Karen Craigo

Quasi-scientific? Maybe. But think of beautician , a word that assumes loveliness is brought off by technology. She prefers cosmetologist — how it seems to have something to do with the stars. She believes she can see the future when she stares face-down at the globe of a stranger's scalp and adjusts the tilt of his head. At the Academy, she is learning about the tendencies of things to remain where they fall. She knows some tricks— spritz and gel, the so-called permanent wave. She wonders where they come from, this galaxy of dowdy customers. Some days her precision cuts hang like torn drapes on a dirty window. I see you've tried an asymmetrical look , her instructor might say, snipping corrections. At the Academy, asymmetrical is spelled with a D. She came here to verify what she always suspected: that straight hair must be curled, curly hair straightened, long hair cut, short hair extended. That what comes to us by fate is wrong.