new thread
Hey everyone, here are a few progress pics. The first three are from about a month ago, when I was trying to take my own picture in a mirror. Man, I hate that! I had to delete a zillion fuzzy pics just to get a few that were semi-okay. Thank goodness for digital cameras.
The other three are from today. I'm looking quite "organic" in them (I went to a meeting of the Cactus and Succulent Society today). I had to laugh today, because my neighbor, who's a long-time hippie, saw me and said, in a friendly way of course, "You d*** hippie!" The last pic shows off the half-pony I was wearing. I really like the half-pony from the back, but I'm not so crazy about it from the front. Maybe I should just face away from people when I talk to them. LOL
Anyway, your feedback is always greatly appreciated.
dino
The pics look pretty good considering dealing with the mirror. I can relate to that. I usually use a tripod and the self-timer but the pics still don't turn out that good. Let me know what would be a good time to get together and we'll get some good hair pics taken. The outdoor pics turned out nice!
Catcha later, Dino...
--Rick
Sure, that sounds great, Rick. My weekends are getting to be booked for the next couple of weeks, but if you have a free weekday sometime, let's do it! You know I don't have to be at work until 2:00 in the afternoon.
dino
Fantastic Dino!! The pics outside are wonderful, and the shirt is stunning. Your hair has really moved on from your previous pics. Take care and keep on the journey.
nuttidave, thank you very much for the kind words. It's always nice to hear from you.
dino
Hey there,
our hair's looking good!
Seems to have a similar texture in the back to mine.
MattT
Hi Matt:
I just took another look at your pics, and you're right, our hair is similar, although I think you've got more body and a fuller texture than I do. My individual hair shafts are quite thin and fine; yours seem to be richer/thicker.
dino
You &^%$*@# hippie!!!
(I think the cool shirt put it over the edge.)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Those pictures are great. The half-tail style looks good from the front too although you may disagree. The sunlight brings out the color in your hair as well. Very nice!
You really do take good pictures, so serene and sincere is your expression.
Do you grow lots of cacti? I like them because they are so easy! We have some that practically grow wild in the yard and get very large. The kind that have the cactus 'pears' on them with the large, flat, oval shaped leaves, and the yellow flowers. I don't know the actual name of them, but they originally came from Arizona, but they thrive here in GA.
See ya later, Bragi
Thanks for the compliment. ;-)
Thanks, Bragi, very nice of you.
I do have a lot of cacti (20 more now, after having gone to that meeting... it was like they were throwing plants at us!). Cacti do well whenever they have enough sunlight (or, more technically, "PAR," or photosynthetically active radiation). They don't need to have real high temperatures year round, as many people believe, although you do have to be careful about frost and freezing temps. Here where I live in San Jose, that's virtually never a factor. And you don't need to water them very often, which makes them easy to grow indeed.
The kind of cactus you described is a species of Opuntia, actually a platyopuntia because it has those big, flat "leaves," which are called cladodes, and are actually the stems of the plant. In cacti, the spines are actually modified leaves, and the stem is the major photosyntetic organ of the plant. Plants with ordinary leaves lose water through pores in their leaves, so the absence of familiar leaves in cacti is an evolutionary adaptation to living in an arid environment (as are the fleshy, succulent stems, and a host of others in the highly specialized cactus family).
dino
Thanks for the information! It's good to learn something new everyday. The pictures on the cactus guide looked exactly like my cactus plants. We actually do get some frost from time to time, but these plants have never been hurt by it, and they have been growing there for 30+ years.
Now I can say that I have several 'Opuntia bravoana' cultivars in my botanical collection!
See ya later.
Bravo! :-)
Maybe I should just face away from people when I talk to them. LOL
I've always believed in presenting my best side also. :)
Noticably (noticeably, noticibly; take your pick) longer and looking much better; I'll be glad when mine gets to that stage.
Big George
Lol!! Good comeback, Big George!
And to Dino...
The hair is looking definitely longer, --- and looks FANTABULOUS in that half-tail!!!
I also love love love that hippie shirt (I want it baaaaadly, --- so WATCH OUT if you ever invite me over to your house for dinner... it may be missing after I leave (lol)!
- Ken
Ken, you're welcome to come over for dinner anytime! Take Caltrain down from the City to the Diridon (downtown San Jose) station; I'll be happy to pick you up. And then we can walk to the store that has these shirts ad infinitum... it's literally right around the corner from my condo (although I got that particular shirt at their sister store in Santa Cruz).
Thanks for the compliments.
dino
(Good! My evil plan is working - he he he...)
Take Caltrain down from the City to the Diridon (downtown San Jose) station;
Well, I do have my own horse, --- uh, I mean, car... er, actually, TRUCK (modern cowboys have trucks these days, according to all the C&W lyrics I know)...
I'll be happy to pick you up. And then we can walk to the store that has these shirts ad infinitum... it's literally right around the corner from my condo (although I got that particular shirt at their sister store in Santa Cruz).
Hey, cool!
You're welcome, Dino, --- and I hope you don't mind all my kidding around!
- Ken
Uh oh...
Well, the parking situation here in San Jose is just a little better than in San Francisco, so you shouldn't have a problem finding a place to hitch your horse. (Of course, it's always good to spare the air and take public transit when you can, too. Plus, the horse probably wouldn't mind a rest.)
Oh yes, I found all your comments highly inflammatory, so you should know that I've reported you to the Great and Tragic Hair Moderator herself. Diana Ross will be showing up on your doorstep anyday now. That'll show you! ;-D
Yeah...I can totally see you in that shirt!!
Big George, thanks very much. You'll be there before you know it!
dino
*love* the hippie look Dino! Your hair is making fantastic progress. It looks it prime condition. What is your final goal length?
Thanks, Jason! Fortunately, it does seem to be pretty healthy. I don't have a goal at this point... just want to grow it LONG, at least to my mid- to lower back.
By the way, the pics of your half-pony were my inspiration for doing it. That style seems to really look the best on you, my friend!
dino
Thanks to jason, he has inspired me to waer half-tail as well, b/c it looks so great on him, I gave it a try, and love it
I'm glad I could inspire others to try this style!
Great looking hair that fits you perfectly. (Long hair on Men always somehow seems to do so, but of course we were all designed to have long hair naturally.)
The 1/2 tail looks super and yes I know what you mean about not being able to see it yourself............but it is still there for everyone else to see and admire.........Hippie or not! :-)
Good luck in further growth if this is your plan. Again, terrific looking Long Hair!
Thanks, Justin! It is my plan to keep it growing... it's only been one year's growth, so I have to say I'm very pleased with it.
And thanks for the encouragement about the half-pony look; sometimes, just a few words really does help. :-)
dino
Hi Dino,
that's a great look, your hair and your African shirt go together extremely well!
Thanks for giving us some hints on where to find these shirts - I'll check that place out the next time I go to SF ;-)
All the best, and more happy growth!
Hans-Uwe
yes he does look good with his long hair,beard and African shirt.
as far as were to find them do a e-bay serch
for dashiki and you will find them
that is were I got mine
Ron, thanks for the tip and for the compliment too. I really enjoy your pics too, in various outfits. Looks great (and fun)!
Thanks, Hans-Uwe. There's one store in San Jose and one in Santa Cruz. Let me know if you come; I'd be more than happy to take you there!
Hey Dino,
all the pics are cool in different ways. I like the orange lighting of the first mirror picture, very arty (don't know if it was intentional). The bright sunny ones, all fine. You look great in all of them and are definitely getting the 'shaggy' look :)
The world needs more barefoot d*** hippies like you in it too!
Chris, very sweet of you, thanks. I agree: more d*** barefoot hippies = more love in this mean ol' world.
As for the orange lighting, it wasn't really intentional, although I like the effect too. My camera, under certain lighting conditions, seems to pick up lots of sepia tones. Sometimes I change the color balance afterward with photo software, and sometimes I just leave them like they are.
The orange effect comes from the flourescent lighting, outside you will get a more blue hue. If you have it, try changing the white balance on your camera and save it as a manual mode, then your interior images will look less orange.
Take care, Dave
Thanks for the tip, Dave. Actually, I have incandescent lighting in that room, but I have fluorescent lights in the kitchen, so that will come in useful. Of course, I'll have to pull out my camera manual to figure out how to change the white balance and save as manual mode!
d.
You're too hard on yourself. I think the half-tail looks tight (no pun intended. I just felt like ebonicizing "superb," lol) from the front. It's just my opinion, o' course, but I daresay you can at least look at people out of the corner of your eye when you're talking to them. :P
The other pics are great! Your hair's improved immensely from your previous updates. It's beginning to gain some volume, weight and length, and now that you're definitely at shoulder-length or thereabouts, you've got that cool-cat longhair look. In the non-African shirt (or #@$%!!!&$%%%%@!!!!!!!!!! hip-*&-pie!) pics, you have an almost surfer-like pic going on there.
Great colorful shirt from the dark continent, btw! Wish I had one of those. And nice anklet/ankle ring. I've always liked those. The vast majority of online stores I've seen them in label them as women's, but then, as with ponytail caps, it's not much of a Darwinian industry.
Keep up the great work!
Peace
Thanks very much, Fallen! And I understand about having different looks (surfer, hippie, etc.)... it seems I'm somewhat of a chameleon. People who haven't seen me for a while invariably say, "I didn't even recognize you," or "Oh my god, you look so different!" (Now if I can only get them to say "good" instead of "different"! {g})
As for the ankle bracelet, I crocheted it myself. It's very easy (and quick) to make them... all you have to do is get some bitchin' yarn, a crochet hook, and less than fifteen minutes later, voilà! A new accoutrement.
Anyway, thanks again; I really appreciate your thoughts. Hey, by the way, aren't you due for some update pics soon? :-)
peace,
dino
Ha, I know what you mean! But most people tell me that they like my hair when they see it for the first time, or at least the people whose opinions I hold higher. At least, that's what they tell ME. :P And the unrecognizability thing is getting to be a major problem for me now, although I can't really see why. If I'm recognized as a boy at all, people think I'm anything from a Samoan surfer (*shrugs*) to a burgeoning Rastafarian to a tech dude. I think I can be my own double agent, lol.
Nice job, dude! Crotcheting is a new concept for me. I'll research it a bit. Thanks.
Ha, indeed. But besides the fact that my cousin has my camera and suddenly decided to go to Trinidad for a week (go figure), my hair hasn't really grown that much. :( I don't know, but I think my growth rate's slowed down, or maybe I'm just checking it too frequently. And even when my hair does grow a teeny bit longer, it looks the same hanging down - the curls take FOREVER to let themselves go to gravity. My curls have been touching my nose for the past few months, it seems. I know it takes time, though, so here's hoping. If things don't work out to waist-length, I'll probably get dreads, which my mom REALLY dreads. :P But hey.
Thanks for asking!
Peace
dude, you have to do what's right for you but please consider before you go the dread route. I think your hair is *awesome* without going there. Please reconsider....
Oh, I didn't mean that it's something I'd do soon; sorry if I gave that impression. Dreads are something I've always thought about, but if I'm ever to truly consider getting them, it'll be in a few years. I'm only planning to dread if my hair can't reach at least mid-back when curly, though going by my other family members' hair, it ought to. But you never know.
Thanks for the concern and the compliment, though. :) Means a lot coming from you. You might not believe me, but a lot of days I look at my hair and feel really cruddy. I'll never cut it - I understand why I want long hair, and that I'm still deep in the awkward stage. But MAN, is the awkward stage awkward for guys like me...
Thanks again, dude.
Dear Dino, The Dashiki pics look soooooo much like a friend of mine who died mid july.
Your hair has the same soft and etherial quality Josh had (his brother has it, too) Yoe eyes have that same seeing-more expression, too. (which makes me wonder what cacti you were seeking... Peruvian Torch?)
Your sweetie (or sweetie to be) is (will be) a lucky lad.
nice half-up. Look into some hair toys that have that mock-butch, hey I'm here vibe.
Even a leather slide would work well.
truepeacenik, I'm so sorry to hear of the recent loss of your friend Josh. Your friend may be gone, but the love remains.
As far as cacti, they didn't have any Lophophora williamsii (a.k.a. peyote). Not that I would expect they would, since it's illegal to possess in the U.S.!
Thanks for your suggestion about hair toys. I have been wanting to look into that when my hair is long enough... not sure if it's there or not yet.
peace,
dino