Post-Election Post: Still Lovin' Sisterlocks

Whew. I need to detox, as do many, from Obamamania.

[The obligatory hair photos!]

We had a wonderful election watch party: a potluck with friends, food, fun and fellowship. Lots of children were in attendance: it was an intergenerational affair.

Tears, shouts, laughs and predictions flowed from mouths to ears. It was an emotional evening for my mother who has childhood memories of a cross burning on her front lawn in Columbia, South Carolina, because my grandmother insisted upon registering people to vote.

My friend Dorcas is from Kenya so I gave away a few of these USA-Kenya friendship pins, reminding everyone that we have to thank Kenya for Barack Obama too.

[USA - Kenya friendship lapel pin]

But I really do need to detox. I have no interest in going to DC in January, but I know many people who do - I can't imagine the chaos (or excitement, depending on your perspective).

I will be with everyone in spirit, however, from the comfort of my warm home. Hoping he can, from time to time, 'sit by the door' so to speak, and throw a few crumbs our way...

Yes We Did!

MC Yogi's "Obama '08 - Vote for Hope" hit

My arms are shrinking!

Sisterlock wearers, contemplatives and lurkers - my arms are shrinking.

I have to hold them outstretched to the max to be able to read newspaper print.

So, I figured that a very clever solution to my problem would be to buy a pair of glasses. You know, the kind that near-sighted, aging people with presbyopia have to wear :o).

While I was at Border's bookstore the other day, as an impulse buy, I bought two pair of glasses. One blue and one red. I couldn't take the squinting anymore.

I like the blue pair better

I just set my hair about 3 days ago - a braid out. It's pretty tightly curled and as I have gotten lax about binding and braiding, I am experiencing a little more bunching of the permed ends. It's hard to see the length that I have now with the newness of the set and the small amount of bunching, but in a week or two I will post some more photos.

Overexposed! ...but an interesting experiment with color...hmmm...

Exposure just right...the real me.

Shrinking arms and silver temples

Not only are my arms shrinking, but I am seeing a few 'greys' around my hairline.

Even Amba asked me in her musical British drawl, "Have you always had these greys about your head?"

Well, I don't any more! I used Miss Clairol root touch up. It was quick and easy.

We'll see how long it is before I see new greys.

A Political Train Analogy

I'm sure many of you got the email. I thought it was cute.




Just a warning, don't be deceived by the toy choo-choo...many are wagering on Palin being the front runner in 2012 if the Obama-Biden ticket wins next week...and if Obama and Biden don't win, the choo-choo will have the last laugh.

Obama and Palin Dancing with the Stars

A little comic relief.

Oh, I am such a delinquent sisterlocks blogger!

I have to do better over the holidays, but with the credit crunch and dreaded 'D' word (d*pression) I have been overwhelmed with planning, restructuring, downsizing, retrenching yada, yada, yada - like everyone else.

Anyway, still lovin' my sisterlocks. Below are some sisterlocks photos and a few others.

Above is a photo taken just after my retightening a few days ago. I am standing in front of a photo of Amba with her twin Ama - both of them in braid extensions before their discovery of sisterlocks.

I hate the straights right now! Straight permed ends, that is. But I love my curly braid-out. The photos above show my latest set. My hair has grown since my February installation and the locked portion is swelling now. The difference in texture between the permed ends and locked roots is much more obvious now. This is especially true when my permed-ends are straight.

I still can create the illusion of uniform thickness with a braid-out, though. Again, I use a spray bottle to wet my hair. It is taking longer to dry when soaking wet. The spray bottle allows me to control the degree of saturation. Water is all that I find necessary, but at this point, I sometimes use a little diluted Infusium, 1 part to 3 parts water. Your hair has got to be super dry before you take out the braids. My favorite appliance is a fabric bonnet-like hair dryer attachment that you can connect to a blow dryer. (It's easy to pack for trips as well.)

That's it for tonight.

Below are 'the friends': Brian, Zaire, Daniel and Sydney (the girl)...

at Dixieland Funpark in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Brian ------------Daniel (and Zaire) --------------Sydney

McCain's Health Records

More Real McCain on www.TheRealMcCain.com

MeShi's and Magdalene's Locs

Just thought I would share a photos of MeShi & Magdalene.

MeShi Avery with beautiful, mature sisterlocks with Auburn highlights

MeShi is a licensed counselor and she coordinates the lectures of Dr. Ray Hagins when he speaks here in Atlanta, usually every third Saturday. She had mature and beautiful sisterlocks with a few streaks of color.

I met Magdalene at Barnes and Nobles Bookstore in Buckhead last night. She was gracious enough to allow me to take two photographs. But it is a small world - we discovered that we know several people in common both personally and professionally. I think she said Sophia does her hair!

Magdalene with a coiled coif of traditional locs

Her traditional locs were curled on hard plastic perm rods - she said that it takes about 3 hours to wash, retighten, set, dry and style her hair.

Nappy, Kinky, Coily, Highly Textured Hair

Well, you've decided.

You prefer the term 'kinky' to describe our hair with a little over one-third of you voting for 'kinky'. Highly textured came in a close second at 28%. Coily hair was your least favorite.

I was surprised that 'Nappy' came in at only 12% since it seems so popular these days. Websites like Nappturality and slogans like "Happy to be Nappy" can be found all over the web.

Confidentially, I have never particularly cared for all the 'nappy' rage. Anyone in marketing who has had to brand a product knows that it is much harder to 'spin' a word with a negative connotation positive than it is to 'brand' a new term!

I prefer tightly coiled, highly textured hair. The phrase is too long to ever become popular, but there you have it - my favorite.

Dr. Welsing, an old professor of ours and author of The Isis Papers, is fond of the term 'helix hair,' reminiscent of DNA. I find the term 'helix hair' very layered in meaning since Afrika gave birth to human kind and human civilization!

Hotep

(Read a more recent post about 'texturizers' here)

Amba cleaned up my kitchen!

We had an all day retightening session on Monday, but I must admit I arrived late and we took a leisurely lunch.

My next retightening will be in four weeks instead of five...and no DIY for me before then (except perhaps in the front, where I can see what I'm doing!)

Sisterlocks: How to make a hot mess of your kitchen

My hair has grown rather fast this summer and I've been getting retightened every five weeks or so instead of every three week as I did just after getting my sisterlocks installed this past winter.

I'm headed for Amba's in the morning and none too soon!

I don't care for a lot of new growth. In fact it bothers me so much that I decided to try my hand at retightening my 'kitchen' which still suffers slippage, especially when I've been swimming.

What a hot mess! Combined locs and overlapping (worse than the photo can show)!

Amba has her job cut out for her tomorrow. I think it may be a long morning. (She's always lurking - I'm just giving her a heads up! ;O)

It's a lot harder to work with a single sisterlock than you might think. Prep the area well with lots of hair clips (and to know what you're doing helps too!).

I've posted, in the past, that I have no intention of ever maintaining my own hair. I still don't. But right about now, I think I'll be checking into the next retightening course in my area - just in case I have to go an extra week or two without retightening next summer!

African Faces in Kemet (Egypt)

Mike with two brothers from the city of Aswan