Michael Jackson: In Memoriam

Michael Jackson entertained us and performed for us for 45 of his 50 years on this earth. His lifetime record sales tally is believed to be around 750 million, which, added to the 13 Grammy Awards he received, makes him one of the most successful entertainers of all time. His music videos helped define the medium.

"From his earliest days with his brothers in the Jackson Five in the 1970s, through the remarkable peak of his solo career in the 1980s, Mr. Jackson’s music is characterized by risk, invention and musicality....

In the coming days, we will be overwhelmed by stories that will summarize, and maybe even gloat about, his misadventures. The most casual pop fan has heard the stories of the abuse he claimed to have suffered as a child, his many plastic surgeries, sexual indiscretions, short-lived marriages, health woes, financial troubles. In the public forum, Jackson had been a caricature for a good long while. Make no mistake, there are those who were eager to see him fail in London.

But now is the moment to put all those grotesque tales aside and concentrate on his work. Think of Jackson onstage, moonwalking, silver glove glittering, spotlight reflecting off his sunglasses, stardust twinkling amid the curls of his hair. Think of his incomparable intensity as he sang and danced. Listen, even if only in your mind, to the music he made with his brothers or as an enormously successful solo artist. Don’t let anything conflict with your memory of his great gifts—and the joy he brought to us for most of his life and ours as well."

Jim Fusilli, Wall Street Journal For full text, click here

R.I.P., MJ.

Hair Q&A - Castor Oil

Got a PM from pulchri2dinous (is that a cool name or what?) --

Q-- I remember you commenting on a thread saying that castor oil should be avoided in the winter (I've heard others say this too). I am wondering if it would not be a good idea to use a creamy moisturizer containing castor oil (like Qhemet's AOHC) during winter?

Thank you

A--You know? I don't recall writing that. If I did I was talking about my hair a few years ago perhaps. Hair changes over time and the products I used in my first natural year are not moisturizing enough on their own for my hair today. It's like someone who has been fasting or is very, very thirsty and dehydrated. You can only give them a bite of food and a sip of water at first. Then as their system gets accustomed to nourishment again, you can feed them more. So in my third year as a natural my hair is soaking up butters and oils, whereas it could not tolerate them in my first natural year.

Many women use castor oil year round. The way I use it is to apply it right over my conditioner (after detangling) before cold water rinsing. I prefer Jamaican Black Castor Oil for its down-home nutty goodness. However the lower-priced American cold-pressed castor oil is just as good albeit a tad thicker, and has no smell.

Qhemet Biologic Amla & Olive Heavy Cream (AOHC) was a bit heavy for me back then, but on my hair today it probably work for me the way Hairveda Almond Glaze works - on wet hair, again over conditioner.

Experiment and see what your hair likes. It will tell you pretty quickly.

What's Life Without Hair Bling?

I shudder to imagine. Fortunately there are lots of choices for headscarves, headbands, flowers, clips and whatnot. Browsing through the Fotki of a lovely curly who had left a comment in mine I came across Andrea's Beau Hair Accessories. And money flew out of my pocket.




The model above was the hook through the virtual door. Here's what I bought. Be careful, people, this stuff is prime.

Ten Things That Make Me Giddy, Happy and Blissful

This is a riff off a thread and www.naturallycurly.com which you can see here.

1. Driving while it's sunny and warm, listening to WERS radio's a capella show, and singing along to the songs.
2. NIA classes
3. Interviewing really interesting people who do what I want to do
4. A really good "O"
5. Great conversation and connections
6. Finishing a really good book and basking in the ending.
7. Being in a pine scented forest and smelling that scent. It's an aphrodisiac for me.
8. Lying on a sun warmed rock looking at cloud formations.
   
9. A superb tasting dish or meal.
10. Being on water (sailing, kayaking)

And one bonus:

Coming out of meditation lying there in blissful peace and my cat, like clockwork, sauntering over for his hug.

POEM: Love After Love

Love after Love
by Derek Walcott, Collected Poems 1948-1984

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was yourself.
give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.