Does this count as work, as far as striking goes? I have no idea, but I’ll play it safe with another rerun: this is from about two years ago, and I’m now in the same predicament (minus the rat tail, which was handy despite looking horrible, because at least it gave me something to tie back). History has taught me nothing.
marianchurchland.com 
I just recently cut my hair into a short bob with bangs, after wanting it for months! I haven’t had bangs for years though so I was always waffling on whether or not to get them and upkeep and blah blah blah. It’s really not that bad, I think I was making it worse overthinking it. I’m actually feeling rather cute and protagonistic.
Oh, that’s awesome – that must look great! I love that complete change feeling. “Protagonistic” is such a good word for it. I’ve often felt like that, too, when I’ve cut all my hair off – like I’ve singled myself out against the world in some positive way.
When I’m growing my hair (or planning to) I always tell myself that I’ll be able to try all the cool middle-length styles, but when it comes time I can never pull them off. I don’t know if that’s an attitude problem on my part (probably), or the fact that they don’t suit my already roundish face, but so it goes.
This is somewhat belated, but when I figured this out it changed my (short hair) life. Most pharmacies or dollar stores in their hair aisle section sell these flat cotton stretchy hairbands that are about 4-5cm wide. Sometimes they’re called yoga headbands. If you put them on such that you pull them down around your neck and then back up it lifts your hair off the back of your neck and pulls all the random bits off your face. I wouldn’t go out in public like that because it does look kinda weird in the back, but it is actually better than a small pony tail because it keeps all that front/top stuff under control. I recommend investing $2 and trying it. After a while they get unstretchy/sweaty/gross but you can put them in the wash and they tighten up again.