hair today, gone tomorrow

I got a story to tell...like to hear it, here it go...

Holy Makeup, Bat.man! Although this was cropped, you can get the gist of how long my hair was back in July 2004. I was on my way to see my baby, Pri.nce, at Essen.ce (one of the best nights of my LIFE) and I HAD to be FIERCE with my "purple passion" eyeshadow. **shudders**

Everything was all good back then. I think that me and Darius had stopped "kicking it"...which, at the time that we were, was good for my hair, skin, and nails, lol. Anyway, I went to Ess.ence all 3 nights that year b/c my g/f's dad had the hook-up in the skybox. THEN, on the night of Fran.kie Bever.ly, I ran into (lawd, I'm gonna have to change this dude's blog name too...let's call him...) Stage, the actor. I believe that we had uh..."caught up" the year before...and in one of my not-so-shiny moments, I lied about it to Darius for no good damn reason. (Hmmm...methinks that this would be a helluva story for me to DRAW OUT on blog...as this has nothing to do with my hair story...aside from, I knew that I was fly when I saw Stage again, b/c I was newly fried dyed, and laid to the side.)

Anyway, some time and a couple of dudes after that, I started dating "ole dude" and ya'll should know about all of our drama by now...or maybe not. My hair started thinning and falling out b/c of it, so I got an asymmetrical bob in an attempt to preserve my sexy and then shortly after that, la Hu.rricane from He.ll happened. Added stress indeed! I then moved in with my cuz in VA. My hair was responding to how I was feeling at the time, so I did this:

(May 2006)

One thing about me...I will not hold on to hair. I will NOT be one of those women walking down the street clinching tight to two strands of hair just so that I can say that it's long. Mayne, my cuz was HOT with me!!! And then I got 3 more piercings in my ears and she was convinced that I needed an intervention. Honestly, I did not want my hair cut THAT short...I went in with a picture and everything, but no dice. I've had it cut that short before in college, but I didn't have "Navy" across campus to give me a shape-up when I needed it...for my favorite price of uh...free. This woman chopped me up and there was nothing that I could do about it. So I was done. Don't get me wrong, I liked it to a certain degree but I'm a minimal upkeep type of girl. I needed it to grow out just a little for my 10 year high school reunion, so that I could somewhat draw less attention to my round, rosy cheeks...or as my dad likes to call it, my Cher.okee cheekbones. And it did:

(Sept. 2006)

Thank God! And I got some highlights to boot! That trip to the stylist was the last time that I allowed anyone to touch my hair for a while. I am VERY picky and perfectly capable of doing my own hair. Roller wraps, highlights, dyes, trims, relaxers, (I even put in my own braids once)etc...I run my own salon out of my house, lol. I am one experimenting broad...plus, I'm just one of those spirits that gets a creative "itch" every now and again. One major reason why I am a do-it-yourself fan is b/c I'm frugal cheap and ever since I moved away, no one can do my hair like Lau.ra could. Roller wraps have always been my claim to fame b/c they would last a week and my curling iron was collecting serious dust. Once I was able to roll the shortest part, my hair started doing the damn thang!

(June 2007)

(Dec. 2007)

(June 2008)

That was taken the night of my 30th birthday and yeah...I don't quite remember posing for that picture, lol. However, I was digging my hair. It got a little bigger after I sweat but I recommend that style when drunken nights and Cu.pid Shuff.les in a bathroom stall (in the midst of spewing chunks) are anticipated. Damn, that was an awesome night! Please don't think that that's a habit.

(Sept. 2008)

(Dec. 2008)

This was after I decided to dye my hair black. And yeah...black hair and a black button-up was black-on-black crime. Not to mention that I like wearing black polish, so me and Goth Girl were looking like two birds of a feather. But rest assured, the black dye will not happen again...as I've mentioned on here before, I am allergic to hair dye. I am convinced that this allergy occurred after I gave birth b/c before, I used to rock almost every color in the rainbow. I could probably survive professionally done highlights, but seeing as how I was bent over for my doc, begging him to give me a shot to stop the madness, I will be one of those women that grays gracefully.

And this is me now. I documented all of this to say that I'm over the whole "Why in the WORLD did you cut off all that pretty hair?" thing. It grows back. I remember posting the initial cut last month to favorable reviews. And the barbers at my son's shop gave it the seal of approval. One of them called it "sassy", so I guess that my style goes with my flippancy. But once again, my cuz was HOT! I think that part of it is b/c my hair surpassed her length when I was growing it out. But as it was continuing to get longer, it was getting thinner and you know me...I DO NOT hold onto hair. I may be sad about it once it hits the floor, but I recover quickly.

So, I have this g/f that has been growing out her perm for the past 2 years and getting it flat-ironed regularly. Her hair is about as long as mine was pre-cut. She wanted me to join her in that journey but I was too timid. Afterall, I have been relaxing my hair every 6-8 weeks since I was 12 y/o and the only thing that I remembered about my natural hair was getting caught in the rain on picture day in the 2nd grade (after my mom spent HOURS on my Shir.ley Tem.ple curls)...and yeah, that picture was not sent out to family. But this g/f would casually mention harass me. I kept it in the back of my mind. Finally, after talking to other people, I decided to do the transition.

And let's be clear, I'm not doing it b/c I am rejecting the image of the white woman or whatever foolishness that some people try to slam down your throat. I just want to try something different and see if my hair becomes thicker in the process. I'm only 2 months in and I have to admit, I'll find any reason to slap something on my roots...got a wave or 2, time for a relaxer...lost my job, time for a relaxer...is THAT a hangnail?, time for a relaxer...I could sure use some sex tonight, maybe I'll put in a relaxer instead. Combing my hair out after a roller wrap WAS rather orgasmic for me, lol. I don't know if ya'll remember "Jhe.ri Cu.rl" from "Holl.ywood Shuff.le"...LMAO...it's that bad.

But I'm hanging tough with my support group while in transition. I have to, b/c I told my cuz about it recently and guess what? She's HOT! I even mentioned that I'm considering locks after I turn 40 y/o and she was about to swoon and faint. She had a whole Dr. Ph.il moment with me and said that b/c I couldn't control my job situation that I'm taking it out on my hair or that my hair is the only thing that I can control...I dunno, I think that it went something like that in between my giggling to myself (you wouldn't believe that she's my age, would you?). Now, my considering another tattoo may have something to do with my "acting out", but not this. To be a (soon-to-be) Pastor's wife, I often question what she worships, lol.