road trippin'

if all goes according to plan i will have the opportunity real soon to visit with client #1, her hotness, my third consultant/former client, my sisterlocks, dreadlocked and even creamy-crack addicted pals. actually, we will be staying with hh and as with life the student will become the teacher. hh has agreed to set and style my hair in some curls, curls, curls. i cannot get out of here fast enough.

hairstories

michelle b from the sisterlocks home office sent the following email to me and a gazillion others. please share your story:

Recently, there have been some talk shows featuring Black Hair but none of them have had any reference to Sisterlocks. It's time we flood the media with information on Sisterlocks and how much we love our hair, appreciate Dr. Cornwell for providing the ultimate option to natural hair and basically let them know that they cannot feature natural hair without recognizing Sisterlocks.

CNN is featuring part 2 of Black in America. Please click on the link and write your Hair Story. The question is: What does your hair mean to you?"

Please tell your story; post a picture of your gorgeous Sisterlocks and let the world know how you feel about your hair.
Click here: Black in America: Hair-story: News & Videos about Black in America: Hair-story - iReport.com

There's power in numbers so let's band together and get the word out about Sisterlocks.

Thanks so much for your support,

Michelle B.

distracted

i was so distracted by the inauguration that i did not do my best at lockstalking all of the lovely locks that i saw in wdc. i did manage to meet and greet one newbie though. i always try to acknowledge the newbies and give them some encouragement just in case they are not thrilled with the initial plucked-chicken look.

we met the day after the inauguration in the restaurant @ the national air and space museum. i wish i had taken some close up shots of her parting because it was spot-on! really, it was the parts that made me speak and offer a few compliments. the loose ends were by design even though newbie started with natural hair. her consultant-trainee did a wonderful job with parting and sizing.

so fresh so clean

finding a great consultant is like finding a rare 33'' vinyl, unscratched james brown just waiting to be played..."Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now I feel good, I knew that I would, now So good, so good, I got you". so let me introduce you to my new consultant, formerly known as "the other one" but let's call her "serenity" since we are official. why "serenity"? well, because that is what it feels like to sit in her chair and get my hair done, of course.

see, she even installed a mobile partition just for me. you know me and my privacy issues. and she has actually kept it up with other clients to carve out a more private space in her living room (which is like being in a private african art gallery).

so, about serenity...serenity has had her sisterlocks for 12 years. joanne...uh, dr. cornwell installed hers as well. serenity started out with a 100% head of natural hair and her sisterlocks always look phenomenal. she retightens her own hair. you would think that i would offer to swap services but (a) i am retired and (b) it would not be a fair trade for her.

i am in the process of splitting a few locks that i combined two years ago (the ones that started thinning after i stopped nursing) now that the base of the locks appears to be filling in again. and starting a few new locks as well. i am using three different locking patterns now. i have a loose curl pattern so i started out with a reverse 4 (@ 13 years ago), moved to a 4 (@ 10 years ago), then switched to a 3 pattern after my locks settled in YEARS LATER. now, i am using a 3 pattern on most of my locks, a 4 in the areas that tend to slip (last 2-3 rows in the back and around the sides) and a reverse 4 for the new locks. serenity noted that my hair also tends to migrate from lock to lock so she uses a jillion clips in my hair, as do i. i really should have taken pictures of her other clients at our first session but there is always next time...

on the dl

shhhhhhhhhhh...i have been unfaithful. i met the other one and i was not even looking. i was perfectly satisfied with the one...except for the long commute. i forgot to remind myself that i am not one who does well with long distance relationships. so i met someone else. actually, we knew each other before. you know how that goes....saw each other at a function, "hey, girl how you been...", then hooked up weeks later. so i confess, i have started seeing someone else. the other one, my new consultant. our first encounter was great. we laughed, we talked @ our mutual interest and experiences with travelling in africa, she did a great job with my hair, i still have money left. and i got two meet two of her clients....one who just started her journey and is also an attorney (how cool was that) and one with 7 year old sisterlocks who got bumped because she did not confirm, confirm, confirm her appointment. we have another date next week and this time i will remember to take pictures to share. remember, this is just between me and you and you...ok, and you too.

lockstalking

when does a friend become a sister? how do sisters stay friends? i have travelled through life, love, press-n-curls and relaxers with my "sbc" (sisters by choice).

we may find ourselves on the different pages in the same book and on the same pages in different books. take these two sbc. we all have locks. rastayogi sbc has free form dreadlocks that never get twisted or cut; nordie sbc has palm-rolled locks that have been down past her bottom but vary in color and length on a regular basis; and

muslimahlocs has sisterlocks which you won't see pictures of posted here. yet we have never discussed, debated or argued @ whose locks were more or less authentic, more or less of more or less. we are just pleased as punch that we have each arrived at this point as sisters, naturally.

where is my referral fee?

the family was in town this past weekend for a big wedding. one of my cousins was in the wedding so she needed a fancy 'do. i sent her to the one. here are some day after the wedding pictures of my cousin's hair. should i call the one @ my referral fee? (LOL, i am so not going to do that) we, including the kids, represented well with 100% natural hair in various styles from free-form locks, palm-rolled locks, cornrows, twists, and braids to afros. yes, pictures are forthcoming.