Encounters: Tresses and Gains

'Do you surf the net?' said Tony, staring down at me in the mirror. Now, I know it's a barber's right to choose the subjects for discussion, but cyberspace was not on Tony's usual agenda. Last time, the conversation - or monologue - had revolved more predictably around Marcia Clarke, Rush Limbaugh and George Steinbrenner. I wanted to explain that what I did couldn't really be called surfing; it was more like paddling gingerly in the shallows while wearing a life vest. But my questioner was