Monday, March 4, 2013

Eleven months? Wow, yeah.

Warning, rather long post. Get yourself another cup of coffee or a beer or something.

So, my dreads are almost a year old! I think I'd be more excited if they were all just perfect examples of dreadkind. But, they aren't. They still get fuzzy after being washed and there are a few that are really weak and like two that I think might be too skinny to lock up. However, I've entered a much more relaxed state of having dreads, figuring they'll get there... eventually. Sure, I still play around with them and try to pull in loose hair... it's kind of a habit now, something for my hands to do while I watch movies or the like. I have to remind myself not to play with them while in auditoriums.

Jonny Clean always says that if it has knots, it will eventually lock up, that is go from a loose wad of knots to a nice tight rope. I always rephrase this in a sort of if-you-build-it-they-will-come:

If you knot it, it will lock. Or so I hope.

Anyway, here are my eleven month pictures:


















I took them against the side of the house instead of the tree because my lawn is covered in snow and I didn't feel like trudging through it. Really, the tree was more of an option in the summer (or whenever it was last warm) because at least one side would block the sun. Now, the sky is that same whiteish gray that the snow-covered ground is. I would say I wish it is summer, but Iowa summer isn't fun either. I wish I lived in California. Not the state. Just the location.

Now, my dreads are getting long enough that some of them are starting to bend and curl as they hit my shoulders. Harmless, really. Also, as you can see because I'm in the front of something white this time, they are fuzzy.

Here, let me post the pictures from month ten that I never got around to posting.



















Maybe it's because I think I look silly in this pictures. But, my hair doesn't look fuzzy. Oh, the second one is a large tam/slouch hat my mom made for me with matching scarf. I try to always take my pictures outside because the lighting is just so much better out there. Early pictures were mostly from my balcony at my apartment, then when we moved, that tree.

Below is nine months.



















In other news, I'm hoping to find someone who does in-depth dreadlock maintenance in Boston and get them to do my hair. I'm talking like the people who post before and after pictures and you would barely recognize those are the same dreads. And I guess the maintenance is just pulling apart dreads trying to grow together and then tucking in all the loose hair to their proper dreadlocks. I think.

In other other news, I'd like to report that I don't believe I've lost job opportunities because of my hair, so far. There are several jobs I've applied for and never got a call back. Those don't count because they have no idea what I look like. Then, of the last five jobs I've interviewed for, I've been offered a position three times.

What, you think I should be at work, then? Get off my butt? I wish. I didn't say they were all recent. One was Valvoline Instant Oil Change and I worked there for a while, so I actually accepted that one. Another was a Christian Book Store that was somewhat mismanaged and so didn't get around to offering me the job anytime soon and then didn't do it in person, they sent my sister-in-law who was working there at the time to tell me. I didn't need them. And I was at Valvoline. Third was a hole-in-the-wall office job that wanted to lock me in for years because he didn't like training new people. And he said he'd call back on Friday and he called on Monday instead, so I probably wasn't the first on the list. And I was advised not to take it by relatives.


Then I was rejected by Kohl's. Apparently I "demonstrate many qualities," they didn't want me. Maybe it's because I had dreadlocks. Maybe it's because in the group interview it kind of came out that I didn't respect my previous bosses terribly much. And most never earned my respect, but it certainly makes me look like some sort of rebellious problem employee. No, really, honestly, I have had some of the worst bosses. I swear it isn't just me, as all my coworkers hated them too.


Here is what I looked like when I interviewed for Kohl's.

















And then I applied to work with my Realtor. Great guy, fun job, and real estate sounded interesting. However, I think I wasn't quite as qualified as several other applicants. But he knew about my dreadlocks beforehand and still gave me an interview, so yeah.

Why am I updating my blog now, three months later? Because I need to go to the grocery store and it's cold out and I don't want to bike there! But I NEED to. So I'm just procrastinating.

P.S. I just noticed that in my December picture, I am wearing a tank top. I don't think it was quite tank top weather, but pretty close. In December. This state has issues.