"Dread" Locks

At church the other day, a lady came up to me and asked my name. Being that my name can be associated with the way I wear my hair (part of my name has "dred" in it), a nearby brother says, "Use name-word association." The woman, a senior citizen, was a little confused so I filled her in.

"My name is Blank, Blank-dred and I wear Dreadlocks," I said emphasizing the dread part. Now the nearby brother jumps in and says that unless I'm a rastafarean, I don't wear dreadlocks. He says that he received a whole education on locks by one of his coworkers and only people who live the rastafarean lifestyle can call them "dreadlocks" so I shouldn't call them that because obviously I'm not living that lifestyle.

I was a little confused by this and wondered why he brought up "name association" if he wasn't associating my name with my hairstyle? What else was he suggesting she associate my name with? My name isn't Sunday or Mary . . . there's no songs that I know of with my name in it . . . outside of dred and dreadlocks, I got nothing. So yeah, when I want people to remember my name, I go straight for the hair-name association which is the most obvious.

Besides that point, I never really had a problem calling them "dreads" or "locks." Mainly because I've been called "Dreadlocks" way before I got this hairstyle in the first place. (Maybe if that wasn't the case, I would have more of a problem with the term.) And the way I see it, while Rastafareans may (or may not) have designated the name dreadlocks, the rest of the world adopted that terminology in connection with the hairstyle so if your hair is locked up and you call them "dreadlocks" I don't think that makes you a rastafarean just like if you wear a mohawk, that doesn't make you a Mohawk Indian and if you wear a bowl cut it doesn't mean you put a bowl on your head and cut around it, LOL.

Now I'm not completely in the dark about the connection between spirituality, Rastafari and "dreadlocks." I've lurked on 1 or 2 message boards where the topics were the history of the term dreadlock and can anyone wear dreadlocks (and lemme tell you, there were a lot of people who strongly believed that you shouldn't even lock your hair up unless you are a rasta or on a spiritual journey-regardless of what you call them). Also, I've been on the message boards where people talk about how they do not like the term dreadlocks.

At the end of the day, I refer to them as locks (in order to be politically correct and not offend) but around friends and family I might just call them "dreads" "locks," whatever it doesn't matter to me. A lot of people might say it does matter.

What do you think? Are you offended when people refer to locks as "dreadlocks"? Do only rastafareans wear "dreadlocks"?

Pick On Someone Your Own Size Allison Samuels!

I don't know about you, but I see some sheen and curls going on in this picture!

So courtesy of Aunt Jemima's Revenge, I was reading this Newsweek article about hair by Allison Samuels and it . . . pissed . . . me . . . off! I was so disgusted with this woman's tone that I decided to write about it. My main problem is #1 she's talking about someone's baby #2 she's judgemental, trifling and handled this subject matter with little care or thought and #3 this is an article in Newsweek. NEWSWEEK for goodness sake! Not some niche newspaper, a mainstream nationally distributed newspaper. I will post a few excerpts. (Okay, I'll post a whole lot of excerpts, lol)

Up until recently, Angelina Jolie seemed to be doing a pretty decent job with Zahara Jolie Pitt—providing essential and expensive medical care, purchasing land in Zahara’s native Ethiopia with the plan to build a health center, providing a life of adventure and opportunity. Wonderful things indeed, but lately it seems Angelina has taken a page out of Tom Cruise’s book—and it all comes down to Zahara’s hair.

Okay, expensive and essential medical care . . . check! Encouraging interest and pride in little girl's culture by purchasing land in Ethiopia and building a health care center . . . check! Offering child a life of adventure and opportunity that the average human could only dream of . . . check! Giving child insecurities about hair? . . . not so much. Well let's leave that to Ms. Allison, won't we? Heeeere we go!

Photos of Zahara show the 4-year-old girl sporting hair that is wild and unstyled, uncombed and dry. Basically: a “hot mess.’’

Okay, wow! Um, she's a child. A baby. And looking at the pictures, her hair doesn't look all that bad to me. Actually, it looks quite sheeny to me. But even if it didn't, LAY OFF THE KID and cover a real story! Let's continue, shall we?

Hair is often the first thing others notice, be it the texture, length, fullness, or shine. In the African-American community it can also tell a story. It can indicate your background, lineage, and social standing. From slavery until today, skin color and hair texture played a large part in how the overall society viewed blacks and ultimately the way African-Americans saw themselves.

Yes, she has a point. SOME (ignorant, shallow, old-fashioned, feeble minded, racist) people still judge each other based on skin color and hair texture. But "It can indicate background, lineage and social standing." For real Allison? I really wished that she put "Some people think it indicates"

There are many legacies of black hair in America, but the most enduring is this: even those who eschew pursuing European-looking hair still take a tremendous amount of pride in looking well groomed and put together, and still need to devote time and energy to achieve this effect.

Um, I think that's everybody Allison. I think every culture takes pride in looking well-groomed and put together. Oh, but glad that you mentioned that even us natural heads take tremendous pride in looking groomed too. I'm sure nobody would have guessed that.

It’s no wonder that African-American women are the largest consumers of hair products, spending close to a billion dollars each year to control their hair. These same women passed down these perceived notions about hair to their daughters. They usually begin hot combing and braiding the child’s hair to take the kink out at an early age.

Allow me to translate. Black women have so many hangups about our hair that we spend more money than we should trying to "control" it and we pass this baggage and hangups onto our children at an early age, who then pass it onto their children. So yes, obviously we have some hangups and issues about how we are perceived.

But even the mothers who spare the hot comb still have to put time and effort into keeping hair healthy: Any self-respecting black mother knows that she must comb, oil, and brush her daughter’s hair every night. This prevents the hair from matting up, drying out, and breaking off. It also prevents any older relatives from asking them why you’re neglecting your child and letting her run around looking like a wild woman. Having well-managed hair is not just about style, it’s about pride, dignity, and self-respect. Keeping your daughter’s hair neat is an unspoken rule of parental duties that everyone in the community recognizes and respects.

Yes, and that's what it's all about. How we are perceived by people in the community. Being perceived a certain way seems to be very important to Ms. Allison. I don't think Allison understands that Brad and Angie are huge celebrities. They don't care about trends, they set them. Also, they don't see "folks in the community" on a regular basis. Nobody's going to come up to her and tell her to "do that child's hair." Outside of the privacy of her own home, she is surrounded by wealthy people and professional butt-kissers. If not the butt kissers, she's probably surrounded by people who don't have time to sit around judging a 4 year old girl's hair. A little girl whose hair is fine. Just fine! Look at the texture in that picture. Her hair looks more hydrated than mine! LOL

Hair that is nice, neat, and cared for also gives African-American girls the confidence that they can fit into the world at large without being seen as completely different. One truism of childhood is that nothing is more important than being like everyone else. Well, as like everyone else as you can be with Hollywood parents. But not all people will recognize Zahara as the child of movie royalty. To many, she’ll be just a black little girl—and a black girl with bad hair at that.

Again, who are these judgmental people she's talking about and when is little Zahara going to be walking around surrounded by people who see her as just some random "little black girl"? Probably as an adult (or near adult), and by that point I'm sure her hair will be different. And "bad hair"??? Did she just use the term "bad hair"???!!! (Jesus take the wheel!) ~Falls out on floor~

In recent pictures it's clear Angelina Jolie hasn’t taken the time to learn or understand the long and painful history of African-American women and hair. If she had I can’t imagine she would continue to allow Zahara to look like she has in the past few months.

Maybe she did. Maybe she looked at the childish, shallow, prejudiced, judgmental way that Black women have dealt with "our hair" for so many years and decided that she wasn't going to be bothered with that foolishness. Personally, I don't blame her for not attaching as much meaning to Black women's hair as we have. Maybe Zahara is going to grow up with the mindset that we all should have. It's . . . just . . . hair.

This is not to say that critics want Angelina to perm or hot comb Zahara's hair. Not that 4-year-old African-American girls don't get their hair hot combed. I certainly did every Saturday for Sunday morning church.

Aaaw, how charming?! (That's sarcasm, yall :-) Applying that kind of heat to a Black person's hair on a regular basis (much less a child's hair) is bad. Bad, bad, BAD!!! Just because it was done to you as a child, doesn't mean it was right. Forget tradition. It's damaging and wrong! And by the tone of this paragraph, it sounds like you do want somebody to hot comb that child's hair. LOL Don't lie! You just finished bringing it up like it was a fond memory. Let's all face it, that is one little Black girl who is not going to be sitting in nobody's kitchen, getting her hair hot combed before church. Are you kidding?!

Instead, the majority of those writing in to the blogs say they just want Angelina to brush and oil the little girl's hair so it will be healthy and in shape.

Looking at the picture, it looks oiled and healthy. Yeah, yall want somebody to hotcomb that head! lol

Allison Samuels

(I do like her hair, though LOL)

But it seems the constant travel the family’s been doing over the past year has put issues like grooming on the back burner. For the record, Jolie’s daughter Shiloh isn’t exactly looking like much time is being given to her hair either. But she isn’t a little black girl being judged by mainstream standards.

No, she's not - because you barely touched the topic of Shiloh's hair. But Zahara's a little Black girl that's going to be judged by Black women like you all day long. I've said it before (probably not on this blog) and I'll say it again, yes, racism is alive and well but I have never, NEVER had a white person make me feel about my hair the way a Black person has. White people couldn't care less (and that's just my truth). When I would wear my hair out in its natural glory, it was the Black people that always had something to say. Sorry, not trying to glorify White people or anything . . . but I hate it when people say they are negatively criticizing you in order to protect you from negative critics. Call it what it is lady! You are the "mainstream" media that will be casting out judgements about this girl's hair. I don't see any White women or men writers at Newsweek taking on this topic. (Sidebar: I am not taking away from the fact that there are some racist White people who don't feel comfortable seeing "ethnic hairstyles" in the workplace and will even deny us jobs based on that fact, but I don't see little Miss Zahara Jolie having to worry about that.)

There are those who say there is nothing wrong with Zahara’s hair at all, that her hair is in its natural state and that’s just fine.

That would be me! Like I said before, her hair looks healthy to me. Also, I am an advocate for little Black girls. I think they are adorable at that innocent age without a care in the world, no hangups and nothing but opportunity, high self-esteem and flowers and rainbows, and candy and princesses and their hair grows like weeds because we don't do half as much damage to it as will be done in the future. That is what I see when I look at my nieces. That is what I see when I look at little Zahara. Why would anyone want to take that away from them? Which reminds me, I gotta take my little nieces out soon and tell them how beautiful and intelligent and wonderful they are. :-)

I say natural hair---afro, dreads, etc. is fine, if it’s maintained regularly or when the child is old enough to make that decision for herself.

Again, it looks like it's being maintained. Just not styled (I really can't emphasize that enough). Which, personally, I have no problem with. Actually, low maintenance is the best thing you can do for a Black person's hair (I wouldn't be shocked if Angie did some research and found out the same thing and that's why she's letting little mama run free in all of her adorable glory) Also, I'm sure that once little Zahara starts to care, her mommy will provide whatever resources are necessary to get her on the Rihanna bandwagon or whatever.

Until then, the child’s parents are responsible for their general care and upkeep. Zahara is not even old enough to know that her hair looks dry and damaged as it stands straight up on her head. But there will come a day when this beautiful little African girl will understand what it means to be an African-American woman in this society and realize unlike her younger sister, hers is not a wash-and-go world.

Yes, one day there will be some judgemental-behind, Black woman (like you) to point out her "perceived" flaws and try to hand her the baggage that she missed out on as a babe. Until then, I'm sure she's doing okay. Now get thee to the ghetto and help someone who really needs it and stop being a snob, picking on little Black girls with millionaire parents (who could afford to probably just buy their own hair care line anyway).

And boo! Boooooo on you and your article!

Here's what I think

Sorry my posting has been quite sporadic. But I'm back to talk about Locs and the folks who wear them. I was looking at some pictures online in an effort to inspire myself (concerning hair color). A friend was saying that I am at a good length to begin dying my hair but I'm not sure I agree with him. I'm trying to go for this look . . .

But, uh . . . my hair in the front is not quite long enough. And plus I'm pretty content with my natural color, for now. My opinion changes from day to day so who knows? Tomorrow might be different.

Anyway, I saw some pictures of women with really tight locks. And it looks good on them, but that's just not my thing you know? Kind of like this . . .

I stay away from the scalpy look bec

ause . . . well, personally I think my head is too big for that. I need bigger hair to compete with my dome. But this is cute if you're conservative and like to look neat. It looks more like braids to me. I used to be a BIG fan of this look. Actually, that was what I was going for when I first started locs, but gradually I realized that it doesn't work for me at all. My hair is too thick for it and it doesn't fit my face or my personality for that matter. I guess I'm a little too wild for that.

This gorgeous human being to the left is artist Valerie June. Her hair is absolutely amazing and beautiful but I don't know if I could do the freeform thing. But look at her, though. (Sigh) It looks so darn good! I think my problem with freeform is this: that's too much loss of control for me. Lol. I'd only do it if I can get my hair to sign a contract that says it will do it's best to form exactly like Valerie June's. And my hair can't do that, so I can't freeform. But Geeze Louis! Look at her go. (Sigh!) . . . and yeah, I said it! Geeze Louis! lol

Ahh, yes. This is what I'm talking about. A happy medium. Lauryn Hill's hair is like my dream. I know you're not supposed to envy someone else's locs because they are all different, but I luh her hair (or loved, rather because she hasn't looked like this for quite some time) This woman's hair. Lawd a mercy!

But I was thinking. The beauty of Lauryn's hair is how black it is. I guess that's why I'm always hesitating to dye my hair a lighter color. Despite the fact that my hair's not dyed black and it's kind of dull. I could stand to moisturize a bit more to tell you the truth. I heard that prolonged rinsing is good for keeping the hair shiny . . . no, excuse me, sheeny. Either way, I'm good with how I look now. Every time I wash my hair, or wake up and stick it in a ponytail or wear it out even, I'm glad that I made this wonderful decision.

Toodle-oo!

I'm Still Alive

You can call off the search.  I'm still alive and kicking.  Just been on a series of trips, trying to enjoy life. But I'm back to give some updates.

Let's see . . . I've been doing a terrible, terrible job of retwisting and moisturizing.  I've been doing my deep conditioning about once a month, rather than once a week like I used to.  My routine in case you forgot was wash and rinse hair with shea moisturizing shampoo.  Then massage head with shea moisturizing conditioner mixed with heated olive oil & honey.  Put baggy over my head, blow dry, and then wash it out. Retwist with olive oil and then blow that not completely dry, but just enough to absorb the oil.  It usually leaves my hair so sheeny and healthy.  I did a bootleg version last night, which consisted of washing and rinsing my hair and then separating it into parts with oil on it (while still wet-I couldn't find my blow dryer).  I did about 9 big plaits all over the head and put a scarf on.  It's not the best thing in the world, but it's better than nothing.

What can I say?  I got locks in the first place because they are supposed to be low maintenance and these are low maintenance times right now.  I guess in the winter, there were more opportunities to stay inside with a glass of wine or hot cup of cocoa and retwist, but now that summer's here . .  . I have ants in my pants, people to see, things to do.  Everybody's graduating, getting married and popping out bebes.  Ah, to be young.

CLOWNING

So one of my sorority sisters was telling me that she knew someone that works in the same field that I do.  She said that I should connect with him and try to do a project together or something because she thinks we have a lot in common.  "Like what?" I asked her.  She said, "Well, he's into everything natural.  He's a vegetarian and doesn't eat any meat.  He's into taking care of the earth, you know?  That kind of thing."  I said, "Well I'm not a vegetarian or anything" and started to laugh.  She looks confused and says, "Well what I mean is that you guys would get along because you're hair is natural, like you have that thing going on."  I said, "Well is his hair locked up or something."  "No," she says, "it's a regular low-cut."  ooookay I thought to myself.

So I told my boyfriend about it a couple days ago.  And this fool says, (if I can try to remember it all) "I guess that makes you a . . . 

-Tree hugging

-Poetry reading

-Color purple quoting

-Trail mix eating

-Henna tatooing

-Weed smoking

-Incense Lighting

-Peace sign throwing

-Grass Roots Project Volunteering

-White People hating

-Vegetarian/Vegan diet eating

-Long colorful skirt wearing

-Bike riding

-Guitar playing

-India Arie, I am not my hair singing

-Flip flop wearing

-Yoga stretching

-African Dance teaching

-Cloth bag wearing

-Reggae listening

. . . and so on and so forth.  I tell ya, he's a barrel of laughs.  (I'm not going to lie, though, he had me CRACKING UP and soon I joined in with the stereotypes)  And this lasted all day.  Anytime we thought of something new, we added it to the list.

So feel free to add anything we may have missed!

Happy Blogging/Blog Reading!

Updates and Randomness

So being the procrastinator that I am, I have not dyed my locks.  And once I do, I was actually thinking about making them black.  But then again, maybe I'll just wait until they grow long in order to do that.  

Anywho, I have some randomness that I wanted to share today.  A couple weeks ago, I took my mother to the movies and while we were in the bathroom, I asked her what kind of person she'd think I was based on my appearance.  She said, "A person who likes to take long walks, eat nuts and ride your bike through the forest."  LOL  I have been laughing about this everyday since.  That woman cracks me up.  On another note, something I said must have stuck with her, because she's planning on locking her hair up in the near future.  I am very shocked at this decision but hope that she knows what she's getting into.

So yesterday, I asked a coworker and very good friend a similar question.  I'm moving into a new apartment and have been fervently decorating, painting and planning for my home-warming party.  I asked him if he didn't know me and had to guess how my apartment would be decorated based on my appearance what does he think it would look like.  He says, "An IKEA'd up dorm room, with strobe lights, doorway beads and colorful bean bag chairs."  I thought that was hilarious considering the direction my living room is taking.  I guess my church members will be in for a surprise.  I'll post a picture next post.

Don't Just Lay There . . . DO SOMETHING!

I feel limp and boring.

I live by the rule that if your hair looks great (or if you can accessorize your bland outfit) it gives a boost to the rest of your appearance.  Maybe because it's wintertime and I don't know how to accessorize under sweats, big stuffy coats and snow boots, I feel and look like this lately . . . 

And I'd much rather feel and look like this . . . 

Sigh . . . can't wait for summer!

My first ponytail

Aaaawwww Shucks!

Is that a ponytail yall?

I can't tell, I need a second opinion.

Yep, by dictionary definition, that is indeed a ponytail.  Granted this picture was taken after a wash and retwist some shrinkage has since occurred and my hair is not able to fit into such a neat ponytail anymore, but this is a momentous occasion folks.  One which I'm glad to be able to share with you all.

So um, what's new besides the ponytail?

Chris and Ri-Ri

The economy

Oh!  What's new with me, you mean?  Nothing really.  Same ol' stuff.

I am thinking about dyeing my hair within the next couple days.  I have no idea what color or whether to do just the tips or the whole thing.  I was thinking about dying it black to bring out my features, but then I thought maybe the traditional light brown tips.  I dunno.  Any suggestions?  I'm open to anything.  I know that most people start to dye when they get around to the length I'm at now.  Most times I like to go against whatever people are doing (so in my case I wouldn't dye it at all) but I need to do something different with my hair these days.  So we'll see.  That about it!

Happy Snow Day everybody!!!

Lookit What I Did!

Gosh, I'm so corny, but I was excited to be able to successfully wrap my hair in a different way than usual and wanted to post these pics.  That's about it.

Oh and um, I washed my hair not too long ago . . . same routine as usual.  Check it out!

My hair is sooo heavy now when I wash it.  I didn't anticipate the amount of shampoo and conditioner I would have to start using.

It's gettin there yall!

My hair is not African, it's American...like me and other randomness people should know

So my mom came by to visit me and we went to church together this past Thursday. Upon her arrival, she asked if I had a hotcomb (which, oddly enough, I did) and proceeded to flame torch her tresses bone straight. My mom wears her hair natural as well, but likes to straighten it, gel it up and pop on a thick, lush ponytail. Of course, being a happy nappy I said, "noooo, don't do that." I figured if she wanted hair that looked straight she might as well just use the oldest trick in the book and gel it all back into a ponytail. Her hair is naturally soft and curly so it doesn't take a hot comb to smooth it all back into a fine textured ponytail, just some water a hair brush and some grease (like back in the day, remember?). But she was desiring a fluffy little bang up front to match the fluffy ponytail in the back (moms was a big fan of the eighties y'all). So I let bygones be bygones and when she left I sent her packing with my little gold hotcomb and a little bit of the burnt hair that she left in it. Sigh! Can't fight'em all.

Anywhoo...at work the other day, my clueless but very friendly coworker proceeded to sing "Three Little Birds" and tell me that I reminded her of Bob Marley. Although, me and Bob both share the hairstyle commonly known as dread locks and yes, we both have a love for Jah...um, I wasn't flattered. She could tell by the *crickets* that her little comparison didn't go over, so she decided to do one better. "Okay, how about this...my African Queen, Princess from the Motherland, Nubian Goddess..."

Calmly and slowly, I said, "You're killing me. Please stop." And thankfully, she did. I gave her the brick face the first time, because oddly enough, I didn't know why she connected me with Bob Marley. My brain was kind of slow (it was 5am in the morning) but when she went into the African Princess stuff it occurred to me. She must have thought that my wearing locks was an attempt to live like/look like a rastafarean or to look African. I guess I didn't get it because I've never acquainted dreadlocks/natural hair with a culture, just an ethnicity. In other words, I didn't think it was an African thing or an island thing, I just thought it was a Black thang! -Says, "heeeyyy" and raises the roof-

So once I came to that conclusion, my mind went twenty different directions. Like if she thinks wearing natural hair is an African thing, then what the (insert expletive here) does she think she's doing by wearing a perm?  The "American thang?" -Says "heeeyy" weakly and half heartedly raises the roof- Um, I hope not because there are plenty of island and African perm-wearers that would take offense to that.

She wasn't the first person to say something like that to me. When I went to some model scout, casting call thing a couple months ago, the lady told me that she liked my Afro-centric pictures. I remember being confused and thinking to myself, what's so afro-centric about my pictures? But now I know. The lady was sadly mistaken as to what afro-centricism truly is.  So for the record, here's a PSA...not that any permies are looking at this blog anyway, but you never know.  And maybe one day you might need to use this PSA for someone else (whether you are locked up or not).  lol

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

MY HAIR DOES NOT BELONG TO ANY SPECIFIC CULTURE.  IT IS NOT AFRICAN HAIR.  IT IS NOT JAMAICAN HAIR.  IT IS NOT RASTAFAREAN HAIR OR NIGERIAN HAIR.  IT IS NOT A MEMBER OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY, THE NATION OF ISLAM OR THE REPUBLICAN/DEMOCRAT PARTY.  IT IS JUST HAIR.

My hair is not on its own spiritual journey.  I am not actively making a statement.  While I respect and admire other cultures, I do not identify myself with any culture outside of my own (insert your culture here, mine is American).  My ETHNICITY, is (Black African origin) and that is why my hair is naturally curly and kinky.  Not because I am making a statement and underwent some chemical transformation to help me identify with a tribe in (insert country here).  

This is NOT what I'm trying to do...

...not that there is anything wrong with either one of those things.

This is what I'm trying to do...

My hair did not originally start out like this...

It started out like this...

And I decided to keep it that texture.  Not because I am lazy or militant or rastafarean or angry or happy or strange or African or Jamaican or (insert adjective here) but because I LIKE IT THIS WAY.

That's it yall!

Peace, Blessings and Jah!

"Until the philosophy which hold one race superior and another inferior is finally discredited and abandoned...WAR! So that is prophecy, and everyone knows that is truth. And it came out of the mouth of Rastafari."

"I don't stand for the black man's side; I don’t stand for the white man's side. I stand for God's side.

-Bob Marley

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Meeeee!!!!

Guess what today is? Drum-roll please...Ah, forget it, you already know. I have officially been locked for one year. And I have absolutely nothing planned. Maybe I'll use this as an excuse to get the boyfriend to take me out to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant. But here's how I'm going to do it on this blog. I'm going to make an attempt to post as many pictures of my journey as possible- kind of an attempt at showing the growth thus far. (That will be tough considering that some a** monkey from my job deleted all of the pictures off of my first digital camera-grrr!!! But nevermind that-I will do my best). I will also list all of the ups and downs I experienced in my first year of locking. First things first...

Jan. 17th 2008

One year ago today.  I was very unsure about my brave new hair do.  But I sucked it up and decided to live dangerously.  I washed my hair and my mother palm rolled it using ORS hair locking gel.  I would never suggest anyone start their locks with palm rolls if their hair has a little length to it.  They do not stay for anything.  I would probably suggest braid locks or two (or three) strand twists (but that's just my humble opinion).

A closer view of my head on day one.

3 Weeks into my journey

Uh, yeah, did I forget to mention that in the beginning stages locks don't stay for anything.  I think this is my first wash.  Or maybe just one of the many washes that completely obliterated my beginner twists.  Whatever it was, it was very frustrating to say the least.

circa March 2008

This is around the time I became a diy'er (do-it-yourself-er).  I was mixing up all kinds of concoctions that are still sitting in my cabinets now.  Bottom line...the main thing that consistently gets used on my hair nowadays besides my favorite shampoos are apple cider vinegar, honey, and olive oil, olive oil, olive oil.  I still use the occasional spray bottle concoction, but not often.

Early April 2008

Wore my hair up A LOT around this time.  I was a huge fan of the up do.  Still am, to tell you the truth.

April 2008

Around this time I was learning to accept my locks.

And my hair was definitely budding during this time.

May 2008

Love these model pics.  They helped to boost my confidence, showed the diversity of locks and my newly gained length and introduced me to my new favorite do.  THE BUN.

But a funny thing happened while my

 hair was in a bun.  It was secretly growing.

circa November

Some days it would lay down wrong and some days it would lay down right.

(But whatever it did, it was dy-no-miiite! - just had to throw that in, lol)

Around this time, I was noticing some knotting.  And it was driving me CRAZY!!!  I even considered cutting the tips off of my locks.  Think of that! (But I didn't and I'm glad I made that decision.)  Chunky tips and yes, even knots are normal for some people during the locking process.  (My advice is to continue palm rolling, twisting, latching and focus on maintaining the tips of your lock just as much as the base. - which is something that I wasn't doing at the time.)

circa October

I was getting bored and decided to try some new things.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that my hair took well to rollers.  So...

Also, I got a little spoiled by my sister (aka "the braiding machine") and got to wear the best hair do ever.  I suggest anyone who is wearing locks to go to a hairdresser or do an extravagant style like this occasionally.  I think we all need reminders as to how versatile locks are.  And in the beginner stages, anything different you can do with your hair to occasionally break out of the cycle is good for your spirit.

November 2008

Typical look for me from day to day recently.

 December 2008

So here I am ( in one of my staple hair accessories; the net hat or bonnet, whatever you wanna call it).  I'm one year in and ready for more years to come!

      

January 2009

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LOCS!  I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!

Guess who's getting a bath today?

I'll give you a hint.  

It's the four legged (angry looking guy) in this picture.  He is not happy!

But anywhoo...I have been muy busy lately, since my last work project is now complete.  Living in the freelance world, I am now at that spot that nobody likes.  Looking for the next gig.  I am catching up with things that have gone awry in my life.  Like my credit score for one.  (Some hooligans decided to steal my social and now I have to pick up the pieces).  Also catching up on laundry, cleaning and looking for a new place.  Lots to do.  (Sigh!)  Haven't been focusing on the hair really, but it's still growing.  I will be washing and re-twisting this evening.  That's it for now.  Here's a pic to keep up with the theme of this blog.  (Maybe I should make this a general blog, moreso than a hair blog).  Hmm . . . maybe.