Ode to the northern quarter, Manchester

 Goodbye Mani. Goodbye to very slow trams that I grew to like because it showed me the city. 

Goodby northern quarter. You are one of those run down neighborhoods the cool kids find. They start going to the pubs and making them hip. They open vintage clothing shops. Coffee places start popping up. Little funky businesses rent shops that are dirt cheap. For now. 

Pretty soon the artists and cool kids start renting the cheap apartments even though the neighborhood is still iffy. Because it looks rundown, it still keeps a lot of people away. For now.

Street art starts appearing, a lot it is really good. Music spots start opening. More people are showing on weekends. It becomes THE place to be. 

Other people start finding out about this quirky, funky neighborhood. Weekends start to be really busy. More and more “normal” shops appear. It is written up in the paper as the next trendy place.

Then it happens…tourists appear with their iPhones taking selfies in front of the David Bowie mural.

 The northern quarter is now TRENDY. Uh oh.

Mens hair is fading in Manchester

 All young men here seem to have the same haircut. It’s kind of like the are in a cult or something. It’s called a fade. It consists of shaved hair on the sides and longer hair on top. 

So some men have straight hair that is fairly long that that use gel or something to have combed back. It stays like that! That amazes me. My very short hair is fine and thick. I lays flat. I always try to give myself sort of a ultra hipster tousled look on top. (!) It never works no matter what I try. It goes flat. Maybe superglue would work.

There are so many barber shops here. It seems like more than hair salons. Maybe they are just more noticeable, I don’t know. I guess mens hair upkeep is very important.

When we walk to the tram station every day, we pass a very small barber shop. It’s open 7 days a week. There is one guy. He’s there everyday. I guess he never takes a day off. Busy chap.

The world of hair is a very profitable one. From men and their fades,etc., to women and their braids, haircuts, highlights, baylages (really have no idea what that is but sounds good so I threw it in), lots of money is being made.