Author: ruhlwrite

Dominique Perrot has painted striking stripes in her long, dark hair. She’s decided to go grey gracefully, and the indigo streaks blend in and stand out at the same time, making her ageless. She’s never worn her hair short and cannot imagine what it would be like to have her ears and neck uncovered. She doesn’t know what color her hair will choose to be in this, a new chapter in her life that brings her back to her beginnings, but strand by strand, she’s willing to let the past, present…

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When she was a little girl, Elizabeth Chubbuck used to climb to the top of the wooden jungle gym at the elementary school by her house. Each time, she opened her big blue eyes wide in hopeful expectation. Illinois is a flat-out flat state so she could see for miles and miles. But the view offered her nothing more than the unrelenting cornfields of her hometown of Urbana. “I kept telling myself that there was something else out there,” says Elizabeth, the vice president of sales and marketing…

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There are only four stations at Val’s Barber Shop. Val Suyunov, the owner, mans the one closest to the front plate-glass window, where the shop’s humble name is proclaimed is big, bold golden letters. “Val’s is old-fashioned,” he says proudly. “Like the sign in back says: Enter as strangers, leave as friends.” Men – the wholly haired to the brazenly bald – come to Val’s for a haircut, a hot-towel shave and a muscular fellowship that is rooted in each clip and snip. “I’m…

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The subway screeches, the city screams and Anthony Wood stands serene.Anthony is the co-owner of The Giving Tree Yoga Studio. He finds his piece of peace at the massage-therapy table, which is tucked into a corner of The Giving Tree Yoga Studio. In this sky-blue space, which is the color of his intense eyes, Anthony heals bodies and enlightens souls. “My work has a strong intuitive slant,” he says. “Each session for each person is different. I go deep physically and energetically, and I aim…

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“My life is bagels,” declares George Menegatos. “It’s my love.”George is the co-founder of New Yorker Bagels. George, the co-founder of New Yorker Bagels, is standing in his Long Island City factory opening his arms in a wide embrace that is meant to take in every single one of the 75 million bagels he bakes every year. If you haven’t heard of New Yorker Bagels, chances are you’ve eaten one or even a dozen because it’s the world’s largest wholesaler of fresh-baked bagels. You…

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