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Some of you who follow my work may know I started off as the Chicago Black Hair and Health Examiner, left and then came back. Well, I’m back full force now. At first I was wondering whether I could stay interested in talking about hair. But over Christmas break, I started having countless discussions with family and friends about their hair care issues. The more I chatted with them, especially the ones who asked me how did I manage to keep my hair thick and continuously growing, the more I thought about my paternal grandmother. 

I remember when I was four years old and had to get up from nap time because my grandmother was there to pick me up to go to the beauty salon. At the time I thought it was pointless, but I wanted to get this beauty salon thing over with so I could sit in my grandparents’ living room and hang out with my favorite person on Planet Earth, Grandad. There is nobody I could have as much fun with than my grandfather. I learned how to play pool, Poker, Blackjack, Tonk, War, how to write Roman numerals and learned some cooking tips from my grandfather. To this day, there's not one topic I won't talk with my grandfather about. (Yes, that too.) 

But I have to thank my grandmother for scooping me up every other Saturday from four years old until I was about 14 years old because she saved me a helluva lot of money. Sitting in beauty salon chairs for over a decade with three different hairdresses taught me a lot about hair care. And even when my grandmother stopped taking me to the beauty salon, I decided to chop all of my hair off and go back to the beauty salon to rock a million new hairstyles. 

What I found out immediately was that I stopped needing to go bi-weekly. Why? I’d watched so many beauticians stack, flip and curl hair. I knew how to perm hair by the time I was 12 and never paid anybody to do that. I’d permed family members and friends’ hair so many times I can’t count. When I want to rock a new hairstyle, chances are I can copy anything I see in a black hair magazine. But chances are if you see me now, it's a wrap, flowy curls or a pulled-back ponytail. However, when I really want to do it up, that's not a problem for me. I don't even know how many times I've cut my hair or how many hairstyles I've had, although I've grown bored with doing a billion different styles within the past couple years. The only thing you'll never see me rocking is weave. I just cannot make myself put somebody else's hair in my head. It grosses me out, and I think we spend there are some sistas who spend far too much time trying to look like someone else instead of themselves. The only time I came close to wearing hair that wasn't my own was rocking an afro puff for a '70s party, and even then, it looked natural.

I think I go to a beauty salon maybe once a year if that. And finally I was able to use my hair and health knowledge not just to save money but to make some dinero too. 

So check me out as Examiner.com’s Chicago Black Hair and Health Examiner.
 
 
I love everything about journalism. I love to learn new things about AP style. I enjoy interviewing, research and going on location. I like reading newspapers and checking out my favorite news station WGN News. I follow @Suntimes, @ChicagoTribune, @ColonelTribune and @WGNNews on Twitter. But one thing that bores me about journalism is following stories that we really have no business getting into. The most boring story to date is one of the hottest, and that’s this whole Tiger Woods debate. Why oh why did he hold that press conference? The only person he owed an apology to was his wife. 

Here’s my take on that Feb. 19 press conference conversation and the entire Tiger Woods debate.
 
 
Lately I’ve been working on a transcription project with the talk show host Johnny Carson. I started off not really caring for the show. There was nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. However, after watching countless episodes, I’ve become quite the fan. Even on the days I take off, I find myself going back to watch the show. Here’s why Johnny Carson, the King of Late Night TV, was ahead of his time. Click here.
 
 
I jumped up and clapped my hands when President Barack H. Obama dusted his shoulders off during a campaign speaking event before he won the candidacy. It was fascinating to see how many people in the audience knew what he was doing and the artist he got that move from. I loved that he could connect to the younger, hip hop crowd that way. And then-Senator Hilary Clinton was hating at the time so I understood why he did it. There are those folks who just love to hate on another person due to jealousy and discomfort with another person rising to the top. We’ve heard enough songs describing haters so we know who they are. However, the hater songs have got to stop.

After Jay-Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulder,” we pretty much got the song of arrogance and determination we needed to ignore those who are determined to be negative. However, also take into consideration Common’s song “The 6th Sense,” that has the lyrics, “If I don’t like it, I don’t like it, that don’t mean that I’m hating.” Sometimes we use the term “hating” when in reality it’s constructive criticism. It’s just not realistic to believe that everybody is going to like your product, whether it’s music, writing or acting. And sometimes a critic can make your work better and has no intention of dragging you through the dirt. 

But what worries me is the amount of time spent on making songs about haters. Even worse the songs always confirm that the artists don’t care about the haters or feels they’re unimportant. But if they’re that unimportant, why make songs about haters? Why not just let them hate from afar and ignore them?
 
Here is my advice to you on how to handle a hater. Take it or leave it, but you'll save yourself a lot of stress if you know the difference between a constructive critic, a hater and when it's time to just live and let live.

Click here if you want tips on how to avoid haters.
 
The Letter Box 12/11/2009
 
This probably won't impress you, but Family Dollar has some of the most beautiful gift boxes in their Christmas selections, and I bought this one. It's 12.5 x 14 x 7.5. I have three shoeboxes that are falling apart full of letters and cards since elementary school, and I'd untaped and retaped them so many times. Now I could throw them away without replacing them for more years. This new box says "Live life passionately, Laugh until your belly hurts, Love unconditionally." 
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I got a call at 10:31 a.m. on Wednesday, December 9, from my brother letting me know that my godmother passed away. After being stunned, sad, and feeling guilty that I hadn't talked to her since Mother's Day, I just stared into space. It's always difficult to put into words how you feel when someone you're very cool with is no longer there. She's known me all my life and been very active in my life, so it's not like she was just my parents' best friends who introduced the two of them. She was my ace too. 

An hour after I heard the news, I got a letter in the mail from my mother with a memo attached to a check (early Christmas gift) that said "Life is too short, enjoy every 2nd." The timing of it all was exhausting. I went to an ATM to cash the check and burst into tears. I know the folks at that bank must be thinking, "Man, she must really be broke." :-)

But after shedding a few good tears when I left the bank, I came home and sat down in my home office looking around. I'm a full-time freelance journalist, blogger and transcriptionist, and I called my contacts to let them know I needed the day off. One of the perks of working from home is that I can be by myself and work on my own time, but I also tend to get buried in work. Hence the reason I can be bad about visiting people in person instead of emails, Facebook, and Twitter. Social networking sites are wonderful. I love them and use them constantly.

But Facebook, Twitter, and email just weren't cutting it for me. I wanted more. I was trying to find a way to snap out of the daze I was in so I started digging through shoeboxes full of letters and cards I've collected since elementary school, and I lucked up on a letter I got from my godmother in college at Lincoln University. I read that letter and fell out laughing. Snail mail seems to be underrated these days, but there's nothing more precious than someone taking the time to write (with their own pen, paper, and handwriting--not typed) you a letter, put a stamp on it, and make your mailbox smile. When was the last time you wrote someone a letter? Do it. Give them those happy, personalized memories.
 
 
I've been a vegetarian for four years and I was a pescatarian for one year, but it still boggles my mind when I go to vegetarian or vegan events and see massive amounts of people who eat like me, maybe because we're only about 2.5 percent of the population. It's not like I think I'm the only one who's a vegetarian, but when you hang out with omnivores all the time who have no interest in vegan food, a food connection is a relief. However, when I arrived at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse at 9:45 a.m., and saw a line around the corner and past 1419 W. Blackhawk, I was shocked.

Click here to read more.
 
 
I didn't used to understand the hype about Examiner.com. I would see the job listings, but initially I wasn't as committed to writing for them. However, now that I'm a full-time freelance writer, I took the time to see what works and what doesn't on that site, and I absolutely love writing on Examiner.com as the Chicago Relationships Examiner. I love it so much that I took on a second title as Chicago's Fragrance Examiner.
 
For those who know me well, this won't come as a surprise to you. I have zero problems with stopping what I'm doing or where I'm going if someone has on a nice scent, and I'll just ask them, "What are you wearing?" If I like it, I buy it. If it's not meant for me, I try to find somebody else I can sucker into wearing it so I can sniff 'em. *laughing* But seriously, I am a big fan of nice aromas, whether it's candles (I got that from my maternal grandmother who always lit candles as soon as she walked in the door), air freshener, cologne, perfume, mist, and even laundry or dish detergent. I think the power of aroma is therapeutic and sometimes an aphrodisiac (watch out now!).

Come check me out on Examiner.com as the Fragrance Examiner. Click the image below for details.

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Hey all, as of today, I am now blogging with ChicagoNow.com too! Click the link below for details or visit Other Publications for more work I'm doing these days.
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Hey all, and thanks for dropping by. I've got way too many blogs and writing in too many places, so this'll be my last blog on here for awhile. If you want to check out where I'm currently writing (or have published content in previous locations), visit any of the locations in Other Publications or click any of the links below: