My Online Family

I want to fill this space up with words that make an exciting story, but honestly, I don't have much of an exciting story to tell right now. My life has been pretty mundane these past few weeks. I don't mind it being mundane. Exciting usually means that I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off and praying for some time to myself where I have nothing to do.

Instead, I am going to talk about this phenomena that I am starting to see evolve around me. I think my online friends are starting to out number the friends that I have in real life. There was a time when I would have thought that something was wrong with me if this had been the case. But now, I don't really feel like that any more. My friends in real life (God bless them, I love them dearly) don't really understand any of my hobbies. Any of them. In fact, a lot of my friends discourage me. They don't realize what they are doing, but it doesn't make it any less disheartening. I am told that I'm wasting my time, or I don't have enough time to be indulging in things like that. The best one has to be that I need to get out more. But the people that I have met through writing and gaming seem to get it. I don't have to explain myself, because they already understand. Not only that, but they are involved in the same things.

There was a time when I wasn't very open to people who I couldn't attach a face to or were only words on screen or disembodied voice. I had to see them face to face. Somehow that was supposed to make the relationship that I had with that person "real". Now, those walls are slowly starting to crumble away. That whole mantra that used to be solidified in my brain that you couldn't be actual friends with people that you couldn't see is starting to fall apart. And the number of people that I'm getting acquainted with just keeps growing. I even met up with a few of them at PAX East.

On top of that, these people are really awesome. They are nice, they are cool, they are fun. And sure, most of interactions I have with them are just typed out words in chats, forums and on my Twitter feed, but still. It's more interaction than I have with people who I see face to face. The ones who don't talk, call or text because they are too busy.

But for some reason I have this strange concern. There is always this worry that it will all go away in a blink. One day I'm going to wake up and all these cool people I've met are just going to be gone. Or worse, I'm going to excluded from the cool kids table for some reason. I don't know why I think that, I just do. It's like I can't just enjoy what's happening as it happens. I know, I'm weird.

I don't know how I found all these cool people or why they let me tag along with them. But I'm enjoying myself. I like folks who have some of the same interests as me and don't make me feel like some leper for having them.

A blog about my hair

Girly update! I suppose this post was going to happen sooner or later, right? Those of you following my Twitter saw this coming. Three weeks ago, I declared that I was going to have my final relaxer put in. (I feel like the relaxer was angry about that, because I burned something vicious. And I usually don't burn at all). I have been wanting to go natural for a long time, it's just that I had no idea what I was going to do with my hair once I started down that path. For some reason when I thought about being natural, all I could think about was afros and plats. Then I saw all these girls/women with hairstyles that I loved. And then I was reminded that the press and curl still existed.

Plus, let's be honest, my hair is really just being ridiculous at this point. I have mismanaged this quaff for God knows how long and now it is going on strike. It's breaking, shedding, screaming, throwing tantrums, etc. So I am going to have to take the extra time in order to be nice to it and see if I can't get me some long sexiness out of it. (That sounded very dirty).

I think I have done more research on this going natural thing than I ever did for any project that I had in school. I feel like a lot of this is going to be hit or miss and talking things out with my hair dresser. Maybe I should call her my stylist. It sounds more flashy when I say stylist. Right now, I am able research all this stuff because I am in that lull period between "done with school" and "get a job". I'm a little worried, however, about keeping up a regimen once I start having pulls on my time. But I suppose I will cross that road when I get there.

Another worry I have is the time aspect. It takes over a year to grow a relaxer out. A year!! Closer to a year and half. And most hair journeys (as they are termed) take 3 years. Guess what guys? I don't think I have ever done any kind of beautifying regimen that lasted more than a month or so. Now I'm heading down some 3 year path. When I think about how long it is going to take, I don't even feel like starting. But what if in 3 years I had hair down to my waist? Would that not be amazing? It would my own hair, not hair that is mine because I paid for it.

I think another draw that is counter balancing the whole time issues is making my own hair products. There is something fun about doing kitchen cosmetics and DIY projects. This is definitely where the trial and error comes in. I am starting simple with making pre-poo oil treatments. I will probably add  more later on. I like the fact that I can make something cheaply with things in my kitchen cabinet and not have to spend gobs of money because someone has a fancy name written across the bottle.

I am going to start taking pictures of my hair tomorrow after I wash it. And I should take them monthly. Sometimes seeing a little bit of progress will help with continuing the process. And my stylist (hehe, stylist) did tell me repeatedly that it will be a process. Well, here it goes!