Wednesday, July 29, 2009

In This Day And Age? Deaf and Mentally Disabled Man Tazered By One-Time...

You know crimes against the hearing-impaired or disabled hit a special chord with me. I don't care what this man was doing - was there no other way to get him out? Tazers are almost as deadly as guns nowadays...

"Mobile police used pepper spray and a Taser on a deaf and mentally disabled man Friday after they were unable to get him to come out of a bathroom at a Dollar General store, authorities said.

After forcibly removing Antonio Love from the bathroom of the Azalea Road store, officers attempted to book the 37-year-old, on charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and failure to obey a police officer, but the magistrate on duty at the jail refused to accept any of those charges.

Love’s family members said they had no idea where he was during the time that police had him in custody.

Brodrick Love said the officers dropped his brother off in the parking lot of their apartment building without saying what happened or why his brother had been missing for six hours.

Love’s family members have filed a formal complaint against the officers.

Christopher Levy, a Police Department spokesman, said the officers didn’t find out that Love had a hearing impairment until after they got him out of the bathroom and found a card in his wallet indicating he was deaf.

The officers’ decision to take Love to jail — even after they discovered his disability — as well as their conduct throughout the incident is still under investigation, Levy said.

Use of the Taser and the pepper spray appear to be justified according to the department’s policy, he said.

Love, whose family said his mental abilities are about that of a 10-year-old, wrote them a narrative of the incident as he recalled it.

The hand-scrawled, six-page note and the official police account of the confrontation are strikingly similar in their recitation of the chain of events.

Police were called to the store at 12:22 p.m. after someone reported that a man had been in the bathroom for more than an hour behind a locked door, said Cpl. Charles Bagsby, another police spokesman.

When the officers arrived, they pounded on the door but got no answer, Bagsby said. They pounded again. No answer.

Bagsby declined to say how many officers were involved.

Love, speaking in sign language that was then translated by his family, said he was in the bathroom because he was sick to his stomach.

“I wait and sit toilet,” Love’s note read. “I think about someone try break door. I hold door hard.”

At that point, Bagsby said, the officers saw movement from under the door, indicating that there was someone inside. They then shot pepper spray under the door.

“The police arrive General Dollar and throw poison through under the door,” Love’s note continued. “I can smell poison and I’m amazing and shock.”

Love turned the water on to wash the irritating chemicals off his face.

“Then I’m think someone gone.”

The officers, according to the Bagsby’s account, went to get a tire iron to pry the door open.

“Then again someone knock knock,” the note reads. “My head hold door, and my hand put hold lock the door. I spit poison with water. Someone hit hard hard.”

The officers broke into the room.

“I’m almost fall and surprise the police here. The police get the tazz three strings in my stomach, chest and hand and hit my head. I’m falled.”

The officers put him in the car. He waited.

“Police wait long. I’m patient,” the note said.

The officers took him to Mobile County Metro Jail to book him, Bagsby said.

“I saw police laugh at me,” Love wrote in the note. “I don’t care them. I don’t want escape. I just wait long.” The magistrate refused to sign the arrest warrant, voiding the officers’ legal right to hold Love.

The officers took him home.

According to the note, Love gave directions as best he could.

“Police told me that I’m crazy. I don’t understand,” the note says.

The police eventually found his house.

“When he walked in, his shirt was ripped, and he was just in a daze,” his brother, Brodrick Love, said. “When I went outside, they (the police) took off. They stamped on that pedal.”

In an interview Monday afternoon, Love told the Press-Register he had been a customer at the Dollar General numerous times in the past, and he estimated it was about half an hour from the time he entered the bathroom until the pepper spray started coming in.

Love said he did not open the door because he thought “the devil was trying to come in.”

Michelle Jones, director of the Mobile division of the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind, said miscommunication between police and the deaf is all too common, though her office works to minimize it by conducting training sessions with police departments in the area.

Federal disabilities law requires law enforcement to seek a translator in situations like Love’s, she said.

Levy said an interpreter was called for but later cancelled when the officers learned that one of the responding ambulance workers knew sign language.

No credentialed interpreter was ever made available.

Late Monday, Love said, he was never told through an interpreter or shown on paper his Miranda rights — the right not to disclose information and the right to an attorney — required to be told to arrested persons.

Since the incident, Love’s family said, he hasn’t been himself. He’s been scared of anyone in a police uniform, they said.

His mother, Phyllis Love, said she’s thinking of contacting a lawyer.

“If they had done it in the right way,” Brodrick Love said, “we wouldn’t be going this route.” "

Article Via bossip.com

Protect and Serve is sounding a bit vague nowadays. There needs to be some sort of police training for dealing with people who have mental disabilities. They are unstable, not to mention often on meds - the electric shock of a tazer could ruin, cause regression - or even kill them. Not to mention that the man was hearing impaired - how are they even sure he heard all of the commands? There are times when my sister misses part of my conversation because she was at a certain angle, or her hearing aid battery dies. This is crazy. Sometimes I fear for my sister's future when I read articles of this nature. How can I know she'll be safe as a deaf person? How can I know my autistic cousin won't meet this kind of treatment if something ever goes wrong in his future adult life? I can only pray that people take a better look at this world, this country especially. The Land of Milk and Honey is beginning to look like the Land of Mistreatment and Hate...

Monday, July 27, 2009

"Mommy, What Are They Doing?" - Nature and Our Aversion to Sex... - Continued.


From the previous post:
My question is - why are parents so aprehensive about discussing sex with their children? Do they think that avoiding it will make it less likely to take place?

I find that a lot of parents I know are afraid to talk to their children about sex - no matter what the age. There's always been something taboo about the topic, I guess because it's such an intimate thing when you truly know what it's all about. My mother and I never really discussed the details of sex - but I guess school covered the major stuff - we just talked about the peripherals - for lack of a better term. The information was there, though - and I guess that's why I've been able to be so responsible in my lifetime. I think it's up to the parents to give their child as much facts as they can, with the seasoning of experience - and allow them to draw their own conclusions and make their own mistakes. I'm almost positive that arming children and young-adults with the weapon of knowledge will prevent a great deal of issues and mishaps later in life.



It's probably for this reason that I'm not afraid to talk to my sister about sex. I was always given the truth as a child, and I feel she deserves the same respect. She is a very intelligent little girl - and anything less than the truth would be undermining her intellect. The problem nowadays is that parents tend to baby their children well into their teens. They fail to realize or admit that children are having sex at earlier ages nowadays. I lost my virginity at 12 - a fact that I'm not proud of - but I knew the risks that I was taking beforehand. I paid attention in Sex Education, I listened to my Mom when she told me what could happen to me - I watched Maury. We watched it together, and discussed how the young ladies ended up not knowing their child's father. All those Lifetime movies about teen pregnancy - the one about a whole high school catching Syphilis from one girl. I learned these things not by experiencing them - but by talking about them with someone who obviously knows stuff - because she has children.



My Grandmother has always been squeamish about sex. I guess because of the era that she was born in. Women were conservative, covered up, and saved until marriage. I don't even think women kissed other men before they got married. Which sounds crazy to us - but casual dating must sound preposterous to my Grandma! She even turns her head when people kiss on TV. Don't even get me started on if they start moaning or simulating sex. I always joke about her using the "Wedding Cloth" to create all her children. I often wonder if she's ever even seen a penis. That being said - I could never discuss sex with my Grandma. I remember back when I was like seven or eight - and I was sitting down shirtless at my Grandma's house in Jamaica. I was fascinated with my aureoles at the time, and I was looking at my nipples in the mirror. My Grandma got so mad at me! It was my uncle, who's younger than my Mom - who sat me down and told me it was okay to be curious with my body - just not okay to sit around anywhere and explore it. I love him! It goes to show, though - how generations change. I'm going to be open to educating my children about sex, and I already see how reckless and wanton a lot of young parents are being with their children these days. I recount watching a five-year old singin, "I like a long hair thick redbone, open up her legs to filet mignon - that p{expletive}y." I was mortified!

That's one of the extremes nowadays - it's hard to see a balance. Parents either won't talk at all about sex - or they expose their children to too much. I wonder which one is worse for the child. Will you become desensitized if your parents watch porn with you in the room, or will you become over-curious if your mom won't even say the word penis to you?

Not sure how to collect such data {{smile}}...

"Mommy, What Are They Doing?" - Nature and Our Aversion to Sex...




So- this weekend, we took the kids to Jungle Island in Miami. It's a wonderful wild-animal habitat that overlooks the water. There are a great variety of animals and things to see at Jungle Island, but not so much as to become a tiring experience. We walked the whole compound and only one of the children complained - but she's known for that.

Anyway - we saw quite a few interesting things; We watched an animal show, where all kinds of exotic creatures were brought out. We saw ligers, a skunk, a wolf, a white tiger - the list goes on.


The kids were fully engaged in the show - some parts were corny to me, but they ate every minute of it. Please excuse LittleSister's face, lol.



The show informed us of all the things we like to know about wildlife - except for one thing -

As we were on our trail - we stopped to look at the baboons in their little habitat. Last year when Lou and I went - the gentleman baboon kept flashing his manjangles at me. I couldn't seem to get a pic of it, though - cuz he'd hide it whenever my camera came out. This time, he was ready and willing to show it for as long as he could - even going as far as to pee right in front of me.


Call me indecent - but you guys have to see this, too. Isn't it pretty?{{smile}}

Anyway - we were hamming it up with him - until his lady friend came down from her hammock. He proceeded to run over to her, "manually pleasure" her for about 30seconds - then - yes - he went to work. He did it for about a minute, then she really wasn't feelin it, so she walked away. I was in shock! Not for me, but because the kids were watching the whole time. Of course, little sister asks

"What are they doing?"


Initially - I started to make up some story, but then I realized that it was the perfect opportunity to introduce the theory of sex to her. Yes, she's eight - but in this day and age, children are hearing about sex in the wrong ways, at earlier and earliear ages. I figure I might as well educate her in the best way I can. So I told her they were having sex. She scratched her head - looked puzzled.

"It's what animals do when they want to practice making babies," I told her.

" Are they gonna have a baby now?"

"Maybe, love - we'll come back and see."

Lol - Okay - so I didn't go into all the dynamics of sex, but I have to start working it in now. My question is - why are parents so aprehensive about discussing sex with their children? Do they think that avoiding it will make it less likely to take place?

Argh - gotta go to work. We will continue this discussion when I return.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

||Finepix|| Photography...

So - here are some of the pics I've taken this week. Once again, with only watermarking as my edit. As I spend more time taking pictures, I find that I can improve on how my natural light shots come out based on the angles and the level of zoom I use.

Unfortunately, the orientation of the pics didn't work well with the blog page - hopefully the beauty doesn't get lost in translation...

I found a tree at the beach this weekend that I absolutely fell in love with. The homey Lou happened to be present for the event - so he was in my shots by default :: smile::













Yup, that's me climbing that...



If nature doesn't make you believe in God - I don't know what will.

||Such is Life?|| - Desensitization of Our Younger Generations...



So - I picked up my little eight year-old sister from NY this past weekend. That consisted of me flying to LaGuardia from Fort Lauderdale, picking her up at the terminal, waiting for two hours - then flying back to Fort Lauderdale. I don't mind this at all, this is a ritual for us at holiday time - but I've been a bit aprehensive when it comes to flying lately. Most people who know me -

{{Tangent - My laptop screen just threw up on itself in a rainbow of lines and colors - time for a new computer.}}

Most people who know me know that I'm used to flying a lot. Up to last year, I was flying to NY every few weeks for my fam. Half of my life is still up north, and I get homesick quickly. With the recent flight accidents, though, I find myself very sensitive to turbulance and bad weather. Very unlike me.

The flight to NY was very smooth, but the flight back was a bit bumpy at times. We found ourselves reaching for each other, with passengers shrieking loudly during these events. I have to be the big sister and look calm, but sometimes I'm shaking inside. I know it's only clouds, but sometimes I wonder what goes wrong when other planes crash. I can't help it.

Anyway - yesterday at breakfast, my sister struck up a conversation with me about planes. I noticed that during the flight, she was intently reading the emergency instruction booklet. She looked at me yesterday and asked what would happen if the plane crashed in water. I told her we'd put on our vests and swim to safety. She asked what if a Mom had a baby - would she put on her vest and swim with the baby? I scratched my head - but I told her yes. Then, she said -
"What if there's a fire?"
I told her there are fire extinguishers inside the plane, and the flight crew would put out the fire.
"No - what if the fire's on the wing?"
::Silence::
What do I say to her? Do I lie? Do I make up some gadget that they send outside the plane and put the fire out? Eventually I told her that if the fire's on the wing, the wind should put the fire out. But I can't lie - I was nervous.

Later on in the day, Maury was on. And yes, I know - I really shouldn't have her watching this. She was asleep, and I was making breakfast. I totally didn't realize she was sitting there watching. So, she asks me -
"Kim, what does it mean to cheat?"
I tried to formulate an answer as quickly as I could, but before I could respond, she said -
"Does it mean to lie?" I told her yes.
" Like, when he told her he was going to get cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving, and he didn't come back til 12:00 at night?" - Yes.

Let me remind you that she's deaf. So, sometimes I know that things fly over her head when she's watching tv or not paying great attention to conversations, because her Cochlear doesn't always pick up every single sound. But lately, she's been as sharp as a tack. Not only was she reading the subtitles, she was listening to the woman talk about what her boyfriend was doing behind her back.

I feel some kind of way about this - because she's only eight years-old. I'm never too sure what her Mom's teaching her in NY, but I try to instill good values and proper information into her brain and life. What do I do with this? I can only tell her the truth - but it's getting harder and harder to word these things in a way that's not harsh, or too adult - you know?

Nowadays I feel like adults tend to be lax when it comes to sheilding children from certain parts of the world. At eight years-old, I wasn't thinking about death, or cheating lovers. I was thinking about school crushes, and reading fiction books, and buying Tamagochis and GigaPets. I was playing in the park with my friends - not worrying about pediophiles and kidnappers (Not that they didn't exist, but jeeze - they're everywhere now!) I'll be driving somewhere, and hear Plies or Jeezy blaring in a car, look over - and see children no older than seven in the back seat. We went to Zoe's Summer Groove (Alonzo Mourning's All Star Basketball Festival) and on the Megatron was a little boy, about five years-old - singing all the words to Weezy's Every Girl.

Seriously?

When did our children become teenagers, and our teens become adults? When did life become so straightforward? When did we start deciding that kids should be told that Santa's not real - and when did the tooth fairy get laid off? I feel like this recession/depression has fired all our youth. We've downsized on childhoods, and capitalized on the ease that adulthood brings. It's more convenient to have kids behave like adults - babysitting siblings, cooking dinner. I saw a boy around nine carrying groceries home in Fort Lauderdale the other day. It's a shame. I feel bad saying that I'm confused on what to do - but I'm proud of the fact that I won't let my siblings' childhoods slip away. I won't take that from them. It's one of the few freedoms we have nowadays, and I won'd deprive them of it.
I just need help figuring how to keep it here.

||Summer Semantics || - Mi Vida, En Fotos...

So - this week has been jam-packed. With the kids being here, I haven't been able to get down to the blogging - especially since my vacation has truly been fudged and I have to work in between all of this. I do manage, though - to take pics as we go along.

Last week brought us to Tate's - my favorite comic-book store, and Fort Lauderdale Beach...



Ada at WalMart run - 12am...
Turning the kids into Vampires at such an early age, lol


12pm Target run - why are we always buying things??

Mid-Day Munny Shopping @ Tate's







The snacks are one of the best parts in Comic-book shopping...




After Tate's - we had a Munny Painting Party in the house...






Beach weather was beautiful...




Nann and her annual Sand Burying. Dunno why she does it...


"I need water - this makes me thirsty."



Next time - we'll chronicle our trip to Gumbo Limbo and Boca Raton Beach. Good times!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

||Cafe Confessions|| Better To Be Seen Than Heard...




I hear the most interesting things when I'm on break at work. Being in such an affluent area, it's always a surprise when I hear customers say certain things. I guess I should expect it - we're all human, no matter what our tax bracket is...

"My last twelve-step program only lasted eight weeks - this one is six months!" Was the first thing that caught my ear. Her and her lunchmate went on to swap rehab stories, where the places were located, etcetera. Of course I'm not trying to listen - but when they're talking at 90 decibels instead of 40 - it's kind of hard to ignore. Then.

One of the women goes on to discuss her ex-husband. How much of a dog he is and whatnot. "First it was the chlamydia - then he gave me HP V. I caught so many things from that man, it's unbelievable." Mind you, I'm sitting at the table in front of them. One of them turned around while she was talking - looked at me, turned around - and continued. No shame, whatsoever.
It made me wonder - what some of the daily stresses are that wealthy/rich people encounter. I'm sure a majority of them are in unhappy relationships - but what else do they deal with? Abuse? Drugs? Illegal activities? Most of the rich people that cross my path at work have such a negative disposition. Many of them have their cell phones glued to their ears, cowering away from the realities that stand in front of them. Either that, or they're always in a hurry - rushing back to the life that constantly brings misery to them and the people they encounter in life. I wonder if they're rude and nasty to their friends.

These little overheard conversations are a voyeur's dream. They give us insight about the real lives of the rich and famous. Cuz trust me, plenty of famous (formerly and currently) people pass through on a weekly basis. Their lives are not all so glamorous and great, apparently. It makes me feel better about my normal life - with all its qualms and quirks. I've got to appreciate being upper middle class, cuz with money comes problems. And I'm pretty sure I don't need anymore stress in my life.


Hmph. And y'all think rich people got it good.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Moral Dilemma - Pt. 2

So - I wrote to her last night. Told her how I felt. And I got a response that I did not expect.

It's crazy - cuz my whole mood did a 90 degree change.

I'm gonna include the conversation here, because I feel it needs to be quoted.

Names, of course - have been removed.

Hi ||Blank||,

So - before I go any further - do you understand the situation with ||Bar||? I just want to be clear before I say anything else.

Of course i do. That is a very sensitive subject for me Kimani bcuz ||Bar|| was like 1 of my brothers.
Today at 1:12am
I just don't understand what happened with you, and how you ended up in the situation. There's a few different stories - and all of them involve you setting him up. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

It's hard for me to even bring up the topic - cuz the first thing I feel is anger. He was one of my best friends - and I just can't shake the thought that you had something to do with him not being here.

1st of all kimani. I had absolutely nothing to do with Bar getting set up or watever. i really had 2 deal with alot of people speculating and rumors about me being there when he died, and to tell u the truth i'm really tired of having 2 defend myself. Im goin to let u kno becuz i understand ur frustratration in this situation. I was ultimately at the wrong place at the wrong time, poppin up at someone who i thought was my friends house to chill and it ended up being a FUCKED UP situation when i saw my friend laying on the ground convulsing and helpless... I was the one who tried 2 save his life, i called the cops and i was the one who had to deal with people wanting to kill me over something that had nothing to do wit me. I knew his family and he knew mine.. he was at my house for thanksgiving that year and i went to his fathers house...so imagine how i felt when the next time i saw his family was at his wake. and all of his people's is lookin at me just like you becaus the "heard". i dnt mean to get mad, because thats what im getting right now, but kimani u have no what i have gone through over this situation and honestly it doesnt matter to anyone else. The people who mattered to him, his family and real niggas all kno that i was not involved in that and i even testified against the niggas who they found out did it. This was a horribble situation that happend to a beautiful person and i really dont enjoy going back to it.

i really do understand how u feel, but jus think how i felt, SEEIING one of my friends dying in front of me, and i couldnt save him smh
Today at 1:45am
And that's exactly why I didn't approach you in a negative way. I can't lie - I was highly upset when I heard those things - but I know how ||Insert Hometown|| is - and people change stories and twist the truth a lot. No one will ever truly know what happened but you - I understand that completely.

I heard you were at the wake - I flew all the way from Florida to be there, and I wondered why you would show up if you had something to do with it. What you're saying makes sense, and I feel for you cuz of what you've been going through.

Sh*t's just crazy, I guess. Definitely an awkward and sad situation.

Sending message...


Now what? What do I think? How do I feel?

I don't know what I would do in a situation like hers. I don't know if I should believe her. We went to junior high school together - I know her vagueley. I know they were friends. Things change, though. My mind is reeling right now.

I'm gonna go lay down now. Sleep don't come easy.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Moral Dilemma

So - it's been a year since Bar was murdered. It still stings me to this day. I mean, it's fresh still - you know? I wake up in the morning and look at his picture every day. I still have the rose from his gravesite - dried and wilted as it is - right over my dresser. I woke up, in the middle of the night not too long ago. Crying, hysterically. I couldn't figure out why. When I got up that morning - I realized it was the anniversary of his death.

It's like my body just knows, like it remembers the phone call - "Yo, Bar passed away this morning." As if my brain has programmed the tears to fall from my eyes like clockwork. I don't know when I'll ever really accept that he's gone. I still, to this day - IM his screen name sometimes when I can't sleep. Cuz it's still signed on - as if he's waiting for a message from me. I still have my &hearts ME Kidrobot Dunny on my dashboard - the small vinyl toy emblazoned with his initials. I loved that man. He was a good friend to me.

With that being said - I logged into Facebook the other day, and found that I had one single, solitary friend request. And it's her. The girl responsible for his attack. The girl ultimately responsible for his untimely and gruesome death.

Seriously?

Did she really think it was appropriate for her to contact me? To try and get into my world? Does she understand what she has done to ruin it? Probably not. She knows I was friends with Bar - but she may not have known to what extent. She may not have known that I have been in love with that gentleman since sixth grade. She may not have known that he was one of the best friends I've ever had in my life. She may not understand that I told him I loved him a few days before he was attacked. She doesn't get it.


But I'm gonna make sure she does.

I'm writing her a message right now. I'm formulating it so it's worded properly. It will sting. It will hurt her. She will never feel the pain that I feel when I wake up and know I'm not gonna get a phone call from him. She will never understand the hurt I experience when I think about that sly little smile, the sunsets on the porch that I will never get again. Her tears will never be equal to mine.

But I'll make sure she never forgets.

I am actually enraged to the point of tears right now. I'm trying so hard to keep a level head - because I don't want to blow up and say the wrong things. I want this to be a controlled, calm message. Straight to the point.

I'm gonna do my best to keep cool. Let's see how this works out. Another blog soon come.

Friday, July 10, 2009

||I Am Not My Hair|| - Transitioning to True Beauty



Once upon a time, there was a girl named Kim. Who wasn't quite sure who she was....



Growing up, I think I had a lot of complexes. First off, starting with my teeth - cuz my two front teeth were shaped like hot pants. Mom used to call me "Shorts" cuz that's what they looked like. I was afraid to smile for a long time. I'd laugh, then quickly close my mouth. Nobody ever really bugged me about it - I was just super self-conscious.

Me & My "Shorts"


Second - was my hair. It was curly and shrinky. By the time I'd get home in the evenings, my hair was usually coiled up tight. I could never wear it out the way I wanted to. I didn't know too many girls who wore afros or anything, but I knew a few who wore their curls hanging down - and I couldn't do that, either. Mom wasn't big on styling products and stuff, so I mostly wore big twists and baubles to school.

Shrinky McDink...


U
ntil third grade, when Mom got hooked up with this lovely hair braider, Ms. Jackie. Oh, how I loved going to get my hair done. I dunno how much it cost Mom - but I appreciated every second of it. I'd sit patiently in that chair for hours, while she double strand twisted my hair. When she was done - my head looked awesome! But of course, humidity would hit, and slowly but surely - my hair would shrink, and the twists would come out.

Then, one day - Mom talked to me about getting a perm. I was too excited. Pops objected of course. "I give her a head full of nice hair - and you want to perm it? No way!" I still remember all that. Of course, Mom told my Nanny to go ahead and perm my hair - and that evening I came home with my twists hanging past my shoulders. "Kim - why's your hair so straight? Rema! You permed her hair??" Ugh, he made a fit. He was mad for like a week - but I kept smiling behind his back, because I was so happy. My hair was so silky and smooth, I loved it.

Y
ears went on with the whole perm business, and I realized that my hair started to thin a bit. It definitely wasn't as thick as it was in third grade. By junior high school, my hair was a little past the nape of my neck, and it was constantly breaking. At that time I was still a tomboy, and I wasn't too concerned with my hair. Come high school, though - I went on a hair overhaul.

In ninth grade, I went back to natural. I stopped perming my hair, and cut off all the old ends. I'd have my friend braid the front of my hair, and I rocked a faux puff til my hair was substantial enough to be rocked on its own. It was very hard to deal with, because it shrunk a lot, and I wasn't up on hair products (nor did I have the money) - so after a year and a half of growing it natural, I went and relaxed it again. This time, I promised I would take better care of it. My beautician aunt was seeing me at her house every two weeks for a wash and roller set. I supplemented my hair with a track or two of weave, just for body. By the middle of tenth grade, I didn't need the weave - and I was on my own. My length was back past my shoulders, and it was extremely shiny. I permed my hair all the way up to moving to Florida after graduation in 05.

Eleventh Grade...


The weather in Florida seemed to do well for my hair. The humidity added a level of body to it that I never experienced back in NY. I got bold and colored my hair, too. I loved the brown against my skintone, especially when I was out in the sun. Boy, was I always out in the sun.

Orange Hair...


At the end of 05, I colored my hair again - but this time wasn't so great. I liked the color and all, but something went horribly wrong. After a few weeks, the middle of my hair started breaking out and pretty soon it was damaged beyond repair.

During breakage period...


So - one night, as I sat in tears - crying over the hair that was falling out in my hands - I took a pair of scizzors and cut. And cut. And handed them to my Mom - and she cut the rest. By the time we were done, I had an inch of new growth left on my head.


And that, my friends, is when I decided to give natural another try.

In fact, three of my cousins decided to go natural as well. CousinShell and CousinJan got dreads, while CousinJin and I decided to keep the curls.

Shell and her locks before my Big Chop..
.


New growth before chop...



The Big Chop


It has been a long journey, I'll tell you. I have experimented with so many different things. I've grown my hair back and cut it on numerous occasions. I initially fell in love with Garnier's line of products when I was transitioning, primarily because the girls in the commercials looked similar to me. I found that with time, though - my hair seemed to get used to the products, and they no longer were effective. As my hair grew longer, I also discovered that it was not as thick as it used to be. So, the Garnier weighed it down more than gave it body. I played with Aussie products - which have done nothing for me - aside from the hair spray. I discovered that if I spritz a little on my pic when I'm doing my fro - it keeps it in the air for most of the day.


This Throwback Album chronicled my hair changes - over and over again


I've gotten comfortable with myself over the years - and I've realized - hair is just hair. If I wake up tomorrow and I have cancer - what can I do? I'm going to lose my hair inevitably, right? Since when did hair define how attractive I am, or how good I am as a person? It doesn't. I have cut my hair quite a few times since that first time, and I don't miss it a bit. It always grows back, and even if it didn't - there's plenty human hair at the beauty supply store.

Natural hair is now a definition of who I am. I've changed my lifestyle, my friends, my surroundings - and my choice in hair is a reflection of that. People don't always recognize me when I have my hair straight. I decided to give my afro a break and flat iron my hair for a while, and the response was a bit different. Either way - my confidence is what decides whether people like the look or not, and even if they don't - I'll live. It's a bit more work going natural, but it's worth all the effort. I've rid myself of the stereotype that straight hair equals better hair or healtiher hair. My hair's at the best it's ever been. It's shiny, it's soft - it's not always manageable, but I deal with it. Such is life.

What would we have done without perms, anyway?


Thursday, July 9, 2009

||CraigsList Posting|| - Mitsubichi Galand

I thought this whole listing was funny. Especially since there's no pic of the car - don't expect any calls from me...

And I'm almost positive I know the ethnicity of this person, just by the spelling... lol

email this posting to a friend south florida craigslist > miami / dade > for sale / wanted > cars & trucks - by dealer
Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any deal involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, cashier check, money order, shipping, escrow, or any promise of transaction protection/certification/guarantee. More info

mitsubichi galand 2003 (786)229-0292 - $3990 (miami)


Reply to: sale-6thgz-1262317265@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Date: 2009-07-09, 10:48PM EDT


a/c power windo powerloook good condition

  • Location: miami
  • it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests




PostingID: 1262317265


Dr. Manhattan

{{Zune Says - Kanye West & T-Pain - Flight School}}
"Let me get my theme music - dunnu dunnu du duuuuu dunnu dundunduuuuu"
So - I have been doing my best to read the entire Watchmen Comic by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Between work and life, though - it has proven difficult. That being said - I took today as an "Escape Day" and went to the beach for a few hours, alone. I took the book with me - and managed to cover a lot of space. It's not an easy read, I'll admit - but it is definitely a good one - if you're a comic head.

I got home, and with all this extra time to kill - I decided to pull out my blank Munny and make something. I'll leave out the fact that I keep procrastinating my bedroom remodel - but that's neither here nor there. When I took the Munny out - I realized he was blue - and instantly I knew who was being made.

Dr. Manhattan is a troubled character in the novel. He is conflicted with the fact that he is barely human anymore, and has seemed to lose his sense of emotion and sensitivity. A freak accident separated his body into atomic particles, and he reassembled himself into his best representation of the human form - which came without clothes (perfect!). Despite the fact that his "male anatomy" is less than ideal {{snicker}} - he manages to assimilate (somewhat) back into human culture. Minus the fact that he can move things without touching them, and change the chemical composition of things. But that's for another talk, kids.

Anyway - before I can go any further - I must show you what Dr. Manhattan actually looks like.



It's funny, because in the blogs about the movie, people refer to his member as a "huge dong" and whatnot - am I missing something? The main reason why I'm talking about it so much, is because it is an integral part of making the Munny. Without the penis - it's simply - well, a blank Munny.

Here's my checklist:


My next concern is how steady my hand is. I've gotta draw the circle symbol freehand on a vinyl head, so I've gotta practice beforehand.

||Tangent: I can't stop lauging at the fact that I have to mold a clay penis and testicles. This is gonna have to dry in my room, lol||



I'm debating a papier mache penis - or clay, or vinyl - the possibilities are endless. Latex would be ideal - but borderline erotic - and we're not going for that now, are we??

I'll post more pics as I start to work on the project. It's raining (and I'm broke), so no new art supplies til tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

||Happy Birfday, Lou...||

So - July 6th was Louie's birthday. It's the first one we've spent while being broken-up, so it was a bit awkward. Regardless of that, I wanted to make it a special one - because I know he's still not used to real birthday celebrations.

W
e spent the day at the beach, sitting around in the sand, talking. It was a beautiful day out.
Somehow, I managed to not take pics - which is not in my nature. That night, though, I made sure we got some pics in...

Dinner at Friday's - cuz the Thai spot was closed (what are the odds?)

Both had our birfday kicks on...


Dinner was delicious of course - I was so hungry, I skipped taking pics of the meal.

We had a little photo shoot outside.



Dinner was nice, and we had good conversation. I guess it's is a part of getting used to being apart. It's just good to know we can still be friends through all this. No matter what happens in the end - I'll always be ready to celebrate his birthday. He's one of the best friends I've ever had. I'd like to keep it that way.

Feliz Cumpleano, Louie. I love you.