Saturday, September 23, 2006

Three Great Things about the beginning of Fall

#1 - It rained real good today! Here in Texas we were ready for both rain and cooler weather.

#2 - I dropped by SAM'S Club and filled up the tank with gas at $2.12 a gallon! Yippee!!!!

#3 - Time for a wardrobe change! Jena and I love wearing turtlenecks, jackets and blazers in the fall/winter.



Hosted on Fotki

The photo collage above is of Jena and me testing out my new Casio Ex-Z700 camera that was an early birthday present to me from Penney, the owner of Beatnix Coffeehouse, for my collection of pictures and videos I've captured during their 1st year in business. Most of the photos and Video footage used on Beatnix's website were taken either by me or Jena. Beatnix is Jena's and my home away from home. I'm the host of Open Mic Poetry and "the in house social Butterfly". Cafe, culture and community is their slogan.

Jena has her Brunsli Tony Hair Tie on, which she wears religiously. Me, I'm free styling, but already needing another retightening. Boy does one's hair grow fast with Sisterlocks. Whew!!!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Sisterlocks at G.W.Carver Academy

Yesterday I heard the coolest thing while I was substitute teaching in my 8th grade Math/Algebra class at G.W. Carver Academy. It is a 2006-07 Professional Development and Magnet School that focuses on Science and Technology through a NASA partnership here in Waco. One of my students (Hispanic young man) was clarifying to another student (Black young lady) about my "Sisterlocks." It was so funny because it caught me off guard. The conversation always comes up with them about what I would do if I decided to no longer want them and secondly, what they are. He was so smooth in how he told the girl about my "Sisterlocks". I've educated enough of them to the point where they are proud that they know what to call my hair "style". I sometimes clip my retightening tool on to the back of my hair and that always becomes a conversational piece. "Miss, what's that white thing hanging on your hair?" They are always so intrigued. I usually send them either to this blog, my fotki or my website. They sign my guestbook when they visit Maryee's Place which always warms my heart because I know they will be inspired when they visit. I'm always like, "Click on the Teens link. That just reminds me, I need to update that page since school has begun.

I'm finding out that the more they see me, the more comfortable they will be around "locked" haired folks. Of course kids at this age are usual very curious and uninhibited. My sister subs at the same school and there's another substitute who has natural dreadlocks, so between the three of us, they've seen a healthy dose of natural hair. It's sad to say that the number of black teachers there is scarce, but when we do show up, we try and reach, connect with and engage with all of the students. I'm happy to be a light to educate and stimulate the desire for our youngens' to love their natural selves. I think they don't choose natural because there's not enough of it around and no one to answer questions they may have. It's braids, perms and lot's a twig tails. You'd have to live here to know what I'm talking about.

Here's the ethnic breakdown of the student population at Carver Academy:
African-American: 41.3%
Hispanic: 48.7%
White: 9.2%
Other: .8%

I will be teaching at Carver until the holidays because the teacher I'm subbing for is on maternity leave. She had fraternal twins. Also, in case I didn't mention it, I decided to go ahead and get certified in Generalist 4-8 through the Teacher Alternative Certification Program through McLennan Community College, where I earned my Associate of Arts in 92'. I'm taking the content class right now to help in preparation for passing the State Exam. It's costing a pretty penny, so I'm always looking for creative ways to pay the bill, since they don't offer scholarships or grants to folks who want to get certified to teach who already have four year degrees. Bummer, huh? Anywho, that's also motivating me to use my God-given talents to get my hustle on. Pray for a sista and wish me well! Pray for all of our students in schools everywhere that they value education (especially free) enough to take full advantage of it.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Brunsli Hairties Review #2

OK,

Jen's away and Maryee's missing her sissy and deciding to play! Since I am all retightened and I had a fresh shampoo and roll, I decided to give my Brunsli Hairtie a try again. Let me tell you, I had FUN!!!The first set of pictures are of me using it to get the hair off my neck. It's sad to say that today of all days, it finally rained! No hot weather all day! Jen wears her hairtie DAILY and I mean DAILY. She was "eyeing" mine and I was like, Un un, girly. As you can see, the curls gave it a lot of body and I was wishing I had some hot date to go to tonight. I will at least go get something to eat in a minute cause I've only eaten once today. Now the last collage was a blast to create. My hair is in this style right now. The hairtie is so snug and comfortable. My "bun-like" toni pony is so cute!! I like the bang locks cascading down my forehead. I have a sneaky suspicion I'll be wearing this until the weather decides to stay cool. Thanks Brunsli!!! Your hairties are the bomb!!! Posted by Picasa

Perm Roller Set

OK, I guess I have to break the bad news. I "lost" my beautiful camera about 6 days ago. I'm not going to get into how it disappeared cause it's too irritating.




The pictures in the collages were taken on my camcorder's still picture mode. Needless to say, the quality is no where near Casio 7.2 meg quality. I shampooed my hair and rolled it yesterday morning. I didn't put any setting lotion on it or anything, and slept on the rollers with my satin bonnet. The sun finally decided to give us a break and today it even sprinkled here and there. The pictures below are what's left after all the curls fell quickly. These are the same white perm rollers I used in the beginning back in 2003 when my journey began. I guess if I would have put some kind of setting lotion on, they would have kept longer. Since Jen's in New York, I didn't have anyone to take a good picture. I promised pics, so here they are.
Now that my hair is as long as it's ever been in my entire life, I'm learning that I have a lot to learn about shoulder-length and longer hair. Although it's not "heavy" feeling, I guess I have to find a way to keep my style longer when I roll it. Anyone who has long locked hair wanna give me some tips? I'm open for anyone's help in the matter. Thanks!

Here's some results of curling my hair using Pipe Cleaners.Posted by Picasa

Friday, September 01, 2006

Jenny's Birthday Party

Jen celebrated her 37th birthday at Beatnix Coffeehouse this year. We had a private showing of her Experimental Video work from grad school (1992) all the way to her tenure work while teaching at the University of North Texas in 2002. It was a small intimate audience and those who attended had an opportunity to discuss the work and ask questions. Jen was all dolled up compliments of "moi". We had 31 flavors (two ice cream cakes) and she received a card signed by lots of folks who wanted to wish her well with a nice American Express travelers cheque in the middle for her to spend on her trip to New York on Sunday.

She'll be treating herself to a trip to see a good friend and colleague along with his family in the NYC area til next Friday the 8th. I'll do my best to keep busy until my sissy returns. I hope she has a wonderful trip and that her birthday was enjoyable as well.

Thank you to everyone who sent Jen shout outs for her birthday as well! Much love and peace!!!

Maryee Posted by Picasa