August Celebrations Part 2: Looking Back
My Journey Through Life and Hairstyles
Last week, I revealed that I got a hair cut after several years of having long hair. Through prior years, I have had many different hairstyles. I always get nostalgic when my birthday month comes around. So today, I am taking you all on a photo journey through different moments in my life and the hairstyles that came with them.
In the photo below, I did not have a say over my physical appearance, and I honestly do not remember much from my very early days. All I know is that I do not have nearly as many photos as my older siblings (also pictured) at any age younger than 10, and I always had snot running down my nose. Le sigh. (I am the shortest one in the photo by the way.)
Back at my high school on the island, I was the class nerd. If you needed help with homework or wanted to ace an upcoming exam, I was your go-to guy. Academics were my protective shield. No one ever bullied me because no one wanted to mess with the one kid who could help you do better. Or maybe it was because I had what my classmates considered to be a smokin’ hot older sister who attended our sister school. I guess I will never know. I am seated furthest to the left below.
When I first moved to Nashville, I needed photos done of myself to promote my shows. My older sister (the same one my classmates drooled over) and I went to the Parthenon (a life-size replica of the real thing) at Centennial Park near her office, and she took this photo. I look so serious in this shot. I cannot say that I loved that hairdo, but it is a classic Asian look I suppose. I started my Nashville journey playing a bunch of open mics around the city before eventually booking my own shows at small venues (while working all kinds of side hustles to make ends meet). I grew out of my shy and meek phase into someone more comfortable and at ease on stage.
Back in 2008, I released my album Seahorses. I do not remember why, but I buzzed all my hair off for the first time. This look (in the photo below, taken by that same older sister) was the one featured on the album’s liner notes. Recording that album was a concerted effort that took me two years to complete. I had never done anything like it before, and I got to play two different grand pianos for all the songs (one of them was a very old concert grand that made my heart melt). That collection of songs represented me shedding everything and exposing many of my private sorrows to anyone willing to listen. That buzzed haircut really was the perfect look for that project.
The blurry photo below (which I might use as an album cover someday) is one of my favorites during what I call my blond ambition phase. It was taken during a trip to visit family in Sarasota, FL. Back in 2017, while I was in college, my older sister (yup, that same one) talked me into dying my hair blond. By then, I was already living in the woods with my dear husband, and my life was taking a crazy detour. Instead of majoring in audio production like I thought I would, I pursued a video and film production degree. That education and a world-famous global pandemic led me to create over 50 of my own short films ever since. Life is full of rich surprises.
During this whole time I have been living my life, my family has also been growing. I now have five nieces and five nephews, and one of those nephews has two kids of his own. (I have two cats.) The photo below is of me and my sweet niece Sofia during her fourth birthday years ago, and that particular haircut gave me all sorts of cowlicks. Sofia just had her first day of high school this past Tuesday, and I am bewildered by how much she has grown. (By the way, she is the daughter of my younger sister, from whom she inherited a good bit of her beauty and brains.) All of my adult life, I have been an uncle. The kids in my family are all so precious.
Here are a few other notable looks over the past few years:
And now, here is the most recent photo of me. This was taken in front of the Lipstick Lounge in East Nashville this past Tuesday where I played a lively solo set in my flashy gold ensemble. Queer artists performing in queer spaces will hopefully always happen.
I have so much to be grateful for in my life, and even after many challenges and heartbreaking disappointments, I am still healthy and alive.
My journey continues. May there be more adventures (and fun haircuts) to come.
UPCOMING SHOWS
Roqué’s Concert for One
Dowelltown, TN
Sunday, August 10
This past Wednesday, I took my mom and her husband Jim to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in West Nashville. They had an incredible exhibit that included life-sized floral recreations of women from various period paintings. We were all completely spellbound by the insanely high level of creativity and beauty on display. I am so happy we got to see this.
