One Head At A Time...

Meet my mom (left) and my mom's only sister & my only aunt. We are a family of mostly men. I'm posting to give both of them big, big props for staying away from the creamy crack!

My mother hasn't permed since December 4, '05 and my aunt is about 6 months strong. I wish I could take the credit for their nappturality (I just make up my own words, teehee :-) but both have suffered hair loss from perms and now wear wigs. This leaves the door open for me to talk to them about the benefits of natural hair.

They have been so impressed with my Sisterlocks that they are considering locking. Now this is truly a big deal for my mom - no, monumental in fact! Since she's moved in with me, she can see first hand how easy it is to care for natural hair.

Momz says she wants me to schedule her consultation for sometime in December. Yesterday, I shared this with my aunt and she said, if your mother does it, then I'll think about it. We shall see...I'll keep you posted.

My best friend, stopped perming last month. She was experiencing thinning hair in one spot. I explained that the condition would only get worse, the more she continued to perm. At first I didn't say anything because she's quick to tell me where to get off....LoL. But I felt it was my duty to share what I knew. I loaned her my two natural bible books, "No Lye" and "Let's Talk Hair." She hasn't committed to Sisterlocks - but that's ok. My intent is to impart the knowledge and care of our natural hair. She has begun trimming her permed ends as her virgin hair comes in. I'm so proud of her! (Here we are in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta last August. My locks were only two months old. Don't y'all think I'm taller than her....our ongoing debate.)

I know that my sister T, will join me in the natural ranks as soon as she finishes her chemo...come on, sis. I'm waitin' on ya!

I emailed a natural friend today because I hadn't heard from her in awhile. I asked if she had went back to the creamy crack and was avoiding me. Here's her reply:

"I had a moment last week that I wanted to experience the straight hair look so I flat ironed my hair. It looked ok but I actually hated it. The very next day I rushed in from work and washed my fro back into existence! I will never, never want to have straight hair again. And get this, the smell of the flat iron frying my hair was sickening."

You know what I always say, "It's just natural to be natural!"

Blogs, Comments & Visits

Since changing jobs, I haven't been so stressed and have a little more time to blog and read other blogs. It seems that almost everyone on LockItUp has a blog now and new members hurriedly develop one. There are currently 2,300+ members of LockItUp. When I joined over a year ago there were about 1,400. You do the math!

Of course, you want people to share in your Sisterlocks excitement and travel your journey along with you. I can totally relate. I couldn't wait to start my blog. I was like a woman on a mission. The day I locked , I took tons of pictures and my blog was established THAT day. But now it's very difficult to find the time to keep up with everyone's interesting story AND update my own blog.

Just yesterday I decided to post about the joy of receiving and reading comments to my blog. It is a wonderful feeling to get feedback. Each time I receive a comment email, I'm so excited. I always read them first no matter how many emails I have. A few months ago, I vowed to do better about reading the blogs and commenting particularly on those whom I know and who started their locks about the same time as me. I know this sounds silly, but I also know the feeling of disappointment when no one post a response. I rationlized, Blaq, you can't expect people to visit and comment on your site, if you rarely visit and comment on theirs. Besides I knew that people were visiting my blog from my Sitemeter reports (more on that below). I rationalized that people had busy lives, like me, and settled for simply being happy that they visit my site.

Ironically, Brunsli posted yesterday, tongue-n-cheek about the decrease in comments on her site. One of her readers wrote that she didn't comment anymore, because B, would respond to others and not her and that she felt ignored.

My heart sank when I read that! I would feel so badly if someone felt I intentionally ignored their comment to my blog. I've noticed that people have started to respond to comments in the comment section of blogs, but that takes more time.

I posted photos of new faces during the last DFW Sisterlocks gathering. I left someone out because I didn't get a photo of her with my camera. She made a comment about it on my blog and I felt soooo terrible. I explained that it wasn't intentional. I even tried to get a photo of her from one of the other members so that I could update my blog. Everyone likes to feel included, understandably.

In Brunsli's defense, she gets almost 180 visits a day to her site. I get somewhere between 80-100 visits a day. Here's a couple of suggestions to help you track blogs and updates. I learned of both from Brunsli (she doesn't own a tv and in between studying, working, interviewing and making B-Ties she finds the most interesting features).

Sitemeter - tracks traffic to your site. You'll receive reports on how many people visited during a 24 hour period, the week, the month and yearly. You can learn the geographic location of visitors, how many pages they visit, how they found your site and all kinds of interesting information. Here's a sample of one of my reports. (There are other less detailed and easy to read reports.)

Another wonderful tool is Bloglines. This site notifies you each time someone on your list updates their blog. It's free and a wonderful time saver. As a matter of fact, today I'm going to post a permanent Bloglines link on my site for anyone who would like to track it.

Please know that I TREASURE everyone who visits my blog and makes comments. You have no idea what joy it brings me. Some days I'll get a comment and it will be just what I needed and my spirit will be lifted. If you ask a question, I'll do my best to respond. But please know that I consider it an honor that you visit and an even greater honor if you take the time to comment. Through Sitemeter, I realize that more of you visit than comment and I'm grateful to you as well.

As our lock community continues to grow, let us not fall prey to envy, jealousy, spite and petty differences. There is something very special about a Sisterlocked woman. She embodies the characteristics I hold dear and typically stands out above others, whether she speaks or not. Let's do everything we can to continue to support and encourage each other through sisterly love.

What's Within

I've had a little more time of late to checkout LockItUp and read some blogs. A fellow LockItUp member posted photos of her 18 month SL journey. (Password: Chocoholic. Be sure to view them as a slideshow to get the full impact.) They were just awesome! It wasn't that the photography was so different. There were no special effects. But here was someone I had no history with, someone who didn't have a blog. And through her photos, I was able to travel her lock journey on an 18-month continuum. Blogs are updated so frequently that we only see gradual growth as opposed to an "oh my goodness, look how her hair has grown!" visual. Stop visiting someone's blog for a few months, you'll see what I mean.

What I found most interesting was the before and after shots - such contrasts! I felt this inexplicable pride seeing the woman birthed through Sisterlocks. She seemed so totally free. I could relate to that. Natural freedom - now that's a very, very cool thing.

It's what I love about Sisterlocks - the freedom to be natural and free. Free to curl my locks, free to let them hang, free to tie them up, free to braid and twist them out, free to wash them - (how odd that statement almost seems now - I could never again give up such a basic, natural freedom and luxury.) Being natural IS freedom regardless of how you express that nappturality be it Sisterlocks, dreads, twists, afros, cornrows, fades, puffs or a twa's. Check out the beautiful and diverse people of color and locks captured by Sisterlock Adoration at the recent Dallas Harambee Festival. Big props to SA and MyJourney513 for allowing me to share your pics.

My LockItUp post response:

Your photos are ab-so-lute-ly gorgeous! That is one of the best documented Sisterlocks journey I've ever seen. I loved the transformation from the first photo to you and your color-streaked-locked-tresses now. You go girl! There's something about a Sisterlocked woman - what's within - comes out and it's a beautiful thing.

Layered Locks & Light Bulbs

I've always been frustrated that not all sections of my hair are the same length. I always wanted my hair to "hang." My consultant, GiGi explained that my hair will never be the same length all over because of it's natural pattern. She shared that I have naturally layered hair, much like the Sisterlocks model in this photo (Click photo for greater detail.)

Looking back at early photos it's clear that my hair is much longer on the top than the back and sides (see Afro picture). Even after the "big chop" it grew back the same way. The light bulb is finally on and I've learned something new about my natural tresses. My layers are a good thing!