Deaths to Dreads... Bon Voyage!

So the time has come to deal with the mess on my head. My dreads are now over 2 months old and if I don't take them out I'll have to keep them until I shave my head.

THE GOOD: Truth is, I've rather fallen in love with my dreads. The texture, the crazy way they stick straight up when you aren't paying attention, the way you can wrap them up so cute in pig tails or buns, the way you never feel like you have to wear makeup.. 'cause you are a dirty hippy anyway. Dreads are a kind of freedom that I never expected. They open doors to people I never would have thought to talk to, they surprise you with the number of people who adore them (including your own mother & husband), they give you the freedom to do absolutely nothing to your hair when you get up. Dreads surprise you and make you approach life different because your eyes are suddenly open to other peoples prejudice or lack of, their views or energy. Dreads make you stand out.

The not so Good:
But Dreads aren't just like any other hairstyle I know. With dreads comes responsibility to keep them nice.. an exhausting feet if your hair is like mine. After 6 hours of backcombing to put them in, you think that's it. WRONG! Every day you have to palm roll them. You can't let them be wet for too long or you risk mold or fungus. Everything sticks to them.. leaves, dog hair, fuzz, ect. You have to be so careful not to mess them up when you sleep or when you take a shower. You have to wax them once a week. You have to worry about other dreadheads giving you lice or fungus and then fear shaving your head if you get it.

The truly annoying: Dreads are also a very controversial hairstyle. With Dreads you have people questioning if you should even have them in the first place. People either love or hate them. Even people who have them may think YOU shouldn't have them. Some think that need to be black, some think you need to be Rasta, and some just think you can’t be blond. Oh, and being a blond dreadhead means one thing to 90% of people.. that you’re a "dirty hippie"!

There is controversy over who had the first dreads - some say Celtics (white people - can't be true then), some say prophets had dreads, some say Rastas started dreads, and some people say it's a black hairstyle only.

Then there is the controversy over how to take care of your dreads & even how to create them. Some say you should not wash or brush your hair and let it do it on its own, some say go to the salon and have them perm it, some say to backcomb, and some to braid. Some say wax should NEVER be put in your hair and others swear that it’s VERY important.

Let's just say that everything you've ever heard as "fact" about dreads will and often is argued to the extreme.

Do I care about any of this? NO! Can people understand that I don't care? No way! And I think people who do are idiots. I know that's harsh.. another reason why I'm not a good peace loving hippy.

Bottom Line: I think that Dreads are NOT "just another hairstyle" they really are their own culture. I think you have to love them so much that they become part of your life. You almost have to be a dread expert & a dread spokesman to survive the dread journey. You have to be willing to face people’s views that you don't share. Most people will think you don't shower, that you smoke weed, that you must have some "political reason" or "spiritual reason" for doing such a thing to your hair. You also have to expect that people will suddenly tell you all kinds of things you never wanted to hear. Other dreadheads will feel a kinship to you and want to hangout. Weird yoga people will say "Namaste" to you when you part. Dirty men will think you are the hottest thing ever. Teenagers will think you are “so cool”. The list goes on and on and on..

The verdict: I read someone's blog on dreads that said "It’s a counter-cultural hairstyle. I had gotten sick of people looking in my grill, making assumptions about who I am, what I was smoking. The time had come for me to have secrets." That really hit me. I like my secrets too. I like to be under the radar. I don't like a lot of attention and dreads = attention. And I don't like people to assume they know me just because we have the same hair. With Dreads you find yourself playing a part because you are almost undercover due to people’s impressions of who someone with dreads should be. And although I love messing with peoples impressions of the world, this was a task I couldn’t commit my hair’s life to. I don't want to be "undercover" for the rest of my life, I want to be me at least most of the time.

Death to Dreads: So now after 8 hours of hardwork by my wonderful cousin Jess they are all gone. I'm now Dread Free. Bon Voyage to my crazy dreads! Oh how I will miss you my friends. It was fun, it was inspirational, and it was a true adventure. I will always love you. Maybe someday we will meet again. ;)

Here is a little slide w/ pics from my Dread Days & some from when we were taking them out.

Back from Peru & Tucson

Well, back from our trip. We went to Peru & Tucson. We had a great time. I can't wait to get to the point of wanting to tell the whole world all about it.. at least in more detail then "it was a blast". However, at this time I'm just too tired. So the short version is: we hiked the Inca trail, we saw a ton of ruins, we met amazing people, and had a ton of fun. I got attacked by a llama, a frog, & a chicken.. not all at once, but it happened... the chicken even pooped on me! Yuck-o!!! We went days with out showers, some of us got very sick, we learned that the Incas were crazy smart, that Peruvians are the sweetest and strongest people alive now, that hairless dogs are way cool, and that gay bars can be quite dangerous to men with rainbow colored Peruvian masks... Cody I hope you are paying attention to that one. I also learned that I like bikes as long as I don't have to do any of the peddling, I like to play on swings way more then any adult should, and I really suck at climbing down from trees. I also really hate leaving my dogs for more then a day, but I'm sure that's not going to keep me from traveling more. Boy I’m glad to be home again. After 10 flights, over 30 miles of hiking, a train ride, and more bus & car rides then I can count, I’m very happy to just stay in one place for a while.

P.S. Never use the word "fanny" even for "fanny pack".. it's a VERY dirty work in Europe. Trust me. I found out the hard way.

Mark & Tina's Wedding

It's been a little while since the big day, but I finally got my pics uploaded to my computer from Mark & Tina's wedding.

Their big day started off a little crazy with the fear of rain, but after some last minute changes to move indoors it all went well. It was still a big cramped.. ok, a lot cramped! Which 7 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid, 5 flower girls, & 7 groomsmen there wasn't a lot of room in my mom's house for guest to watch, but somehow we made it work. And then the sun came out for the party and we had a blast.

Mark looked amazing as usual all dressed up & Tina was very beautiful in her gorgeous dress. It was probably the most emotional wedding I've ever been too as everyone seemed to be crying. Tina was crying on her way down the aisle with her grandpa and the tears kept flowing the whole time. Soon EVERYONE was crying. It was like a bad soap opera but in a good way kind of thing. I even got a little teary eyed this time and let me just say that the only time I've ever cried at a wedding was my own.

And I have to say that the music was AMAZING. Some amazing chick.. aka me.. put together the best dance music ever plus she did a wonderful job of managing the untouchable mixing board as Cody was part of the wedding party and couldn’t maintain control at all times. Poor poor boy he was. To get a sense of the music energy of the day, here are some highlights: The bridal party walked to “Halleluiah” by Bon Jovi, Tina walked to “My Best Friend” by Tim McGraw and the grand finally after the ceremony was to "I'm to Sexy" by Right Said Fred. Yep, Mark just had to have that. I’m sure you can see why this set me to tears. ;)

Then there was the first dance to “You and Me” by Lifehouse, a father/daughter dance to “My girl”, & the mother/son dance to “A Song for Mama’ by Boys To Men. As a special tribute to Mark from Tina, her daughter sung a beautiful version of “Because you Loved Me”. But by far, the most enjoyable song of the night was “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. It was probably a dangerous choice due number of children in the room who almost got stomped to death and the fact that Mark ended up hurting his leg, but how was I too know that my family were so talented at moshing? Now that’s a wedding!

Hanging On... Just Barely

“President Bush said it's now time for a change in Iraq and he wants them to have a Western-style democracy like ours. So right now in Iraq, the economy is collapsing, businessmen are corrupt, and Hussein wants his son to take over as president. Sounds like mission accomplished.” -- Jay Leno

Like most American's these days my hubby and I have been glued to the TV watching the presidential debates, watching the stock market crisis unfold, watching the often hilarious comedy spoofs of our future elect. And although I find this stuff entertaining & often funny, I mostly find it VERY scary. Today it really hit home. Cody came home with bad news: he was laid off. No work. Something I've heard a lot in the last few years..

Yep, his boss went on vacation for 2 weeks in France & when he left all looked good. Coming back, all of his clients had pulled out. They can't afford the remodels due to the stock market. There is nothing on the books at all. No jobs. And these are clients in the Napa Valley & Bay Area with million dollar homes! Almost everyone is being let go, even employees who have worked for him for years. Cody already was laid off from 2 other cabinet shops in the last few years that had middle class clientele. These are upper class clients who make MILLIONS & now they can't afford it! What the heck is going on? Worse yet, where is he going to work now? We just moved last year to Ukiah for this job.

We can't sell our house as no one can get a loan, our renter left because she can't afford the rent 'cause she has no work, and now we are paying for rent in Ukiah & our mortgage w/ no 2nd income that we need. Thank goodness for our savings which already has been vastly depleted. It isn't like we can just go back to Cobb as there is NO work there. All 3 of the shops in Lake County closed. And of course this couldn't come at a worst time as we leave for Peru this month. What a crappy time to take a vacation! I'm just glad most of it is paid for already.

I know that Cody and I have been blessed and that we are still better off then most people even with him loosing another job, but I'm starting to think that maybe we could loose everything. I'm very angry about the US economy and that all this is happening. We can't even sell our biggest asset - our house - to go find other work in another town because so many people bought homes they couldn't afford, so many banks lent money they shouldn't have.

I know that we did the right thing, we saved our money, we invested smartly for our future, we didn't buy a huge $300,000 dollar home, we paid a huge amount down & have paid over 1/3 of our house off, we bought a small home and we upped it's value (it's still worth way more then when we bought it, we paid taxes, we have no debt except our house & a little bit on one of our cars, and yet we could loose it all because our government can't do it's job & because a lot of dumb corps & dumb banks, & dumb people in the US can't manage their money and they spend more then they should have. Everything that we have worked for could be lost and we can't do a darn thing about it. Already we've lost a ton of money from our IRA's & savings and now our best asset -our home - has become a liability. If we can't rent it out, how can we afford to rent someplace else?

We don't have the money for health insurance now either. If either of us gets sick we could loose all our savings & possibly our house. Both my brother & my sister owe over $40,000 for emergency health fees now. These days I live in fear that Cody or I'll need to ride in an ambulance or helicopter for some stupid accident and end up owing $60,000 or that the bank will call our house loan and we won't have the cash to pay it off.

I know that we will be ok and that my family will always help us, if they can. But it is scary and I am angry. I'm glad for a sense of humor though and that we have shows like SNL to make us laugh at this situation and lighten up this insane time. But I really have my doubts that anything, even the next President, could fix this mess anytime soon. And what are we going to do between now and then? And how much will we loose in the meantime?

Am I a hippie now??

Back from Hawaii

Dom and I had a great time on our Hawaii trip. We went snorkeling with turtles, dolphins, and thousands of fish. We went 100 feet under the sea in a submarine to get waved at by a green sea turtle. We went to a Luau and saw lots of traditional, and non-traditional hula dancing. We played water volleyball at Hawaii's famous sandbar, got laid 3 times, & saw the famed Nu'uanu Pali Lookout. We enjoyed the world's best cream puffs, had shaved ice at Waikiki, & found Dom's Pineapple Daiquiri. We went on a dinner cruise around the island and watched the sunset.


We faced our fears on the North Shore by going in a shark cage and seeing 3 types of sharks: Galapagos Sharks, Sandbar Shark, & a huge Tiger shark. We were especially happy about seeing the Tiger shark as we were told ahead of time that they are very rare to see. Only 7 were seen last year and Hawaii Shark Encounters website says they only show a couple times a year & they are very shy. Our tiger was far from shy and kept coming back for more photos & video. Here is one video of the tiger shark:
Here is a video I shot of a swimming turtle. You can tell I got ran over by a few other snorklers. Funny!


Here are some pictures of our trip:

Hawaii Day Two - Dolphins!!

It's day two of our Hawaii vacation and today Dom and I went on a snorkling trip in search of dolphins. We saw TONS of them!! They were so amazing. Diving in the air, flapping their tales, swimming around and under us. It was way more amazing then I could have imagined. We also saw a bunch of sea turtles and tons and tons of fish. It was a great day. Here are some of our photos from the trip. We have some video as well - including a swimming turtle. I didn't catch the dolphins with the video camera as I was too busy watching them to figure out the camera. Sorry folks, but the pictures are wonderful thanks to the photographer who went with us. She rocks!

Girl Power - Indie Mix

Sometimes my choice of music drives my husband crazy and I'm afraid lately that is the case. I've been needing a break from the usual - AKA music we both agree on - and have turned to music he can't stand. For some reason I need to mix it up way more then he - sometimes hip hop, sometimes punk, and even sometimes country. The last few months it's mostly indie music and punk tunes. It all started when I pulled out my old Belle & Sebastian album and found myself really liking it for the first time. Big thanks to Diana who gave it to me in the first place about 8 years ago- I think she wanted to toss it in the trash. ;)

Anyway, here are a few of my current favorite girl songs to try out that Cody isn't fond of... just in case you too want his disapproval for listening to them. Let me know if you like & I'll post some cool boys bands too. And if you have any music that I would like and you know Cody would hate, let me know. I'm always looking for that kind of music. LOL!



Tegan & Sarah: Nineteen, Walking With A Ghosts, Where Does the Good Go
Cat Power: Sea of Love
Adel: Chasing Pavements, Hometown Glory
Kate Nash: Foundations, Pumpkin Soup, Merry Happy
Tristan Pettyman: Madly, Love Love Love, Shy That Way
Sia: Breath Me
Sarah Bareilles: Bottle It Up, Gravity, One Sweet Love, Fairytale
Rilo Kiley: Silver Lining, Close Call
Kimya Dawson: So Nice So Smart, Tire Swing, Tree Hugger
Girl In a Como: Their Cell
Feist: My Moon My Man
Colbie Caillat: Oxygen, Realize, The Little Things

A little 90's nostalgia

I decided to copy Diana & Ang and blog about my favorite music from my high school days. I would like to be as cool and say that I've gotten over the 90's, but I think my heart is still rooted with 90's music. I still listen to most of the artists I did back then. Most just on occasion, but some quite often. And although I probably should be, I’m not ashamed at all. I love 90s music!


During the 90’s I was a big fan of the current grunge music, but I also listened to a lot of old rock and roll like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Eagles & Jimi Hendrix. But that’s not to say that I didn’t listen to my fair share of TLC, Coolio, No Doubt, Nelly or Montel Jordan's This is How We Do It. There was a lot more going on then grunge in the 90s.. but like most when I think "90's" I think grunge. Anyway, here are my top picks:

#1 PEARL JAM

They are by far my favorite band of the 90's. In fact, they are one of my favorite bands of all time. Simply put, I ♥ Eddie Vedder & I ♥ Pearl Jam. I think I can even thank them for falling in love for real at one of their concerts.. to my hubby Cody. It was the Yeild Concert and I was 15... good times! I will even admit to almost joining Ten Club to get their free LP each year - yep I looked it up online. That's how much I love them.. they ROCK! I've seen them 3 times in concert and they never disappoint.



My favorite PJ story is that one year Cody and I were really really broke, so we only bought each other one present for Christmas. We both didn’t wrap the present, so we held it behind our backs and presented them at the same time – and they were the same thing! We had each bought a DVD of the same Pearl Jam concert.

Favorite Songs (Too Many to List Um All): Wash, Yellow Ledbetter, Better Man, Off He Goes, Jeremy, Black, Wish List, Footsteps, Last Kiss, Given To Fly, Nothing Man, Daughter, Elderly Women Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Low Light, All Those Yesterdays, Let Me Sleep It’s Christmas Time.

And when I think about hanging out with my pal Todd, I need to hear Release (his favorite song back then).

#2 ALICE IN CHAINS
If you want me to zone out and stop talking, do what Cody does and put on Alice in Chain’s album A Jar of Flies. That album is amazing. I have never gotten tired of it and I can tell you that I’ve listened to it a lot. They are the ultimate in grunge for me and it’s such a shame that the world lost Layne Staley. If I want to go back to my teenage angst years, I can put on Dirt or Facelift, but nothing brings me back as quickly as JOF.



Cody and I went to see Alice in Chains at a reunion show when they played at Konocti w/ a different singer and it was awesome. Best concert I’ve ever been to at Konocti by far.

Favorite Songs: Nutshell, Would?, Rotten Apple, I Stay Away, Don’t Follow, Down in a Hole, Rooster, & Man in the Box

#3 BLIND MELON
I think Blind Melon is either a band you love or hate. For me, it was love at first song. My favorite album was Soup and my favorite song was Mouth Full of Cavities. Shannon Hoon was so messed up that I couldn't help but relate during my teenage years. This is another band that I haven't gotten over and like all Blind Melon fans, I'm still very sad when I think about Shannon Hoon dying. He was so talented! And it was an end to Blind Melon... almost.



tried hard to get over Blind Melon, I even became a fan of Unified Theory after seeing them at a concert, which had bassist Brad Smith and guitarist Christopher Thorn from BM, but it wasn't the same.

But Blind Melon lives on! I'm so glad they are back together again as Blind Melon with new singer Travis Warren (who I approve of) and doing great. I really like their new CD and Cody and I saw them live in San Fran – great show! We had a great time!!

Favorite Songs: Mouth Full of Cavities, Skinned, Tones Across The Floor, Walk, Life Ain’t So Sh*tty, I Wonder, Change, Wilt, Wishing Well, Cheetum Street, Hypnotize

#4 TORI AMOS
What respectable music lover of the 90’s didn’t love Tori? Ok, so maybe a lot of people, but for me she was THEE Top Female Artist of the 90s. She was so unique, so talented, and so freakishly strange that I adored her. Little Earthquakes was my first Tori Amos CD and I used to listen to it every night before bed along with Pink Floyd's The Division Bell. I sometimes have trouble listening to it now as it transports me back to my immature high school days of feeling misunderstood and unappreciated or it makes me sleepy. However, I am amazed at how talented she is and that out of all the crap in the 90’s I stumbled upon this gem of an artist and was able to appreciate her. My favorite Tori Amos albums are Little Earthquakes & Under the Pink.



Favorite Songs: Past the Mission, Winter, Girl, God, Silent All These Years, Cornflake Girl, Crucify, A Sorta Fairytale, Precious Things, Little Earthquakes

#5 SISTER HAZEL
How can you not like Sister Hazel I ask? Upbeat and fun with songs like “Happy” they didn’t easily fit into my classic dark and grungy CD collection. With so many great 90's bands like Primus, Soundgarden, The Chili Peppers & STP they seem a somewhat strange choice even to me. But never-the-less they were my good friends during those teenage years and even beyond so here is to Sister Hazel. Thanks goodness for you & Big Head Todd and The Monsters or I may have never gotten over my dark ways.



Favorite Songs: Cerilene, All For You, Just Remember, Happy, Change Your Mind, Your Winter, Champagne High, This Kind of Love

MORE SHOUT OUTS FROM MY 90's YEARS:
Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Tonic, Candlebox, Everclear, Radiohead, Fiona Apple, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season, Mother Love Bone, Janes Addiction, Primus, Green Day, Live, Nine Inch Nails, Cake, Beastie Boys, Nirvana, Beck, Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, Weezer, Sublime, Phish, Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, TLC, Counting Crows, Alanis Morissette, U2, Offspring, R.E.M., Collective Soul, Garbage, Oasis, Bush, Goo Goo Dolls, Ace of Base, Portishead, Aerosmith, Rage Against The Machine, Lauryn Hill, Guns N Roses, Wildflowers, Creed, The Pixies, The Cranberries.

My Grandpa's Green Thumb

Cody and I got home the other day from our Trinity Alps trip and my aunts Ruth & Jan were in the kitchen. They asked me if I noticed how nice the backyard looked for which I said I thought it looked great. They then pointed out this tree that had been looking rather dead while I was gone. It was now a bright vivid green. Being without my glasses and not very sharp at the time (I'm sure due to the 28 miles we hiked on our trip - check out http://bearacondabeware.blogspot.com/) I was amazed at how revived the previously "dead" tree looked and almost couldn't believe it was the same tree. They laughingly told me how he just soaked and soaked it and it was now quite healthy. I wasn't sure why this was so funny, but I was happy for the poor tree who I had long ago given up as dead and had even tried to tell my grandpa to get rid of it.



They then directed my notice to the table to point out something else that was "new" in the backyard. Being far away and without my glasses on I was only able to make out something that looked like a can from the kitchen window and when I asked them if it was a can of some kind they started laughing quite hysterically. They then asked me what color the top of the can was. "Green??", I replied hesitantly.. is this some kind of trick question?? My slow brain was taking FOREVER to realize that something was a bit off here. And then it came to me... my grandpa has spray painted the dead tree green!!! He cracks me up!! I never know what odd thing he is going to be up to. I love it!