Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Four Months - Video

So, my husband took a short video of me without me realizing it. And then he showed it to me, and i was totally transfixed, looking at my hair. It looks great. Is that conceited of me to say that? Anyway, I made a video of myself talking about my hair. Here it is (best viewed in original size):



http://youtube.com/watch?v=muhlwcPXygk

I don't plan to do this on a regular basis. But I think it would be really cool if some of my favorite bloggers did videos. For example, I think Tai would crack me up, hearing and seeing his rants instead of just reading them.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Patience

I always used to roll my eyes when people said that they learned patience when locking their hair. However, it's become a definite part of the locking process for me. I want locks NOW! My hands are in my husbands 2 1/2 year old locks every day. I covet the mid back length dreads I saw on the sister in the grocery store. I drool over pictures in hair albums of fully developed locks of every size, shape, and length. But I must wait and be patient.

I look at my hair, and I can tell it's slowly moving toward what I desire. But it's not happening fast enough, dammit! I know I sound like a baby, but I don't care. And although I like the way my hair looks now (most days, let's be honest here), I don't know anybody that dreaded their hair to have it look like the in-between stage. Some time ago I read on the hair board where someone compared growing locks to growing a full beard. The beginning stage (5 o'clock shadow) looks good, and at the end you have the beard you want, but that in-between, patchy, itchy, unshaped, what-the-hell-am-I-doing-why-is-it-taking-so-long-nobody-likes-beards-anyway-will-i-even-look-good-with-one stage is trying. And some people don't get past that stage (and don't ask me how I know so much about growing a beard).

Or when you're trying to lose weight (which I am). You've changed your diet, you're exercising more, you're doing good. But it's been weeks and you don't see any changes yet. Well maybe you realize that you can climb the stairs without being out of breath, and you lost like 5 pounds, but you want to see more changes on the scale. One or two pounds a week is soooooo slow when you have 30 pounds to lose. And then your husband brings in a 50 pack of cookies from BJ's, and you have to stare at that crap every day when you get in from work. And you know that a cookie or two (at 200 calories a pop) every day would taste soooo good after the stresses of work. Do you give in? Or do you resist, knowing that if you're patient, and continue with what you're doing, you'll soon see the results you want? (Note to hubby: This example is just used for illustrative purposes and comedic effect. Who am I kidding? No, it's not. :-( )

You know what, though. I have made the commitment that I am going to see this through. No matter how I feel about it now, I know that in a year or so, my hair will be completely locked, and I will have the hair I used to admire from afar. I try to remind myself of that whenever I have doubts about the process. Angela, don't get impatient at month 3 or 4 or 7 and cut off your hair. You'd seriously regret that. Don't let the silly little side issues or insecurities distract you. Know what's on the other side: beautiful, unique locks.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

3 months in and feeling fine

You know, I'm really feeling good about my hair so far. No drama (for a change). I love the way my hair is developing into locks. And I'm confident about how they will turn out. I think that this is a good reason for locks to develop slowly the way they do, so that it can give me time to adjust to the new look. I am on the lookout these next few months, though, because the last few (!) attempts I made to lock my hair, I took / cut them out around 3-5 months. I feel so far removed from my mindset then, though, so I'm good.

I took pics also, but what is the point of taking pictures when your hair looks exactly the same? I may space it out to every 1-2 months taking pics.






The last two pics are of Tomoka's Twists. I wear them as a headband, and they aren't tight, like most headbands I wear (I guess I'm sensitive to that). I love them. I bought a few others from her site also. They are beautiful.