Men like sisterlocks!

OMG! I got some major ego boostin' today!

I was walking down the hallway of the hospital, and as a (male) colleague hurriedly passed me by, he said, "You are just getting more and more beautiful every time I see you!" I smiled and laughed it off, but wow! The brotha really made my morning!

Then, in the afternoon, here we go again! More praise and adoration!

Lunch is served to the clinical staff at the community hospital, so the lounge is buzzing with people between 11am and 2pm during the week.

Today, I happened to find a seat at a table with Ken, the hospital CFO, and Jake, the pharmacy director, two pretty cool and personable pilgrims*.

When I sat down, Ken said, "Hey, you've done something different with your hair! I really like it!"

"Yes," I said, "I have. Thanks."

"Well it really looks good," he said.

Then the Jake chimed in, "It's really cute, Dr. D."



OoLaLa!

*translation: not brothas

My First Re-tightening Photos

My first re-tightening took exactly 4 hours! Oh my achin' back. I'll have to use a pillow for lumbar support next time.

Cia and I watched two old Listervelt Middleton interviews with Dr. Asa Hilliard, III, both of them now ancestors. But the information and perspective of Dr. Hilliard is timeless and Listervelt Middleton was an expert in eliciting pearls of wisdom from his guests.

I had amazingly little slippage in my "kitchen!". I attribute that to my wonderful dreadsock (thanks Julian!) and to my not overdoing it with the shampoos!

My First Shampoo Photos

I washed my hair today for the first time since having my sisterlocks installed 3 weeks ago. Cia told me that I could wash my hair weekly, but I felt better waiting until today. In about 2 hours, I will go to get my first re-tightening.

A texture shot (click to enlarge)

I divided my hair into 10 sections, braided the ends loosely and bound the ends with the tiny bands that came in my sisterlocks starter kit.

I diluted the sisterlocks starter shampoo with water in a spray bottle, 1 part to 3 parts. My hair did not lather well on the first go round, but lathered very well with the second wash.

(Soapy-head!)

I was worried that my relaxed ends would become matted together, but they didn't. Now I have braided ends in soft rollers and I will sit under the dryer for an hour or so before heading over to Kinky Awakenings.

I'll post my first retightening pics tonight.

Sisterlocks Braid-out update

My first braid-out lasted one week! No rolling my hair nightly! Just don my dreadsock and call it a night. I love it. I plan to do this weekly on Friday nights from now on.

I worked out and sweated quite a bit one night during the week. I anticipate changes in the color, texture, and fullness as my new growth emerges. At some point the two textures are not going to "jive" well together and then I will undergo the Big Chop (unless I get tired of the ends sooner that I expect!)

You can see how my hair fell just a bit, with less wave and texture closer to the new growth. The curl in the ends held up very well.

I'm lovin' them roots. They are dark and coily...but I must remember: patience, patience, patience.

Sisterlocks Photos: The First 3 Days

I've been tagged!

I've only been blogging about my hair for a month or so and I've already been tagged by Amba!

Seven random, quirky facts or habits of mine...

1. The only fiction I read is the Silhoutte Desire line of romance novels (all of my other pleasure reading is nonfiction).
2. I have worked out with The Firm aerobic weight training tapes since c.1990. The Firm offers several exercise DVDs that give you a total body workout, both cardio and resistance training, in 35 to 40 minutes. Time is of the essence!
3. I used to own a weight loss clinic for women located in Decatur, Georgia just outside of Atlanta.
4. I am an avid genealogist!
5. I love Kwanzaa! Our family hosts an annual karamu for friends and family on New Years Day (Jubilee Day!)
6. I have had 17 years of marital bliss with my honey bunny! I highly recommend Mwalimu K. Bomani Baruti's book Complementarity for all African warrior couples.
7. I can't get enough of TruTV (formerly CourtTV) - Most Shocking, Forensic Files, Speeders - I love them all!

Now for the instructions:

1. Post seven random, quirky facts about yourself
2. Link to the person who tagged you. Rah! Rah! Amba!
3. Post the instructions on your blog (done here!).
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. They cannot have been tagged before.
5. You must notifiy the people you tag by leaving a comment on their blog.

I will link to everyone in my link sidebar as well.

Treklocks

KinkyAwakenings

FeeLee Locks (Fe)

KRB Natural Hair (Caroline)

BlaqueGoddess

Nappy for Life! (Elizabeth)

Sweet Ducky

Coil vs. Comb

More self-affirming hair poetry from Sharon Harvey Rosenberg - Coil vs. Comb

My first sisterlocks plait-out (braid-out) photos

It's been a week since my sisterlocks were installed. I have been treating them like fragile crystal, hardly touching my hair except to roll it on a few bendable rollers and gently arranging it inside my dreadsock. This weekend, however, I decided that my sisterlocks could take just a little manhandling, so I tried a plait-out.

I divided my hair into about 12 sections. Then, I sprayed the relaxed ends with some diluted infusium and braided them. I rolled the ends on 1/2 inch diameter bendable rollers and let my hair dry overnight.

In the morning, It was really curly. I regret cutting my bangs earlier this week. It made the top a little too short for my liking.

But overall, I am happy with the look. Now, I just want to see how long the set will last. I think I will send Cia a link to this post.

(my kitchen!)

By the way, my mother finally saw my hair today...

For Brown Skin Girls

For Brown Skin Girls is a hair poem by Sharon Harvey Rosenberg. I was moved by the phrase "wallflower nightmares". It speaks to our fear of rejection by men, if we don't alter our natural hair.

Enjoy

Thank you Amba!

Amba said...

Oooh. I just stumbled across your blog. Welcome to the Sisterlocks family. Looks
great.

Thank you, Amba! I have admired your website (and your twin's website, too!) for a while now. How wonderful to be welcomed by you. I am looking forward to the Atlanta Sisterlocks Meetup Group activities.

(Hoping to travel to Ghana in 2009!)

Tina posts the first comment on my blog!

Did somebody actually read something I wrote?

Awesome!

In response to my post about asking my husband his opinion about my getting SL'd, Tina said...

Wow. The first thing I thought of when I was considering sisterlocks was what my
husband would think...he has to look at me.

Great point, girl!

What is a "dread perm"?

Dread perming is a new concept for me. I came across a website advertising classes for lock maintenance that taught the technique. While looking for an explanation of dread perming, I was hoping that it didn't involve relaxing locked hair with chemicals!

Interestingly, someone did tell me that there are people who put relaxer in their locks. She said that the locks tend to get weak and break off where the relaxer is applied. It seems to me that putting relaxer in your locks would defeat the purpose of having locks.

But dread perming is a way to make straight hair frizzy so it will lock more quickly.

From Wikipedia:

'The dread perming technique begins with at least 6 inches of hair. Thehair is then separated into appropriately sized dreadlock sections. Each individual section is then backcombed, or teased, to knot the hair and create a loose dreadlock form. After each section resembles a loose dreadlock, the sections are then rolled onto curlers, to help ensure even distribution of the perming chemicals. Once the chemicals are applied to the hair, each strand of hair begins to swell. This swelling causes the hair to forget its' original form. The hair then begins to shrink back to its' normal size, permanently taking on the shape the hair is currently in.'

The hair appears really curly and kind of odd looking at first, but over time it settles into a pattern that, they say, is indistinguishable from naturally grown locks after about a year.

I'm moving up the learning curve.

Back to Work with Sisterlocks!

This is me this morning before going to the office.

I received varied, but mostly positive reactions. Most people who new that I had planned to get sisterlocks were very curious and encouraging, eyeballing my hair and smiling. Lots of locked nurses seemed more excited than I was.

A key employee stated the obvious, "You got your hair done." Then moved the conversation on towards the business of the day.

This evening there was a parent-child scrimmage with Daniel's team. I put on sneakers, a tee shirt and a bandana and had a ball! The bandana covered the visible parts, hiding them from my mom who was at the game. I'm not ready to deal with her reaction just yet :o~.

The children always seem to win. Perhaps it's because the rules state that the parents have to shoot with their left hand! The referees seem to be a little biased as well :o). The children beat us 30 to 12.

I think I will clip my ends tonight and spray a little diluted Infusium on my ends.

This weekend I might try a braidout.

Sisterlocks in Progress!

Well, they're in!

(These are my before picture )

Cia (Kinky Awakenings) and I had a great weekend watching movies and working out the solution to all the world's ills!

I had to take quite a few bathroom breaks early on, as I drank a whole carafe of coffee at IHOP Saturday morning before going over to Cia's place.

I had never seen Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland. It was pretty gory...but boy was the acting great. We started at eight and Cia finished the back of my head by five!

(End of Day 1 - Half a head done!)

I had a little apprehension about seeing my mom on Saturday night, but you couldn't even see my locks under my hair. My mom treated the family to tickets to the see the African Children's Choir at the Ferst Center - our first Black History month outing this year. My boys enjoyed it, as did we all. The children put on a wonderful show. They danced, they sang and they told their stories. Some were war orphans. Some were AIDS orphans. They were amazing. We are some mighty strong people.

Anyway, I think my mom knows that I'm getting locks already. She knew I was getting my hair done, but didn't ask a thing about my hair after I came home with hair that didn't look any different that it did the day before! I think my son or the babysitter probably told her.

On Saturday we watched Drumline. I love that movie. We finished about an hour earlier on Saturday that we did on Sunday.

(End of Day 2 - Whole head done!)

Finally, on Sunday, after getting all of my sisterlocks put in, I went home and watched my NY Giants win the Superbowl!

Now, I have just the slightest scalp ache, but it's nothing like when your braids are put in too tight.

More pics soon.

2 Days and Counting

48 hours 'til I'm sisterlocked.

I met a nurse today who had micro sisterlocks.

She had been locked for 4 years. "I LOVE my hair!" she declared. Her hair was really very fine and didn't appear truly locked even towards the middle of each lock. Her ends were definitely not locked. But her hair was beautiful!

My hair is a bit more course than hers. I hope it locks by or before the 6 month mark. Mike and I will be going on a study tour of Kemet (Egypt) in August with Dr.Hagins. To be locked by August is my goal!

Tonight I am going to color my few grey around the edges and give myself a good trim. Then, tomorrow, I will wash my hair again with Herbal Essence "Degunkifying" (clarifying) shampoo. I'll braid the ends losely, let it dry and then sit under the dryer, so the roots will be as thick and coily as possible.

My next post will be entitled Sisterlocks in Progress!

Anxious employee

I have an employee who is suffering a great deal of anxiety over my getting sisterlocked.

Terri (not her real name) has subtley and not so subtley suggested, in a myriad of way, that I get "individuals," or twists, or ANYTHING other than...[dread and horror!]...LOCS!!!!

She is sooooo transparent. Her anxiety over her job security, in the event that my hair scares all of the patients away, is pretty intense.

The office is small and we are fairly close knit and open with each other, but I hope she has the good sense to keep any additional suggestions to herself.

2008 Young Physician of the Year Award

I won the Atlanta Medical Association's Young Physician of the Year Award tonight. I tied for the award with Freda, a friend and colleague of mine. She's a surgeon. The award is always given at our annual scholarship ball. Several thousands of dollars in scholarships were given out to deserving Black medical students from Georgia. I always support the event as a patron by buying a table or two.

We had a great time. I danced until my feet hurt! My good sistah friend, Naomi, won a signed print by Leon Campbell at the silent auction and surprised me by giving it to me at the end of the night. She used to have locs that were so long, she could almost sit on them. Now, I think she has loc-like extensions fused to her natural hair.

Freda introduced me to one of her guests who had locs. They were pinned up atop her head in a tasteful, full bun and looked beautiful. I complimented her and told her that I was getting sisterlocked next week. She was very encouraging, saying, " I think you will be pleased. I have no regrets."

I'm only sorry that I didn't get a shot of her do.

Skiing with pre-sisterlocked hair

We spent the MLK weekend in Beech Mountain, NC. My husband and my son, Kofi, drove up. Their flight was cancelled due to the snow that fell in Atlanta (a whole 1/8 of an inch!), but Diop and I flew a different airline into Charlotte.

I will never fly again. Once we got to Charlotte, we had to drive 2 and 1/2 hours up to Beech Mountain. Mike and Kofi made it there in about 5 hours from Atlanta by car.

My boys were awesome! After just 2 days of ski school they were fearlessly riding the lifts to ski the blue trails! On Saturday night Diop said, "Mom, I really think I'm ready to ski the black diamond runs, really."

Fortunately, the black runs remained closed all weekend so I didn't have to fight that fight.

Beech Mountain is located high in Western North Carolina. Ski Beech has the highest elevation of any ski area in Eastern North America rising to 5506 ft. above sea level.

We arrived on Thursday evening and were off to the slopes early Friday morning. I enrolled the boys in ski school and hung out in the play yard for a while trying to decide whether or not I should take a refresher lesson.

B.C. (before children) we skied every year for 10 years or so - Pennsylvania, Vail (Colorado), Park City (Utah), Michigan - but that was over 10 years ago!


I finally decided to take the J-bar up the bunny hill to see how I would do...


...I discovered that I hadn't lost much. It's kind of like riding a bike, swimming or riding a horse. I was glad I didn't spend the money on a lesson.

I took the blue runs with relative ease, falling only once on Sunday when I hit a patch of ice. It was 1 degree below zero Sunday morning and pretty icy in several places. My roots were coiled and twisted on this trip. You can sweat while skiing.



On Saturday, I went with Mike and the boys over to the resort to get them to ski school, but promptly went back to the house. What a great day full of nothing!

I stayed in bed, googled sisterlock photos and read about loc care. (See my favorite hair care book list in the sidebar).

I was in heaven...and I'm getting more and more excited AND impatient to get my sisterlocks installed.

Knottyboy 'How to Lock' Video

I just watched the Knottyboy how to lock video. It seemed a little ridiculous. Kind of pathetic. Like someone trying to defy nature. Like someone trying to be someone they aren't.

The stylist made about 40 chunky, backcombed, waxed-up, pseudo-locks out of a guys frizzy, but essentially straight, orangy hair.

But, of course, if I have the right to straighten my hair while the whole universe knows it doesn't grow out of my heads that way, I suppose folks with straight hair can sculpt up some locks.

"What does your husband think?"

During my initial consultation with my sisterlocks consultant, she asked me what my husband thought about my locking my hair. The question made me just a little uncomfortable, not because I hadn't thought about it, but because I realized that there was a chance that he wouldn't like the idea.

If he didn't like the idea, that would mean that I would have to get my sisterlocks and feel really uncomfortable for a long time until they started looking cute ;o).

I didn't really know how he felt about it. I had shown him several photos of women with sisterlocks with out actually telling him that I intended to get them (but I'm sure he knew I was probably seriously considering it). He looked at the photos, then became distracted and ended up saying nothing. He is a man of few words and stoic reactions.

I told my consultant that I had shown my husband some pictures and that he knew me well enough to know that the chances were that I had decided to get them.

The next week, I emailed a friend of mine in Detroit and I mentioned that I had an appointment to get sisterlocked. Much to my surprise, here came that same old, annoying question: "What does your husband think about that?"

Well after that, I got even more nervous and I decided that I needed to ask him about it.

So I sent him an email.

I wrote in the text of the email that I had never thought to ask his opinion about any of my hairstyles before, but two people had asked me how he felt about my getting sisterlocks, so I got nervous and thought I would ask.

I spent the better part of an afternoon combing the web for photos of the most attractive women with the most attractive sisterlocks I could find. I saved the photos and attached them to the email and sent it to him.

Well, thankfully, he didn't keep me in suspense for long. My man of few words and stoic reactions sent this reply: "I'm sure that you will make those sister locks look absolutely beautiful!!! They can't help but be beautiful if they are on you!!!"

Wondering...How small is TOO small?

As I anticipate my SL 'lockiversary', I find myself periodically searching Google for web posts that discuss the drawbacks of sisterlocks. Wanting to go into this completely informed, and having found sisterlock wearers almost universally euphoric about their sisterlocks, I can't help but wonder if the sisterlocks journey is too good to be true.

But joy of joys, "I hate sisterlocks" has continued to turn up exactly zero hits on Google. The only negative comments I have read seem to be about an sisterlocks consultant or trainee whose work did not satisfy - sometimes locks were too big, the parts not straight enough or the installation was not to the end of the natural hair. But that's about the extent of any dissatisfaction.

I did however come across an old post from 2005 on Creyole's blog. She was lamenting her random parts. Then Brunsli posted. Brunsli said she wished her parts weren't as straight and she wishes she had larger locks. Now I'm wondering whether I should get brotherlock size locks. Locks of brotherlock size might be less likely to thin and grooming time may be a little shorter...and cheaper...

...I am still leaning towards small sisterlocks thought. My consultant recommends this based upon my hair's density. My rationale is that I can always join locks in the future if mine become too thin.

Pledgin' the sisterlocks sorority

Well, I've attended the rush and now I'm on line. Hope the hazing isn't too intense. But whatever the tests, I'm pretty sure induction into the sisterlocks sisterhood will be worth it.

I'm getting SL'd (I'm a real neophyte with the lingo), in a couple of weeks.

Two of my test locks seem to be holding up fairly well after two washings. I haven't used anything on my hair in order to get used to the idea. I've tried not to brush too much either.

I have from four to six inches or so of permed ends and two inches of new growth. I haven't had as much hair drama as some of my bloggin' "Big Sisters," but I've had my share.

I wore a close cropped boy cut for a few years. Then I grew it out and wore two-strand twists for about 10 years...

...but I wimped out and got a press and curl, then a perm, after leaving academia (a very forgiving environment), and going corporate.

The company I worked for was Black owned and was doing business here in the buckle of the bible belt, so upper management was more averse to locks, twists and braids than some of their white competitors. A TWA (teeny weeny afro) might have been tolerated - but I didn't want one.

One day after work, a colleague and I were sitting in the conference room with our CEO. As we were chatting, he started sharing with us that he had been determined to build the company up to the point at which he could afford to hire us - he didn't mean monetarily (my colleague was a sistah, as well). I understood. At times it was clearly not to the company's advantage for his face to be the face of the company. We had an executive vice president, a good ol' boy from Alabama, to 'represent' in those instances.

In hindsight, I might have been able to get away with conservatively bound twists of some sort or other, but that wasn't the hill I wanted to die on. ...

...Anyway, now I am happily and gainfully self-employed and sick to death of perms! So here I sit, adding my two cents to the many sisterlocks blogs in the blog universe - and looking forward to crossing over.