Reactions to D.Swan's "reveal"

D.Lao has been giving us updates on the various responses to his new look, which I'll now share.

[If you haven't seen his transformation yet, check out The Swan from a couple days back before reading further.]
Roommate Michele: (initial gasp followed by some backpedaling) "Oh my God! It looks so different!! Not bad, just usually your hair is floppy.... It looks good. You look mean."

Roommate Clemens: (some chuckling) "That looks good, man."

Research advisor: "I like your haircut."

Research mentor: "What happened to your hair?"

Jon (medical student who D.Lao evaluates): "That looks great, man! It looks really, really good!!"

Susan (friend in Philly who saw the blog): "Are you having an early mid-life crisis?"

Grace (friend in NYC after checking out the blog): "Hilarious. Looks good though."

Lisa (pharmacy student D.Lao passed on the street): Three double-takes before nearly running into signpost. Some laughter. (No time for any comments.)

Danny: "Looks cool...though I wouldn't want to be seen with you." (He subsequently asked D.Lao out for dinner.)

Jay (college friend): "Ohhhhhh Dave, what the heck, dude?"

Kavita (resident friend e-mail reply after reading blog): "Awesome...I vote for the spiky messy as the ultimate look, but the close cropped works too. Let us know how the new dave is handling all the ladies collapsing at his feet!"

Alli (resident friend at the gym): Eyes darting back and forth across head followed by a big genuine smile, "It looks great!! It really works on you."

Phil (resident friend at the gym): After several prompts that something might be different, "You got a haircut?"

Robin (male cardiology attending): "I need to get my hair cut too."

Clemens (roommate, after second viewing and learning that it was cut by Lee and me): "You didn't have to pay for that? Wow, we should get some clippers, we can give each other cuts and save a lot of money."

Program Director: "Whoa! Decided to go for a different look, didn't you?"

Secretary: "I guess it'll grow back."

Patient who has known D.Lao for two years now: "Ah, you got a new look! I bet the ladies like that."

Doctor who also has a shaved head himself: "I like it a lot; a shaved head works well."

Jason: "Did you lose a bet?"

One comment he received a lot: "You look mean. If I didn't know you, and you didn't smile, I'd think you were really mean."

We think badass is a much better description. While there were a few less than stellar remarks, the overall response was overwhelmingly positive. And D.Lao lost count of how many women touched his head. I don't know why I like rubbing a shaved head so much, but it really is irresistible! I think it has to do with the fact that, as a female, there's nothing on my own body that ever feels like that. Wait, does that sound weird? Anyway, you know what I mean. We're just happy that D.Lao is happy.

And Badass.