Before I start this post, I wanted to share that my mom is an avid reader of my blog but in no way will that change the content of what I write. You know that saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Well in this case the apple is still on the tree because I think we are the same person. Anywho, in response to my last blog post, my mother called me to inform me that when you click the pictures to zoom in not only can you see the moles on my fingers and freckles on my face but also the hair on my back... Thanks Mom.
Now the real post...
I think I may start a series of random thoughts. I believe that my random thoughts are unique in that I think deeply about things that other people just "accept." For example, who said that "bad words" are "bad" words. I think those four letter words are perfect for use as emphasis, and I don't think they are bad. But I'll save that post for a later date.
Today's random thought is brought to you by my wandering brain in the wee hours of the night/morning.
If you are from America, you are American; China...Chinese, Italy... Italian, Germany...German, Japan...Japanese, Spain...Spanish? REALLY? Who decides the endings of these words. It makes no sense to me. The inner OCD is telling me that there should be some consistency with these kinds of things.
If the last letter of your country ends in -n, add -ese. That goes to you Spainese, Iranese, Swedenese,and Jordanese people out there. The Japanese and Lebanese already have the right idea (they get to drop the extra syllable, Lebanonese is a tongue twister).
If the last letter of your country ends in -y, add -ian. Thanks for setting the example Hungarians and Italians. We have to get the Germanians, and Turkeyians, and Norwayians on board. Paraguayans, and Uraguayans get a get out of jail free card on this one. They have the right idea.
Lets deal with the countries that end in -a. See above.. add -ian or -n. This only applies to Chinians and Croats from Croatia but I prefer to call them Croatians. Canadians, Mongolians, Colombians, Ethiopians and Argentinians got it right.
So that is how I feel about referring to your native country. Let's keep it consistent out there. There might be a lot of confused children in school, and this could contribute to that confusion.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
My Locks are Changing
Today was hair wash/football day. I braided and banded my hair and washed it really well. I have to make sure to get all the extra scalp out of my head. I thought the Sisterlock starter shampoo would smell better and be thicker. I guess I am used to moisturizing shampoos that come creamy and thick. This will take some getting used to. Not to mention that starter shampoo made my hair squeaky clean. So clean that it felt dry while I was in the shower. My scalp definitely needed some oil after that stuff. Chef oiled my scalp for me after I washed my hair and separated my locks. Sorry but I am really not gonna post any pics of me looking like a crazy kid with those random braids all over my head. Here is what my hair looked like post wash.
Since I suffer from handsinthehairitis now I am beginning to notice some changes happening with my locks. Because the hair on the top of my head is pretty much straight all of the locks up there felt very rope like. There is no curl or bend to them whatsoever. I had mentioned to my mom a couple of days earlier that I had found a lock that thickened up and shrank quite a bit and that I would take a picture of it. Well here it is. This lock is squishy and at least twice as thick when compared to the rest of the locks on the top of my head. I don't know whats going on but hopefully it's not unraveling.
Since I suffer from handsinthehairitis now I am beginning to notice some changes happening with my locks. Because the hair on the top of my head is pretty much straight all of the locks up there felt very rope like. There is no curl or bend to them whatsoever. I had mentioned to my mom a couple of days earlier that I had found a lock that thickened up and shrank quite a bit and that I would take a picture of it. Well here it is. This lock is squishy and at least twice as thick when compared to the rest of the locks on the top of my head. I don't know whats going on but hopefully it's not unraveling.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Doggy Play Date
Puppy Carter and his dad came over for dinner and a playdate with Gigi and Sincere yesterday. World, meet puppy Carter. He is the most awesome and well behaved puggle ever.
I'm Sisterlocked...
and I hate it. Just kidding. After sitting 13.5 hours I have a head full of locks. I really love them at this point. No complaints. I will be posting my lock stats on the sidebar. I definitely did count them, too much time on my hands. Excuse my wild eyebrows, I'm well overdue for a grooming.
These pictures were taken maybe an hour after they were completed. Look at all that fresh scalp. My loctician spritzed my hair with some water to let the ends curl up a little but they were not behaving. My ends were a little frazzled and contributed to the puffy look.
I wasn't happy with the frazzled look so I took my hair and rolled it up in to sponge rollers. I had maybe 8 rollers in my whole head. I took them out before I went to lab the next morning and it came out GREAT. Nice curly locks without frazzled ends.
Since it is winter, and I have the habit of shedding layers of scalp constantly in the winter, my loctician gave me a very light grease to put on my scalp only to combat the dryness. It not for everyday use but is light enough not to interfere with the progress and maturation of my locks.
These pictures were taken maybe an hour after they were completed. Look at all that fresh scalp. My loctician spritzed my hair with some water to let the ends curl up a little but they were not behaving. My ends were a little frazzled and contributed to the puffy look.
I wasn't happy with the frazzled look so I took my hair and rolled it up in to sponge rollers. I had maybe 8 rollers in my whole head. I took them out before I went to lab the next morning and it came out GREAT. Nice curly locks without frazzled ends.
Since it is winter, and I have the habit of shedding layers of scalp constantly in the winter, my loctician gave me a very light grease to put on my scalp only to combat the dryness. It not for everyday use but is light enough not to interfere with the progress and maturation of my locks.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Let's Talk About My Hair
My Sisterlock installation date is around the corner and I didn't want to get them installed without letting you know what my hair is like without manipulation. I washed my hair and let it to its own thing and took some pictures. First of all, let me say I HAVE A LOT OF HAIR. Not only do I have a lot, it is crazy thick (thanks mom). My hair suffers from extreme shrinkage and as you can see below, my hair shrinks to about one third its length.
I am not good at characterizing my hair texture on that 3b/4a scale thing so I have no idea what my hair would be categorized under. I do know, however, that my hair is more tightly coiled towards the back of my head on my neck when compared to the more loosely curled tendrils at the front. This combination, when not combed out makes me look like bozo the clown. I measured my hair and its somewhere around 11 inches. I think that's pretty good progress since I promised to stop cutting my hair about 2.5 years ago and my hair was MAYBE 2-3 inches at the time. Talk about a cute little afro. So this is about two and a half years of growth even though I have been natural for 4-5 years.
For those that are not aware of the process, sisterlocks are a method of locking the hair with different patterns (depending on hair type and texture). So to determine which pattern will hold up the best throughout this journey, my loctician installed 3 different patterns in my 'test locks'. I have 12 of them in the bottom right corner of my head/neck and this is what they look like. The lock on the far left in the bottom row is in the exact middle of the back of my head. For some reason it looks like the locked section covers the entire back. NOT! My head is huge. The top row of locks probably line up about a half inch below where my earlobe ends. Its a pretty small section.
I know they are so small right? I think the density of my hair will require small locks. They have been in for about four days now and I think they are holding up quite well. My loctician told me to be as rough as I can with them so she can be sure she is installing the right pattern. Sidenote: these bad boys are so small, I can't tell the difference between the patterns. I might have abused my test locks this week. I put them in a sponge roller - just to see how that would work out. They have been in a headband, two-strand twisted and finger coiled. When I wash them tomorrow I will treat them like the rest of my hair (I'll even use conditioner). Oh yea, the use of moisturizers and conditioners are not recommended in the early stages as they can cause your hair to slip out of the locking pattern. My installation is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. I'll make sure to post some pictures of my scalpyness for the world to see. From browsing other blogs, I have come to the conclusion that I may not like what I see for a little while but things WILL change. But, I am prepared to look weird for a while. I may have some tricks up my sleeve to minimize the wierdness.
That's all for now - Back to watching football
I am not good at characterizing my hair texture on that 3b/4a scale thing so I have no idea what my hair would be categorized under. I do know, however, that my hair is more tightly coiled towards the back of my head on my neck when compared to the more loosely curled tendrils at the front. This combination, when not combed out makes me look like bozo the clown. I measured my hair and its somewhere around 11 inches. I think that's pretty good progress since I promised to stop cutting my hair about 2.5 years ago and my hair was MAYBE 2-3 inches at the time. Talk about a cute little afro. So this is about two and a half years of growth even though I have been natural for 4-5 years.For those that are not aware of the process, sisterlocks are a method of locking the hair with different patterns (depending on hair type and texture). So to determine which pattern will hold up the best throughout this journey, my loctician installed 3 different patterns in my 'test locks'. I have 12 of them in the bottom right corner of my head/neck and this is what they look like. The lock on the far left in the bottom row is in the exact middle of the back of my head. For some reason it looks like the locked section covers the entire back. NOT! My head is huge. The top row of locks probably line up about a half inch below where my earlobe ends. Its a pretty small section.
I know they are so small right? I think the density of my hair will require small locks. They have been in for about four days now and I think they are holding up quite well. My loctician told me to be as rough as I can with them so she can be sure she is installing the right pattern. Sidenote: these bad boys are so small, I can't tell the difference between the patterns. I might have abused my test locks this week. I put them in a sponge roller - just to see how that would work out. They have been in a headband, two-strand twisted and finger coiled. When I wash them tomorrow I will treat them like the rest of my hair (I'll even use conditioner). Oh yea, the use of moisturizers and conditioners are not recommended in the early stages as they can cause your hair to slip out of the locking pattern. My installation is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. I'll make sure to post some pictures of my scalpyness for the world to see. From browsing other blogs, I have come to the conclusion that I may not like what I see for a little while but things WILL change. But, I am prepared to look weird for a while. I may have some tricks up my sleeve to minimize the wierdness.
That's all for now - Back to watching football
Thursday, January 7, 2010
2009 At A Glance
Pictures to give you a glimpse into my life in 2009
January
I bought my first brand new vehicle. 2009 Honda CR-V. Something new to crave. Fully loaded...leather, sunroof, seat warmers (I have Raynauds). She is also known as the CatMobile.
February
I went to a wine tasting with makeup like that, ended up watching the drag show at my favorite gay club. Slit my foot open on God knows what that resulted in what felt like an eight hour emergency room visit and seven stitches.
March
Happy 2nd Birthday Gigi
My oldest baby turned 2 on March 3, 2009. We have been through a lot together but she is the perfect compliment to me. She has survived a double pit bull attack and I can't be any happier that she is still here with me today. Mommy loves you booba.
April
Southern rainstorm. Look at my 4 month old car drowning!! HEL's car is drowning too. That's what we get for driving downtown instead of taking the bus.
May
Happy Anniversary Chef & Dina
On this day, I was treated to a spa day. I had a sea salt body scrub, 1hr massage, and 1hr facial. It was quite heavenly. I returned home to see that Chef cooked an anniversary meal. He never cooks for me. The menu consisted of a spinach and blackberry salad topped with goat cheese with shrimp, shrimp and grits with peppers, and soft shell crab pasta (the pasta was homemade). For dessert was the most mysterious little cupcake.
June
Chef decided to turn the windowsill into his personal garden. Leeks and scallions started the shenanigans. I also started couponing head on and got all that stuff for free.
July
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DINA
Anyone who knows me well knows that I like to celebrate my birthday for more than one day. It usually ends up lasting about a week. So, HEL was going across the country to live the next day so we do what we usually do. Celebrate with drinks! I wore that makeup out and we drank our way down one of the most popular streets downtown. I took some interesting pics along the way. By the way, that drink with the flower in it was quite disgusting and strong but the hibiscus was quite tasty.
August
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY
I flew 564 miles to visit my mom for her birthday and we did things probably no other mother and daughter would think was good bonding and fun. FISHING! It's very relaxing and we get to talk about girl stuff. My mom is my best friend and I like to keep it that way. We caught a good amount of fish but the other fisherman out there caught Skates. It's like a sting rays cousin or something. Check out the ridiculous sunburn I got. Hi, I'm Dina (Hi Dina). I'm black, and I get sunburned.
I also got to catch up with one of the first people I ever lived with in college,"Gene Lewis." Her life was about to change dramatically and I couldn't bear not to see her before she went away.
September and October
I think I was on a life break here. I started up school again in the fall. I took a cardiovascular class and my research isn't remotely related to the heart. Oh! I almost forgot. I was researching like a mad man to get data for the AACR Conference in Boston in November. So I really was busy.
November
Boston - AACR Epigenetic Targets Conference
I presented my science to more scientists. Since my college buddy "Barrington" lives there (MIT student). I met up with him and had some of the greatest beer I have ever tasted and lobster mac. Boston has the most ridiculous Apple store I have seen in a while. Three stories and clear! I stayed on the 18th floor of the Sheraton Boston Hotel so I have some views out of my hotel windows. PS. MIT has one of most creepy and structurally wacked out buildings I have ever seen.
December
My mom and sister came down to visit right after Christmas and we did some shopping and stuff. After the conference in November, I was pretty much on chill mode awaiting the end of the semester. It came, but just as fast as it came I'm in classes again already.
January
I bought my first brand new vehicle. 2009 Honda CR-V. Something new to crave. Fully loaded...leather, sunroof, seat warmers (I have Raynauds). She is also known as the CatMobile.
February
I went to a wine tasting with makeup like that, ended up watching the drag show at my favorite gay club. Slit my foot open on God knows what that resulted in what felt like an eight hour emergency room visit and seven stitches.
March
Happy 2nd Birthday Gigi
My oldest baby turned 2 on March 3, 2009. We have been through a lot together but she is the perfect compliment to me. She has survived a double pit bull attack and I can't be any happier that she is still here with me today. Mommy loves you booba.
April
Southern rainstorm. Look at my 4 month old car drowning!! HEL's car is drowning too. That's what we get for driving downtown instead of taking the bus.
May
Happy Anniversary Chef & Dina
On this day, I was treated to a spa day. I had a sea salt body scrub, 1hr massage, and 1hr facial. It was quite heavenly. I returned home to see that Chef cooked an anniversary meal. He never cooks for me. The menu consisted of a spinach and blackberry salad topped with goat cheese with shrimp, shrimp and grits with peppers, and soft shell crab pasta (the pasta was homemade). For dessert was the most mysterious little cupcake.
June
Chef decided to turn the windowsill into his personal garden. Leeks and scallions started the shenanigans. I also started couponing head on and got all that stuff for free.
July
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DINA
Anyone who knows me well knows that I like to celebrate my birthday for more than one day. It usually ends up lasting about a week. So, HEL was going across the country to live the next day so we do what we usually do. Celebrate with drinks! I wore that makeup out and we drank our way down one of the most popular streets downtown. I took some interesting pics along the way. By the way, that drink with the flower in it was quite disgusting and strong but the hibiscus was quite tasty.
August
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY
I flew 564 miles to visit my mom for her birthday and we did things probably no other mother and daughter would think was good bonding and fun. FISHING! It's very relaxing and we get to talk about girl stuff. My mom is my best friend and I like to keep it that way. We caught a good amount of fish but the other fisherman out there caught Skates. It's like a sting rays cousin or something. Check out the ridiculous sunburn I got. Hi, I'm Dina (Hi Dina). I'm black, and I get sunburned.
I also got to catch up with one of the first people I ever lived with in college,"Gene Lewis." Her life was about to change dramatically and I couldn't bear not to see her before she went away.
September and October
I think I was on a life break here. I started up school again in the fall. I took a cardiovascular class and my research isn't remotely related to the heart. Oh! I almost forgot. I was researching like a mad man to get data for the AACR Conference in Boston in November. So I really was busy.
November
Boston - AACR Epigenetic Targets Conference
I presented my science to more scientists. Since my college buddy "Barrington" lives there (MIT student). I met up with him and had some of the greatest beer I have ever tasted and lobster mac. Boston has the most ridiculous Apple store I have seen in a while. Three stories and clear! I stayed on the 18th floor of the Sheraton Boston Hotel so I have some views out of my hotel windows. PS. MIT has one of most creepy and structurally wacked out buildings I have ever seen.
December
My mom and sister came down to visit right after Christmas and we did some shopping and stuff. After the conference in November, I was pretty much on chill mode awaiting the end of the semester. It came, but just as fast as it came I'm in classes again already.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
As Promised
Here are some pics of my family
This is me and "Chef". This is the most recent picture I have of us. He had a rare day off and we decided to do lunch at one of our downtown spots.
Our Doggies
Sincere is the black and white hound and Gigi is the white fluff ball. Sincere looks like a puppy but I swear he isn't. He's only gotten heavier since we adopted him. When we got him he was about 7lbs. Now he weighs in at about 18. Still has that puppy face though.
I got Gigi as a graduation present for myself when I graduated from college and moved 600 miles away from home to go to grad school. She was about 3lbs when I got her but she is about 11 now. She hovered around 8lbs or so but Chef is secretly trying to get that big dog he always wanted by feeding her all types of bad things.
Happy New Year
It's really 2010. Time flew by in 2009 and I could not be any happier about it. The end of a blah year came right on time. So yesterday, Jan 1, Chef and I went to dinner at one of his friends house. He is a chef too but his girlfriend made a great meal for us. I don't know what it is about chefs that they don't ever cook when they get home. LOL. But Chef and his friend have so much in common that it scares me a little. It's almost like they are the same person. Hi-fiving each other on the crazy thoughts that they both have. Meanwhile his girlfriend and I are taking shots and toasting to the new year. I really like these two and look forward to hanging out with them again. Oh, they have a dog too. He's a puggle. I'm not usually a fan of puggles when their face resembles too much of a pug, but this one is perfect. More beagle than pug, he's adorable. Can you say play date? I can.
That's all for now.
VRB
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