Shear Madness Blog
-
Charles King Explores his New Mullet (and $11,000 raised for Haiti Relief!)
Housing Works President and CEO Charles King auctioned off his long-held ponytail to raise money to support AIDS activists in Haiti. Megachurch pastor Rick Warren jumpstarted the bidding at $1,000, and altogether $11,000 was raised. The crowd at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe voted with their pocketbooks on Charles’ new haircut. They voted for mullet! Here’s Charles’ thoughts on the experience and video from the live auction with auctioneer Kathleen Guzman, and a picture of King with mullet!
I woke up this morning to more than a twinge of buyer’s remorse. If there is anything uglier than a mullet, it’s a mullet the day after. I did my best. I laid out $1,200 of my own smackers last night for what I describe as “the …
-
Today’s the Big Haircut!
Wow, today is the big day! It hit me as a combed out and twisted my ponytail this morning. Ha! My head is going to feel lighter that’s for sure. Yes, I am finally getting nervous about the big snip.
“What do you do for a ponytail on its last night? Are you taking it out for one last steak dinner?” We had just finished a serious budget conversation, and Dr. David Cohen, Housing Works’ Board Chair was getting in a shot. “Very funny,” is my witty retort. To myself I think, “Thank God I am not follicle-challenged. Whatever happens, it can always grow back.”
There are actually some silver linings to this. No longer will my bathtub drain get clogged every morning. Long stray …
-
Join Housing Works for the End of a (Ponytail) Era
Since the mid-80s, Charles King, co-founder and CEO of Housing Works, has sported a trademark long ponytail. As we come upon the milestone of Housing Works’ 20th year, we’re putting the ponytail on the chopping block for the highest bidder (who so far is Pastor Rick Warren). Come celebrate the ceremonial cutting at the Shear Madness event tonight, and stay for food, drink, and fun at the Housing Works Bookstore Café. Charles is currently blogging until the big cut.
I am a little concerned about this blog thing. For a month now, I have been writing a blog, almost daily, about Haiti. My fine editor, Housing Works Communications Director David Thorpe keeps cutting out sections of my writing saying they are too self-referential. “The last …
-
Charles King’s hair once looked like a cross between “Jesus and an axe murderer!”
Everywhere I go these days, people are talking about my twisted ponytail and how much they are going to miss it. But folk should know that my long locks were not always this way. In fact, if you look at my photos from the late 1980’s, I look like a cross between Jesus and an axe murderer. The ponytail came about as a matter of convenience, not style.
You see, believe it or not, I used to be a biker. My first bike was a Honda 500 CC street-legal dirt-bike. I rode that bike all over the great state of Texas, on road and off. Later, after I moved to New Haven, I bought myself a used silver Honda CBF 750. It was a beautiful …
About AIDS Issues Update
Your inside source for in-depth activism news is updated daily by Staff Writer, Julie Turkewitz
