A Special Charlie Brown Treat

Hello everyone,

The holiday season is underway and I have received a very special treat from one of my colleagues at Seneca College. Here it is:

It is a Charlie Brown Dance. May you enjoy all your moments of dance this Holiday Season.

Abba? Seriously?!

Abba taught me a lesson this week.

Best Ten Albums of 2009

It is a rather difficult task to pick the best albums of the year as I listen to a whole lot of music. However, here I go. Some of these musicians unfortunately do not get much (or enough) commercial radio time. However, they’re all brilliant performers.

Hippophobic

By Kirk Verner

It was a wondrous Sunday afternoon in the middle of August when I was graciously given the opportunity to ride my very first horse. I remember being young, fearless, a cowboy for a day.

Stephen Carroll’s Installation

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope you are all doing well.

I want to invite you to an opening that I am having for a piece that I’ve been working on for 6 months and an accumulation ideas I’ve been developing the past three years.

CIL Paint Colour Forecast: Blue Skies Ahead for 2010

Concord, Ontario – December 8, 2009 – The sky’s the limit in home décor for the coming year. That’s because blue is forecasted to be the hottest colour in the 2010 palette, says leading Canadian paint brand CIL Paints.

UrbanEdge Yoga

Dear friends,

Don’t forget to join us tonight, Dec 7 @ 6.30 PM, for a special Mantra meditation workshop with our visiting guest and travelling monk His Grace Vaisesika Dasa who has been practicing Kirtan Yoga for over 35 years. Join us for soul stirring Kirtan – It is a must have musical meditation event of the year! Don’t forget the yummy feast that awaits you. Check details and RSVP at http://urbanedgeyoga.com/index.php?d=current&p=current&event=miEvent2

How We Treat One Another

It is interesting that around this time of year, many people start to think about how they treat one another. It’s the holiday season and good cheer is supposed to be the norm. This is the not the case for everyone.

Media Advisory – Olympic Torch to come to Valcartier Garrison

VALCARTIER GARRISON, QC, Dec. 1 /CNW Telbec/ – The media are invited to attend a leg of the Olympic Torch Relay at Valcartier Garrison.

    When:    December 3, 2009, at 6:30 am (relay will begin at 6:50 am).

    Where:   Starting from Building 516 (Sports Centre) and along Général
             T. L. Tremblay Street. 

Urban Edge Yoga

Dear friends,

We want to invite you to two extremely special events in the coming weeks.

R E P E A T — It’s A Whimsical Weekend for Thousands of Children at Downtown Yonge BIA’s Kidzfest/

- Big birds, cool cats and cartoon celebrities entertain at Yonge-Dundas
Square -

TORONTO, Nov. 27 /CNW/ – A mob of teeny toddlers will descend on Yonge-Dundas Square for a fun-filled weekend of kid-friendly rides, face-painting, crafts and interactive performances at the Downtown Yonge BIA’s Kidzfest – a free two-day event with guest appearances from cartoon celebrities Max & Ruby, Dora & Diego and Spongebob Squarepants on his 10th anniversary tour. On November 28th and 29th, adventurous tots will swing around the square in a colourful swing carousel, whirl around on the ladybug ride and take their ‘coverkid’ moment posing in a faux magazine shoot. Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs pack prehistoric fun into the first performance of the weekend, followed by a slew of musical guests including David Archibald and Maggie G. Fun will ‘let fly’ with Birds of Prey on Saturday, and Jungle Cat World brings a rip-roaring good time to Sunday.

Touched By Fire

This is the third annual evening of Touched By Fire, celebrating the

remarkable work of artists across Ontario with mood disorders.

You Can Find MBT At Treasure Trove Anytime

It’s At Hugh’s Room

Monday, November 30, 2009

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door; Children under 15:  $10

***

“The Prayers We Light”:  A celebration of Taylor Mitchell’s life and her music.

Theatre at UrbanEdge Yoga

Dear friends,

Thank you for your participation and great response for the InSpirit events from Nov 10-12 with Devamrita Swami. Please check out the pictures at http://www.urbanedgeyoga.com/index.php?p=gallery&albumId=InSpiritNov09. These capture a few glimpses of the beautiful time we all had.

Make Setting up an Effective Home Office Part of Your Pandemic Plan H1N1 is here. Is your home office ready?

TORONTO, Ontario – November 17, 2009 – H1N1 is here and causing havoc at home and in the office. Ensuring employees can remain productive by working from home is a critical piece of any business continuity plan. Health Canada suggests that as many as 35 per cent of Canadians could become ill during the H1N1 pandemic. They recommend that if you feel at all sick or are infectious (with H1N1 this can be up to ten days after the onset of symptoms) you should stay home. Add to this time needed to tend to children who are sent home due to illness or school closures, and employees feeling well enough to work could be out of the office for days or weeks leaving offices understaffed and productivity down.

Engine Gallery

Please add info@enginegallery.ca to your Address Book to ensure delivery of our e-mails to your In-Box. If you have trouble viewing this e-mail click the URL below or copy and paste the URL into your browser’s address bar. http://www.inbox-ads.com/cgi-bin/collector.cgi?linkID=4&CID=CID1258144164&rule_cell=&RID=144164367

Treasure Trove Birthday

New Online Magazine

One of my former students from the joint University of Toronto Centennial program and Centennial College program has launched a new magazine. It’s geared towards the 20-something age group. You can find it here: http://www.20-something.ca/. Enjoy!

Yoga Event Finally Here!

Join us this week as we launch our Yoga lifestyle festival ‘InSpirit’ with Devamrita Swami from Nov 10 to 12. A Monk for 40 years, Yale graduate and author of several spiritual texts, Devamrita Swami is stopping over in Toronto as part of his world tour to take us through some not-to-miss workshops:

Sesame Street Anniversary with Google

I have been thoroughly enjoying the Google themes for the Sesame Street anniversary. Sesame Street was a big part of my childhood with my brother and sister. It is wonderful that it continues on to this day.

Sico Paints 2010-2011 Colour Forecast

More Lively Colours Making a Comeback

as Canadians Seek New Beginning

Longueuil, Quebec – November 5, 2009 – Move over neutral colour schemes.  More lively hues will be making a comeback in home décor in 2010-2011 and it’s all about using colour as a mood-lifter in the midst of challenging times, says leading Canadian paint brand Sico Paints.

The Ladies Anthem

The ladies anthem

UrbanEdge Yoga

Dear friends,

One week from now, Nov 10 we launch our Yoga lifestyle festival ‘InSpirit’ with Devamrita Swami, a Monk for 40 years, Yale graduate and author of several spiritual texts. He stops over in Toronto as part of his world tour to take us through some not-to-miss workshops:

Katie and Marc

Katie bumped into her boss as she was leaving the Radio Canada International building in Montreal.

The Wonderful Things About the Toronto Public Library

I have discovered the glories of the Toronto Public Library thanks to my sister.

Aires Entertainment

J-Mar

ROLL WIT ME

If you are not redirected to the files page, click on cut and paste this URL into your browser:
http://fblz.in/YAB8

Sinfonia Toronto

Devamrita Swami presents at Urban Edge Yoga

The newest non-profit Yoga Studio on the block promises
a unique Yoga experience with music, food and great company!

Toronto, ON – Urban Edge Yoga, a unique Yoga Lifestyle Centre, has opened its doors to the budding yoga community in Toronto. A grand opening event is planned on November 10 to launch its annual Yoga Lifestyle festival, InSpirit, featuring Devamrita Swami – A Monk of 40 years, Yale graduate and author of several books.

Yoga Festival

Dear friends,

Almost 15 days from now, Nov 10 we launch our Yoga lifestyle festival ‘InSpirit’ with Devamrita Swami, a Monk, Yale graduate and author of several spiritual texts. He stops over in Toronto as part of his world tour to take us through some not-to-miss workshops:

Mahdi

Mikel Guillen is the Director of Mahdi, Produced By PickPocket Media Films - Photo Courtesy of Mikel Guillen

The director of Pickpocket Media Films rings my doorbell several times and adds some knocks for emphasis. I know he is here.

Coming Up on Donna Magazine

Director Mikel Guillen - Photo Courtesy of Mikel Guillen

Coming up on Donna Magazine – Interview with Director Mikel Guillen from Pickpocket Media Films on his latest project.

Airport Flirt – Excerpt from Do Not Know

Do Not Know is One of Donna Kakonge's 31 books - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

It took an old man to touch my young breast to wake me up. I did not hear him come up to me as I sat in a plastic waiting chair because my Walkman blasted “Keep on Moving” from my Soul II Soul CD. I was in concourse E of Miami’s airport, waiting for my flight to Barbados. I was coming from Montreal in the February winter wonderland and did not know how to dress. I wore a beige cotton knit ensemble with my black winter jacket curled over my arm. I was also wearing the burgundy slightly padded bra I got for Christmas from my sister. The old man had touched more foam than flesh.

Michael

Micheal is an Honest Person With Brown Eyes - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

Driven like a car on the highest gear, Michael zoomed through life to obtain his goals. He was a perfect student, a perfect friend; perfect at sports and his deep brown eyes made him an honest person.

Tax Collector

Sarah is a Receptionist Who Works in a Tax Collection Agency - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

Sarah’s hair was too long and straight, that hair that came right out of a commercial prevented her from earning a living as a tax collector. She worked in her office as a receptionist, watching the men and women in three piece suits walk by her desk and only ask if there had been a phone call. Sometimes, when they weren’t looking she would call her friends and they would pick up her spirits.

A Hairpiece – My Hair Story

Donna Kakonge Writes About Her Hair Journey - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

My first hobby was playing hairdresser to my Barbie dolls. I had my childhood in the 70s and 80s but I was not much different from Black children in the 40s who chose White dolls over Black dolls in a landmark study that lead to the desegregation of American schools. It was not that I liked chocolate skin over the cream of white colour; it really came down to the hair. I wanted straight, long, blonde, brunette or red hair, hair that blew in the wind and that I could toss over my shoulder. And when I could not wish it on my head, I used a towel instead.

Excerpt from Spiderwoman

Donna Kakonge Wrote a Collection of Short Stories Called Spiderwoman - Photo Courtesy of Dreamstime.com

This is an excerpt from Donna Kakonge’s book Spiderwoman. It can be bought at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.

Winter activities that should be brought from country to city

Rachel Muenz Writes About Winter Activities - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

By Rachel Muenz

Back in January 2009, an article in the Toronto Star said Toronto should to do more to help its citizens love winter. The city should celebrate the cold and snow instead of complaining about it, the story said.

US President Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize - Photo Courtesy of Google

CBC reports that US President Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. His leadership in international affairs and aiming to bring peace to troubled regions are counted as reasons for this prestigious award.

Congratulations President Obama.

Ontario strongest wind power in Canada

Rachel Muenz Writes About Wind Power - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

By Rachel Muenz

Ontario continues to outpace other Canadian provinces and territories in the wind energy sector. The province has eight new wind power projects lined up, some of which are already under construction, according to the Canadian Wind Energy Association.

Away For Too Long

Kirk Verner Writes A Poem About Being Away - Photo Courtesy of Morguefile.com

by Kirk Verner

Wake up, wander the streets, wind stings my eyes,
I have forgotten what a real prairie breeze feels like.

Sonny Black

Sonny Black

returns with two more essential  jammys!

PARTY GIRL

Canadian content making its mark on U.S. media

Rachel Muenz Writes About the Impact Canada Has on the U.S.

By Rachel Muenz

There’s been a lot of talk lately about how many Canadian TV shows have been picked up by U.S. networks this fall. But while U.S. TV has the most Canadian content, Canadians are having a decent impact on other areas of U.S. pop culture as well.

The Best of Donna Magazine Published

The best from this online magazine is now packaged in hardcover, paperback and ebook format so you can take it with you anywhere. On the bus, in a canoe, wherever and whenever. Check it out at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.

Clean energy company shows Ontario’s green services sector is greenest of them all

Rachel Muenz Writes About a Green Ontario - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

By Rachel Muenz

Ontario’s environmental services, retail, and professional services sectors have the largest number of companies using clean power, according to information from Bullfrog Power.

Is the media biased against rural areas?

Rachel Muenz Writes About How the Media Portrays Rural Communities - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

By Rachel Muenz

Almost every article I’ve read in urban newspapers about the countryside and its people seems to rely on stereotypes. Maybe it’s just because I’m from a small town and more sensitive to these things, but media coverage of rural areas often appears condescending.

Caterpillar

Kirk Verner Writes a Lovely Poem About the Beauty of Caterpillars - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

As you blossom from a furry bug into a beautiful butterfly, I watch in amazement.

I think I like you both ways?

Your orange fur looks like skin.

Video Release – Carl Henry

VIDEO RELEASE

YOU TUBE LINK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5emV1CjVu94

MOV VERSION

http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/d5oen2

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Carl Henry

Economy Affecting Colour Choices

The Economy is Affecting Paint Colour Choices - Photo Courtesy of Gail Bergman

By Gail Bergman and Indira Tarachandra

Toronto, Ontario – September 1, 2009 – The economic recession is affecting more than people’s pocketbooks.  It’s also influencing their choice and use of colour.

That’s the finding of CIL Paints, following a detailed study of colour trends by its international team of colour experts.

PAINT FOR A CAUSE

Sico is Beautiful Paint for a Cause - Photo Courtesy of Gail Bergman

By Gail Bergman and Indira Tarachandra

Sico to Donate a Portion of Ceiling

Paint Sales to Breast Cancer Research

Longueuil, Quebec – August 31, 2009 – Think pink. That’s the message Sico is sending to Canadians this fall with the announcement that it will donate a portion of sales of its disappearing-pink Flat for Ceilings paint to support lifesaving breast cancer research.

Example of a Demotape

This is an old demotape that I used to use after I graduated from Carleton University. My book Radio and Television Announcing covers more information about broadcast work. Journalism Stories Collection will introduce you to more published work. You can buy it at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.

done

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Public Service Announcement (Originally Aired in 2003)

This is a public service announcement I did for the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. For more information about health, please check out my books Being Healthy: Selected Works from the Internet and Natural Beauty on my online store at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.

done

W.E.B. DuBois Celebration in New York

Heading down to New York with some old friends of mine from undergrad, we discovered that there was a lot more to black history than we knew about before:

done

Grad School Public Affairs Class

Here is a recording of a public affairs class I took while doing my grad studies at Concordia University. The main important information is at the beginning.  For more stories by Donna Kakonge, visit her online store at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged:

done

Love Town Records

Love Town Records

Richard Alexander Davis

“Back In Love”

Afro Forever: Research Paper on Salon Utopia for the M.A. in Media Studies at Concordia University

Cover Art for What Happened to the Afro? - Photo Courtesy of Dreamstime.com

Donna Kay Cindy Kakonge

Advisor: Dr. Martin Allor

Committee member: Dr. Kim Sawchuk

Outside Examiner: Dr. Lorna Roth

August 12, 1999

Afro Forever

Healthy Sunday

Quitting Smoking Starts With Making Efforts to Change Your Lifestyle - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

I went to a healthfood store called Evergreen up by St. Clair West and Bathurst Streets in Toronto on Sunday. My aim was to find some healthy food after speaking with a friend of mind in Montreal about wanting to change my eating habits.

The Politics of Hair (Proposal to Ryerson University)

Everybody Does Something to Change Their Appearance for Advancement - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

The politics of black hair shows in books like Tenderheaded to the Princess of Wales plays ‘Da Kink in My Hair and Hairspray to movies like Beauty Shop to songs played on Flow 93.5.

The Discoveries of Columbus

Rachel Muenz Writes that Lorian Has a Deep Love for His Dog Columbus - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert

By Rachel Muenz

Lorian sat in the sand, his lap cold without the dog. He glared at the black and silver points of the waves. His father had no right to get rid of it. But Lorian figured he should have seen it coming because his father had never gone out of his way to make him happy.

What Happened to the Afro?

My hair obsession that has turned into a hair acceptance also turned into a book called What Happened to the Afro? Here is some video taken in Uganda in 1996 or 1997 of a braiding session going on in Kampala. You can buy the book at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged.:

done

Continually Learning Aiming to Make a Better World

Gini Dickie is a Teacher and Activist who is Making a Difference

Gini Dickie is a teacher-librarian, as well as a political activist in her own right living in Toronto, Canada. She worked as a teacher in northern Nigeria with CUSO-VSO, she worked at Expo ‘ 67 and she has been active working with Chilean refugees. She has worked in the inner-city Regent Park area of Toronto, as well as with York University. She also owned her own typesetting business for a brief period of time and everything she has done has taught her about the world around her, as well as about herself.

Not to Be Boxed In Always Wanting to Try Something New

Hyacinth Harewood Continues to Live a Full Life - Photo by Donna Kakonge

Hyacinth Harewood is a civil servant with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) working from home, former college professor, former businessperson, former volunteer and mother of five living in Toronto, Canada. She worked as a sessional lecturer with Carleton University in Ottawa, as a professor with Algonquin College in Ottawa for 16 years, has been working with CRA since the late 1980s, and once had her own sole-proprietorship business focusing on communications and written work. This consummate professional used to get up at 3:00 a.m. to work on her business, and then take care of five children to get them ready for school. She would continue working on her business while her children were at school and tend to their needs once they were home. She played the role of a superwoman well. This impressive woman who was educated at the University of Western Ontario where she studied French and Spanish, then received her master’s degree at the University of Ottawa in applied linguistics managed to juggle a life of work, family and children. She has been a terrific role model for her five children.

The Color Complex: The Politics of Skin Color Among African Americans

The Color Complex is a Book that Discovers Some Blacks Obsession with Colour - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert

Too many blackfolks are fools about color and hair.
-Mabel Lincloln, interviewee in Drylongso: A Self-Portrait of Black America, by John Langston Gwaltney (1)

The Color Complex mentions the references made to skin colour in Spike Lee’s movies such as School Daze and Jungle Fever. Is hair one of the factors that lures many Black men like Flipper (Wesley Snipes) in Jungle Fever to white women? Why is it that it seems like the more successful a black man is he will have a white woman as his wife or girlfriend? Do black men have more a complex about colour and hair than black women do? Is this evidenced in the fact that fewer black women marry outside of the race and MAY feel more comfortable marrying and dating men darker than they are?

Book review of Cane by Jean Toomer

Jean Toomer is the Author of Cane

I came across this book for three dollars at a Lebanese restaurant in the McGill ghetto of Montreal. It was worth every penny, and proves that you can find good books for affordable prices.

The Inkwell

The Inkwell is a Movie Where Hair Dynamics Play Out

Set in 1976, this movie features the staple afros, braids and other various styles of black hair at that time. The interesting thing of note is that the family of Drew Tate, the main character in the movie, is depicted as working class and activist. The father wears a Black Panther beret and his sister-in-law calls him “Black Panther”.

Varda

Varda Etienne is now a Host of a Radio Show in Quebec

As she bops and moves looks real pretty and talks a fast game on Canada’s French music station, Musique Plus, Varda Etienne, 27 and a VJ, works on two shows: Bouge (the highest rated show on Musique Plus) and Groove. She does not like music that lacks movement, but, she has other things on her mind.

“What bothers me is how corrupted the world is today,” she says.

Ottawa Woman Loves Shea Butter Market Products

Citrus is Just One of the Many Flavours of the Shea Butter Market Lip Balm Products - Photo Courtesy of SheaButterMarket.com

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.

BC Woman Loves Shea Butter Market Products

BC Woman's Favourite Shea Butter Market Product - Photo Courtesy of Shea Butter Market.com

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.”

The Inkwell – Selection from Upcoming Book Stories in Red and Yellow

Larenz Tate is the Star of the Movie The Inkwell - Photo Courtesy of Starpulse.com

Set in 1976, this movie features the staple afros, braids and other various styles of Black hair at that time. The interesting thing of note is that the family of Drew Tate, the main character in the movie, are depicted as working class and activist.

PAINT FOR A CAUSE

Sico Flat for Ceilings - Photo Courtesy of Gail Bergman and Indira Tarachandra

by Gail Bergman and Indira Tarachandra

Sico to Donate a Portion of Ceiling Paint Sales to Breast Cancer Research

Longueuil, Quebec – July 20, 2009 – Think pink. That’s the message Sico is sending to Canadians this fall with the announcement that it will donate a portion of sales of its disappearing-pink Flat for Ceilings paint to support lifesaving breast cancer research.

Camille Nelson’s Album First Words, Why I Love It

Brikena Ribaj Reviews the Musical Work of Camille Nelson

By Brikena Ribaj

This is Camille Nelson, my very good friend.

Camille Nelson is one of my all-time favorite people. Among so many other things, she is also an artist par excellence. Camille is also the one who patiently taught me how to play the guitar, the one with whom I’ve had many an adventure over the years, and the one who simply excels at all she does. And she manages to do it all by being unapologetically good and quintessentially Camille.

Ode to Silence

Brikena Ribaj Loves Portland, Oregon - Photo by Brikena Ribaj

By Brikena Ribaj

One of the reasons I love Portland, OR, well, other than it being home to the best bookstore I have seen in North America, Powell’s, is how quiet it is.

Practicality. What is practical?

Nick Goodwin Knows that Being a Freelance Artist is For Him - Photo Courtesty of Morguefile.com

by Nick Goodwin

I think one of the hardest things about trying to be a successful artist is the reality that your ability to serve your community isn’t entirely practical. I have experienced many types of work apart from art-related jobs and they have helped me to become at least more practical than I would be had I decided to be strictly an artist.

Taylor Swift?! Uh-huh!

Brikena Ribaj Rocks to Taylor Swift

By Brikena Ribaj

Today I rocked to country.

Yes. I did.

I rocked to country music.

The reason I say this twice is because, well, for lack of a better phrase, I don’t do country. I don’t know why. I just can’t. I am not attracted to it. I never was. While I’m sure that country music feeds many people, it doesn’t manage to feed me in any way. Not even with carbs. It’s a preference issue, you see. For example, I love Verdi, Wagner, Beethoven, and Mozart but I don’t care for Schumann. I love Indie rock but basically everything about Grunge bothers me. And, yes, Nirvana is an exception. Kurt Cobain is bigger than any genre. And I loved him. Very much. I still do. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” continues to be a high-frequency track. It’s not grunge, it’s classic. So there are exceptions within certain genres, of course.

Clothing Line

Nick Goodwin Adds His Own Designs to Clothing - Photo by Nick Goodwin

By Nick Goodwin

I love to create original clothing. I am a design guy. Not too long ago I took the time to hand paint a whole bunch of plain clothing that I picked out. For some of the garments I created stencils so I could reuse my choice of design. For other items I simply created something one of a kind.

Happiness Shared

Nick Goodwin Writes About Happiness Being Shared - Photo Courtesy of Morguefile.com

By Nick Goodwin

One thing that I believe in is that happiness is most real when it is shared. It is the good and truth of understanding between two individuals. All of life’s greatest joys are based around a perceived connection.

It’s A Great Deal

This is the Cover Art for the Book The Write Heart - Photo From Dreamstime.com

Can you imagine that I am offering free life coaching on any of your life’s challenges for the low, low cost of one book sale from you? Yes – this is not a gimmick – it is true.

We can do the life coaching through email if you are long distance, or we could do it over the phone if you are local. We can also use such services as MSN and Yahoo Messenger if you prefer a more instant approach to the life coaching. I look forward to hearing from you. Make your dreams come true!

Inspiration

Feeling Inspired Can Sometimes Be an Effort - Photo Courtesy of Morguefile.com

By Nick Goodwin

I know what it is like to feel uninspired. Sometimes the only option is to channel this frustration and use your strength of mind. Create an opportunity for moving forward with something. Sometimes you won’t find the inspiration you’re looking for until you try something first. I’ve heard it said that experience comes from making mistakes, trial and error. If people did everything right on the first try we would have no need for communication.

No country for shoe schools

Rachel Muenz Has Discovered There Are No Shoe Schools in Canada - Photo Courtesy of MorgueFile.com

By Rachel Muenz

There are no shoe design schools in Canada and you can blame that on our climate.

Because of our ever-changing weather, Canadians tend to put function over fashion, according to Sarah Beam-Borg, the assistant curator at Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum. “North Americans, traditionally, haven’t been sticklers for beautiful manufacture in footwear also because we need so many different kinds of shoes for our climate,” she says.

There’s a saying at the Bata Shoe Museum, Beam-Borg adds. The average Italian is willing to spend up to $500 for a single pair of beautiful shoes and they’ll have about 10 pairs of shoes in their closet.

The average North American will spend about $70 for a fashionable pair of shoes but they’ll have 30 or 40 pairs in their closet.

Canadians need winter boots, summer sandals, footwear for wet weather, shoes for work, and shoes for play. Paying $500 for each pair would put most people in the poorhouse.
As a result, we don’t worry about style so much and Canada has never gained a reputation for fashion.

“We have our own Fashion Week but Canada isn’t really a fashion centre on the world stage,” says Beam-Borg. “It isn’t known for its footwear design or manufacture and never has been.”

Most shoe manufacture is done in China where labour is cheapest and most of the design is done in Italy, seen as one of the major fashion centres of Europe, Beam-Borg says.
There’s also been little interest in shoe design programs here.
Beam-Borg has worked with the Ryerson University fashion department for the last six or seven years doing shoe design competitions with the students. When the competitions were mandatory, 150 students would show up, but as soon as shoe design was made optional, only nine came to compete.
“Unless it’s a course requirement, students aren’t seeking it out,” she says.

As far as Beam-Borg knows, no one has tried to establish a shoe design school or program in Canada and she doubts anyone ever will.

Greg Flood also says no one has tried setting one up in Ontario.

Flood, a spokesman for the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities, says if post-secondary schools in Ontario saw shoe design as necessary, they would submit curriculum and criteria for a shoe program to the ministry for funding.

No such submission has been put forward.

“I’m not aware at the present time about a university or college that has identified shoe design as a need within the province of Ontario,” he says.

But, there is one program that focuses on shoes in Canada and it fits perfectly with the North American desire for needs over style.

It is the post-graduate program in pedorthics at Western University.

Pedorthics involves the making of special shoes and inserts for people with foot injuries or ailments. Those who practice it are called pedorthists.

All aspiring pedorthists must take this program.

“Anybody new now entering into this field must graduate and get a diploma through Western,” says Linda Deschamps, a certified pedorthist and kinesiologist who’s also an instructor in the program.

Before, students did an apprenticeship program which involved three years of work to get certified. Deschamps says the new program is better because it is more objective and faster to finish, taking only one year to complete.

With Canada’s aging population, you would think a single program wouldn’t be enough to keep up with the demand for pedorthists’ skills, but Deschamps says this isn’t so.

“If it was just pedorthists that were dealing with the aging feet, it would not be enough,” she says from her clinic in Kingston, Ontario. “But there are other Allied Health Professionals who also deal with the feet.”

Orthotists, who make custom inserts for shoes, chiropodists, who treat foot diseases and deformities, and podiatrists who also care for the foot, are some of the other professionals helping to deal with the increasing foot problems that come with age.

The program at Western is also open to people all across Canada because the courses are offered online with three work terms in between that can be taken almost anywhere in the country.

It was started by one of the first Canadian certified pedorthists, the late Howard Fiegel, and is in its fifth year. Only about 20 students are accepted and around 12 to 20 graduate each year. But, there are advantages to staying small.

“They’re not high numbers from our course but these are very strong students who help another clinic along the way and eventually open up their own,” Deschamps says. “We could take more but those are the numbers that appear to be good candidates.”

She says the program is growing slowly because pedorthics is not a well-known field, having only been in Canada for about 30 years. There are now around 400 pedorthists registered with the Pedorthic Association of Canada.
This slow growth does have its positives though.

“In some ways it’s a very good thing because we have control over the students that come through and the product that leaves in the end,” Deschamps says.

She expects the program will expand to another university in the future, possibly in western Canada, but says it probably won’t get bigger than that.

Also, a second program isn’t likely to open soon.
“There’s only one program because of numbers, because of financing, because of the need at this point,” says the pedorthist, who was certified 17 years ago through an apprenticeship. “We’ve looked into it, [. . . ] but at this point, numbers are only dictating the need for one.”
There are negatives to those low numbers as well.
“If we had larger numbers applying, of course, it would allow us to open more doors and offer more because, financially, we would be more feasible as well,” Deschamps says.
Overall, she says the program is a great one to be in.
“It’s a very strong, young program,” Deschamps says.
As for Canadians interested in the fashion side, there are still options.

Beam-Borg says people usually go to schools in other countries, such as Cordwainers, a shoe design school in London, England.

“You go where the best education is and [. . .], Canada’s never been a traditional place for shoe design or shoe manufacture,” she says.

But she agrees it is difficult for people who don’t have a lot of money to afford the cost of a foreign education. The one-year, post-graduate shoe design program at the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing in California costs $30,000 in tuition.

“If you can’t afford to go then perhaps you can’t be a shoe designer, which sociologically is a problem, absolutely,” Beam-Borg says. “But I think if you have the skill, a lot of people also get bursaries and grants.”

Many people could also take a fashion illustrations program in Canada and then get into shoe design by gaining experience at a fashion house or shoe design company in the U.S. or Europe, Beam-Borg says. There are three such programs in Toronto at Seneca College, Humber College, and Ryerson.

“If you want to do shoe design, fashion illustration seems to be the quickest way to get into that vein,” Beam-Borg says. “If shoes catch your fancy, odds are really good if you can draw a shirt, you can draw a shoe.”

The shoemaker and the “magic box”

The Shoemaker and the Magic Box - Photo Courtesy of MorgueFile.com

By Rachel Muenz

I take off my shoes and socks, roll my pants up to my knees, pull on a pair of thin nylon stockings and put my left foot into what Ken Brubacher calls “the magic box.”

Brubacher is one of only a handful of custom shoemakers left in North America and, once he’s gone, his knowledge would have been lost. Until now.

Brubacher says shoemakers are vanishing partly because the trade is looked down on by the general public and because it is not being passed on to family members, who tend to go to university instead. But, with such a large aging population, there are more foot problems than ever.

Luckily, the box can help.

The “magic box” is the Otabo foot scanner and, in tandem with computer aided design and manufacturing systems and an exhaustive database, is the most sophisticated way of making custom shoes in existence.

Brubacher is showing me how the unit works from his shop, Brubacher Foot Comfort, in Collingwood.

He closes the lid of the box, which has a circular hole on top for my leg.

“It [the scanner] doesn’t like outside light so what we do is bundle the baby up,” Brubacher says, wrapping a blue towel around my knee where it emerges from the box.

He clicks a button on the monitor attached to the box and the scanner emits a high-pitched hum. Cameras move along a track beneath the glass, capturing data from 200,000 points on my foot using laser video technology.

A grey, 3D image of my foot begins to appear onscreen from heel to toe.

Brubacher repeats the process with my right foot and checks the data. There’s a hole in my left foot, which Brubacher says was caused by light.

“If a bit of light got in, and it [the scanner] doesn’t like that, then it will lose a bit of the data in the shaft of your leg,” he says.

Brubacher fills in the missing section with a quick stroke of the mouse, then clicks back to the grey model to show me the hole has disappeared.

A customer’s scans are then sent to the computers on his desk where Brubacher makes some more adjustments before the data is emailed to a factory in Guangzhou, China. Here, a plastic model of each foot, called a last, is made in a CNC milling machine and from those models, near-perfect right and left shoes are made. The shoes are sent back to Collingwood where Brubacher does the finishing touches and makes more adjustments based on feedback from the customer.

“It’s as close to perfection as anything that has ever occurred on the face of the earth, by far,” Brubacher says of shoes made from the scans.

Perfection comes at a price of around $1000 for the shoes, depending on what inserts and fine-tuning are required. But, the grey-haired craftsman says, if it is a case of “it’s either me or the wheelchair,” the shoes are a worthwhile purchase.
The new technology is also helping a small number of shoemakers tackle the public’s growing need for custom shoes by allowing them to serve more customers at a higher speed, says Rob DiFelice, a custom shoemaker in the Niagara region.
“With doing things by means of computers and all this new technology it’s going to totally be able to take over what the shoemaker had done . . . at a faster pace,” says DiFelice whose father taught him shoe repair. “And the product looks beautiful.”

DiFelice says he got into custom shoes because of the huge demand in his area.

Brubacher taught DiFelice how to use the scanner and computer systems in Collingwood and DiFelice still goes there frequently for more training.

He says Brubacher is a very enthusiastic and meticulous teacher.

“You can tell he really loves what he does,” DiFelice says. “He’ll tell me things in his teachings that he’s already told me five times over again.”

“He doesn’t even realize it . . . and he’s as enthused about it as he was from the first time he told me about it,” the younger shoemaker adds. “He likes to make sure you understand what he’s talking about, so he’s very thorough in his teachings too.”
Though Brubacher grew up watching his own father repair shoes, he taught himself how to make shoes and use the scanner and computer systems later on.

“My teacher is fixing my mistakes at night, for free,” he says, looking down his nose. “That’s a stern teacher. You listen to that teacher.”

Brubacher is also passing those teachings on to his daughter, Angela.

She agrees new technology like the foot scanner will replace the dying shoemaker but someone with shoemaking and orthopaedic knowledge and experience, like her father, will still be needed to properly serve those with foot problems. Technology will bring those skills to more people, she says on the phone from the family’s Elmira location.

“It’s much easier for him to teach somebody new, like myself, in a shorter period of time how to use all of that knowledge and the technology,” Angela says.

Brubacher says he’s lost a lot of money investing in the new technology, but he says the greater ability to help people walk in comfort has made up for the loss.

“It’s cost me my fortune but it’s worth it,” he says. “People come in, after the fact and they say, ‘You know, it’s just been an amazing, amazing, miraculous difference.’”

“We’re not dealing with covering up the feet here. We’re dealing with the quality of people’s lives.”

Sunscreen

Nick Goodwin Protects Himself From the Sun - Photo: MorgueFile.com

By Nick Goodwin

The sun. To tan or not to tan, that is the question. We question the reliance of the o-zone layer, the efficiency of sunscreen, and our ability to take in the nutrients that the sun’s light provides.

For adults everywhere it is common practice to know tomorrow’s approximate weather, however, there is nothing wrong with playing it by ear and looking out the window the day of!

This year I am not worried about getting too much sun. I have all the sunscreen I need. I always dress for comfort, so, in the summer heat that means baggy tee shirts that cover most of my arms as

well as long shorts or pants. If anything, my feet need as much sun as they can get. I also have a thin and comfortable hat that provides me with enough shade to stay less than crispy.

For the past two summers I have been very conscious of the sun’s effect on people. I have been highly motivated to use sunscreen and to see what kinds are out there. My skin requires a non-oily sunscreen with a high SPF. The past summer I was using 70 SPF that was really thick, however, I was working at a kid’s camp and they found it amusing to see me running around with TONS of sunscreen caked all over my face.

For kids it is important that sunscreen be fun. It shouldn’t be a worry. Sunscreen should be common practice and promoted as a positive and important thing rather than a threat of skin destruction if not taken advantage of. There is no harm in educating a child on the importance of it.

Growing up I would often visit my Grandfather. He had a divot on the side of his head shaped like a golf ball. He used to tell me that a golf ball had hit him in the head there. I was eventually told the truth. He told me that he had been burned badly by the sun for not wearing the appropriate sun gear and that part of his face had been badly damaged.

For me it was always an entertaining story to begin with, however, the story had a serious twist that brought a lesson to be learned to my attention. I must admit that this little story is probably the true reason behind my “obsession” with sunscreen. If not entirely, it has at least influenced me to be more careful when a beautiful day comes around and everything becomes carefree.

SHEA BUTTER MARKET – BRINGING GIFTS TO THE MASSES

Shea Butter Market is the Brainchild of Gifty Serbeh-Dunn

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.

Hair Chat

Four lovely women, a fifth one coming later, volunteered their time on a January afternoon in 1998 to sit down at Salon Utopia and chat about hair. Here are the details of their chat which will hopefully stimulate your own discussions.

LOCKS:

Naila (with locks): People ask me what is that…what you mean what is it…can you comb that out…I’ve had people from Jamaica asking me about my locks…what do you mean what is that?

Malene (with an afro): Have you forgotten what it’s like when you relax your hair?

Naila: I’ve had Jamaican men ask me if I could comb it out – that’s psycho! Dreadlocks started in Jamaica, well like Rastafarianism started in Jamaica. They know about Rastas, and they should know about locks, and they should know that you can’t comb out locks, because you’re hair is locked.

(Laughter)

Frank (with locks): It’s down to about here (middle of back) so when I’m on the bus, it falls over on the seat, and they pull it. They want to know if it’s extensions, if it’s real. They want to feel how it feels. I don’t know about you, but my dreads are clean, and I don’t want your grubby paws on me.

REAL HAIR, FAKE HAIR, BLACK WOMEN:

Hirut (long curly hair that is hers): I get that from people too, is it real. I get that from Black people and White people too. It’s my hair. I don’t go around asking people if I can touch your hair.

Malene: Touch your ass, touch your balls, it’s the same kind of thing. I don’t know about you but for me this (indicating head) is a very sensitive area.

Frank: It’s your face.

Hirut: Also, people identify me with my hair.

Frankie: Also, they look at you and they say she’s a Black woman, Black people only come in these particular hues, and this particular kind of hair, it’s really static.

Malene: They can’t have long hair.

Frank: Right, that’s the conception. You can only be one kind of Black woman. It’s only this kind of hair, this kind of texture.

PERSONAL HAIR HISTORIES:

Frank: My hair history…I’ve been a dread for about 3,4 years. Before that I just had normal regular my hair, no chemicals, no anything. I just got to a point where I got lazy. I didn’t want to comb it, I didn’t want to coif it, I didn’t want to spend the half an hour to an hour to make myself look presentable. I said to hell with it, I’m going to do it, I’m just going to let my hair dread.

Hirut: My hair has pretty much been the way it is right now for all of my life. The first time I really cut it in Canada was about 10 years ago. My Mom flipped. I wanted to cut my bangs. Bangs from hell. I didn’t cut it for quite a long time, but then again it was so hard to handle. Very frustrating. I don’t comb my hair; I comb it when I wash it once a week.

Malene: I first cut my hair when I was around 15 or 14. Before then, I was just using the pressing comb, doing that ghetto styles with my hair.

Hirut: I used to use the iron for my hair. My sister used to iron my hair for me. That makes it really straight.

Malene: I just used the comb, and I heard the sizzle. I was turning 15 and for my 15th birthday I was going to a salon and they cut it all off, and I was traumatized for about 2 months. But then I befriended my hair stylist, they also damaged it and I was going every week because they let me have free appointments until it gets better. It was terrible because I was there every week until I was 19 and a half. Every week…four years. After a while, they’d use me occasionally for a model, I was in the salon all the time, and one time I was there for 9 hours.

Frankie: What were you doing there for 9 hours?

Malene: I’d be waiting, then they’d condition it, and then I’d be waiting, then it would dry, and I’d be waiting for them to do what they had to do. I relaxed it, so they would be blow-drying it straight, sometimes styling it, colouring it. After awhile I got frustrated wasting 8 hours a week, solely on my hair. I ended up having to buy lots of products. Black products…the good ones are really expensive and I was thinking I could be doing so much with this money. I could be buying a new pair of shoes, or books, something. And I also got into a fight with these guys. The relationship ended up being…they weren’t just my hairstylist, they were like my gurus in a way. I became debilitated in a way.

Frank: Because of your hair…what a statement.

Malene: It’s true. Many Black women don’t know how to handle their hair and so these guys do and they would do such a good job with it that I didn’t do anything with it, I just let them do everything.

Hirut: I’ve been 3 times to a stylist. All they would do is straighten it. This is a chance for them to do something creative, and they didn’t, and I’m paying them.
Malene: They did really amazing hairstyles. Every week I had a new hairstyle, so the novelty wore off. I felt kind of off, I just wanted to stabilize myself, so I shaved my head. I was cutting my ties big time. I stopped talking to them. Going to the salon, spending 8 hours talking about hair, fashion, this, that, all these superficial things. I would sometimes have deep conversations with people, but I just didn’t like who I was. So, shaved my head, and for the past 2 years, it’s been like an afro. Every time it would start dreading out, I would cut it. But now I’m ready to go full dread, I’m just too lazy to actually do it. It’s so easy because now all I do is wash my hair, towel dry it, and then I’m out the door, pick it, and that’s it.

Naila: I went through the same pressing comb stuff when I was about twelve. It was kind of like a rite of passage, because when I was about twelve years old, all the women in my family, well my sister was getting her hair permed, and I was turning twelve, so it was my turn to get my hair permed. But my Mom had to wait until she was much older to get her hair permed. But she didn’t really have a big issue with it, because I always used to get it pressed, but since it got humid (laugh) it was over. You’d go to school with this great style, these nice ponytails, and then it would rain. Then you’d walk home with an afro. So I got it permed. I remember being very concerned about getting my hair permed, why am I getting my hair permed. Everybody said it would be more manageable. It’s a very odd idea that taking your hair away from it’s natural state it can make it more manageable.

Malene: We’ve never learned to manage our hair, they’ve never taught us that. It’s also learning to work with the naps.

Frank: We have been taught…if you came from the West Indies, you have been taught to manage your hair. You braid it, you cainrow it, you do wonderful things with it. But they’re Black things. It’s not the carefree White hair hanging down blowing in the wind. It’s something different, but we want to get away from the cainrow and the beads.

Hirut: On Friday nights I don’t go out, I do my hair. If I don’t do it on Friday, I have like really bad hair for 2 weeks, because the schedule is all screwed up.

Naila: Yeah, so I got my hair permed. And I did the gel and the side parts and the buns and the bobs, and I had the curl and I had the styles and what not. And I had a really bad experience getting my hair permed because the next day there was blood on my scalp because the woman was having a conversation with someone while doing my hair. There were chunks of blood on my scalp. My scalp was just covered with blood, it was completely damaged. It was the first time I had gone to the salon on my own. Because Saturday, my Mom and sister and I, we’d go to the salon, there all day watching soap operas and listening to the salon talk. We’d go about once a month, but always on a Saturday. Then I was like no, this is not happening, so I cut it off. And I remember the guy in the salon was like, are you sure you want to cut it. I said sure, I want to cut it. He said if you cut it, you’re not going to have any hair. He only cut it in a bob and asked do you want it lower, and I said, cut off my hair, keep on cutting until there’s no more perm. He gave me this box cut hair, and people were insinuating afterwards that I was a Lesbian. What do you mean a Lesbian? If you have short hair. Then I had to go to a real barber to get it done right, with the fade, and then I was in business. And that was a real trauma for my family.
Malene: Well, that’s another issue when cutting your hair. You’re so-called sexuality and your family or whatever. It’s like you’re sexless if you cut your hair.

Frank: My Mom always says, a woman’s hair is her crowning glory.

Malene: I was just thinking with the scabs on my scalp, I went through relaxers in my eye. Like he dropped relaxer in my eye. And it still has damage here a little bit. And you go back, and you say I’ll forgive you for that. And the burns on the back of the neck.

Frank: It’s torture.

Malene: Yes, it’s to keep that womanly look. To have that bone straight look and have my hair on my shoulders and have it swing and bounce.

Frank: Womanly, that’s a touchy issue. Because you’re still womanly with a short cut.

Hirut: We understand that now.

Malene: It’s also when you’re 16, 17 years old…you can’t be telling that to someone that age. That was my high drama.

Naila: That was really cool. For 2 something years I had it natural. My Mom and I got back into that mother-child, like daughter relationship, because she would do my hair for me again. And she hadn’t done my hair since I was 8, or 9, or 10. And I would be getting the China bumps again and I learned to braid my own hair. And I would have this huge afro that I would just blow out and mind you this wasn’t the 80s, it was like ‘94, and I was just like I don’t care. The guys too that I knew, were like T-Boz (from TLC) has a great cut, Left-Eye (from TLC) has a great cut. You could do that to your hair. You could do what whatever’s doing. And I was like, no, no, I’m happy. Then I went away and I came back, and I was stuck, I have to wash my hair. I don’t have 3 hours to wash my hair, then oil it, then China bump it. And I was like Gail, my sister, perm it. And she was like are you crazy. And I was like perm my hair, I just did not have 3 hours to perm my hair. So just 2 hours later, I just threw it all away, I just didn’t want to go through the whole thing of doing it. It just wasn’t me, it just didn’t look like me. So I cut it off again.

Hirut: You know what, when I cut off my hair it was in the summer, it was during exam time. My hair needed to be washed, and I hadn’t washed it. I was like, I have to cut my hair. I went home and I just cut my hair. I didn’t even comb it out because that would take time. Then I washed it, and it felt so good. The amount of shampoo it took to wash it was like half. And I got out of the shower and it took half the time. It was just very nice. It was very liberating having half the hair to take care of. It was the whole thing that I don’t have time to wash it, comb it, and then style it. I’ve got other things going on in my life.

THE CHEMICAL-USING SALON EXPERIENCE:

Frank: I never understood that, you’d see these women go into the salon and they’d have this nice coif, and then the next day you’d see them in a ponytail.

Malene: That’s because they slept on it wrong. They didn’t prop the pillows up properly.

Naila: They didn’t have the correct satin head wraps. (Laughs)

Frank: All that trouble to perm your hair, to relax your hair, and you go through the burning, and the scalp, and the eyes, and the money, but to put it in a pony tail.

Naila: But when you’re hair is straight, you have the ponytail option. When you have a big afro, there is no ponytail.

Frank: My experience is so different from yours. I’ve been to a salon once in my life, and that was to cut off my dreads. That was all I wanted from them. My hair wouldn’t do an afro. I would die for an afro, I would wish for an afro. It would do this; it would be flat on the top. And I’d tease it, tease it, tease it some more. I would try to get it to pouf, and just look at it, just limp. I braided my hair. I spent 10 hours braiding my hair; I wanted that so much, I didn’t want the other stuff. I wanted it to stay, because it would unravel so much. It wasn’t torture for me to deal with my hair. I liked going through those rituals.

Hirut: For me, it’s like I identified with my hair. For me to cut my hair, I’m like scared. I want to cut it short, short, short. My sister’s hair was to her waist, but recently, she’s like almost bald.

Naila: The other thing is that you can’t wash your hair before it’s going to be permed, you can’t wash your scalp. Because when that lye hits your pores and you scratch it, you’ll be bawling. I’ve seen women in the salons with tears running down their eyes, but they’re not washing out the perm for anybody, because they have roots, and they want the roots to be gone. They will stand and they will sit there and take it. They will take it, they will take it, take it, take it.

Malene: The good salons know that they would never put it down to the base of your scalp. They’ll never put the actual relaxer on your scalp.

Naila: But that’s what people want.

Malene: But the real salons, they won’t do it, because they know that if they put it there, you can end up losing all the skin in that area, and all the hair there too.

Naila: What this is, it’s just such a denial of how you come to this earth. There’s one thing if you’re doing it as a style and you’re relaxing your hair because you want a certain hairstyle. But when you believe that’s the only way you can wear your hair. If you sincerely believe that your hair can only be worn in the way other than how it naturally wants to be, then I just don’t understand.

GETTING DOWN TO THE ROOTS OF THE MATTER:

Malene: What I find funny is that those women who believe this is my hair, and the extension. I laugh when people come up to me and they ask, how do you do that. I laugh and I say don’t you remember, this is what happens when you don’t relax your hair.(Laughter) I do have odd hair in a way, the way it’s such a tight curl. And people come up to me and ask, how can I get that? You stop relaxing and you’ll get it.

Naila: I can’t get my hair to look like that. And that’s the thing about Black people, because the way my hair takes a perm, to how my sister takes a perm, and my Mom is all different, and we’re all in the same bloodline. My Mom can perm her hair all year long, but she will still when she wets it, have a wave. My hair is dead straight. So we all have our own, yes we’re all women, but we all have a completely different hair texture. And I have like 8 hair textures in my hair.

Malene: We’re willing to deal with our hair textures. Many people are just like, put it in extensions, put a weave on it.

Hirut: It’s all about pride, and being creative. I do different things, I don’t get bored. It’s not somebody else who’s doing my hair for me, I’m doing it myself. And I’m not burning myself, there’s nothing destroying my brain.

Frank: There’s a difference between perming your hair and doing styles with that hair. I used to think that women who went and permed their hair wanted the white hair, and then when they went and curled it, they wanted the curly version of the white hair. I thought it was crazy. But then I realized, if it’s about style, press the hair, it can go back to its natural state. If it’s about style and variety, then why not do that instead of permanently altering the chemical make-up of your hair.

Malene: There’s that whole notion that you don’t look beautiful with natural hair, and running your fingers through it. It’s not happening, breaking nails. How many combs have I broken, how many teeth are missing from my comb.

Naila: There is no running hands through hair, that’s just a crazy lie.

[Judy, with locks, comes and joins the group]

Hirut: My hair breaks my nails. If I attempt to put my hands in it (laughs).

Malene: I have no desire to have my hands running through my hair. I like it the way it is.

Naila: Now I enjoy taking care of my hair.

Malene: Giving yourself massages…

Naila: Yeah, now it’s an enjoyable experience. Yeah, it’s nice.
ANOTHER PERSONAL HAIR HISTORY:

Judy: My name’s Judy and I’ve had my hair like this for the past six years. I had my hair in dreadlocks since I graduated from film school in Calgary. I decided I was going to go and do it because there weren’t very many Black people in Calgary. I felt like I was kind of disappearing. So I felt like I had to go and do something about it, and I did. I walked into a Black hairdressing salon and I asked the woman how can I get dreadlocks. And she said, just don’t comb your hair. That’s it, yup, don’t comb your hair. Another friend of mine told me that you can help your dreads along if you twist a bit after you wash your hair. And I really enjoy this hairstyle the most after I’ve had a lot of things. I’ve had the braids, the weave, Jherri Curls, remember those…

(Laughter and comments)

I’ve tried them all. I think I have sort of a sensitive scalp too. I don’t like anything pulling on my scalp, so dreads have really been great for me. It’s a really low maintenance hairstyle, so if I have to work really long hours I don’t have to worry too much about anything. Definitely it’s a look for a woman of the 90s. However, we’re living in a White society, it’s a bit difficult, sometimes I think the way people perceive you. They see the image of a gangster when you have dreadlocks on. I’ve had a lot of different reactions. It’s either people really like you, and they want to come up and talk to you because they assume you’re counter-culture and they want to talk to you. Or, I’ve had like little ladies cringing, things like that. But it’s been very good. A lot of Black people come up and talk to me now, they feel more comfortable talking to me.

LOCKS IDENTIFY:

Frank: Do you feel you know every dread in Montreal? I feel like I know every dread in Montreal. You walk up to them and you do a head nod.

Judy: Yeah, that’s right.

Frank: I love that, I really love that. You get that kind of shock, with anybody?

SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY:

Judy: Usually, it depends on the age. I find that with young people, they’re cool with it. Some people, some older people, not all people, have a harder time with it. It depends on what you do for a living. I could not have my hair like this if I worked at the Bank of Montreal, or something like that.

Frank: But you could, that’s the funny thing.

Malene: I worked with about 6 Black women at the Bank of Montreal. And all of them looked at me funny because they were like you just don’t look neat, you don’t look finished, professional enough to be presenting presentations. They just have this mind set that if you relax your hair you have a more polished look, and no matter how polished I look, I still look a little bit rustic, not rusty.

Frank: It’s true. I beg to differ somehow. I’ve seen dreads in a lot of places they should be. I go into big companies with big head honchos and I go in there with my hair waving around and you have to listen to me, you have to listen to my mouth. I know as soon as I turn my back they are thinking all kinds of things.

Hirut: Are you sure that it’s not because you’re a Black woman with dreads. I’m sure if you were a Black man, you probably wouldn’t be able to come into the office.

Frank: But there’s a big difference in the way of the confidence level. I don’t want to be a natty dread, I’m not a Rasta, there’s a big difference between me being a Rasta and a dread. I aspire to be a Rasta, but I’m not. Neatness does matter to me, I don’t want nasty looking hair, so that comes into it. I’ve never had that problem, but if I had, I guess I didn’t approach it that way, or see it.

Naila: I think that people always think about how White people the quote unquote corporate North America will view it. But I don’t think White people know enough about Black hair to know the difference from locks, from braids. (Laughter) Sincerely, what I think is because I know that when I started locking my hair, my grandmother sat me down and spoke to me about it and told me her concerns. Because she was saying that in Jamaica if you’re hair is locked, that means that you’re a Rastafarian, they don’t have dread and Rasta. When I went to Jamaica, that meant I was a Rasta. That week I was there, I was a Rasta. I was like no, I’m a dread. They were like no, if you’re hair is locked, you’re a Rasta. I’m like okay. But here there is a distinction. She sat me down and she said how people are going to view you from our country and our culture is that you are a Rastafarian and with that you have a lot of negative connotations. But I don’t think that a lot of North American White people know about Rastafarians.

Frank: They know Bob Marley, and Peter Tosh, and all of those people.

Naila: I wouldn’t even go as far as Peter Tosh, it might be Bob Marley (Laughter). But the thing is, they just see it as another style that we have.

Frank: But they’ve adopted that style too.

Naila: But they don’t have the same connotations that Black people have of dreadlocks. So I don’t know if it really matters that much if you’re in a bank with dreads, or extensions, or a weave, or a perm. You know, because they don’t have the distinctions. Whereas a Black person that walks into a bank, will notice the difference between a perm, braids or locks. And they’ll probably treat you differently between a perm, braids and locks.

BLACK MEN AND HAIR:

Frank: You said something I think is quite poignant. Because if I were a man, that whole set up between a man and me, a Black man in White society is completely different. They’re scared of Black men period, and a dreaded Black man…oh God, they’re going to come and shoot the place up. So maybe I wouldn’t be able to do that.

Hirut: Already a man with long hair is not acceptable, so like Black, dread, and long hair…it’s just not kosher. (Laughter).

A HAIR WRAP:

Hirut: Hair wraps though, I started using them recently. The first time I started using them I felt odd, like everyone was staring at me. But it comes in much handy, when I don’t comb my hair, when I have like a bad hair day, it’s this miracle, I just wrap my hair…

Malene: It also shows your face more, and when people wrap their hair it’s just beautiful because you get to see just them.

SHE IS STILL WORKING HARD FOR THE MONEY-MORE THAN 9 TO 5:

Judy: I have a question for the dreads? Have you guys noticed if you’re treated differently before you had dreads and now you have dreads when you go out on the job hunt?

Frank: No, it’s pretty much been the same thing. Talk to them on the phone, and then you show up and it’s like…(her mouth drops). I tend to try to tie my hair back when I go, the first time, so it’s not so noticeable. You don’t want that to be the first image they see. There is a difference, I have to talk my way around it more.

Hirut: Are you sitting at the interview thinking are they looking at my hair, are they thinking about my hair?

Frank: I really try to make my hair as inconspicuous as possible, so it’s not the first thing they see. I know that the minute I see a little thing sticking out, I have to do some fast talking, or they’re not going to bite. Because the connotation is there, if you are a dread, you’re smoking up, you know, that’s what you’re doing, you’re not doing anything constructive. I think from the Whites that I know that have adopted a dreadlock hairstyle, they know a bit, but not as much as a West Indian, or an African would know, but they know more about it. The older ones, I don’t think they have a clue.

Judy: Unfortunately it’s not the hip ones who are working in human resources. (Laughter)

Malene: Have you had problems when you would go out on the job hunt?

Judy: I think being Black is enough of a shock usually. And the fact that I’m a woman as a camera operator in film and video, I’m already out on the edge, so. I don’t really think that makes too much of a difference, but I think it would make more of a difference if I was looking for a job in an office, or working at Jean Coutu in a pharmacy. I think it would be something different.
Frank: That’s true, I haven’t really seen a lot of dreads working in cosmetics and things like that.

Naila: I really haven’t had any problems with it, because I don’t have a problem with it. I just feel like it’s not an issue for me. It’s not an issue for me. But then the work I’ve been pursuing is on a part-time basis, I am still in school. But I plan to work in broadcast TV. But I will be on TV, and I will be reading the news, and people will be, but what is this, but that’s how life go. And it comes from too many years of watching TV and not seeing anybody that looked like anybody I knew, like close in my family. So, for me it’s not an issue, and that’s a lot of reasons why my family counselled me against it.

Frank: You just put your best foot forward when you go. You don’t have one sticking out like this (hand in the hair).

Naila: That’s how I look in the morning. (Laughter)

WHITE PEOPLE AND LOCKS:

Hirut: White people that you come across with dreads, do they identify with you. Do they act like they can identify with the Black cause because they have dreads?

Frank: I know they try.

Judy: Out west it’s different. When I was out west I was like what is with all these white people, blond people with dreadlocks. For them, it’s like the hippie thing, the Sinead O’Connor look, it’s like all that kind of gang that are in it. It’s like they’ve distanced themselves from the Black experience.

Naila: You know that in 5 years, they are going to be like clean-shaven…

Malene: Not even 5 years.

Naila: I know for me what I’ve found with my hair that you’re forever teaching. It’s like you’re forever teaching all the time. Can I touch it? It’s not a petting zoo. I have to tell people you can’t come behind and touch my hair.

Frank: You should charge them. (Laughter)

Naila: The most recent experience was when a man came up to me and he said, I don’t know if I should say this but you look like Medusa with you hair, I said see, you and me have to talk. It is an issue, you know. It is an issue. But the more of us out there that are just going on with our lives…

Frank: I don’t explain my hair to anybody, not even my mother.

NOTION OF PASSING AND HAIR:

Judy: My mother is really status quo. She said, if you ever want to change your hairstyle, I’ll pay for the hairdresser. The question I think of trying to assimilate, you live in a White culture, you should try and assimilate.

Frank: To pass as much as possible. No, I don’t explain my hair to anybody. If a Black person asks me, I say just leave it alone, don’t play with it, that’s different. But I’m not explaining my hair to…no, I’m not doing it. You don’t explain your hair and your hair rituals to me in the morning, I don’t want to know. So why should I explain mine to you.

HAIR EDUCATION:

Naila: I see it differently. Most Black people can’t wash their hair everyday, no. It becomes tedious, but this is like an opportunity for them to know. Maybe it’s not my job.

Frank: I can’t explain for every Black woman, I can only explain for me. And I don’t.

Judy: There was a dreadlock in Calgary and I went up and talked to him and he said, mother nature, that was his explanation. (Laughter)

Frank: I like that.

Naila: People would get into big discussions with me about why I locked my hair, and finally I just said, who feels it knows it, as Bob says in his songs. And that’s it.

OTHER CULTURES AND HAIR:

Naila: The thing that’s weird…do other people do this stuff. With Black people there is such a cultural and political culture that you’re hair is in. It’s never just a style. I know some guys who will only check for those who have natural hair, and some guys will not check a woman who has her hair natural. I don’t see other cultures or races having to do that.

Frank: Sure they do, it’s just different.

Malene: It might be the actual colour of their hair.

Naila: But it’s not a political statement.

Frank: Please, go to Japan. We have to deal with hair, we have to deal with body type, we have to deal with skin colour, we have to deal with a whole lot of things that are not of the White people. But then you have Asian people, there are a whole set of different imperatives that they have to deal with. So you’ll have Chinese women going in to put in a bone so they’re eyes are not like that, and blonding, it’s insanity, whatever you do to make you more White. There are Indians who will not marry anybody close to our colour. They’re Indians, but no, no, no, you’re too black.

Hirut: I watch a lot of Japanese animation, and even the hair colour is blond, they’re very White looking.

Naila: I’m not worried about them. As Black people, we don’t have a unifying language, we don’t have a unifying religion, because the religion many of us have was put onto us, we don’t have a unifying culture, so I’m just more concerned.

Frank: But I think it’s all moving that way though, it’s moving towards whitisizing everything. So Japanese people have Japan but not for always. There are Chinese in Trinidad that don’t associate themselves with Chinese. You tell them they’re Chinese and they go what, I’m Trini, don’t talk to me, they don’t speak no Chinese. They’re Indian people in Trinidad that go India, they tell you do I look Indian to you, you go yes, I’m a Trini. It’s different, it’s changing, we’ve been displaced a lot longer, but we can’t go back, like you just said. We have to accept that you’re different, and you’re different, and we’re all different, there’s a diaspora, but it doesn’t mean Blackland is here. We can still be unified. We can’t go back, but we’re here.

Hope you enjoyed the salon talk. You can lengthen the discussion in the Salon Utopia community.

Iris’s Perspective – Wearing Glasses in the 1980s

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 eyes. One of my best friends at the time had this surgery.

By time the 1990s rolled around and I was in university, I wore my contacts exclusively. They were one of the biggest pains in the world. I also find that putting in contacts is a skill itself…something that is developed as a skill with practice. When I would revert to my glasses for a time and then go back to contacts, I could not pry my eyes open long enough to put in those tiny, clear, round circles.

I can completely understand why someone would choose to do eye surgery…especially when it comes to issues of vanity and how important it may be when it comes to how they look. This would depend on the career they are in.

I keep wearing my glasses mainly for convenience. When I heard in a news report that contacts are actually bad for your eyes, I started to wear my glasses. Plus I am older now and less affected by concerns surrounding vanity. I have had flashes in the past of considering laser eye surgery; however figure that the money can be better spent in other ways.

Cosmetic Eye Surgery

Many people will choose cosmetic eye surgery to prevent the signs of aging. Surgical methods can lift the eyes, known as an eyelift as well as smooth the contours under the eyes to make you look younger.

Some cultural groups also get a surgical procedure done to add an eyelid where a significant one was not there before.

Laser eye surgery is used to reverse poor vision back to 20/20. The procedure costs anywhere from $4,000 to $5,000 for both eyes – even less in some cases. Those figures are maximum ballpark ones. Laser eye surgery is relatively unobtrusive for those people who are little squeamish when it comes to knives, needles and blood.

One of the benefits of cosmetic surgery is that it is meant to enhance your existing features. If this is something you would like to consider, perhaps you are tired of your eyeglasses and the way they make you look – or you are simply aiming to look younger because that is a value that you hold dear, then speaking with a cosmetic eye surgeon may be a good choice for you.

Make sure you do your homework to find the right ones. Do your research, ask friends who may recommend someone – check the person out with places like the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Good luck on your journey to improving your physical beauty.

The Model World

I had my days when I was in the model world. Weighing in at 118 pounds at the height of 5 feet 10 inches, my model agent once told me that I should lose five pounds at that time.

The main reason why I got into modeling was because a boyfriend of mine was doing it too. I had a lot of fun doing it and when I was in my late teens and early 20s I did not ever think of getting cosmetic surgery – nor did I plan to in the future.

Getting Old and Fat

I remember the days when I was young and skinny – they really were not all that long ago. Those days are gone now and it is probably a good thing that I am afraid of knives that keeps me from doing cosmetic surgery.

In general I am happy with the way I look. It is an au naturel look that I strive for, an Earth Goddess kind of thing. At least I tell myself this and it helps me sleep at night so I do not miss being the “hottie” I once was.

There is an expression that “beauty is wasted on the young.” I would say this is absolutely true. All of the beauty I had when I was younger would come in more handy now and be a lot more useful. On the other hand though, I have things like wisdom at my age that I did not have in my teens and in my 20s that is hard to get from a knife.

I do understand why some older people would choose to get plastic surgery to have a look that they feel will give them the competitive edge in the career market. Some occupations really require a certain look. I am glad I am a writer and do not need to worry as much about my appearance. I need to worry more about grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Would I go under the knife? I do not think so. At the end of the day I am just happy that I breathe in and out and I am in a relatively healthy state. I could use some more exercise though and perhaps more soya milk.

The Real Hair

If because of hair loss you need to wear a wig or a hairpiece, you will be in the company of many stars and celebrities who wear wigs and hairpieces for professional reasons.

Some Salons Really are a Cut Above

Imagine a professional salon that is donating their earnings to help cancer survivors with their hair loss.

Menopause Hair Loss

Some women experience hair loss as part of menopause. There are ways of getting around this irritating situation.

Growing a Beard

Beards can be an attractive look on a man. Sometimes growing one can cause problems.

Cutting Back on Hair Care Expenses

I had my days when I used to spend more than $100 CDN at the salon in the 1980s and once spent about $300 CDN on a weave back in the 1980s too. There are many ways you can cut back on your hair expenses.

Boar Hairbrushes

Boar hairbrushes can be an extremely good option as a purchase to maintain the health of your hair. There are other types of brushes too that work as well as one made of boar bristles.

Do Supplements Help Hair Loss?

There is one product called Herbalife that is 100 percent organic and is a vitamin supplement. Herbalife is a meal replacement that contains your complete daily nutritional and vitamin intake with fewer calories.

Excerpt from What Happened to the Afro?

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).

A Hair Peace (Broadcast on CBC Montreal)

My first hobby was playing hairdresser to my Barbie dolls. I had my childhood in the 1970s and 1980s but I was not much different from Black children in the 1940s who chose White dolls over Black dolls in a landmark study that lead to the desegregation of American schools.

10 Most Popular Design Programs

Design is such a fascinating field of study and it can be hard to find the best school to study at. Here is a list of the 10 most popular design programs in Canada. There are actually a few more than 10 because it was so difficult to narrow the list down to just 10.

Miracle Makeover

On my way to Urban Textures Salons on 44 Gerrard St. W. I lost the hat that was covering the recent and awful weave I had received. It was an afro weave, done with synthetic hair, but I came with great expectations to put my head in the hands of Urban Textures’s owner Christos Cox and his team.

It Makes Cents: Shopping Tips

Shopping – everybody has to do it at some point. It is hard to go through life without the material things in life. Here are some suggestions on how you can save on those things you need:

The future of home building (originally published in New Dreamhomes and Condominiums Magazine)

Courtesy of Morguefile.com

While driving a rented car on his way to get his two boys their first movie ever, Antonio Gomez-Palacio, the chair of the Toronto Society for Architects, discussed his work and vision for the future of home building in the Greater Toronto Area.

Hushing People to Try on Clothes (originally published in Pride Newsmagazine)

Owner of Hush Boutique, Stephen Phillips stands by his creations

He was one of those people who answer his phone, but you get put on hold a lot because he has so many calls coming in. After three tries, I was finally able to set-up an interview with African-Canadian Stephen Phillips.

Closet Shopping

With little funds and a closet stuffed with clothes, I decided to shop in my own closet.

Creating a Canvas (originally published for Pride Newsmagazine)

Guess what? That beautiful mane on the head of Miss Universe, Natalie Glebova – it is a weave.

Christos Cox and his team at Urban Textures Salons created the winning look for Miss Universe like any artist creates their canvas.

Get radical (originally published on Canoe.ca)

Trends in hair fashions are keeping tempo with music and other media. Looks change from the rock and roll and out of bed, straight with no frizz and shiny as a mirror like classical or jazz, or alternative radical styles with no half measures and no compromises.

The desired look with StudioFX

How to Get Fall Clothing on the Cheap

The best deal I ever got for fall was one time when I was in Sudbury shopping with the mother of a friend of mine. I was up there for an interview and she was kind enough to take me to the Value Village. What a great place!

How to Get Dressed for Bed on the Cheap

If you have the money, then it’s really nice to invest in bedtime clothes. There are all kinds of beautiful things you can wear to bed, like silk, satin or good quality cotton on a hot night.

Crystal Clear Maids

crystal-clear-maids

The mother and son team of Crystal Clear Maids have been in business for six months. The business is helping them to realize their Canadian dreams as a family originally from Grenada. Listen to what Sharon who gets things clean says.

Hair – by Donna Kakonge (published December 1999/January 2000 – Panache Magazine)

Back in the mid-80s, watching Oprah Winfrey’s bouncing and behaving hair was like a dream come true. I never knew that black hair could do that. I rushed to a salon, telling them to duplicate the Oprah ‘do on my head, and they did. The bad part is that just like what once happened to Oprah, my hair fell out. I was left with no hair on my head to duplicate any ‘do.

Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

Here is something that looks interesting for those of you in the business of selling ideas:

http://www.worthathousandwords.com/

Finding Love

Finding love

With everything from the Internet to the telephone, modern technology is creating new ways to find love. This radio story was originally aired with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Master Weaver (originally published with Pride Newsmagazine)

Rose Hibbert and Christos Cox creates magic with Donna Kakonge’s hair

The Master Weaver

With her 1992 red and black Volkswagen Jetta, Hibbert drove me up to Hair & Wigs on the Danforth in Toronto to get the 150 per cent real human cuticle hair for the makeover. Her sister Ingrid Hart, who is an actor and had a long-running role on “Train 48,” was seated in the back.

Winterize your skin (published on Canoe.ca in 2001)

Winterize your skin

Did you know that the sun can cause damage to your skin in the winter, as well as in the summer?

If you said yes, great. For those of you who said no, there can be grave consequences to not using sun protection in the winter. Even more damage can happen to your skin in winter than in the summer.

Perfume has gone to the dogs (published in Canoe.ca in 2001)

Whoof! Whoof!

Perfume has gone to the dogs

Oh my dog! Now pet owners can get even more intimate with their loved ones by wearing the same perfume with their cat and dog.

Jully Black

Jully Black

Jully Black – Home-grown Talent

The first time I met Jully Black was while she was working with the Princess of Wales show “Da Kink in my Hair.” I was walking out of a swanky store in the Eaton Centre of Toronto and she was walking in. With a huge smile on her face, she greeted me and said “hello.”

A sprint to a clothing line (originally published for Pride Newsmagazine)

he has reached the finish line

A Sprint to a Clothing Line

Published in Pride Magazine – June 29, 2005

Ben Johnson, the fastest man in the world according to a 1988 World Record time of 9.79 seconds, is now in the clothing business.

MyRoxanne (excerpt)

Chapter One

Roxanne has always been attracted to white men. There, she admits it. Maybe it came from watching all those movies and television shows when she was younger, where the good-looking men were always white. But, she does remember being fascinated with the show Fame and thinking Leroy was very sexy. And she does think black men are sexy. But, there’s something about them she has never been able to achieve, and that’s love. Life is hard for black men. And life for black women is even harder. She has never been able to find a black man who compared to her father. That’s why she always fell for the white ones.