I expected more drama from the makeover episode

I was quite disappointed
that nobody had a meltdown over their hair. Although Jael cried, it wasn’t really because she hated her hair, it was that she’d sat in the chair for over 8 hours enduring the tight braiding to put the weave in only to have them decide they weren’t going with that. I don’t think long would have looked good on her anyway. Ultimately, most of them looked pretty good, even Renee. But, poor Cassandra still looked like she had someone’s mop on her head and so did Brittany. Maybe it was just that in the judging, they didn’t have a clue how to style their own hair. And although Natasha’s portrait gallery photo looks nice, her’s looked like a mop too. I liked Dionne’s hair best.

Renee’s picture from the photo shoot looks like she’s got morning crust in the corner of her mouth. Natasha looked like a porn star in her photos, then she looked like a disco queen in judging. Where'd she get those shiny straight-leg spandex pants? And somebody please throw Jaslene a pork chop! She looks like she’s going to disappear.

So now Renee’s moved on to Brittany, calling her fake and saying that she was acting like child. Even if she thought Brittany was, who said she needed Renee to talk to her about it? It’s not like she had Brittany were BFFs. But flipping Brittany the bird when she didn’t like her response was so mature. And did you catch the look on Renee’s face when Brittany was called first in the judging? MEOW!! But Brittany’s photo was the best. And for once, it’s not the black girls causing all the drama – so far. However, none of them seem to be that type, they’ve all been very mellow. Unfortunately, that could spell disaster if you’re not getting noticed enough. So Cassandra was eliminated last night. I don't feel too bad, her pictures weren't that great.

Next week, it looks like it's Renee's turn to lose it.

Some cheese to go with that Whine?

I was reminded by Bygbaby that I've fallen behind in my duties! I had started it, but got called out of town unexpectedly. Here's the recap post.

Did I miss something? When did ANTM Cycle 8

become the Renee and Jaslene Whine Fest? There was almost no one else who had anything to say. In the first episode, I originally thought Renee wasn't too bad, but after episode 2, her true colors are showing. She seems really petty, jealous and whiney. All she could do was boo-hoo about how all the others, and especially Jaslene, got a character that was easy to portray. "I could have done weird," "It's easy to do sexy!" Didn't she think the judges would have had more respect for her if she could have taken something goofy and far from her own personality and own it? And Jaslene wasn't much better (although this was a good look for her). She's so stuck on herself, she can't see that she ain't all that. She is waaaay too skinny for my taste. And that voice! Tyra needs to suggest she get a diction coach because she needs one at least as much as Danielle did.

Now y'all know I was just waiting for Natasha to get the boot! I didn't actually think that Samantha was all that bad. Yeah, she was really green, but she had a nice look - better than Ms. Greencard. And I understand that there's somewhat of a language barrier for her - she may not understand all the nuance, but she does speak the language. How hard can it be to understand teacher's pet? She's got one look - "Oh, look how cute I am!" And is it just me, or does she look really old? This one is just painful to look at! She's got to go!!!!

So, who's going to cry about getting their hair whacked off this week?? And how many feet of weave will be be looking at??

Sizing for a Nappylocs tool

In reference to my post about lost locs, combining them and general maintenance,

Mel said...
Having seen your hair in all it's glory, I am in awe of the fact that you maintain it yourself! Amazing!I want to ask you a question about the nappylocs tool - what size do you suggest buying? I know you haven't really 'seen' my hair, but a guestimate would be greatly received:-)


Well Mel, I actually got a ruler out, found one of my thickest locs and measured it. One of the thickest ones measured about an eighth of an inch. I looped it through the Nappylocs tool and took a picture so you can see. As I said, I purchased the small sized tool and even my fattest loc fits through it comfortably. I don't think they make one smaller than that. So if your locs are about the same size as mine or smaller, the small tool should work for you. If you think you might be more comfortable with a larger size, you could get the medium.

Another one of us goes home first

You guessed it - another cycle of America's Next Top Model has begun! Yay!!! But for some reason this cycle, more girls than ever immediately got on my nerves. I think it's because of their voices. There are two that sound like Nu Yawk homegirls, one with a heavy Russian accent and one who sounds like she's high. And none of them look like models yet.

But the good news is that there are more black girls in the final 13 than I've ever seen before - 6!!! And 3 are very brown-skinned and one of these three is plus size. But, wait, you say, I only see 5. Well, one is mixed - can you tell which one she is?

The bad news is, one of the black girls was the first to be cut - Kathleen. If you look closely, she's wearing what can only be described as an afro-puff. Whether it's real or not is questionable, but at least it's an attempt at something close to natural looking hair. I wonder what Tyra would have done to her hair during the makeover. The other 4 (not counting the mixed one) are obviously sporting weave. In fact, during the episode, one showed Tyra how she sewed the edges down! Another one bragged about knowing the exact color number to ask for in the hair store - 1B something or other. I can already see the new weaves coming - flowing and blowing in the wind. Can't they find a natural style that consists of more than a short fade?

My personal choice to go would have been Natasha (the one from Russia). Not because of her voice, but because she's short and thinks she's way cuter than she actually is. And she was as annoying as hell!! But, to be real, Kathleen was borderline dense!

Lost Locs

In the comments on my last post regarding my milestone of reaching waist length hair,

Anonymous said...
brenda...absolutely beautiful...the length is simply amazing...i was reading an older post on tai's blog where he talked about how easy it is to lose locks, particularly when you wash them once they get really long because of the weight if they are thin...you often mention that you have thin hair(though none of us can tell)...have you found this to be a problem when you wash your hair?

Thinking back through the 61/2 years that I’ve had Sisterlocks, I believe I’ve inadvertently lost only one whole loc that I know of from breakage, as opposed to the bottom tips. That was probably about two years ago and here it is now. It was rather interesting getting it restarted since I had never gone through the baby loc stages with short hair (I was a relaxed transitioner) and keeping that short one in the loc pattern was trying at times – I probably had to restart it several times and fix a lot of slippage. I also inadvertently cut at least one that I know of because, unfortunately, I don’t have eyes in the back of my head (yeah, I was trying to separate a stubborn one with scissors and…snip!).

As I said before, my hair is thin, mostly in the top crown area. My vanity notwithstanding, and as a public service to those who might think they won’t look good with SL’s because of thinning, I’m posting a picture so you can get an idea of what I’m talking about. Although I’d like it to be otherwise, I’ve learned to style strategically! Additionally, I just finished my retightening about 9 days before this picture was taken and I hadn’t yet washed my hair. From a scalpiness perspective, I usually like my hair better after the second week or at least after a wash to put some of the fuzziness back in the root area. In fact, if I don’t have time for a wash, I’ll just spritz my scalp with water to get the newly retightened portion to swell a little.



Having said all that, I don’t actually have the same number of locks as I originally started out with. I’ve had to combine some, mostly for two reasons: they were too thin for my liking to begin with and because my hair has thinned in the crown area. But I should add that any thinning I’ve had is probably hereditary and was exacerbated by prior relaxers and having children and not from the SL’s. You can see an example in this picture of one that I’ve combined and, yeah, I leave them two-headed. I should also add that I haven’t combined any for about 2 years now (except for one back in December that was unintentional and I couldn’t get it back out, though I tried). So I guess I haven’t been thinning lately.

So, Anonymous, I don’t think I’ve lost any while washing or separating my hair. I can understand how that might happen, especially in the shower, which is where I wash mine. As it gets longer, it does get heavier, as a mass, and even more so when wet, although each individual one doesn’t feel very heavy on its own. I just make sure that I don’t wash my hair overly vigorously and I don’t move the wet hair around a lot. I usually just stick my fingertips in and massage the scalp and then squeeze the suds through the length.

How low can you go

If you recall, I started the new year with a decision to cut some length from the front. After putting down my scissors, I think I cut anywhere from 8 inches on the sides to 12 inches off the top. I'm happy with that decision since my hair has looked fuller on top and really keeps a curl there much better. In fact, not that I was trying not to wash my hair, but I actually let it go over three weeks just to see how long the curl would last. When I did wash it, it still had some curl on top, although I'd been wearing it in a ponytail since the back was just wavy. Thank you SoftSpikes!

But more and more, friends ask, "how long are you going to let your hair grow?" Believe me, that was not a question I'd have ever thought I'd be asked before I locked. I can tell I'm still not ready to cut the back and I'm willing to let it go for awhile longer. It must have something to do with the fact that my hair has never been anywhere near this length before and it's just facinating! I can honestly say that while there are some annoying aspects to having hair this length (getting it caught between your back and the chair when you lean back, having to pull it out from under your purse strap, and having it fall in your face when you bend over) it's not enough yet to make me want to cut it. I think I'll reevaluate when it gets to the point where I'm actually sitting down on it! Which brings me to these pictures. My hair is finally waist length!





















The picture on the left was taken in May 06, when my hair was 5yrs 9mos. On the right, which was taken on February 19, my hair is 6yrs 6mos. I didn't realize how much it grew until I put these pictures side by side. It looks like almost 4 inches in 9 months! At this rate, I'll be sitting on it in the next 3-4 years!

My date with Marvin Gaye

As expected, it started snowing Tuesday afternoon, earlier than predicted. By the time night came, I had a feeling a snow day was in the making. Normally, any time I can take a day off is cause for celebration. But this time, I wanted it to be bad enough that I didn't have to go to work, but not so bad that I couldn't take advantage of the plans I had for Wednesday evening - Valentine's Day! Luckily, it wasn't too bad, a few inches of snow and some little ice pellets blowing all around. I could deal with it.

So, my DH and I had plans to go see "My Brother Marvin," the musical written by (or based on memoirs of) Zeola Gaye, Marvin's younger sister. It was only in town for five days and Valentine's Day was opening night. The good thing about it was the chance to listen to some good, old school music. It's been a long time since I listened to Marvin and it brought back good memories. I'm old enough to remember some of his earlier work and to really appreciate his later music because I listened to it on the radio and in clubs. There's nothing like it now. It still sounded fresh.

The play, on the other hand, was a waste of time. I don't know if it was just me, but the play left me with more questions than it answered. I'll admit, I knew only basic information about him and there was alot about his personal life that was previously unknown to me. But this was not the forum where you'd learn much or truly understand the reasons behind what you did already know. After the play, I actually googled him to find out all the information that the play left out. I mean, I knew he had at least one child, Nona Gaye, but I don't think she or the others (he had three altogether) were actually mentioned in it. I also read that she was supposed to have been in the play. I must have missed her acknowledgement when the cast took a bow.

As portrayed in the play, Zeola Gaye was supposed to have been with him during pivotal moments in his life that lead to his downward spiral into drug abuse and depression. But the sad thing about it was that it came off as her trying to make her part in his life appear larger than it may actually have been. Not to mention that she apparently was right there with him using the drugs he bought. It seemed as if her reasons for doing the play were less to honor his memory than for her own aggrandizement.
There were scenes in the play that also just seemed to come out of no where and if you didn't already know some of the back story, you'd be lost. Like his confrontation with David Ruffin over Tammi Terrell, conflict with Berry Gordy over style and image and his second wife. There was actually a scene where he meets this young woman and then you never see her or hear a reference to her for the rest of the play. Turns out, it was the woman who would become his second wife and mother of two of his three children. Glad my DH knew.

And as long as the play was, about 3 hours, they didn't include all his major hits. I was disappointed in that. You know how it is when you're all set to hear all the good songs you remember. In any event, it was nice to have an evening out. I just think he deserves better than this.

What's Water Ice?

In my last post, I shared a piece of Philadelphia that I've come to love. I also mentioned another thing that I loved, water ice. Not being from the Philly area, or the US,

Mel said...
Ok, now I'm curious - what is water ice? I thought it was an ice skating rink you liked to go to! Please help a poor English girl out...


So Mel, this is for you!

Water Ice, from what I understand, is the Philly regional equivalent of Italian Ice. Being from NY, I knew what Italian Ice was. It usually came in little waxy paper cups accompanied by a wooden scraper-like spoon. Sometimes, you could get it from a street cart where they would scoop it out of a tub into an accordian pleated paper cup. Cherry was always a favorite. I remembered Italian Ice being rather firm and totally frozen - that's why you needed the scraper. And the syrupy flavoring was always concentrated and frozen to the bottom of the cup making it the best part!

But Water Ice is not quite like that. It's more like a combination of Italian Ice mixed with a snow cone that's been blended into a smooth, semi-frozen slush. It's not like a smoothie (unless you get it mixed with custard ice cream) and, unlike a snow cone, you can't really suck out the flavoring and get left with a cup full of plain ice chips. And you don't need a scraper to get at it. Your cup of water ice comes with either a regular plastic spoon or you can suck it up through a straw. In the picture below, the water ice is in the cup with the orange colored slush.

Rita's is one of the most popular franchises of water ice, but there are many others, including one of my favorites, Philly Flavors (and also less expensive than Rita's). Most water ice establishments have a wide range of flavors from the usual, like lemon, cherry and grape to ones that are a little more exotic, like passion fruit (my absolute favorite!), mango (my second favorite), and kiwi-strawberry. Rita's also takes flavors usually associated with ice cream and turns them into water ice, like chocolate, cappucino and cookies and cream. I'm not fond of those as, IMHO, they taste like watery ice cream.

Now, this is the funny thing. Most water ice places are closed during the winter. They usually shut their doors around early November and don't reopen until around March. Apparently, business is brisk enough during the warm months to make up for it. On any given summer night, be prepared to stand in line for at least 10-15 minutes to get your cup.

Which reminds me, March is right around the corner and Rita's has a season opening special for the day - All their establishments give away a free regular sized cup, just name your flavor. Opening day is March 21 - go early, go often!

Philly can be beautiful

When I first moved here, I didn't think too much of this place as cities go. Having moved here from NYC, I thought of it as a step-city. Don't get me wrong, there are many things I do like about the city, but it never really grabbed me in the same way that NY and Chicago did. I still believe that there are many things this city needs to do to become world class and one of them is having a comprehensive vision of what the city will grow to be and stop letting it grow in a piece-meal fashion.
One of the things I do like about Philly (besides water ice) is the Mural Arts Program. This is a volunteer arts program that grew out of the Philadelphia Anti-Graffiti Network, which was originally a way to encourage residents to beautify their surroundings by getting rid of unsightly graffiti. It actually challenged graffiti writers to channel their tremendous artistic energies into muraling which had the capabilities to change the face of the city.





The efforts of the Mural Arts program is such that they have had, at various times, over 2700 different and beautiful murals in locations throughout the city - from downtown Center City to some of the most blighted neighborhoods. The subject matter has ranged from famous Philadelphia personalities in entertainment, politics, religion, sports and community service, to landscapes, abstracts, history and messages of inspiration and encouragement.


And the murals are huge. Usually covering the entire sides of multistory buildings - they are a presence in the community and you can't help but marvel at them. And at the talent and workmanship of those who developed the vision and brought it to life. Watching day by day as a mural is painted is awe-inspiring. There's one on the side of east-bound I-76 at Girard Ave. that never fails to almost cause me to crash my car as I drive by it. Unless you have binoculars to see it from the other side of the Schyulkill River, you can't get close enough until you're on the freeway!

When you visit, you can take an organized tour of all the current murals, or get a map and drive around at your own pace. As a tribute to one of the things I like about Philly, these are some of my favorites. Enjoy.

What I'm willing to spill....

I try to check everyone on my bloglist everyday, but I must've missed Simply Mel on Wednesday. I read Creyole's late Wednesday evening, but she must've posted after I went to bed. When I checked her today, I found out she'd been tagged by Simply Mel. Curious to see who else Mel tagged, to my surprise, she tagged me! As I wrote on her blog, luckily, I'm still new to blogging that you all don't know that much about me yet. And yes, I still want cheesecake, Mel!

Here goes:

1. When I was in my first year of college, I was banned from one of the dorms because I used to spend the night in my boyfriend's room. Mind you, this was not a single-sex dorm and the girls who lived in that dorm were free to visit the boys who lived there anytime. However, if you didn't live there, you had to be out by midnight. But did that stop me from visiting? No! Since he lived on the second floor, I used to climb in the window using the bars on the first floor windows! Ah, youth...

2. In my lifetime, I've had about 24 different addresses in 7 states (although I lived in one state two different times). And I'm not even counting the temporary addresses I had during summer breaks from school when I didn't go home - if you count those, I think it adds 5 more.

3. While waiting for a train one Sunday in Brooklyn, NY, I was held up at knife point. He took a ring, a watch and about $20. When he tried to take my credit cards, I was able to avoid giving up my wallet by telling him that my cards wouldn't be any good to him since they were charged to the max! Score one for being a shopaholic!

4. My husband and I have known each other since before birth. How is this possible? His mom and mine were high school friends and kept a friendship throughout the years. He and I always referred to the others' mom as "aunt." He was born the day before me and we were in the same class from kindergarten through 6th grade. Although we were in different states during high school, when I would visit family in Brooklyn where he lived, we would go out. We went our separate ways after high school but kept in touch, personally and through family, and saw each other periodically. We finally reconnected in 2001 when I called him. We've been married for 4 years now and our anniversary directly follows our birthdays, one after the other. What's weird is I still call my mother-in-law Aunt. The picture on the top is from third grade. Can you guess which one is me and which is my DH? The one on the bottom is of us at 15 on the Board Walk at Coney Island.


















Who's next? Ayankha, Cheleskilove and Tanya.

Addendum: I realized after I posted this that I only had 4.

5. When the Jackson 5 were the hottest group, everyone liked Michael and Jermaine. But my best friend and I looooved us some Tito!

We're all entitled to a little vanity

Unless you actually dye your hair silver, how do you live with those annoying gray hairs while you get it to the point where it looks like your hair is supposed to be silver rather than that you forgot to get a dye job? I don’t know, and I’ve decided I don’t feel like finding out right now.

When, they started creeping up in the front, I ignored it for awhile – it wasn’t so much. Then, it seemed like I woke up one day and had the “halo” effect! So not cute. At first I plucked. Not a lot, just enough that the rest didn’t stand out so much. Then I found myself having to do that way more than I knew was good for me – especially since I’m already thin haired.

So, what to do? I wanted some coverage, but I didn’t want to do my whole head. I didn’t care about the back and there doesn’t seem to be as much there as in the front anyway. Plus, I didn’t want to get a whole bottle, only to waste most of it since I only needed some for the front. Just so you know, this picture shows me at about 1 to 2 weeks away from a permanent color touch-up.




I found a haircoloring system, Bigen, where I can mix only a small amount that’s needed to touch-up the hairline. That seemed to work fine and I only needed a touch-up every two or three months or so. And no, this is not the color I use.

Now, I’m finding that about 3 weeks after touching-up the front, it’s back. I don’t want to go through this every time I wash my hair. So I bought the “hair mascara.” I hated it, but was a fast and immediate touch-up. It covered what I needed it to, but it made my hairline feel “tacky,” like mascara does on lashes, and it seemed to rub off quickly. I had to reapply every other day. So what do I try now?


As usual, I went looking on-line and found “Hairmarker.” This is marketed as being actual haircolor, not a mascara or crayon, but it’s pricey. It’s 19.99 at Sally’s Beauty Supply in 8 colors. It’s temporary so it’ll wash out with shampoo, but won’t flake or rub off.







I gave this a trial run and found that I like the feel of it much better than the mascara. The consistency of the mascara is thick and creamy while the Hairmarker is thin and liquid. After several re-applications it still didn’t feel gummy even though I didn’t wash my hair in between. But I still find I have to reapply every three or four days. However, I can’t tell yet whether it’s because it’s gradually rubbing out or because my hairline sometimes gets wet when I’m washing my face. (Have to get a bigger, better shower cap – which I’m still searching for.)


This has a sponge tip applicator, like lipgloss, rather than the mascara type brush, so application of this requires either a very light touch or use of the enclosed “comb” that slides under the hair to which you’re applying color. An extra step, but not hugely inconvenient. But I also read that you can purchase mascara brushes (without the mascara), so my next step is to get one and try applying it that way.


Since I’m not a water girl, I haven’t given it the swim test, so I don’t know how it holds up to the pool or beach. If anyone has tried it, or does, please let me know. The last thing I’d want is for it to be streaking down my face as I emerge from the water! The only thing left is to see how long a tube of it lasts.

Problem solved!

I shop, therefore I am

I must confess – I’m a shopaholic. I love shopping for clothes and this is truly my recreational activity of choice. Window shopping is good too, even if I don’t buy anything. I love discount stores such as Marshall’s, TJMaxx and Ross and I’ve found several good thrift shops that benefit not only from my purchases, but also my returns! I love it when I come home with lots of bags and relive the thrill of the buy as I find hangers to put them on and figure out where I can stuff it into my closet. It’s also a thrill when I confirm that my mind’s eye was right on target and the blouse perfectly matches the slacks I had at home and is also just the right style. Conversely, it can really be heartbreaking when you find yourself completely off. Then you have to decide, do I return it or go out and shop more to find the perfect piece to match the mistake? Depends on how much I really liked the mistake. Then again, there are the occasional “what the hell?” moments. What was I thinking when I bought THAT? I save all receipts and don’t frequently shop at stores that only have store credit return policies. And shopping for clothes in Philly and Jersey is also fun because there’s no tax! You can shop right up to the penny! Come to think of it, though, maybe I’m not as much of a shopaholic as I thought. I find myself not buying a lot when I’m visiting other cities and have to pay tax. I have to really like it!

But I don’t think I’m a shopaholic in a bad way. Many people who are shopaholics have tons of clothes that sit in their closets and drawers, tags attached, never again touching skin except for the fleeting moment when it was tried on in the store. I wear my stuff! In fact, sometimes I think the only reason I have a job is just so that I have some place to wear what I buy. Plus, since my favorite stores are discount places, I haven’t really paid huge sums for them. I know, I know – some people would rather buy top quality items that will last years and years. But I know me. After about 2 or 3 years of something, I’m usually sick of it. And no, changing an accessory or two is not gonna do it. At a minimum, I need a new piece in order to keep one of the old ones in rotation. And I wouldn’t say it’s because my clothes are ultra faddish and subject to going out of style in one season. They’re relatively mainstream – I do work in a center city office environment, even if it is informal and I don’t have to wear a suit. Think casual Friday 5 days a week. I just like having a lot of variety.

One item I just couldn’t resist was the shorter jacket. In the summer, I found one in red stretch canvas. It fit great since it wasn’t boxy. Then I saw a very similar one in corduroy in an olive green color. At the time I wasn’t seeing a lot of green of any hue and the price was unbelievable. On my next stop at the store, I found more. This time in burnt orange and cream corduroy. Then I found it in demin. Then I found another in a blue/gray corduroy. I bought them all. I just recently saw the same jacket in a gold colored corduroy. But lest you think I’m obsessive/compulsive, I didn’t get it. I figured that even if I didn’t have enough of that style, I did have enough of that style - in corduroy. I must admit, that it they were a good buy. I wear at least two of them almost every week. So what do I wear them with?


I wear them with my true obsessive/compulsive find. The Express Design Studio Editor Pants. I discovered these slacks by accident since I don’t actually shop at that store. I found my first pair in black at Marshall’s. I tried them on and was absolutely shocked! Generally, no pants fit me without alterations to take in the waist – never. This time, no alterations needed. When I went to the actual store, I found that the pants normally retail for about $78. I didn’t love them that much, but I figured that I’d keep a look-out for them should any land in the discount store. Later that year, I found some in three different colors at Marshall’s and TJMaxx. I thought the first fit was a fluke, but when I tried them on, they also fit perfectly. These are billed as the best fitting pants on earth.



Then the compulsion began. While looking to see if the store was on-line, I found that sellers list them as a whole category on Ebay. There were 100’s of pants listed in a rainbow of colors, materials and some very unique patterns! And since I knew exactly what size fit me, I didn’t have any concerns that I wasn’t going to be able to return them. And I didn’t have to pay $78 for them either. In some cases I had the winning bid (usually between $20 and $30), other times I got it for much less especially when nobody else bid. And most times, they were still new with tags.

The extent of my obsession/compulsion? I estimate that I have at least 50 pairs between summer and winter variations and I’m currently awaiting delivery of another pair. I don’t think that’s too much since, other than jeans, I don’t own many other styles and I do wear them just about every day.

Can you guess what's in my hand?

I'm sure you have no idea what this could be!














It could be a handful of change, or a piece of jewelry. Maybe it's a tube of lipstick or a memory card for a camera or some new hair toy. Give up? Scroll down.



















This is a MobiBLU. And what, you may ask is a MobiBLU? Scroll down more.




It's an mp3 player! Isn't it cute! Last year I got an Ipod Shuffle for Goldie who was just recently starting to really listen to music. Unfortunately, she put it into her back pack while on a school trip and it was stolen. While the Shuffle was nice, being only the size of a stick of gum, and which she could have and should have slipped into her pocket, it was only 128mb and had no menu to be able to make song selections. While browsing on line, I stumbled across this. It's only about twice the size of a sugar cube and comes in about 5 colors. This model is 512mb (more than enough for someone just starting to listen to music), but it also comes in 1 and 2gb. Now I'm no technology or music whiz (so shoot me Michelle!) but this was so cute (and 49.95) I couldn't resist! Sounds good to me.

I don't know if they're selling in stores now, but when I got it, I had to order it through Walmart.com. However, I checked again, and they no longer have it. But you can get it at Target.com.

New Year - New Hair

When I was a young girl my mom was a single parent until I was 11 and had three girls. All of us had varying amounts of hair, but at just below shoulder length, I had the least. Somewhere around the 4th grade, my mom convinced me, and then my older sister, that we'd love to have afros (I think she just needed a break). What did I know? Of course I said yes since I hoped that it would mean the end of our once-per-month beauty salon torture sessions or, worse, the kitchen salon.



Unfortunately, my 'fro didn't turn out like the ones I envied - The Sylvers! Don't pretend like you don't know who I'm talking about! So I think all through those later years, I was trying desperately to get my hair to grow back. Obviously, when perms became popular, they did more harm than good - But they did allow my hair to get back some of the length.





So when I discovered Sisterlocks, the pictures that I fell in love with were the ones of women with long hair. This was the one way that I could have the length I desired, but without all the negatives. Interestingly though, the longer my hair has gotten, the more I can see both the pros and cons of having long hair. Ultimately, I decided that I needed some short hair. Being honest with myself, I think my face is rather long and having my hair all one length, especially if I don't have curl, isn't the most flattering look for me. I also don't like how it constantly falls in my face everytime I bend over.
So I cut some. I'd been contemplating this for at least the last year, but just wasn't sure. But I finally decided to just do it. The top two pictures is what it looked like right after I took it out of my trusty SoftSpike curlers. The bottom two are after I slept on it and fluffed out the curl. It may not be as noticeable to you all, but it feels different to me. I parted off the front quarter of my hair and cut between 5 to 8 inches from ear to ear so it's gradually shorter on the top. Because it's shorter, it holds a curl better and it looks fuller around my face.

So far so good. I didn't cut any from the back, but who knows. I think after I wear this for a little while, I'm probably going to take a little more off the sides and top. Happy New Year!

Changes

It's just hair, right?

My first two years with Sisterlocks

As I look back at these pictures, I'm amazed at how far I've come. This first picture was taken at about the 7 month mark. I would estimate that I had about 2 inches of locked hair and the rest was loose permed hair. When I first started out and decided that I didn't want to cut all the perm off, I wasn't sure how my permed ends were going to behave. I had thoughts of them tangling up together and was I supposed to comb the part that was loose? Unfortunately, my consultant didn't explain alot of things to me and I didn't know enough to ask. No one that I know was blogging six years ago and while the lockitup group had just started a few months before I locked, I didn't know about it.

As it turned out, I didn't have much to worry about. Many things I learned through trial and error and luckily for me, my errors weren't too bad. I learned that I had to stretch out my permed ends after I washed my hair and BEFORE it dried in order to avoid bunching. It was a tedious process since I had to do it in addition to separating each lock. But it helped me to maintain the look I preferred on myself. This picture was taken at about the 10 month mark. It's still mostly perm, but it's getting near 3 inches of locked hair. And I really didn't have to worry about the loose hair getting tangled. Strangely enough, my relaxed ends behaved better than they did when it was just loose relaxed hair.


This picture was taken at about 18 months locked. It looks like my hair hasn't grown any since the picture above, but as I said, I was diligent about trimming off the relaxed ends each time I went in for a retightening. And I liked to wear it curled. This is approaching the half way mark between perm and locks at about 4 to 5 inches.






This is the first picture where you can really see more of the definition of the locks. I was still doing a braid out and curling the ends under. I wasn't brave enough to freestyle yet - still too much relaxed ends. This was taken at about 23 months.











In this picture, at the 2 year mark, I had no choice but to let it go! I was on a family vacation and there wasn't time to primp. I did have to pull some of it into a pony in the back, but it turned out well. I couldn't pull it all up into a pony because the relaxed ends were still too straight and they wouldn't fall properly.

Looking at these pictures has also helped me come to a long contemplated decision about my locks. We'll see what the new year brings! Have a happy and safe new year!

The disaster decade - unbeweavable horror stories!

I received so many compliments on my post showing my hair from my first installation, but I think alot of it comes from the fact that you all know where my hair is now. I guess it kinda seems like it all happened over night. But lest anyone think I didn't go through some of the same trials and tribulations they did before discovering SLs, let me set the record straight!

This picture was taken in June 1991. In April of 1991, I made the first of several bad hair decisions. This was around the time when salons were screaming about dry curls. You know, the jheri curls without the juice. I had decided that I was going to get curls so that I could have that wash and wear hair that I had always dreamed about. Of course, since it's a completely different process and one is not compatible with the other, I was going to have to grow out the relaxer before putting in the curl. Since I wasn't one to cut, I had the bright idea that I'd get a weave to transition me through until I had enough length. Could my hair be any bigger??!! People actually thought it was mine and I must say that I did a great job of making sure the tracks were covered and that my hairline blended into the fake stuff.

But it was good in theory, bad in practice. Having the weave put in meant having my hair braided and then having the tracks sewn in. When I went back to the salon after the first weave installation, I found that my braided hair had matted big time. Combing through that mess was a nightmare. But bad as it was, did it stop me from doing it again? Of course not! The hair I got was the wet and wavy and as long as I sat under the dryer to make sure the sewn in tracks were thoroughly dry, I had the wash and wear hair I wanted.


The second picture was taken in November 1991. More weave, but you just don't know what was hiding under there! In September, my dumb impatient self decided that I had enough length on the top to go ahead and have the curl put in and just get a partial weave for some length in the back. OMG!!! as she took the rods out, I could tell I had messed up big time! She spritzed some greasy mess that I had been trying to avoid by getting the dry curl in the first place... and it never did curl right. Over the next couple of days, I had decided that I wasn't putting that crap in my hair. Well guess what? My hair got crispy dry since it wasn't getting any moisturizer. Then it started falling out!!! It was coming out in my hands. Believe me, I cried.

Unfortunately, I couldn't leave my hair like that. I looked like a half plucked chicken with a platypus tail which was the big, thick partial weave that was hanging off the back of my head. I don't think I went to work that week. And no, I do not have a picture of that (at least not one that I'd publish). Not one to leave bad enough alone. I went to a different salon and got another full weave on what was left of my hair.


After that, I saw a friend with the cutest corkscrew braids. I got me some of those too in the spring of 1992. Looked cute on the outside. The remainder of the decade (yes, decade!) was spent trying to recover. My hair eventually grew back in enough to stop wearing a weave in about 1993, although it was never as thick as it was, and it really wasn't very thick to begin with. Then, I got pregnant and my hair loved that! Until after the baby was born in 1994. Then, it seemed like all my hormones shut down and hair started coming out again. By the time I recovered from that, I had another baby in 1997. Here we go again. That brings me up to the first picture in 1998 in my last post, below, and my decision to get SLs in 2000.

I think if I hadn't gone through all of that, I wouldn't have been looking so hard for something that would take me away from all the chemicals and attaching hair that wasn't mine.

Coming next - pictures from the first two years of my SLs.

My Sisterlocks Metamorphosis

As I promised a number of people when I started my blog, I finally dug up some old photos of myself prior to beginning my SLs and right after my installation. This first picture was taken in the Spring of 1998, about two years before I discovered SLs. I remember this style and I think I wore it like this up until 2000 when I got SL'd.

Back then, I'm sure I thought I was cute with this flip! But I know I was running from all kinds of water! The occasion for this pic was my cousin's graduation from UVA and we had all gone down to watch her walk. It was a mini-reunion and we stayed at a resort in Williamsburg. As all resorts do, this one had pools. Do you think I went in? I was very tempted not to, but Goldie (my daughter who actually has golden brown hair - don't know where that came from!) wanted in. So in I went, all the time trying to keep my head above water - and I told everyone within a 20 foot radius that they better not even think about splashing me! Alas, I didn't make it out of there unscathed as the humidity from the heat of the pool caught me! I still don't do water that much, but now it's not for fear of getting my hair wet - it's just I hate getting in water. This is Goldie in her pre-locks days at almost 4 yrs and A-man at not quite a year - he got some of that blond, too!

As I look at this picture now, I can only think how thin, limp and damaged my hair looks. I was diligent about keeping after the split ends since I got a trim every time I got a relaxer, but this was the extent of the growth. Un-flipped, it was just below my shoulders. I just knew something had to change.

Fast forward to about February 2000, I had decided that I wasn't going to relax my hair and was trying to figure out what to do with it. For about the third time in my relaxed life, I considered going natural, but how to transition? I didn't want to do the BC - I just didn't think I was one who looked good with really short hair. But trying to keep the length with two textures was madness! I made it to May then broke down and got creamed. Less than one week after giving in, I was in the magazine section looking at hair mags. I don't know why exactly since I was never usually one for looking at them. I came across this multi-page spread on SLs and I instantly knew this was for me!

I had thought about locks at various times before, but didn't do it because everything I knew about them said that I'd have to cut everything and start with natural hair. I had even gone so far as to have my hair braided with extensions in the hope of transitioning them into locks. Not a very well-thought-out plan and they were gone in a month.

After noting with glee that SLs could be started with relaxed hair, I couldn't wait til the next business day to call San Diego and get a referral. I was on the phone bright and early (minus the time difference) Monday morning and got the names of three consultants. I was so disappointed that one didn't answer and I had to leave a message with the second. But the third was the charm. I spoke to Jo for about a half an hour and was ready to make the appointment when she burst my bubble! She told me I had to have at least and inch and a half of new growth. Damn that cream! I told her I'd call her back in about two months.

Two months later I was back on the phone and told her I could set an appointment at her earliest convenience - how about today??? No, but she did manage to see me within a few days. When I got there, I found a woman who had small SLs that were just touching her shoulders. I should mention here that up to this point, I had not yet seen any actual SLs in person, but I just knew I wanted them. She put in about 6 test locks and in two weeks, I was settling down for 13 hours of installation over two days. The last two pictures were taken just after my installation on which she did a braid out. Amazingly, these don't look as scalpy as I originally thought they did, but I think my hair was thicker overall than it is now, at least at the crown area. My usual style in the early days was a braid-out, roller set to keep the relaxed ends under control. It would take me almost 4 years to trim away the relaxed ends and feel comfortable free-styling.

For those of you who are newbies - keep the faith! Your hair will blossom in no time, and you will definately believe that this is the best hair decision you ever made. I was by no means the poster child for thick, abundant hair, but you can see how mine turned out. I'm amazed at how far I've come. When I find more pics from along the way, I'll post.

Dreamgirls

I remember being in school when the hit play "Dreamgirls" debuted on Broadway. It was all anyone could talk about. Unfortunately, my school budget didn't allow for Broadway tickets and I wasn't in NY at that time anyway. Although the play stayed on Broadway for many years and probably toured the country, I never got an opportunity to see it. After 20 years of talk, it was finally made into a movie.

This evening, I had the chance to see the preview of it. I took my daughter, Goldie, who's a big Beyonce fan. I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I'm not a big fan of Beyonce's acting, but even she kicked it up a notch. But I was really there to see Jennifer Hudson, who I heard was stealing the movie. That was no lie! Her rendition of "And I am telling you I'm not going" would have done Jennifer Holiday proud. Makes you wonder how Hudson didn't win American Idol! For an acting debut, she gave a great performance.

After the movie, I had to explain to Goldie some of the nuances of what had happened, but in order to do that, I first had to explain about the group upon whom the movie and the original play was based - the Supremes. Her reaction? Who were they? I had to start by saying, you remember the actress who plays Joan in "Girlfriends?" Her mother was Diana Ross who Deena Jones (Beyonce's character) was loosely based on. In her opinion, Beyonce was the best, but I had to tell her that in the original play, the person eveyone remembered most was Effie and her hit song.

One thing that was really funny was a point in the movie when Eddie Murphy's character is singing some song that I can't remember. All I could think about was, that sounds awfully familiar - alot like "my girl wants to party all the time, party all the time....." Horrors!

Addendum: Obviously, since I was at the preview of Dreamgirls, I wasn't home to see the finale of ANTM (see post below). I haven't checked the website yet, but was I right? Did Caridee win? I'm going to find out in a minute!

Do we always have to root for the Black team?

After reading Michelle's post on America's Next Top Model, it got me to thinking about picking our favorite person or team to win these reality series competitions. I realize it's just a small slice of life and we take race into consideration for many more important things (like our political choices - but that's a whole other discussion!)

Michelle raised a good point that the black model in this cycle probably won't win and, more than likely, it's because a similar looking black model won just last cycle. So it's not her "turn."
But could it be that she's just not that great, race notwithstanding? I've watched this reality series from almost day one, and all the episodes of this cycle, and Eugena just doesn't do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge fan of Caridee's and even less of one for Melrose, but IMO, they have way more personality than Eugena. I can't remember anything she's done that's really made her stand out. My personal choice would have been Anchal, who was gorgeous but, unfortunately, her insecurities allowed the other models to run her off. So, am I a traitor for not rooting for the black model?

And, for that matter, what about the competition going on in the Amazing Race? For the first time in ten seasons of this series, an all female team (the Bama Girls) has made it to the final three. And they're both black! Unfortunately, they aren't really my choice to ultimately win the million bucks. I'll probably root for them because the other two choices are so unpalatable - the crack-head models or the bickering dating couple who yell and scream at each other. But I don't think the Bamas really earned their place in the final three and I'd rather have seen the Cho Brothers take it. The Bamas have never come in first on any leg of the race, and the two times they came in second, it was because another team made a serious mistake. And if it hadn't been for the alliance between them, the Coalminers and the Cho Brothers, they would have been gone long ago. But I always found myself being so disappointed when the episode ended with them just barely bringing up the rear as if they carried the weight of the entire black race on their shoulders. Sigh.

Which brings me to my reaction to the first eliminations on these two shows and Survivor. In ANTM, the first model to go this season was Christian, who was black. The one thing we can be mad about is that this show is very subjective in nature since you have a panel that judges who's got the potential to be a model and, let's face it, race is a big factor. But what about the shows where it's mostly based on skill, knowledge and cunning? The first team to be eliminated on Amazing Race was Bilal and Sa'eed, the black Muslim team. They got to the pitstop last. On Survivor, they did something new this season - they made the initial tribe divisions along racial lines; a black tribe, a white tribe, an Asian tribe and a Hispanic tribe. Guess which tribe lost first and had to vote a member out? But it was because they lost the physical challenge, not because someone possibly targeted them because of race. It's down to 7 people and only one is black, Sundra. And if she doesn't win it's probably because the alliances that others formed preceded her joining them. I'm actually rooting for Yul, the diplomat!