? With a picture of a couple of guys using them to industriously peer up girls' skirts? Anyway, in one of their serious editions they ran an interview with Sterling McMurrin that ended up getting them pulled from the BYU Bookstore shelves, which I believe was what ultimately finished them off. I was sorry to see it go.

C. L. Hanson said...

Hey Anonymous!!!

That's cool that you were there for that!!!

That was a little before my time, but it was part of the stock of legends passed down by the SR staffers since the Student Review grew out of the ashes of the Seventh East Press.

Anonymous said...

Sorry about the Anonymous. It wouldn't let me in otherwise!

C. L. Hanson said...

Grrr, stupid blogger/blogspot!!!

I would switch, but I'd lose all my incoming links...

Please feel free to link back to your blog from your comment using the "a href" html tag!

Lars Larson said...

Yes...the shoe mirror thing...I remember that. Also there was something about sanctioned BYU housing where they put some sort of plexiglass up between men's and women's areas.

I really wish I had kept a copy. If it ever shows up on eBay I would pay a few bucks for it.

You know, as for the REAL thing, I remember distinctly two things published in the TDU during my stay there. One was an expose about how we really COULD survive a nuclear exchange with the USSR. The other was a Valentine's special interview with a real life BMOC who was dispensing advice on how you should "date within your league" or some such nonsense. It is almost worth a trip to Provo just to go through the archives to find them.

Anonymous said...

I loved this particular installment Chanson - it really got into the nitty gritty of the struggle that so many of us went through at BYU - awakening sexual beings carrying a very heavy load of moral bullshit around on our shoulders. Gawd, I think back to those days and the memories honestly come to me as if in a dense fog.

My last few years at BYU I was no longer a virgin, having fallen in love with and made love to a beautiful young communist named Gianni while on my mission. I knew what was what as I slogged through those last few painful years at the Y and it was awful.

Reading your story reminded me of the mental gymnastics that it took sometimes just to get through the day.

Nice work!

C. L. Hanson said...

Hey Tom!!!

I'm glad you like it!!! I hope you'll like the rest of the BYU segment as well -- it involves a religious as well as sexual awakening. :D