Random thoughts about natural hair and other stuff

* Isn't it annoying when random people come up to you and say "ooh, can I touch it?" as if my hair is a pet, or a figment of their imagination. Well guess what? No, you can't touch it! I don't know where your hands have been!

*if you dye your hair with chemicals, is it still natural? What does natural really mean?

* is it just me, or does it seem a bit trendy to be natural these days? Does someone's reason for going natural really matter?

* what does natural mean to you? I think that natural ness is a spectrum. Really, natural is in the eye of the beholder.

* has anyone ever called you dread? I get called that all the time when I wear twists.

* do you get approached by random dudes with dreads more frequently since you have natural hair? I know I do. Two random dudes JUST walked up to me, trying to talk to me even though I'm clearly on the phone and uninterested in what they're saying.

* do you notice natural hair more now that you're natural? I have always noticed natural hair, even when I had a perm. I love the diversity and uniqueness of it.
* it's annoys me when someone has on headphones and I can still hear their music loud and clear.

* I hate when people stare at me. After staring at me for more than 3 minutes, you might as well say hello. You've obviously committed my face to memory, the least you can do is greet me.

TO BE CONTINUED...
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S.I.S. Barbie's New Fashion Forward Black Dolls Hit Stores

Finally there are dolls for us by us.Thanks to Stacey McBride-Irby, a 12-year veteran and African-American mother of two wanted her four-year-old baby girl to be able to play with dolls that were more in her likeness, So In Style dolls by Barbie was born. The collection reflects the spectrum of the Black community and are available at nationwide today."I am so proud and excited to finally share The So In Style dolls with girls of all ages", Stacey McBride-Irby told ESSENCE.com. "I want my new So In Style dolls to not only be an authentic representation of my community and culture, but to also encourage girls to be inspired and dream big."Unlike Black Barbies of yesterday that appeared to have more Anglo facial features and hair texture, S.I.S. vary in complexion, coiffs and physical attributes with fuller lips, distinct cheek bones and wider noses.The dolls which range in price from about $8 to $25 features fashion forward BFFs Grace, Kara and Trichelle who are all about having a good time, but not before sharing their wisdom with the next generation. In the spirit of mentorship, McBride-Irby created a "little sister" for each of the dolls with diverse interests including music, math and science. Each doll's hair can be styled with the help of new Aqua curl technology which allows them to go from straight to curly with a spritz of a water bottle and hairstyling tools."I believe that a happy inspired childhood creates happy, inspired, powerful women," said McBride-Irby. "I want my new So In Style dolls to not only be an authentic representation of my community and culture, but to also encourage girls to be inspired and dream big."*For more info visit BarbieCollector.com. --KNB
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An Ode To My First Love

I can't stop thinking about her I

See her in my dreams and

Lately every night she's been

Waking me out of my sleep

Begging baby please

Just one kiss, just one touch

But I know it's a trap cause

One is never enough

But I fall into the trap anyway

The two of us imprisoned in sheets

Every time our souls meet

Potential turns into kinetic energy

And we battle each other

Cause we just have to compete

But I never win so

I've gotten used to defeat

And we argue like we can't stand each other

Two forces opposing

But she never stays mad for long cause

I am the one she's chosen

And sometimes I neglect her

Cause I don't want her to see

My jealousy...insecurity

Vulnerability

But somehow she sees it anyway

Even though I wear my defenses like clothes

She has X ray vision so

To her I'm aways exposed

And if I don't drop my guard

She'll tear that shit down

She said “Get used to being completely naked

Whenever I'm around”

She wants me to be a nudist so

Eventually I give in

We make love then make war then

Do it all over again

And her love is perfect

There's no reason for me to cheat

Cause no one does me like she does

Always leaving me with soaked sheets

Always leaving me satisfied

While simultaneously wanting more

And she willingly grants my wishes

Always having something new in store

Willing to try new positions

If that's what I ask her for

And regardless of my intentions

She never walks out that door

Sometimes I use her. And she knows it

But she still sticks around

Don't deserve her. So I serve her

And I worship her ground

And she damn sure ain't perfect

But she's just right for me

She's my first true love

And her name is Poetry.

This weekend's hairstyle

I am really diggin my hair! It is a collaborative effort between me and my mom. What do you all think? I figure I may as well play around with it before I start locks.
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Yahoo! News Story - A world first: Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection - Yahoo! News

Jhavia Nicole (jetheridge@agnesscott.edu) has sent you a news article.
(Email address has not been verified.)
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Personal message:

A world first: Vaccine helps prevent HIV infection - Yahoo! News

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090924/ap_on_re_as/med_aids_vaccine

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http://news.yahoo.com/

What we've been reduced to

So this is what we've been reduced to.

No talking

No smiling

No fucking

No reconciling

I remember when we used to talk all the time
Your words my sustenance
The way you manipulated vowels and consonants made no sense
Your tongue wrapped around each letter and I would follow suit
I wrapped around you
And we talked.
For hours on end
The time that existed between conversations was irrelevant
All that mattered was your words
My words
Our words
Our world...
Came crashing down
And this is what we've been reduced to

No talking

No smiling

No fucking

No reconciling

I remember when we used to smile all the time
As constant as the rising and setting of the sun
Grins spread across our faces like jam on toast
Making life sweet
Your smile, illuminating, has a domino effect
Causing my mouth to follow suit and smile
But now teeth remain imprisoned behind cold lips
This is what we've been reduced to

No talking

No smiling

No fucking

No reconciling

I remember when we used to fuck all the time
Couldn't keep our hands.lips.mouths.bodies off each other
I mean to the point where our skin touched so much that our
complexions mixed and we became the same color
But bodies in heat are no longer intertwined between sheets It's like
the fire that used to provide warmth just burns now
And this is what we've been reduced to

No talking

No smiling

No fucking

No reconciling

I remember when we used to talk and make up
Smile and make up
Fuck up and make up
But now apologies are few and far between
Neither of us want to admit we're wrong
And neither of us want to admit that something ain't right so...

This is what we've been reduced to.

Does length really matter?

As much as I love natural hair blogs and sites, today I am annoyed. I
was reading this blog, and the blogger mentioned APL. Now this was
like the 10th time I have seen that acronym, but I didn't know its
meaning. Every time I see it I think: what the hell does THAT mean???
So I eventually found it through Google and it means ARM PIT LENGTH.
WTF? All these acronyms are annoying me. Bsl for bra strap length, twa
for teeny weeny afro, the list goes on. I mean I get it, but it kinda
bugs me that there is like an acronym for every hair length
imaginable.
What's the big deal about hair length? It's seems like length is more
important than health. It's not like I never wanted long hair, cause I
did. But once I realized the maintenance it would entail, I began
consistently cutting my hair to keep it at this medium length that I
often complain about. Now I'm not as concerned about the length of my
hair. I'm just glad that it's the healthiest that it's been in years,
and its so soft that I want to touch it all the time and not put weave
in it. And the best thing is: I don't have a dandruff problem anymore.
My head doesn't itch as much, my scalp feels clean. I started using
all natural stuff on my hair (coconut oil, glycerin, Shea butter, aloe
gel, essential and carrier oils, and WATER) and the dandruff POOF!
disappeared.
Anyway I just want the focus to be on the health of the hair, not the
length of it. Besides, healthy hair will grow.

--
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Nfinite Dream
Dream forever.

You Are Not Your Hair

Saw this on Naturally Leslie's blog and decided to post it on mine.

You Are Not Your
Hair,http://www.essence.com/fashion_beauty/hair/articles/hairstylist_edris_nicholls_on_the_natural_hair_revolution

--
Sent from my mobile device

Nfinite Dream
Dream forever.

Check out the Scotties

Practicing their rowing technique for the Dragon Boat Race
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14th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival

More pictures! The first is a picture of Asian shaved ice cream and fruit. It was really good! The other one is a Laotian band.
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14th Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival

Pictures from the Dragon Boat race that we are at right now... It is beautiful out here! Plus Scotties are competing so of course we're having a great time!
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I've decided...

That I'm going to loc my hair. I think that would be good for me. In theory growing a super fro sounds wonderful, but I really don't feel like it's for me. I have become absorbed in hair blogs and that has made me more aware of my hair than i've ever been. Maybe too aware. Cause now my hair is a source of stress and it shouldn't be. My hair and I both need to chill. So I'm gonna lock it while I lock down on these books.
Every day I feel like I should loc my hair. The feeling keeps getting stronger. I'm excited about it. So the Fro Chronicles will become the Loc Chronicles.
But first I gotta get the money to get someone to start them. I can maintain them myself. I think I want henna too.

We shall see!

For now I will be wearing protective styles and the puff occasionally.
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Accessorize the puff!

A couple ways I accessorized this past weekend.

I do love the puff, I'm tired of wearing my hair out though cause it's starting to feel like the elements are getting to it, so I will probably be putting in Afro or Marley twists really soon. My hair feels dry today and I don't know why, because I co washed and moisturized, then flat twisted it and tied it up with a satin scarf. That usually works well and makes my hair feel great. I'm starting to think that flat twists aren't as good an idea as they used to be. When I take down the flat twists my hair tends to feel dry. But if I do a bantu knot out my hair feels really nice. Two strand twist outs are cool, they just don't look as good as they used to. Maybe I need to do smaller twists. I don't know.
Just my hair woes.

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Detroit Free Press - Obama's lesson plan for schoolchildren

This story has been sent from the mobile device of jetheridge@agnesscott.edu. For real-time mobile news, go to http://m.freep.com.

Obama's lesson plan for schoolchildren

Nothing online has brought out more discussion in the last 48 hours than President Barack Obama's plan to address schoolchildren Tuesday.

As Obama wages his divisive quest for health care reform, parents across the country balked at not having the opportunity to pre-approve the message.

The White House has said the speech is not a political one, but one that will stress studying hard and staying in school.

Locally, several school districts have said they will not show students the speech.

Here's a round-up of coverage from across the Web:

Polifact.com refutes comments by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on this being the first time the president has addressed the nation's schoolchildren.

"President George H.W. Bush gave an address to schools nationwide in 1991, from a junior high school in Washington, D.C. News reports from the time said the White House hoped that the address would be shown at schools nationwide, and Bush began his remarks by saying he was talking to 'millions" of students 'in classrooms all across the country.'"

* See Bush's complete remarks to schoolchildren.

The Washington Times said in a Thursday editorial the speech was an effort to expand the president's "cult into the classroom:"

"In a move suggestive of the Pyongyang public school system, the U.S. Department of Education recommended that before the speech students collectively brainstorm questions like, 'Why does President Obama want to speak with us today? How will he inspire us?' Classrooms are to be festooned with 'notable quotes excerpted (and posted in large print on board) from President Obama's speeches about education,' presumably alongside benevolent-looking images of the dear leader."

In a Friday editorial, the New York Times called the controversy "overheated and bizarre:"

"What is most disturbing about all this is what it says about the parents - and the fact that they have such little regard for their children's intelligence and ability to think."

Over at Huffingtonpost.com, blogger Michael Shaw says conservatives are using the controversy as a scare tactic:

"Beyond all the 'state indoctrination' and even Hitler Youth analogies being propagated by Obama's school chat, I'm wondering how much there is (or is also) a racist meme at play. It's something along the lines of: You can't trust your children alone with this man ... knowing how black men are. Wink, wink."

Much of the controversy has stemmed from the Department of Education's lesson plans that are to go along with Obama's speech. A first draft of the lesson plans encouraged students to write letters to themselves on how they could "help the president," according to the Wall Street Journal.

You can see the revised lesson plans for Prekindergarten-6 and and grades 7-12 below. You can double click to view them larger, or hit the full screen toggle.

Lesson plan: Prekindergarten - 6th grade



Lesson plan: 7th grade - 12th grade



Freep.com will hold a live stream of Obama's speech at noon Tuesday if you wish to see it.

Contact MARK W. SMITH: msmith@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @markdubya.

Website address: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990905009

Honey Bee

I thought you were a honey bee and I
Wanted to be wherever the honey be cause
Honey is sweet but its good for you too...

As were you.

Well, that's what I thought but
I believed and was deceived by the buzz...
You made me buzz.
Chemistry so kinetic that it resonated through me like vibrations
You buzzed and I came.
Addicted to your hypnotic sound
I clung to you.
Cause you were sweet like honey and just as sticky
I was stuck and
Couldn't let go without your residue being left on my fingers...
Honey Bee
Using me like a hive
Filling me with nectar and storing your secrets in me
Making me feel like home...
Your praise made me bloom like honeysuckle and I
Left pollen on everything I touched
Telling the world of your sweetness...
Honey bee
Treating me like a queen bee...
But that was then and now
You just sting

I can taste the memories of us.
I savor the ones that are sweet and
Spit out the sour ones and
That is what you get.
Words from me that are hard for you to swallow cause
They no longer taste good...
But they're real
And now you're bitter.
The honey that used to drip from your lips is gone
I realized that honey was really aspartame
Way too sweet to be real and you left behind an unpleasant aftertaste

Now when you speak you spout vinegar.
My mind puckers up at the sound of your voice
Everyone knows that honey is the way to keep fly girls like me but
You can't possibly be the bee you used to be so...
Honey bee gone.
You stung me and it hurt but

I didn't bleed

My hair last weekend

I watched a You Tune video by BlackOnyx77 and she did a puff with a pompadour. This was my take on that style. It's not exactly the same of course, but she did give some good tips that I plan on utilizing more often, particularly the one about using hair pins to keep her headband from slipping.

My hair today

Today I am rocking a puff. I like this style cause its simple and it doesn't necessarily have to always look the same. I am going to invest in some scarves to jazz up my puff.
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