Should I Feel Insulted?

Hey you all! Looky looky now--two posts in one day! But this is one that I meant to do several days ago and then I got caught up in the turkey day preparations...

Anyway, here it goes--long story short...a coworker and I were talking the other day, and she commented about the loc style that I had going on, you know, saying how much she liked how it looked, how I always had an interesting style goin' on, etc. she then asked me if I could ever take my locs down if I wanted to and then she made a comment about how usually she doesn't like the look of locs because she's seen a number of white people with them and they always looked dirty and nasty, and so on. She then made a very pointed comment--"but yours always look really clean and well kept and I just gotta ask, how do you wash that STUFF?!" I looked at her (with a slight *cut you off at the knee side eye*) and responded "the same way you wash your "stuff"! Now, we get along quite well (she's white) and all, but I did feel a small dig of indignation at my hair being called "stuff" as if it were a giant dirtball or something. Said coworker quickly came back with "I wasn't trying to insult you; you know what I mean, how do you wash your hair, locs, or whatever you call them!" Now, I want to feel and truly believe that she really meant no harm but...how do you refer to someone's hair--anyone's hair as "STUFF"? To tell you the truth, this one phrasing has insulted me more than any other comment that has been made about my hair in the almost three years that I've been loc'd. So tell me the honest truth y'all--am I being just way too sensitive? Love to hear your take on this! Blessings!

Quick Update Posting...

Hello loc'd divas! No, I haven't forgotten about you all; I just haven't had time to update on the regular like I should be doing. Not a whole lot to report at this time--the locs are growin' along, getting longer, still strong and healthy. I'm almost at the 2.5 year mark (july 4th) and still lovin' the journey. They are long enough to gather into a pretty decent pony on top of my head and the ends just kinda splay out all over the place--I love this semi-wild look! I'm able to do some updo's now and I'm lovin' it! Check out my pics below:




Still doing the semi-freeform thing also and I'm just absolutely loving it! Very rarely (2-3 months, maybe longer) do I palmroll the roots, now the maintenance routine is wash, pop, spritz on a little oil/water/eo mix and go. When I do palmroll, I don't always clip the hair. Seems to be working just fine for me! Will add more to this blog soon, I promise! Keep it loc'd, divas! Blessings...

Just A Story From Today...

Hi folks! Just thought I'd share a little story about something that happened to me today at work. As y'all know, I work as a retail manager. Anyway, a gentleman walked into my store, and as I happened to be the closest sales person to him, I spoke to him and offered assistance. His response, "do you work here?" I said "yes" and then he said, "can I ask you something about your hair?" I again said "yes". He then proceeds to ask about his "locs" (they were obviously newly set in--coils or finger twists really)--"how long does it take for your hair to loc?", "my hair is kinda straight and I've had these in for a month, why aren't they loc'd yet?", "what do you use on your hair to twist them?", etc. First off, I thought this was a slightly odd conversation to be having with a REALLY COMPLETE STRANGER in the middle of a fabric store. Secondly, his questions, and his responses to my answers, led me to believe that he'd not talked with anyone about the process of locing; it seemed as if he'd just decided to get his hair "twisted/loc'd up" one day without doing one iota of research--even if it was just talking and asking questions of others that he perhaps knew that were loc'd, or even asking questions of the person that did his baby locs. I asked all kinds of questions and read everything I could get my hands on about locing before I took the plunge; I stalked fotki albums, I devoured articles/videos on YouTube, I joined several forums dedicated to locs. The concept and the process truly fascinated me. Am I just crazy/obsessive/compulsive, etc? I just can't imagine doing something like this and not being curious about what I was getting into! What's your opinion? Even if it is just hair (which, by the way, is not the way I feel about my locs), seems like you would want to know something about a major process like growing locs. Anywho, leave your comments, I'd like to know what you think! Blessings!

HELLLLOOO, Everyone! It's been quite a while since I've posted to this blog, and I do apologize for that. So far, this year has been flying by--can you believe that we're already at the half-way mark? I was so hoping that I would have another, less stressful job at this point in time, but alas, it is just not to be right now. I know, I should be grateful that I have a job, right? What with the way the economy is and people losing jobs, homes, etc. left, right and sideways--and I am grateful because I truly know that it could be worse for me. However, ...LOL!

Anyway, just thought I'd post a few pics of my locs as they are nearing their 15 month anniversary...15 MONTHS Y'ALL! Can you believe it?!? And I can remember when they were at that "do whatever WE WANT" stage and not "do whatever I" want stage. they have condensed and firmed up and have some length on them now ("shake dem dreads"!) and they truly look like locs. I've been "semi-free forming"--not retwisting for 2-3 months at a time now and I love the way it looks! Even from the beginning, I wasn't that into the "tightly twisted, see every single part and lots of scalp" look; I thought it made my hair took too scrawny. Now, everything looks really full and lush. and, I have to tell y'all this--one of my customers at the store (thank God I know her as a regular customer) came up to me about a week ago and touched my hair and said "I've been wanting to see how your hair feels. It looks gorgeous on you and it's so much softer than I would have guessed!" Now, mind you we don't hang out or anything like that but she does shop my store all the time, so I didn't feel violated, but I was a little surprised that she would touch my hair without asking. But the best part of it all was that she just raved over how soft my hair was and how pretty she thought it looked! "Course y'all know that I didn't do this for style, but for me; however it was really nice that someone else chose to validate at least a part of what I have already been feeling. Anyway, hope you all enjoy the pics and I'll try to post again really soon! Be blessed...

My First Attempt At A Loc Updo

Hello all! Just a quick posting with a couple of pictures of my first attempt at a loc updo...I just love updo's! I wore them all the time as a permie and also as a loose nap, and now I've got enough length on my locs to do a modified updo....YEAH!!! All right, enough cheering...on to the pics:


Sorry that I couldn't get the lighting a little better and a better closeup for detail, but here's what I did to achieve the look: I divided the back of my head in half (more or less) and created two under-handed french braids that run from the nape of my neck to the crown. I pinned the ends of the braids to hold. The rest of the locs were lightly misted with a mixture of water, rosemary e/o and a little veggie glycerine and set on satin covered sponge rollers, using end papers. The rollers were left in overnight, unrolled in the morning and...VOILA! a curly updo. I thought it came out pretty cute--I'll wrap it up tonight and see just how long I can keep the style. I'm so excited--my locs are finally long enough to allow me some styling options! If any of you divas out there have suggestions on additional short loc styles, please let me know! Much love and blessings...janel

I know, I know, I've been slackin' on the blog entries. So sue me--no, really, I've transtioned to a new store and life has been a little more hectic than usual. Things have finally quieted down for a few minutes, at least, so I thought I'd post this short video of my 10 month loc update. I can't believe that it's been ten months already--my hair is growing like weeds and I absolutely love it! Just thought I'd take this time because retail is going to be busy from here on through Christmas so I may not be making another entry again for a few weeks. Be blessed you all, hugs and peace! janel

Guess I Should Post A Couple Of Pics...

Hi people! In all the hullbalou of my mother's accident and subsequent race to catch up once I returned to work, I didn't even think about the fact that I didn't post any pics of my hair at it's six month mark. So, without further ado, I'll put up a few pics taken today (okay, so TECHNICALLY my six month shindig was July 4th, but hey, what's a few weeks past?!?):

Whatd'ya think of dem dreads? I am just so excited to see such progress in such a sort amount of time. Still love touching my hair and still haven't quite gotten over the texture but thank God I'm not twisting, tugging or pulling it! and can I say---WOW! THERE'S A LOT OF SILVER COMIN' IN at the front hairline! Just kinda all of a sudden-like...I've had several regular customers at the store tell me that they think it's DA BOMB!! LOL Guess it will have to be, since, I ain't gonna color it--imma just let it go...

In the last week or so, I have split several of my locs into smaller ones because the hair didn't seem to be meshing as well-I'm thinking that it was maybe due to the size. I've got a couple more that I may split--I'm going to watch them for another couple of weeks to see what they do. Also, wonder of wonders, I've been asked to consider modelling in a show being sponsored by a local hair salon. Of course they offer the usual chemical services: relaxers, color, texturizers as well as weaves, etc. But they also say that they have a specialist in natural hair care and can do dreads. HUMMMMMM...says I. They are offering a free service (in my case, a loc maintenance) to get you ready for the show. I'm kinda thinking that I would like to take advantage of the opportunity to participate in the show; perhaps I could make a few contacts that would help me launch a freelance makeup gig (which is something that I've been thinking about for quite a while now as a way of earning some extra money). Think I'll check into this a little more...

Anyway, not much else to tell right now, except that my inventory will finally be over and in the books as of next Friday (YAYYY!!). I am so tired because I've been running so many hours trying to prepare for this, that y'all just wouldn't believe. I feel like I'm losing my mind at this point. Off to take a nap now, doctor's orders because I'm not getting enough sleep and because I may possibly have a thyroid problem, which would help to explain the excessive (to me) tiredness. I'm being tested the week after inventory is over, along with a bone density scan and the big "M" (mammogram). See y'all later, be blessed, hugs and peace! janel

Just A Quickie Entry...

Hey everybody! This is gonna be a quickie entry since it's been a while for me. I am finally getting back to "normal" (whatever that is) from my mom's accident, work catchup for being off with her, etc. Now, of course, it's time for me to start prepping my store for inventory--whew! Does it EVER end?!? Anyway, I'm falling more and m ore in love with my hair on a daily--no make that hourly, basis! It seems to be growing really fast. My assistant manager (she's a person of the caucasian persuasion) says that everytime she sees me it seems like my hair has grown another two inches LOL! The process has yet to lose its fascination for me...

You know, late last week a young sister was in the store and I noticed that she had sisterlocks; she's shopped in the store before, but I hadn't seen her for about a month or so. I walked up to her and complimented her hair and asked her how long she'd been locked up. She replied "I've had them for a month." And then she said "...But mine are Sisterlocks" in a somewhat condescending voice, as if MY hair wasn't a viable option in locdom or something! WHY oh WHY do we insist on separating ourselves against ourselves? As if Sisterlocks are any better than any other type of loc? Now mind you, I had just washed and twisted mine the day before (my day off from work) so I knew they were clean and neat and smelled WONDERFUL (I just love the smell of jasmine, so I've been adding jasmine e/o to my daily dose of olive/jojoba oil) and as a bonus my head was under "fuzz control"--I don't normally mind the fuzz, the hair's gonna do what the hair's gonna do, so I guess it doesn't matter if I mind it or not! Anyway, such an elitist attitude just really irks me--haven't we learned yet that we should be supporting anything/everything good about each other instead of always trying to "one up"? It still amazes me that I've gotten more overt support in this endeavor from my white sistas than from my sista sistas, except for a few like my mom and my sister and a couple of friends that are also loc'd. Hell, even my "ex" husband has been more supportive than most of the black sistas that I know, and he's my ex. What's up with that?

These are some recent pics of me and my hair (all right, three out of four of these were taken to show some makeup looks, but I think they also show my hair off pretty well!) What do y'all think? Just a rhetorical question--I don't really care what y'all think (you know what I mean! no offence intended (smile)) I think my hair look GREAT at the six month mark! Guess I'd better go and finish getting ready for work. Have a wonderful day everyone and be blessed! Hugs and peace, janel

Me Just Feelin' Some Black Diva Pride...

Hey all--I was just surfing YouTube and stumbled upon several videos by Naturalnana made up of slideshow style presentations of natural-haired black women. All I can say is....WOW! THESE PHOTOS ARE SOOOO INSPIRING!! All of the women in these videos--from very fair skinned to very dark skinned were absolutely beautiful. And it wasn't so much a physical thing, although all of them were very asthetically pleasing to look at--beautifully shaped eyes, lips, beautiful smiles, etc, but it so much more the projection of being comfortable in their own skins, of being and acknowledging their "blackness" as it were. From the complexions to the physical features to the hair--oh the hair, the gorgeous hair! Whether braided, loose, loc'd or whatever, they were all just GORGEOUS!!! The confidence and the "queenliness" was just too awesome to behold; the aura of proud black womanhood just too shining to behold. It made me feel something very close to reverence to be able to project so much from a two dimensional photo.

I feel so much pride when I see black sistas projecting this so strongly, and I aspire to project these things also. Even more than just projecting this type of pride so convincingly, I aspire to internalize this majestic pride and truly believe this of myself--that I am truly an awe-inspiring creation of God and that I am truly and wholeheartedly beautiful in my full fledged natural state--sans makeup, sans chemically altered hair, sans surgically enhanced body parts, etc. I no longer have the chemically altered hair and I don't have any surgically enhanced body parts (too expensive on a practical level for me and I've just never really had the urge to put myself under anyone's knife just for the sake of a temporary beauty lift--guess I just don't want to be that beautiful! LOL) And although I love wearing makeup and playing with makeup, creating looks that enhance my natural features, I can really live without it, if I have to--although I do have to admit that it does help to brighten up my look! Now, I don't personally know any of the sistas that were in the video, so I don't really know if their personalities and actions in real life reflect this high pride in self for real, but I truly want to be able to carry myself like the queen that I know I truly am. This is not false pride nor is it, in my opinion vanity--this is acknowledging what God has, in His graciousness, created me to be--a reflection of Him that should be/is awesome and flawless in its beauty. My physical self--my kinky/curly hair, my brown skinned body, my short, pug-ish nose, my (too) wide hips and my (too) small breasts, my mind--and my spiritual self are all manifestations of Him and are as they should be. It's a shame that it's taken me so long to truly feel ready to embrace this; such a waste of time trying to embrace something that He never intended for me. But, perhaps this is His way of teaching me/us how to truly appreciate what He has freely given us in the beginning. Thank you, God, for allowing me this journey of discovery of self and You, even though the road hasn't always been smooth. Be with me as I continue on this journey of self-discovery and "You discovery" and if it is Your will, continue to bless me with increasing knowledge of You and of myself. Please allow my loc journey to be a part of the vehicle that allows me to gain this knowledge and throughout this discovery process, temper my great and growing pride in self with genuine humbleness and allow not vanity to overcome the lessons that you would still have me to learn. Amen.

HAPPY LOC-DAY TO ME!!!

Hello Everybody! All right, all right, ...I just can't wait until the official day--today I'm going to celebrate my six month nappy lociversary!! **Clears throat**:

happy nappy Lociversary to me,
happy nappy Lociversary to me,
happy nappy Lociversary to me-eeeeeee,
happy nappy Lociversary to me!! (AND MANY MOOOORRRRREEEEE!!!)

Sorry, just had to do that! My actual six month lociversary is on July 4th, but I fear that it will be overshadowed somewhat by the annual July 4th Independence Day celebrations. After all, I guess the remembrance of the day that this country became independent from England is just a little more important in the whole scheme of things than the day that I started my locs. (To some people--just kidding!) When I began my locs on January 4, 2008, it didn't even occur to me that my six month milestone would be on July 4th; it just felt like the right time to begin the next part of my journey. Anyway, I've been celebrating all week so far--the ladies that I work with are excited for me and some of the customers are commenting on how much length my hair is showing in just six months' time. By the way, all of these women are white and the ones that are noticing the changes are the ones that are really supportive of me. I've gotten comments like: "I can't believe how long it is now--just seems like yesterday that you had almost nothing up there (on your head!)", "wow, your hair is growing like wildfire!", and "it is really becoming to your face shape. Did you know how you would look when you decided to do this?" (I have to laugh to myself at this question--no, I didn't know how I would look, not really. But, I was just ready to DO IT no matter how it looked in the end!) And of course, the comment that all us women just LOVE to hear, "your locs make you look SO MUCH YOUNGER!" (BOY, DO I REALLY LOVE THAT ONE!! ANYTHING TO LOOK YOUNGER--HAHA!) No, I'm not that vain; I know that if I'm blessed to live long enough, these semi-youthful looks, such as they are, will indeed fade. But it is nice to hear every once in a while that someone thinks you look a bit younger than your actual chronological age. Such an ego boost...

Not much has changed in the way of my maintenance routine. Still washing every two weeks, and rinsing/spritzing daily with eo's/water and sealing with either olive oil or jojoba oil or a combo of the two. I'm going to start trying to stretch out the time between my full retwists--instead of every two weeks after each wash, maybe just every four weeks. Will have to see how it goes. I didn't retwist after washing this past Friday, and discovered that I'm more anal about the "groomed look" than I first thought. It's definitely something different for me to just let the new growth go! I actually like the thick look although I don't know that I would be able to go for months at a time without retwisting like some of the others I know through the loc hair care site Nappturality. At least, I don't think I could go that long right now--just not quite ready for that. Maybe with time and more length to my locs...

As my locs grow strong (and hopefully long), so grows my spirit; or at least that's how I'm feeling. That inner core of strength that I've newly discovered within myself seems to be just a constant hum in harmony with my physical self. It's quiet, to be sure, but I know it's there and it's steady. God is there and is steady, and the beautiful thing is that I KNOW that HE is there and steady. It is indeed a heady thing to know and to feel through and through that this is a TRUTH that will never change. I mean, I've known this for a long time intellectually, if you can actually know such a spiritual thing on an intellectual level, but I KNOW this now on an overwhelmingly deep spiritual level in such a more intense way. It's really hard to explain in words because it's all just there as a full blown thing, like the eternal flame--never ending, never to be extinguished now that it's truly lit. Now, mind you, although my locs are a physical manifestation of this spiritual growth and development, don't think that if I were to cut them off at some point (which I don't plan to do) I would lose this "feeling"--this type of strength is not tied to my hair; rather, my hair is just one way of manifesting this strength. Remember Helen Reddy's song "I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR"? Well Baby--I'm roaring! I AM a GODDESS and I AM a DIVA--I AM a strong LOC'D WOMAN! God bless me and all of you reading these lines. May all of you on this journey called life, whether loc'd or unloc'd, find your strength and your truth and may you all discover your eternal flame. Be blessed, hugs and peace, janel

My First Loc Blog Entry!

Hey everyone! I've just created a new blog--this one will be loc related. I'll post here about my loc journey, my feelings, perceptions and views on locing, inspirational pictures, and anything else that I feel relate to my loc journey. Hope you all enjoy reading--this will sorta be like an online loc diary. Feel free to leave comments, questions, opposing viewpoints, etc., but please make sure to be respectful of my page and me and keep it clean!

Now for my big news--IT'S MY SIX MONTH NAPPAVERSARY!! Well, technically it's on July 4th, but hey--what's a couple of days? I am so excited--I posted new pictures in a new fotki album: http://public.fotki.com/jp6275; album name is the loc journey continues--month 6! Time seems to have gone by so fast and I just can't believe the progress that I've made. My hair is almost 6 inches long (starting from about 1/2 inch on January 4th!) The coils no longer look like coils so much and my hair has thickened up and you can hardly see any scalp when I retwist my hair. It's just been absolutely amazing. I'm still loving the journey!

Speaking of retwisting, I washed my hair on Friday (my off day) and I decided not to twist the roots this time, to try to begin lengthening the time in between my retwists. Don't want those roots to get stressed and start thinning! It's kind of a new feeling for me because of course my locs don't looked quite as polished but guess what? It doesn't seem that anyone noticed anything horribly amiss at work--they just commented on the fact that my hair seems to be getting thicker and fuller! I guess that it just looks a little more messy to me; guess I'm really a little more anal about the way my locs look and the neatness factor than I thought (smile). I think I'll be all right though, once I get used to it.

Just an aside, my Youtube videos are gaining more subscribers! This is just amazing to me since I just posted the first couple of videos so that my family could share in my journey. I have now at last count 20 subscribers and my videos range in topic from loc care/maintenance to makeup to responses to others on philosophical topics. If ya wanna see my videos, the link is http://www.youtube.com/janelporter; this will take you to my channel and from there you can see a listing of all my videos thus far. Who knew that I would gain a following?!?

Guess I need to wrap this up for now. I haven't eaten anything all day and I guess it's about time. By the way, if you want to read my other blog (which I guess is more a beauty blog) the link is http://divaqueenjanel.blogspot.com/. Yep, I've got two of them now to keep up with and I will try my best to do just that! Just don't shoot me if I don't add to each one on a daily basis. I hope this is entertaining for you at the very least, and perhaps even a little education, in a fun sort of way. Be blessed, hugs and peace to all of you! janel