My Dreadlock Journal

I started this journal to show the progression and time required to grow neat, well-kept dreadlocks.

My dreadlock journey started in January 2002. We were post-9/11 and a full year into the new millenium. I decided it was definitely time for a change. And not just a minor change, either. I was finally going to do something about my hair....

My default hairstyle for the last 20-plus years has been The Mullet. There simply wasn't much else I could really do with my hair. Cutting it short all over made it look flat and lifeless. Growing it out long all over made me look like a refugee from the 70s or Cousin It from The Addams Family. So I ended up with The Mullet -- shorter in the front and sides; long in the back.

The Mullet is probably the most disparaged hairstyle on the planet. It's an unforgettable and unforgivable fashion faux pas because of its frequent appearance on "caucasians of lower intelligence and socioeconomic status residing in mobile home parks" (read: trailer trash).

My hair has always been incredibly thick, wavy to curly, and coarse in texture. I basically inherited my dad's hair. He used to joke about being what he called a "Heinz 57 mutt" since his ancestry included African Americans, Native Americans, and a variety of Western European nationalities.

 

 

I had been intrigued by the concept of dreadlocks since about 1999, but it took me three years to work up enough courage to actually commit to such a drastic change in my own appearance. Dreadlocks have a lot of political and socioeconomic meaning behind them as well, so I was somewhat worried about how "Brown Hall" would respond.

Eventually I rationalized it this way: I've somehow ended up in a bureaucratic job, which is ironic since I loathe bureaucrats. If I have to BE a bureaucrat, then I want to stay focused on helping people, rather than conforming to "the System." Dreadlocks are one very visible way of showing that I'm not bound to rules and regulations.

Since I work in a professional setting, I knew that I'd never be able to take the "traditional route" to dreadlocks -- I didn't want to look like hell for two or three years while trying to get my hair tangled and locked up by itself. So off I went to the local Hair Police affiliate, Blue Monkey Salon in Santa Fe, NM, to get a "dreadperm." The whole process took about 8 hours, but the result was dreadlock-type shapes that form true dreadlocks more quickly than the traditional route.

And here we start the actual journey:

After One Month:

As of mid-February 2002, they are definitely not true locks yet. They are incredibly fuzzy, and some of them had to be braided to keep them from fraying completely apart. There are times when I seriously consider cutting them all off, particularly after my co-workers give me a hard time about my choice of hairstyle. But I eventually decide I might as well keep them.

 

After Two Months:

They aren't nearly as fuzzy as they were, and some of them are actually starting to lock up, particularly in the back. The sides are still problematic, but they're gradually starting to stay together as they get longer. And Kiddo thinks they're swell! (But then, he'll say anything that'll get him canned kitty food....)

 

April 2nd, 2002 (Nearly Three Months):

These were taken on April 2nd at Martha's Black Dog coffeehouse here in town. Several of us "old Techies" get together each Tuesday night for dinner, dessert, conversation, and a chance to "freak the mundanes." Schlake had his digital camera with him (who'd have thought?) and took these pictures.

 

June 21st, 2002 (Just Over Five Months):

My locks are getting longer! They are also finally holding together well and don't fuzz out completely after I wash them.

I'm amazed to find myself unbothered by folks who say negative things or look down their noses at me because of my choice of hairstyle. In fact, I find their attitudes amusing, because I know that I'm messing with their tiny little minds and narrow points of view. Anything that makes people question their assumptions is a good thing, in my opinion!

 

January 1st, 2003:

In 11 days, I will have had my dreadlocks for one whole year. I just had "dread maintenance" performed on them, which involves tying a thread around the base of each lock. It helps round up the stray hairs so that they can be incorporated into the nearest lock. I'm much less "fuzzy-headed" as a result.

You have to love New Mexico weather: I'm outdoors, wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt and no jacket, in January! Woo Hoo!

 

March 6th, 2003:

It was time to renew my driver's license. This is the first one with my dreadlocks. I know everybody gripes about their driver's license photo, but this one really shows how far toward the "salt" end of the "Salt & Pepper" continuum my hair is getting!

I was feeling bad about it and seriously considering investing in hair dye. But my attitude changed when I was approached in an Albuquerque bookstore by a young lady who complimented me on my greying dreadlocks, saying it gave me a "sorta Jedi Knight kinda thing going on." That's cool. I'll take that!

Now if I could only develop that nifty Jedi mind trick that Obi-Wan had: (waving hand slightly at waist-level) "I already have enough to do.....you can find someone else to dump that project on......I can go about my business..... move along."

 

July 14th, 2003:

My dreadlocks are now 18 months along and are finally starting to look good. I'm at that awkward stage where the front dreadlocks are too short to be pulled back into a ponytail, but too long to just let them hang. So I wear them tied back with a bandanna for work. It looks neater and keeps the shorter dreads in front out of my eyes.

 

Sept. 20th, 2003 -- Wedding:

Alan and I finally, actually tied the knot, after being together for ten years... and yes, this IS what I wore to get married in. (I don't do dresses....)

You can see more of our wedding photos HERE.

 

February 27, 2004:

I hadn't updated the journal in a while. It was very surprising to me that so many people actually read it and took the time to email me asking if I still have my dreadlocks.

They are a bit fuzzy in these photos because I just washed them that morning.

 

July 8, 2004:

I have had dreadlocks for 2.5 years. They are really, finally, starting to look okay.

 

November 2004:

Kiddo and me, just chillin' on the front porch, waiting for the hay in the orange bucket to rehydrate so we can go feed the tortoises....

 

May 2005?:

The dreadlock journal had fallen by the wayside because things at home and work had been crazy-busy. I found these pics on a memory card of my digital camera; I think they were taken sometime in May 2005.

 

August 2006:

Yes, I still have my dreadlocks, and they are now 4.5 years old. They are getting LONG, which brings a whole new set of problems: They get in the way, they end up in your food if you're not paying close attention, and shaking out the water after a shower is a whole 'nother level of pain.

They're also getting pretty grey. I'm thinking seriously about having the fine folks at Blue Monkey Salon in Santa Fe color them.

 

January 2008:

A Sad Time, because Blue Monkey is No More....

Santa Fe County decided in its extremely questionable wisdom to build a new courthouse downtown -- where there is NO undeveloped real estate and certainly NO parking when tourist season starts. In order to clear land on which to build said courthouse, they condemned a whole block of Montezuma Street: The very same block on which Blue Monkey Salon and its associated Cosmetology School were located. Then the county didn't come through on the funding needed to help the Salon and School move to a new location. Basically, Nicole got screwed over and was forced to close shop and declare bankruptcy. Nice of Santa Fe County to force a small business owner into such straits....

The Santa Fe Reporter (local alternative newspaper) had a short article about the Monkey's demise, in response to which I wrote a vehement letter that they actually published.

Of course, all things on the intarwebs being transient, those links have gone to the Great 404 Page In The Sky... But I did swear that I would never spend another dollar in Santa Fe County in protest of their piss-poor treatment of Nicole and the other fine people at Blue Monkey. And I won't. Period. I don't care if I have no gas in my truck and I'm in the throes of a major hypoglycemic event, I'll farking WALK to the county line simply so I don't have to support corrupt SF bureaucrats....

 

March 2008:

To answer some questions that have showed up pretty consistently in my inbox:

• Ends -- I cut some of the longer dreads a while back. They were just too long and unwieldy. Those particular dreads have a 1-inch to 3-inch-long section of undreadlocked hair at the end where they were cut. They do fuzz out when I wash them. I have to wax or aloe vera them to make them tidy-looking. These ends don't lock, but at least the rest of the dread isn't unraveling.
• Hair Coloring -- I admit it: I broke down and started coloring my hair. It actually helps my dreadlocks, since it raises the cuticle on the hair strands and makes them lock better. As a result, I have fabulous roots that lock as soon as they are about a half-inch from my scalp. Pretty nifty, huh?

Realizations of the established dreadhead -- When you first start locking your hair, dreadlocks teach you about patience. After they are locked up, they have another lesson to teach you: acceptance. Despite what these photos look like, I don't have "perfect locks" by any stretch of the imagination. If you look closely (and I do, on a daily basis), you'll see that my locks have loops and lumps and unlocked ends. Sometimes I get frustrated and think they look horrible. But then I realize I'm looking too closely and too critically. Just leave them alone and go on, I realize.

 

February 2009:

Wow. I've had the locks for just over SEVEN years now. It's been a long time, yet I still occasionally have these nightmares in which my locks have fallen off or fallen apart. I get very stressed out in these dreams, wondering what I will do without my dreadlocks. Weird, huh?

I actually had Alan cut my dreads to shorten them. (That was my Christmas present to my neck and shoulders -- less weight on them.)

I've been going to a local salon here in Socorro to get my hair colored. I may be rethinking that, but I'm just not sure yet whether I'm ready to accept a fully silver-headed existence.....

I want to send sincere thanks and much love and respect to John A., my stylist at the former Blue Monkey, now at Rock, Paper, Scissors. And I've kept my promise: Other than what I pay John, I have not spent a single DIME in Santa Fe County since they forced Blue Monkey to close. I'm still pissed off at those rat bastards!