Donna's Salon Utopia

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Chris Rock has a new documentary out called Good Hair . This would be a terrific time to purchase What Happened to the Afro? at http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged . Enjoy!

A former student of mine at Seneca College is looking terrific. Her stomach has shrunk significantly after her dedication of doing 300 sit-ups a day. I found this knowledge inspiring. I was speaking to a colleague of mine who was pointing out that most people who have been trained in voice breathe from the diaphragm. Due to this fact, it develops the stomach muscles and causes a bit of a paunch. Since like my colleague, I use my voice for a living, most likely I would not ever have a female version of a washboard stomach. I would always have a bit of a paunch. I do believe this. This is fine for me. Ultimately it is healthier and improves the voice to breathe from the diaphragm.

You can take Donna Magazine with you anywhere! While you are on the bus, in the doctor's office - anywhere. You can buy it now in hardcover, paperback or ebook format at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged .

I recently was dating someone (very briefly) who told me that if I were to lose more weight he would find me more attractive. Well, some may think that at least he was being honest and I do appreciate his honesty. The thing is that telling someone that is also a form of control. It is far from acceptance and when you are with someone - you are with them. Outside of grievous errors to their personality that you as a partner can help them to learn and grow from - if you do not like your partner's size, colour, height - whatever those fickle external things may be - then leave. You can always find someone who will be more attractive to you, however would be different in many other ways. Call it age or something, I'm not sure what it is - however, I do not find myself as obsessed about my image the same way I was when I was younger. As long as I shower, wash my hair on the days I have planned to do so, plus comb my hair and dress in something cheery that does not have holes or smel...

Nothing else has helped to grow my hair as the combination between castile soap and olive oil. I used to use this combination while in my mid-20s and (age too) helped to grow my hair into the middle of my back. I wish I had pictures, however you will have to take my word for it. Not only is castile soap ph-balanced, it also contains essential oils that are perfect for super curly hair. The olive oil also added oil to my hair too, however sometimes I would feel as though my head was baking during the summer time. At Noah's Health Food store at Spadina and Bloor in Toronto, I bought my first bottle of Dr. Bonner's Castile soap in ages. It was wonderful that I actually remembered the shampoo that had been so good for me for so long. The only reason why I ever stopped using it was because when I moved to Montreal - I was not in tune with the health food store shopping thing and picked up Lush products (which were not bad) instead. If you have super curly hair, you may find castile ...

Magazines can be a wonderful thing. When I was younger, my sister and I created a magazine called Miss Sassy . My Dad was working for the Ministry of Natural Resources then and he would come home with these glossy pieces of paper that as a true environmentalist, he did not want to throw out. So, he gave them to us. We created issues of a magazine out of these pieces of paper. The magazine ran during the early 1980s. It was fun doing that magazine. We would do the drawings of our dolls, some of them Barbies, and there was always a cover model. Since we both really enjoyed watching Little House on the Prairie , we would have the late Michael Landon do the interviews with the cover model for the inside spread of the magazine. Our knowledge of magazines came from all the pre-teen rags that were out there that we devoured. All this to say that creating your own magazine can be a wonderful experience. I have my own now called Donna that you can look at here: http://kakonged.wordpress.com . ...

I have always found PH-balanced shampoos to be the best. As my sister says, they restore the moisture that needs to be restored to your hair. I have started using this kind of shampoo and already I have received comments on how much stronger my hair looks. When I was in my 20s and my hair grew into the middle of my back in a natural state, I was living on PH-balanced shampoo and olive oil. I do not plan to go back to the olive oil, however I am already extremely happy with the PH-balanced shampoo. You can find PH-balanced shampoos at any health food store. Many of these shampoos also have multi-purposes so you can use them for your hands and body.

The Lush bath and beauty products are usually quite good. There is one product that I have bought recently called Curly Wurly that I have found is not ideal for natural black hair. It is a coconut and vanilla shampoo that smells great and is a lot of fun to wash your hair with. The downside is that the shampoo has these coconut flakes that tend to get trapped in the extreme curls of natural black hair even when the hair is dry. The experience of using the shampoo has made my dresser filled with coconut flakes where I comb my hair, and even just before I am ready to wash my hair again - I find flakes falling out. I would not recommend this shampoo to anyone who has super curly hair.

Christen Bennett, in her early 30s, is a family friend of Gifty Serbeh-Dunn, owner of the Shea Butter Market company. For a time while in Ottawa, Serbeh-Dunn lived with Bennett’s family. Out of friendship and a deep belief in shea butter, Bennett tries to promote the Shea Butter Market products in the Ottawa region. “My mother’s done a lot of work in Ghana and throughout our childhood she always brought back raw shea butter for us to use,” says Bennett. “This is what Gifty has done with raw shea butter and all of the colours. I think it’s fantastic and makes it more appealing to everyone else. What Gifty has done with shea butter is great stuff. Different textures, creams, lip balms, it’s just a wonderful product and makes it more versatile for me especially. It’s healthy and also very natural. There should be a bigger demand for products like that with less process.” The lip balms are Bennett’s favourite products. She finds them moisturizing and the flavours are “fantastic.” For more ...

A 71-year-old woman in British Columbia (who preferred not be named) loves the Shea Butter Market products that Gifty Serbeh-Dunn owns. “I love them,” she says. “I’ve used pretty well everything that she’s had out. First of all I’ve used her shea butter and the moisturizing cream and the body lotion and the foot cream.” Before the BC woman tried the Shea Butter Market products, she had been having trouble with cosmetics. Her esthetician recommended extremely expensive products and she has found Shea Butter Market, far more affordable, as well as something that suits her sensitive skin when she uses the products that do not have a scent. “I will be 72, and like Gifty, I have nice smooth skin. I have no wrinkles. It’s genetics. It’s not primarily to do with shea butter, but it’s been working for me.” The BC woman’s favourite product is the natural shea butter that she also buys for other people. She appreciates that Serbeh-Dunn’s business also gives back to the women in Ghana who produce...

I CALLED GIFTY SERBEH-DUNN AS SHE WAS FEEDING HER CAT. HER BOYS WALKED BY THE CAT WITHOUT FEEDING HER. HER BIG BOY IS HER HUSBAND WAYNE DUNN WHO HAS A BUSINESS DEGREE FROM STANFORD. HER SMALL 7-YEAR-OLD BOY IS HER SON KABORÉ. SERBEH-DUNN HAS MANY THINGS TO DO SUCH AS FEEDING HER CAT AND RUNNING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS SHEA BUTTER MARKET. “SHEA BUTTER MARKET WAS INSPIRED BY THE WOMEN IN MY COMMUNITY AND ENCOURAGED BY MY HUSBAND,” SAYS SERBEH-DUNN. WHEN SHE WOULD TRAVEL TO HER HOMELAND GHANA, SHE WOULD GET SOME SHEA BUTTER AND BRING IT BACK TO CANADA. ANOTHER TIME SHE WENT HOME SHE ASKED PEOPLE THERE WHAT THEY WANTED HER TO BRING BACK FROM CANADA AND THEY SAID – “NOTHING, WE JUST WANT TO WORK.” HER HUSBAND IS INVOLVED IN CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY WORK. SHE RAN THE IDEA BY HER HUSBAND TO START A BUSINESS WITH SHEA BUTTER FROM THE WOMEN SHE KNEW IN GHANA TO HELP THEM TO GET WORK. MAINLY HER FOCUS WAS ON WHOLESALE ACCOUNTS. SHE CONNECTED WITH GREG SULLIVAN WHO LIVED WITH HER FAMILY 30 Y...

Today I will be going to Seneca College to teach. I am looking forward to a great day. Yesterday I was at Trebas Institute and I administered a test to the students. I think I get as nervous about those tests as some of the students do at times. Everything seemed to go well. I also played a podcast about Internet marketing that was done by a man named James Scramko. He has a website called: www.askjamesschramko.com . You should check that out for any of your online marketing questions. The guy is good. Well...that is it for today. I am keeping this short because I am still working on Abilene's Child. It is a fascinating story and I know it will really do well.

Yesterday I got into an argument with one of my neighbours. This is definitely the kind of thing that would make for interesting conversation in a salon. He called me a "nut bar," "manic depressive," and all kinds of other names. Plus he said "I hope you're taking your medication." Surprisingly....I was not really taking complete offense to these names and comments. There are a lot of great things about being bipolar, which I am. And yes, for the record, I do take my medication. The saddest part of the encounter is that someone so ignorant could think that you could belittle someone else by calling them names based on a condition to which they have no other control but to manage it well, as I have been. It is really sad that in this millennium people think this way. Well...let God bring light and understanding into the mind of this tortured, ignorant and confused soul that is my neighbour. I have slain my demons and I "ain't gonna let nothing ...

Yesterday I had a great day. I met with someone about writing book and I have been looking into doing French language teaching. As well, I received my schedule for the fall semester from one of the schools I teach at. I'm still working on Abilene's Child/Tormented Hope. One of my interns for Donna Magazine wrote an excellent short story called Bicycle Time. She is really a good writer and I am so happy to have her on board. As well, I have been working with a fellow collaborator, Brikena Ribaj, a PhD graduate who also teaches and knows writing and the Internet well. She even has podcasts of hers up on iTunes. She has been sharing her material with me on her blog that I have been reposting on my magazine. Things are going well. I am hoping that I can have another podcast up today on my podcast site: http: //kakonged.podomatic.com . Things are going really well.

Many, many, many years ago in my youth I used to be a model. At one point I got some pictures done by a photographer named Steve Chung and had a stylist named Ian Hylton. The magical thing about one of the photographs that I am showing here is that a copy was given to the other man who was in the photograph. It was taken beside a ice cream truck. That man kept the picture on his ice cream truck that is mainly parked down by Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto for at least 10 years. One day I went down there, after I had been living in and out of Toronto. I went up to the truck without the hair, makeup and figure I had in my youth. I told the man there (a different man) that it was me in that picture. He did not believe me. Well...things change.

It has been quite a long time since I have been to Africa. The last time was when I was in South Africa back in 2002. I remember being in a store and seeing this woman with the most beautiful dreadlocks. When I asked her about her hair, she said she created the look by washing her hair every day and using a towel to create the locks. I have heard of this method being used before. Before I went to South Africa, I had been in Uganda back in 1996 to 1997. I was working at the time and I remember that before I left for Uganda I put my hair into braids. A woman I knew at the time said to me that it was not exactly wise for me to braid my hair before going to Africa simply because it was so much cheaper to get it done there. I did not know this beforehand, however she was absolutely right, although I am not quoting her. It amazes me that at that time, you could get a full head of beautiful braids for $7.00 CDN. One would be hard-pressed to find anyone that was not either a relative or a frie...

I am currently very happy with the state of my hair. I have decided to stop experimenting with it and just decided on the adage - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Meaning I have decided to keep my hair the same way I have been wearing it for years now. The good thing about the way I wear my hair is that even though I keep it in a simple natural style, it is extremely cost effective. All I need to do is to make sure I am buying healthy products for it and just wash, comb and go. I wash my hair anywhere between two to three times a week. Since it is extra curly - it is not advisable for me to wash it every day. I also use a leave-in conditioner to help to keep it in good condition. I also have the flexibility of altering my usual hairstyle into different styles. I could blow dry it straight, although I avoid doing this. Heat is not a good thing for natural hair or any hair for that matter. I could also put it into braids and twists just using my natural hair, or exten...

This is it everyone! Here is Zhara's blog on natural hair. Remember that she is on hiatus for the summer, however she will be back in the fall! Enjoy.

Here are some pictures from Zhara's Blog: Here is another picture:

Donna: What started your interest in hair? Zhara: I think for the majority of black women myself included, I've always been obssesed with a major interest in my hair! Lol. My hair has always been a forefront of never ending years of hair dilemmas and styles. Black hair is the most fragile and versatile texture in the world.This has made my hair journey an interesting one from being natural as a child to permed in my teen years with good and bad hair days that brought about emotions and experiences that lay down deep in the soul. A black woman can never escape her personal hair struggles unless she makes peace with it and works with her hair in tune with nature....thankfully going natural has definitley lead me to this path :) Donna: Tell me about your website? Zhara: It's actually more of a community of support and motivation more than a personal website per se. I joined a community online photo blog called fotki.com to document my personal hair journey among thousands of other...

I have been experimenting with my hair. Yesterday I received some great products from my friend Gifty Serbeh-Dunn who is based in British Columbia. She owns a company called Shea Butter Market that I did a story on for Donna Magazine : http://kakonged.wordpress.com . She sent me some lip balms, a great smelling hand cream, and a body, face and hand cream. I am thrilled to receive these things and started putting the hand cream in my hair to help me to form locks. We will see how it goes. I still have time to take them out if I change my mind. Let me know what you think of them so far in this picture I am including. I apologize for the picture being blurry, however I took it without my glasses and could not tell how unfocused it was.

Today is a special kind of day. I just received an opportunity last night to work on a documentary as an Associate Producer. I definitely plan to go for it. The sad thing is this will cut into my volunteer work for VoicePrint, which I do enjoy doing. With the economic situation such as it is right now - I need to make the decision to also do something I would enjoy doing, plus get paid. Things are going well with my business. I have been able to sell more books and I am looking forward to showcasing at the tables at the conferences I will be involved in this month to generate more sales. I have many more books other than What Happened to the Afro? So far I have written 25 of them and I am working on a book with a woman named Susie Hortman in Texas called Abilene's Child for now. this books will prove to be extremely interesting and will also definitely be a lot of work. I plan to keep from pulling me hair out about it though because I want my hair to grow. Well...if you would lik...

I'm actually having a good hair day. I've included a picture of one of the worst hair moments of my life. I became inspired to actually express how I am doing with my hair by reading some of a blog on someone doing their MA in TESOL. That sounds so interesting and I remember how busy I was when I was doing my thesis on the politics of black hair at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. It consumed most of my life, even though I still made time to do other things, such as work. Things are going well lately with my book sales. Currently there is a $5 off coupon to celebrate Canada Day until July 8, 2009. When you buy, you need to enter CANADADAY. This would be a great way to buy What Happened to the Afro? or as many books as you like. I am up to 25 written books by me. Well, actually, one of them is edited. There is also another code that is for 10 per cent off. This one can work out well too for bigger purchases. I have bought some of my own books so I can showcase them at ...

I will be doing an interview with Zhara who is based in Vancouver and has a blog on natural hair care. She has some amazing photographs to share, plus some interesting insights about natural black hair. Stay tuned. If you would like to read more about What Happened to the Afro? Please buy the book at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.

History, Stories and Hair Edit From: d_kakong Posted: June 17, 1999 "And in still other 'houses of worship' throughout Virginia and in such cities as Philadelphia and New Orleans, a fine-toothed comb was hung on a rope near the front entrance. If one's hair was too nappy and snagged in the comb, entry was denied"(from the Color Complex pg. 27) There is a whole history to hair, but what is your hair history? What can you share about the hair history of others?

Language and Hair Edit From: d_kakong Posted: June 17, 1999 "Nappy...kinky...dreadlocks" - do the words we use around our hair really matter? Can it be compared to the difference between black and African-Canadian, African-American? Posted by Date Posted

Discussion: Passing and Hair Passing and Hair Edit From: d_kakong Posted: June 17, 1999 "Because I'm white too, and if I have to be coloured then I want to die...I want to have a chance in life. I don't want to come through back doors, or feel lower for other people, or apologize for my mother's colour...she can't help her colour, but I can, and I will" (Sarah Jane in Imitation of Life). Imitation of Life is a story of Sarah Jane, the white-looking daughter of black Addie Johnson. Sarah Jane and Addie live with a white family, a woman named Lora and her daughter, Susie. Sarah Jane desires to be white and pass in society, and reject her black mother. Her light skin and straight hair gives her a chance to escape this life, to declare "I'm White too." Is straightened hair a form of passing in a white society?

Discussion: Locks Locks! From: tojane Posted: February 26, 1999 Can we have a discussion about locks? Most people call them "dread locks," but a little while back, Alice Walker insisted on dropping the "dread" from the locks, because, "there is nothing dreadful about them." Most people don't realize the politics (and the HISTORY) behind them. Shall we talk about this? I've been considering locking my hair for some time now, but am not ready to do it, not because of any spiritual or political thang; but for the simple fact that I like to play with my styles, and change from time-to-time. But seriously, I love the way they look on so many other beautiful people! Here is a little tidbit of politics that takes us beyond the side of the Atlantic. Back home, in Nigeria, locks have very definite meaning. The only people who wore them were either crazy, a part of a certain caste (outcaste) of society, or a "Rastafarian." I went back a couple ye...

Folder: Salon Chat Politics of Black hair Welcome d_kakong | Sign out Discussions : Salon Chat Share the last conversation you heard in a hair salon - what are people chatting about their, or on virtual hair salon chats on other websites? Item Folder: Salon Utopia Feedback Discussions : Feedback on Salon Utopia What do you think of the virtual salon? All comments, the good, bad and the ugly are welcome. What improvements do you think could be made - the staff would really like to serve you in the best way. Item Posted by Date Posted

d_kakong March 24, 1999 Hi DivineMiss, I just wrote a whole response but my time expired before I could send it. Thank you for your profound comments and I did see the New Yorker article and bought it, but I haven't read it yet. There is a book by Grant McCracken called Big Hair that goes into the same issues raised in that article, based on how you describe it. It's interesting to contemplate how the political nature of Black hair changes. Just thinking about present times, where there are Black women blonding their hair, could fall right in line with Mariame Kaba's argument about straightening hair as rational choice. Perhaps blonding hair is a rational choice for Black women too, it's not enough to have straight hair to access the White power structures. I know that colouring hair is nothing new to Black women. An old boss of mine who had gone to Ethiopia had told me that the women there use henna (which I think originally comes from East Africa) so in the pure sun...

Ask the Administrator: From: Ingww Posted: February 15, 1999 Donna, when I was at Big Life, one of the producers did an item on black hair. You may want to get in touch with her to get a copy. Her name is Lisa Gabriele and she can be reached at 416-205-3064. As for me, I often wonders why Asian women want curly hair (which usually results in hair being fried into a Ronald Macdonald's poodle perm) and why black women want straight hair (resulting in breakage and oddly shaped bobs). Is it that women of colour are being encouraged to strive for a Caucasian ideal of beauty? I suspect so. No hair on this Chinese head has been permed or blonded once! Replies [1 of 2] tojane February 17, 1999 I was impressed with the website. There always seems to be a good reason for processed hair (it's supposedly easier to take care of; it's more accepted in the workplace; it goes on and on). Until we start seeing positive images of BLACK women in mainstream popular culture, we will continu...

What Happened to the Afro? Afro Forever Research Paper for the M.A. in Media Studies at Concordia University By: Donna Kay Kakonge, M.A. Advisor: Dr. Martin Allor Committee member: Dr. Kim Sawchuk Outside Examiner: Dr. Lorna Roth @ 2006 What Happened to the Afro? Afro Forever Research Paper Intro Transformation In Loree’s Beauty Shop hot combs sizzled against wet oily scalps branding grown woman fantasies into tender young heads. Thick busy afros became long glossy black curls transforming natural Black queens into commercial mahogany princesses (Boyd, 14). This poem by Julia Boyd from In the Company of My Sisters is tragic, but it happens all the time. Afros and natural hair is transformed into something artificial, “fake boobs, fake hair, men don’t seem to care whether a woman is real or false.” The hair salon is the main site where the transformation happens. This paper accompanies the web-based project Salon Utopia (now defunct) that aimed to transform its clients in a natural way...

When I think of the beauty of Michael Jackson, I think of him at all stages of his life. His style and grace became known world over. He will be missed. I am so happy that his music lives on.

Last night I sat down and tried to lock my hair. It actually looked good at first, however as I continued to do it...I realized it did not look the way I wanted it to. I would recommend that anyone that wants to lock their hair seriously go to a certified loctician. This would have been the second time I would have locked my hair and I was not pleased with the previous results either. The last time I tried to lock my hair I used bee's wax and that was a really bad idea. This time there was barely anything in my hair. Although the twists I formed stayed, I did not like the way the twists were sitting on my head and it did not look very good. I took the ones I had done out and decided to stick with the same hairstyles I have been doing for years now. They are "tried, tested and true." Does not mean I do not appreciate a beautiful head of locks though.

Turns out I will not be doing the Trey Anthony interview after all. It is the time commitment to do it and the editor does not think I have the time to do it, which is probably true. It is also a non-paying job and this is not completely "cool" with me, even though I do volunteer work for VoicePrint. Oh well, perhaps I will get my chance to meet Trey Anthony another time.

I will be doing an interview with Trey Anthony, star and creator of the "'Da Kink in My Hair" fame. This was a play that performed at the Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto and is also a television show on Global TV. I'm excited about interviewing her. Anthony has achieved a lot through hard work when it comes to bringing artistic expression to hair. The article will be for a magazine called Black Ink , however I am also hoping the information will help with research I am doing into beauty aesthetics that will follow from my book What Happened to the Afro? . Recently I have also done an article about Gifty Serbeh-Dunn's Shea Butter Market company that provides healthy beauty products. I will be posting that article soon on this site. Have a beautiful day!

Site Structure Summary There will be three main types of metaphors included with this website, organizational, functional, and visual. The organizational metaphor will be of a hair salon and the links will be like different conversations going on inside of the salon. The functional metaphor will be an afro pick. The audience will be able to use the pick to pick from the different elements of the site and to move back and forth through the site. The visual metaphor will be of a waiting room. While the audience has to wait to get their link and listen in on the conversation going on in the hair salon (the organizational metaphor), there will be a picture of a waitingroom. The fourth metaphor will be oral. To simulate the atmosphere of a hair salon, music will play on the site, all related to hair. Such artists like Arrested Development, Des’ree, Digible Planets, Erykah Badu and Nina Simone will be played, particularly their songs about hair. Home Page Set-up for Hairnet: 1. Cutting ...

Pieces of Content and Sorts of Functionality The static elements of the site will include: the homepage of Salon Utopia consisting of a video picture of a real life salon with haircuts, press and curls, relaxers and weaves going on. Ultimately I would like music to open with this page, preferable Nina Simone singing “Black is the colour of my true love’s hair.” The other static content elements will include links in the banner ad to cutting edge book buy, a hair-must resource list, itchin’ for your feedback, the politics of Black hair from Mariame Kaba’s perspective, the politics of Black hair from Donna Kakonge’s perspective, and weaving hair knowledge with other web links. Other elements such as the information in the links will be dynamic. The dynamic elements will include the updating of the hair-must resource list. The feedback will also be posted on-line for everyone to read and respond to, and that will always be changing. Weaving hair knowledge with other web links will also...

Audience Definition (3 Scenarios) Cindy is an American graduate student doing her dissertation on Black style and its political significance. She plans to include a chapter which concerns hair. Cindy comes across the Hairnet site and finds out about the research Mariame Kaba has done on the topic, as well as the research Donna Kakonge is doing. She jots down the names as people to email in future with research questions. As well, she receives an impressive list of resources for her dissertation, that include a summary of the materials. Right there on the web she is able to make an instant order for books and videos that will be useful to her research. As well, she continues her web research by checking out the recommended sites from Hairnet: other hair web links. Arnold is a journalist for the Toronto Star. He is doing a story on the oldest living hairdresser for the Life section of the Saturday edition. In a pre-interview with the woman, (Mrs. Barnett), she goes on at length about t...

Q1: What is the mission/purpose of the organization? A1: The organization being represented on this website is owned by Mariame Kaba. She produced an essay entitled Restoring Black Women’s Agency: Hair Straightening as Rational Choice. Briefly, the background on the client and the product is that Ms. Kaba is a PhD student at Northwestern University in the Department of Sociology. She has an B.A. degree from McGill University and an M.A. from the City College of New York. It is her master’s level work where the 21-page essay on Restoring Black Women’s Agency comes from. Her thesis was on the topic of the politics of Black women’s hair and the essay is a shortened version of that thesis. The client originally wanted the entire thesis to be turned into a website. Unfortunately, there are some logistical problems involved with retrieving the entire document. Therefore, the shortened version will become the main knot that will hold the website together. The rationale of the essay is base...

Design Document for Hairnet: Curly Q & A for Web Design Donna Kay Kakonge #4021932 New Tek 1 - Multimedia Authoring for the Internet Instructor: Iain Cook Tuesday, October 13, 1998 Intro Black hair is the super curly hair found naturally on most Black people, as well as other races. It is difficult to define what is a Black person, and I will leave that up to self-definition. The author of this hair design document considers herself Black. The following outline for a website is primarily concerned with the super curly hair that exists on Black people due to the racialized society that we live in. The super curly hair is sometimes referred to as kinky, nappy, or coily. For this document the hair will be described as super curly. When one combs natural Black hair it has to be parted and put it into sections. Then, a wide tooth comb is used to prepare it for a style. This is what I have done with this hair design document, I have put it into sections and tried to comb through all the ...

His name is Dr. Samuel Boles and he is the medical director and an ophthalmologist at Anne Arundel Eye Center in Annapolis. His salary is $150,000 and he is 46-years-old. Boles received his medical degree from Georgia in 1989. His post-doctoral work involved an internship at Yale University, a cornea research fellowship at Harvard University and a residency at George Washington University. He went into ophthalmology because the demand is great. He worked at the University of California, San Diego, as well as a private practice in Baltimore for nine years before opening the Anne Arundel Eye Center in 2007. Boles works 60 to 80 hours a week. He is in the office about three to four days a week and is in surgery for about two days a week. In an average day he sees almost 30 patients. The patient care involves everything from follow-ups to in-depth patient consultations. With each patient he spends about 15 to 30 minutes. For operations he does anywhere from two to 10 a week. He has two fr...

For some people who may think the problems with their eyesight stem from old age or heredity, it is actually coming from Lasik eye surgery. In April, patients who have had the surgery told the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States stories about side effects including glare, halos, dry eyes and pain. In one situation the pain was so bad for a young man that it drove him to suicide. About 7.6 million Americans have had the surgery and about 40,000 people are showing major side effects. Increases in technology have reduced the amount of cornea cutting, making it easier to predict problems after an operation. This story comes from the St. Petersburg Times and the original author is glad she had the surgery. At least she can read without her glasses.

An eye surgery network in India that has prevented blindness in millions of people won $1 million from a Gates Award. This is the world's largest prize for international health. This award for global health is given by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Aravind Eye Care System is based in Tamil Nadu in southern India. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN20319164

I knew I had a problem seeing far when I would sit really close to the television by about the age of six. Once I reached higher up in the school and I needed to sit at the front of the class to see the chalkboard, glasses were an obvious consequence by time I turned about 12. At first I did not want to wear glasses, however I found the frames fun. I came across a pair of white ones and would wear them without the lenses, even though I needed still needed to see. Growing up in the 1980s in the age of the material girl, looking your best was a priority and glasses did not always go with that image. I had not heard of anyone who had received laser eye surgery – I really did not even know what it was. At first when laser eye surgery came out there were reports about people going blind. Others would say it changed their lives. I decided to just stick with my contacts, no matter how much they bothered me. I did know of some cultural groups who would get surgery to add an eyelid to their eye...

There are many ways you can prevent needing eye surgery at all and always make sure that you have 20/20 eyesight. If you are a parent, make sure you do not allow your children to sit too close to a television set. As well, when they are reading, the area should be well-lit. This is also true when you are an adult and your are parenting yourself. Always make sure that you do not sit too close to the television set, as well keep in well-lit places when you are reading. You may also want to try to purchase or borrow books from the library that are in large print, creating less strain on your eyes from small type. Make sure you get enough sleep, this is also important for maintaining proper eye care. Try to avoid rubbing your eyes as well because this disturbs your cornea. When in front of the computer screen, make sure it is set up properly so that it does not disturb your eyes. Make sure you have enough light to do your work. As well, it is important to take breaks when you are working a...