new thread
I don't yet know how to post more than one pic at a time, sorry to say...
This first pic (out of 7 total) shows a fleeting glimpse of my braid at an outdoor Swing Dance, --- taken June of '05, at San Francisco's Civic Center Party on Gay Pride Day. As you can see, whenever I spin or turn, the hair can whip around like a lethal weapon! A woman friend of mine with long hair suggested to me once that I make sure to wear my ponytail or braid very LOW (less likely to seriously injure someone on the dance floor).
More dance floor & hair pics will follow...
- Ken
OK, so here's a better pic of the braid I wore that day...
One of my nieces taught me a trick that I use to "shorten" the length of my hair: I do a regular ponytail, but a bit looser than usual; then I flip it up & through the hair-tie once again, poking it out through the middle (gives it an extra "once-over"). There's an official name for this thing; but I forgot it!
Anyway, I braid it AFTER i do this topsy-turvy thing, --- keeps everything in-place very securely all day for me (which is what I need when I go Swing dancing)...
At any major dance event (I go to more "low-key" dances every week; but here I'm talking about "special"-type dance events), I debate over how I want to wear my hair. Since this particular dance went from noon - 6PM, and was OUTDOORS (and San Francisco can be a very windy city!), wearing my hair loose did not seem like a wise option, --- I've done it before, and the amount of de-tangling afterwards can be a bear!
More pics to follow...
- Ken
For as long as I've known my friend Hester (which is well over 15 years), her hair has always been this long (and that FULL!!!). I'm always surprised that she wears her hair loose on the dance floor as often as she does; but then again, her hair is straighter than mine, and she doesn't sweat as much as I do on the dance floor (lol)!
The other dancers in the background are doing a line dance, BTW, while Hester and I are doing some West Coast Swing swivel move together.
- Ken
I feel very lucky: I have SEVERAL favorite dance partners, --- both strait and gay...
Here I am torturing my friend Don with hip-bumps (people either love 'em or hate 'em!)... I have no idea why it makes him laugh, but it does it every time!!
Don, and my friend Christopher (who's not featured in this thread), are AMAZING Lindy dancers (the original great-grandfther of all Swing dancing, which started in Harlem during the '30s & '40s), --- they do all these fancy lifts & drops that make everybody watching go "ooooooo!" and "aaaaahhh!", --- unlike me, who dances more "vanilla". I keep begging my friend Christopher, who's not much taller than Donnie, to lift me in the air sometime... (hmmmm... I wonder WHY he keeps declining - lol!!)
- Ken
Here's a pic, hand-down (no pun intended), of the most cooperative partner I've had in years the priviledge of dancing with, EVER...
I have no clue who this was, but certainly he/she had a very special "connection" with me at the moment this pic was taken, --- makes you wonder how I must treat my friends, doesn't it (lol!)??
Anyway, I hope y'all who looked at these pics didn't get too bored, --- and my apologies again for not knowing how to post more than one pic at a time...
Thanks for looking!
- Ken
Were you in leverage when this shot was taken? Who was your partner, The Govenator???!?
-William
ROFL!!! Well, William, as you know... some of the "dainty little" followers I lead around the dance floor are about 6' 6'', and work out regularly in those gyms, --- thank God I have some extra weight on my bones, or I'd be water-skiing, instead of Swing dancing!
- Ken
This pic was taken at the same event (SF's Gay Pride Day), but in the previous year to all the other pics... the last time I remember wearing my hair down all-day!
For me, it seems like the longer my hair has grown, the less I want to risk wearing it loose all day (due to amount of tangles I get if I do wear it down). This particular year, I marched in the big Parade with the contingent of other C&W dancers I often hang out with, who all belong to the non-profit Sundance Association for Country-Western Dancing. This pic was taken by my friend Dave, who was willing to capture what my hair length looked like from in-back that year...
- Ken
lol, nice pics and nicer hair. I just felt the overwhelming need to comment because I thought that was a kilt. And, naturally, kilts are divinity, so, yeah. lol. Nice faux dress, though. :P
You should try breakdancing next, lol. You could do a hairspin instead of a headspin, lol. Sure, you'll go bald in an astonishingly short period of time, but you'll be astonishingly bald AND famous!
Peace
It's just my long-sleeved denim shirt tied around my waist (or rather, I should say... tied around my HIPS - lol!)
You can have the fame; I'd prefer keeping the hair any day!!
- K
By the end of the day, --- especially after Swing or C&W dancing all day (which can be quite aerobic... you'd think that I'd be a bit skinnier then, wouldn't you?!!) --- my hair can look just plain GROSS. And that's when hats can come in handy!
This pic was taken by Hester again, while dancing with another long-time dance partner, Rebecca. We're dancing a 2-Step here, rather than Swing, and it looks like I'm leading some sort of double hammerlock-type move here...
Every once in awhile I'll show up at a dance, wearing my hair up under my hat right from the beginning. If I do a particularly good job of tucking it up, invariably someone will come up and ask me, "Did you cut your hair???" My favorite way to answer is to say not a word, but just remove my hat and let my hair tumble out!
- Ken
As you can see, whenever I spin or turn, the hair can whip around like a lethal weapon!
Wow! That's a great action shot. Hat's off to the photographer as well as you and your partner.
Hey, wait just a doggone minute... that girl stole my spot! And, come to think of it... she's wearing MY outfit, too!!
- K
LOL!!! Now that would be something to see!
For a sec I thought you were in the middle of a riot.
Great pics Ken! I'm really impressed by the apparent weight of your braid - such wonderful thickness!
Thanks, Jason. I just looked in my iphoto libraray to see if i could find a clearer pic of the braid, but none really there except what's already posted. That particular braid starts off with this "double-start' type of ponytail, --- which makes the hair look even thicker. I don't remember the real name of that thing that my niece taught me; but you sort of flip the hair up and trough the hair-tie again, poking it out at the bottom... I will eventually post a "how to" series of pics. My b/f is moving up to SF from So. Calif., and he has long hair, so I'm sure he can take the pics for me (otherwise, very difficult to take pics of the back of my own head!)...
Take care!
- Ken
Great pictures Ken, I'm glad you pulled them from the your archives to share with us. Man, it looks like you really cut up the carpet!
Bruce
Thanks, Bruce! Yes, I enjoy cutting up the carpet, --- in fact, I prefer ripping it up entirely (lol!)!!
Take care, and thanks again for the compliments!
- Ken