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TW: American SSI Disability & Medicaid systems, discussion of mental health & stress, genocide & eugenics. Today is one week post-op. I was on the table exactly seven days ago right now. Today, I also was notified by US SSI Disability that my request to review my hearing from April 2025 has been denied. Which means I'm starting the application process over from scratch, for the third time in six years. Why was I denied last year? Because the "employment expert" at the hearing decided I could still be a receptionist, even though I have literally failed at being a receptionist because of my health problems, but that wasn't in the time-frame of this hearing, so it didn't count and I can obviously be a receptionist just fine now... never mind that receptionists jobs are going to AI now, anyway. They're waiting for me to die. I am officially too disabled to benefit capitalism, and too young to justify spending social security on, so they'll just let me waste in limbo until I die. You think I'm kidding? Tell that to the 30,000 Americans who died waiting for their case to go through in 2023. This is actual genocide and eugenics at work, that no one gives a shit about. At least I've had Medicaid this whole time, hence how I could get my hip replaced, but that's going away in exactly a year, so I will definitely face significant time without any health insurance now. So, uh, did I mention I have a Ko-fi for mutual aid? I haven't been able to earn anything since 2024. And I'm certainly not getting any help from the social security I paid into my whole career. And, of course, this is fabulous for my mental health as I'm recovering from a major body-altering surgery! Fuck.

I'm talking 3B/C, very fine, highly porous, medium volume hair that has always been too fragile to grow much past my shoulders. I've been in the Natural Hair Care movement since the very beginning (all the way back in 2014...), I grew out my grey hair four years ago, I do not heat style, only steam treat, and I started a caffeinated scalp cleanse & oiling growth journey and chebe length retention journey in August 2025... right before my hip went bed. I'm also a research & FAFO kind of AuDHDist in the Nina Pool kind of way, so I do know what I'm talking about when it comes to fragile hair like mine. After night 2 of sweating out gallons of water, anesthesia leftovers, and extra white blood cells before I could sleep, my hair and sleep bonnets were pretty bad this morning. And I'm still not quite up to a full shower, so here's how I've been tackling retaining my hair health while my body health goes temporarily to shit. I spoke a bit about the prep during the pre-op shower already, but here's the details: I did my normal scalp and hair cleanse with my Kojic acid soap before the Great Safeguard Scrubdown, I did not oil my scalp (better to let the follicles breathe if I'm not attending to my proper cleansing & exfoliating routine), I did apply my usual leave-in conditioner on the strands, but I "slugged" it in with 100% pure vegetable glycerine instead of chebe butter. I'll get back to the chebe in a week or two, when I have the strength to get into my full hair routine again. After that dried, I braided it into medium-tight dutch braid pigtails - tight enough to stay intact through a lot of jostling around, not so tight it causes hair loss. I also secured the ends with small rip-proof hair-tyes, something I don't always do, but again, we're going for longevity and end protection. My silk bonnet went on about the minute I got up to my room for the night and was cognizant of the fact, and it stayed on until I sweat it off Wednesday night. I wore a silk-lined beanie to PT over the braids yesterday, and another bonnet until I ripped it off my sweat-soaked head at around 3am today. So, I finally sat on the end of my bed and addressed my hair today. Here's how I tackled that: The braids were eased out very gently, and I worked out any obvious tangles or shed hairs with my fingers. I sectioned my hair off to give my scalp and roots a healthy spray with HOCL. Once my scalp was damp with the HOCL, I got my fingers under my hair to massage it in and make sure it's well-distributed on my head. That helps get rid of any bacterial growth from the sweat. I then used a detangler/leave-in conditioner to dampen my hair with the product pretty well. Once it was wet through, I combed the product through with a Tangle Teezer brush to remove any leftover snarls or shed hairs (which it does really well, btw). I love this SoCozy Kids detangler (not paid, I just do), but use whichever is your favorite. After the product dried, I used a silk hair-tye to pull my hair into a loose "pineapple" ponytail at the top of my head, and put a clean bonnet over my freshly detangled hair. And when it comes to the internal part of hair care: Electrolytes again ftw. The brand I use is a combo of deep sea minerals, and liquid B vitamin complex, and I have been POUNDING them. I've had two regular doses back on my VitronC (considering my post-op labs showed me as real fucking anemic in favor of the White Blood Cell blast, I wanted to get that corrected ASAP), Buffered Vitamin C, Omega 3-6-9 oils, and Magnesium glycinate. My morning coffee has changed while I'm recovering and doesn't lend well to my usual collagen dosing, but I'm drinking bone broth to keep up there. And just managing my pain and maintaining my caloric intake. My body wants SUGAR, not surprising, I can't take Naltrexone while I'm on the Oxy. I'm glad I stocked up on healthier sweet calorie sources, rather than just binging on any sweets, especially when we still have Christmas cookies in the freezer. And that I did all that meal planning! Moment of truth time, then! Did I lose any length or volume to stress shed during 4.5 days of healing major surgical trauma? Nope. That's half a week of shed. Zero breakage. In other post-op news, the pain is starting to kick in where the muscles were cut and stitched, and just general suture pain. All to be expected, all controlled well enough, all will be gone in a week, I know... but it's not super fun accidentally touching the leg and my body is like "what kind of pain signal are we even supposed to go for here??" The bruising, though, is healing really fast, it's gone from bright red to almost green in just a few days. I'm not complaining! And walking is getting easier, I'm even starting to get some baby follow-through with my steps if I'm on a straight course!

One of my favorite topics! TW: Corporate capitalism, influencer culture, medical surgery, plastic surgery, hygiene, survival living. Especially since it's been so twisted by corporate capitalism and influencer culture lately. I'm looking at you, TikTok. For instance, I just did a huge act of self care by consenting to a painful major surgery. And it wasn't a BBL just for the lewk, I'm really hoping my right leg sciatica that I've been getting steroid injections for for the past few years, as well as all the urinary and GI issues will resolve now that I don't have a shorter leg and pelvic tilt right over my naturally fused SI joint. That's self care, making sure your body is as healthy as possible. Considering the horror stories I've heard from BBL patients... getting a BBL is not "self care." Quite the opposite. And then there's the "hygiene influencers" who show everyone how to take the 3+ hour "everything shower" with their one of everything from Walmart's personal care aisle and Bath & Body Works, but many women won't soap up their labia or assholes because they were told "the vagina is a self-cleaning oven!" but that same person never bothered to explain what the vagina is, exactly. Meanwhile, actual hygiene definitely involves soap in those places... Are you "making motivational content" with your exercise and meal prep videos, or are you doing these things because you love your body, and want to help other people love their bodies, too? They are not the same thing, babes. One's motivated by money, the other by love. Both are energy vibrations. Money has a very low vibration, while love is the highest vibration of them all. You will get different results doing the exact same things with different motivations. Maybe you'll have the same physical appearance at the end, but you won't have the deep connection to your body to be truly within your body, not matter what, because you feel fully in control of your body. And that, is "self care." And do you know what people forget in our content and commerce driven culture? Rest. I highly recommend doing a deep dive into the work of Tricia Hersey. Not sponcon, I discovered her "Nap Ministry when she first brought it to Instagram probably 10+ years ago now. And, it healed my #girlboss soul. She writes for a Black Woman audience, but absolutely everyone under capitalism should be learning her philosophies. Why? Because creativity and rest go hand in hand. Creativity requires long periods of boredom for the innovation to happen, and more long periods of fucking around and finding out what you can do with that innovation. That takes a lot of down time from survival behaviors. And yet, here we all are, stuck in a social system that gives us no rest time, we need to spend all of our time on survival, and steal crumbs of time here and there, often at the expense of our sleep. No wonder we've been stuck in endless cycles of historical repetition over the past few decades. We're not allowed the time to dream of a future to be able to make a change. And that's exactly where corporate greed wants us, they want the power to dictate the future for us. Creativity is self care. Even if you're dancing in your bedroom with your blinds drawn, or scribbling in a sketchbook you never show anyone. You're putting yourself in the space for self-expression, and that builds up your creativity (and talent!) more and more. The more of us who do this, the closer we get to the Star Trek future. Let's get real about self-care again, and actually love on ourselves, not just follow consumer trends. Do you need to drink more water? Go on a daily walk to get your body moving and your mind right? Cut certain foods or drinks that just aren't worth what they do to your body anymore? Do you have to do some research and be your own medical advocate? Incorporate a bedtime routine to wind down and get better sleep? Set alarms to take your meds or supplements regularly? Set aside at least an hour a day to read or paint or work a puzzle? Take a class? Do a wardrobe refresh, or reset? Schedule regular social time with family and friends? Do it. You only get one body and one mind, and as someone who got the shit end of the stick for both from birth, it's so, so important to come at your physical interface from a place of love and care, not extreme discipline or extreme neglect.

I also have two thumbs. Not to brag or anything. Also officially in a decent amount of pain, but I'm home! Just one overnight in the hospital, and I'm home now to manage my own pain meds, hooray! Which means alarms I have to set, although thankfully the shortest dosage time is every six hours, most everything is morning and evening. And now, I move like a tortoise and rest a whole lot until March. And smoke this infused pre-roll. Ayyyy. Things my care team were impressed by: my being so young and not having had an accident to cause me to need aftermarket parts (thanks, hypermobility!), my hip flexor strength (thanks to my main PT's Ben and LeeAnn), my knowledge of safe movement and mobility aid use, my cup/phone holder on my walker (they're sold as stroller accessories, btw), and my skull tattoo (Fred the Dead Head got LOTS of compliments). I'm told Penelope was "absolutely beside herself" last night, and she spent my first hour home avoiding me because I smell wrong and have a scary thing to walk with. Now, she needs the Many Pets, and she missed a whole day and a half's worth.

Packing bags is my specialty, you guys. Anyone who travels with me will tell you I over pack, but also that I'm Boy Scout level prepared for everything up to and including the apocalypse. And that I'm ridiculously organized about it. Old pin. Though, it's extra ID for my bag (everything you bring in will get a sticker or tag linked to the MRN on your hospital bracelet, for ID purposes), it's not incorrect exactly, and I don't mind if I lose it because I could use some updated name & pronoun buttons. To start with, let's talk bags. I got this one a couple of years ago (in the pre-tariff days) from Shein for $10, and it's my favorite small bag. Most hospital packing lists specify to not use hard sided luggage, no matter the size, and to not bring large duffel bags. That strap on the top is supposed to hold a yoga/gym mat, but I like it for carrying around a warm layer like a blanket, robe, or coat in a very conveniently accessible place to get to when you get cold, and that doesn't take up any space in the bag itself. And, of course, I'm saving space using the classic neck pillow around the bag handle travel hack. Another design feature I like - four VERY generous pockets along the outer sides of the bag, to store smaller things you want to have conveniently accessible. Thank you so much, Tracy, for the eye mask, ear plugs, and fidget toy! Like my comfort/distraction items. In addition to the cervical pillow and blanket: A short story collection in physical media. This one happens to have a conversation-starting title, and a conveniently petite/slim size that fits in the pouch. A fidget toy. I'm a sensation seeker, and not always in the best way, so a "Little Ouchies" pain stim toy is the only fidget toy that's really worked for me. This one has multiple moving parts, with click and non-click options, that make it just the best for me, I love it so much. Ear plugs for sleepers (that's the round disc on the butterfly pouch), and a total blackout eye mask. Hospitals are busy places, with lots of alarms going off, and cranky fellow patients screaming expletives at their care team, and lights flashing, and tv's on, and sometimes you just need a sensory break. And for post-op, this will help with daytime sleep, especially in a full household... great for help during recovery, not so great for quiet conditions, ever. Noise cancelling headphones. This particular kind is both Bluetooth and has a jack attachment for corded connection to your media source. And last but certainly not least, I just knew it would be used the most so I wanted it to have the freshest charge, and that's where it was when the rest of the bag was packed... Thank you so much to my friend Deana for gifting me this Mp3 player! An Mp3 player! Blast from the past, huh? It's so much fun to use, the interface even looks and feels retro. Why? So my phone battery can be used for texting loved ones with updates, and checking MyChart. It may look retro, but these new Mp3 players have some very modern features, and this one is recommended for its battery life and storage capacity. It also has Mp3 music file player, FM radio, ebook reader, and alarm clock capacities, so it fills a few functions my phone battery won't need to be used for. Some of the new beds have electrical outlets for charging devices built into the patient interface, but your hospital has to have budgeted to replace their beds to get those, and you really don't know if you'll have one until you're there. Which leads us to: The Charging Pouch. Something I generally keep packed and ready to go in general, but it's been specifically charged recently for the occasion. A battery pack. This one can charge my phone from empty 6-8 times, and can generally get me through a weekend of sparse-ish use. Charging cords for every device I'm bringing. A wall plug USB converter. The corded earbuds that came with my Mp3 player, as backup. The cord jack for the aforementioned analog mode on my noise cancelling headphones. This pouch is in with the essentials: Namely my handicap parking tag (we won't be bringing the car with the disability plate), my lanyard wallet with my ID and insurance card, and (in the main part of the bag) my surgery guide, with my complete daily med list and schedule, and my complete allergy list stapled to the table of contents page for easy reference. This is one of those things they remind you repeatedly that you need to bring on surgery day. Hard to see from above, but a protip: Can you tell I've had this one for awhile? If you wear contacts, wear your eyeglasses in. And if you wear eyeglasses, bring a good case. They do have temp cases, but they're usually just like plastic baggies, so bring your own just in case. As for that pack of wipes in the fourth pocket, it's one of a few packs in an effort to keep me from getting stinky while I'm laid up... Thank you to my mom and my friend Tracy for fitting out my dopp kit! That 100 count antibacterial hand wipes is the pocket pack, and it'll live on my nightstand once I'm back home. You don't always feel great enough to stand there and wash your hands when your whole structure has just been surgically manipulated with. The Neutrogena wipes are for the greasy hospital skin... there's something about the dry air, the stuff they're pumping you full of, and the stress that makes your skin just disgusting. These micellar cloths remove everything. Meanwhile, the Summer's Eve cloths are specially formulated to be used on your genitals for cleansing and deodorizing, and can be used on your armpits and under boobs, too. And I got it to scent match the Summer's Eve all-over deodorant. Yes, I usually make my own, but I prefer to bring something commercially packaged to a hospital or airport setting. The Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap is for if they want me to shower in the hospital. I know full well the shower soap they keep on hand makes me itchy af. And this works as a scalp cleanser that isn't too harsh for my delicate hair, as well. And HOCL is the all-purpose GOAT. I use it on my face for my roseacea, my mobility aid handles as a disinfectant, my underarms as a pre-deodorant antibacterial prep, to disinfect wounds... it's the Swiss Army Knife of disinfectants. And as for my hair (and skincare): Tracy came in clutch with all of this, thank you! Ignore the whole "for kids" thing, that liquid leave-in has lots of water in the recipe, the fatty alcohols for slip that my hair adores, lots of nourishing oils that did not come from nuts or soy, and liquid beeswax to seal it all in, in one product. Perfect for temporary minimal haircare. Especially paired with a Tangle Teezer brush, for gentle detangling. This is the mini version. And as for skincare, an all-purpose, whole body (face included) gentle moisturizer is your best friend in that dry air, once you get the hospital film off. Now, I got a new dopp kit on Black Friday 50% off, and it's the best travel hygiene kit I've ever used. Note, particularly, the Poy-Sian brand camphor & eucalyptus inhaler stick. If you're in a facility with shared rooms, and if your roommate has incontinence issues... you'll thank me for having it in your kit. Everything in the preceding two pictures fits in the above kit with all those things in the pockets. Not to mention... My mom and Tracy are responsible for the dental care products, I believe about 50/50 exactly. Thank you, both!! How perfect is this side pocket? And how perfect are these individually portioned packets of toothpaste and mouthwash? The toothpaste was made specifically with unhoused and outdoor recreation situations in mind, the packaging is 100% biodegradable and made from wood pulp, it'll disintegrate quickly if it's tossed on the side of the road as litter. Unfortunately, the Listerine Cool Mint packets aren't quite so eco-friendly, but they are just as convenient, and the single-serving nature of both keeps the germs going into your mouth in a germy environment at a minimum. As for the brush and sanitary cap, both can get sprayed with HOCL before and after each use to keep them disinfected. The dopp kit has another mesh pocket on the other side, that if I weren't packing for major surgery and were packing for a girl's weekend, I'd toss a couple of tubes of mascara and lip gloss into. Okay, moving on! Thanks for the expensive, bougie AF snacks, mom! I told you I pack for the apocalypse. That means over packing the snacks. My grandma was just inpatient at this particular facility, and she says they have good coffee. We'll see. I'm prepared with the gourmet Korean instant stuff, just in case. And with a creamer I can use, I doubt they keep that on hand, no matter the coffee quality. As well as my usual brand of electrolytes, which will hopefully fast-track me to discharge. Bullion cubes are allowed while you're still on a liquid diet post-op, but all of them have soy, and most have dairy products. Dehydrated bone broth in a stick it is! Dried fruit has been a comfort treat since childhood, plus it's lots of fiber to combat the opioid constipation. And these allergen-free granola bars are a good hold you over while waiting if dietary is backed up getting a meal out. Thank you for the robe, Tracy! It's way too well packed in there to justify taking it out and repacking it for my own picture, but behold the most ingenious robe ever designed for being a surgery patient. They didn't pay me to say that. It's a very soft, light 100% cotton material with a deep dye, and slightly weighted collar so even if it's untied, it'll hang properly. This'll definitely be my spring/summer daily wear after recovery is finished. The ties are sewn to the back of the robe. This does mean you have to tie them up when you go to the toilet, or they'll definitely get peed on. But you'll also never lose the tie. The sleeves come just to the top of the elbow (on my arms, at least), for easy IV access. There are two drain pockets on each side of the robe. And they're fully attached at the top, but only attached to the robe by the corners at the bottom, so you don't look like you're smuggling grenades or something. There's also a very spacious pouch-style outer pocket sewn into the side seam on both sides. It's the hospital recommended knee-length, for the most modesty with the most uninhibited movement. Tucked in next to the robe are the trifecta of intimates: Thanks for the new socks and panties, mom! And the No-hands Slip-on Barefoot shoes! Not seen here, as I explain below. A silk sleep bonnet. I may see if they'll let me wear it under the surgical bonnet. If not, it goes on the minute the surgical bonnet comes off. New, non-cheugy crew socks. My rule with packing socks is to pack double what you think you'll need. I'm wearing a pair in, they'll give me grippy socks, so... one pair. Same rule for underpants - I'm wearing a pair in, and they'll likely put me in disposables right after surgery, so... one pair. Of hi-cuts, to avoid the anterior incision. In black, in case there's any incision leakage. I recommend not wearing any light colors into the hospital, unless you're looking for a blood and other gore stained look. I won't bother with a picture, but there's also a pouch of menstrual pads and disposable absorbent panties in the bag. And that's it! That's what I'm bringing tomorrow, along with my walker. I left my scale at my friend's place a few months ago and haven't retrieved it yet, but I'd guess the bag weight at about 10lbs. Definitely the top end of my current capacity, but I can lift it and carry it short distances. My dad will be doing all the heavy lifting tomorrow, anyway. You're probably wondering where the clothes and shoes are? You wear them in. I'm still kind of undecided as to what will be easiest to get on and off both pre and post-op, pants-wise. Once you get there, you put on a surgical gown (it has it's own temperature control system, it's wild), and they have you in a standard hospital gown before you even come out of anesthesia, and you're in that gown (and your robe and blankie) for the rest of your stay. You'll then put the clothes you wore in back on at discharge. And I can say I'm ready as I'll ever be! Well, after I take the pre-bedtime shower, and drink the drinks.

That's Bob all stretched out on the teal blanket, Milosh keeping watch at the window, and Penelope curled up by the pillow pile. This is how I woke up this morning. Tonight's the night I'm not supposed to have any animals in my freshly sanitized bedding. Look, if God didn't want me to have cats in my bed the night before surgery, He wouldn't have given me shitty joints and clingy cats.

TW: weight loss, weight gain, fatphobia, medical neglect, medical advocacy. If you were overweight as a kid, and it just kinda got worse the older you got, and then you spent your adult life fluctuating between gaining and losing the same 20-30 pounds that didn't quite get you to the 60-100lbs you need to lose... Check your hormone balance. Get tested for food allergies. Get treated for "dopamine eating" if needed, whether you go the medication or therapy or surgery route. Manage your cortisol levels, again, however works for you. If it's not any of those, at least you've ruled them all out. But it was literally all four for me. I needed to control my hormones with medication before I could see any results from exercise. I needed to eliminate five allergens from my diet, that were causing me to hold on to a very specific weight pattern even the exercise and hormone regulation didn't touch. I have AuDHD, and have two primary dopamine hit suppliers in my life - eating, and bargain shopping. And I am fully okay with letting the world know that I need pharmaceutical intervention to help me control these impulses. I can't do it without, my entire life without Contrave is testament to that. And my brain craves that dopamine hit the most when I'm the most stressed. See: being neurodivergent, undiagnosed for 40 years, in a neurotypical world that thinks you're also neurotypical and expects you to keep up. See also: undergoing multiple major surgeries in a short period of time. See also: adjusting to a newly significantly disabled body. See also: perimenopausal abdominal fat accumulation. All things that it took 40 years, and my insistence on fucking around and finding out with my body, to get these diagnoses, figure out that's why I'm holding on to the fat, and figuring out what I need to do to finally shed the fat based on the real root causes. The (actually) fatphobic people are wrong: I needed medical testing and intervention and a customized diet and exercise and medication plan that had never been suggested or offered to me by any medical professional in my life before this - I had always just been told to eat less of the fast food I didn't eat anyway, and get more exercise than the hour per day I already got. When that's the case, your weight is absolutely not your fault, you don't have any of the tools for the job at hand. And it's certainly no "moral issue." But what is your responsibility is to be your own medical advocate, or at least to appoint yourself a trustworthy person as your medical advocate if you don't think you have the fire for it. It took putting myself on the Autoimmune Protocol and showing positive changes in my weight and pain levels to get the referral to an allergist. The hormones were a surprise, I just wanted to skip my period while I was camping. I basically had to go to my PCP with a hypothesis and my evidence for my argument, and ask for testing to confirm or deny, for every single contributing factor I could identify. It's a whole other kind of hard than the diet and exercise grind you're sold. Welcome to your Dr. House Era. But it is possible, and hopefully my list gives others a good starting point for their medical mystery solving. And hopefully your country's medical plan covers it. Update 5/20/2026: I learned recently that it was undiagnosed lipidema stage 2 (you could probably argue stage 3 with how the fat sat on my hypermobile hips, and one already needed full replacing) this whole time 😅😅 Not that it matters for me anymore, but this is just more evidence that you need to cover every single base medically if you can't lose the weight with unassisted calorie restriction and exercise.

My mom got the ancestry.com swab kit and membership on Black Friday special, and all the leaves started popping up in earnest today... So, my grandma on my mom's side was raised Cherokee. Now, this was the 1940's/1950's and while she spent every summer with her Cherokee family, and she knew full well she was Cherokee, she dgaf. She passed well enough, as far as she was concerned she was a "modern American girl" and didn't really care about her ancestry. Her brother did, but unfortunately, the oral history got real screwed up somewhere along the way. We were always told to look to the maternal side of the family to find the Cherokee family. That was absolutely incorrect, it was on the paternal side. The maternal side? The however-many great grandmother who married Cherokee was the great-great-great granddaughter of William Bradford. You know, the top pilgrim? Came over on the Mayflower? Led the settlement? That guy? Yeah, she's the great-grandchild of his eldest son and namesake. You'd think this would be preserved in the family tradition, right? Oh, she went full native. And the family is culturally Cherokee to this day. Yeah, that guy. Who recorded the Mayflower's landing as 11/11/1620 (the 11/11 portal of a 9 year). Leave it to my grandpa to hit up the numerology and angel numbers... I probably just got disowned for that one, lmao! I am CACKLING. This is the most American thing ever. Potentially even richer than my mom, the great-grand-daughter of the chief Rabbi of his city's synagogue in Lithuania, marrying the descendant of Ukrainian Cossacks and Transylvanian Romani (definitely another "only in America" kind of pairing). And then making me and my sibs. The Ancestral Realm must have been a trip these past 43 years, with all these people in the same room 🤣🤣 In other news, I got the second surgery slot! 7:30am check-in time on Monday. Whoo hoo! Long before my usual first meal, also long before the fishgirl thirst kicks in. I approve. Update: we just found an ancestress from Germany in the 1550's recorded not by name, but by description: "Enormous Lady Viking." Fuck yeah.

If you joined the Natural Hair movement 10 years or so ago when it was first getting started, you likely read Lorraine Massey's "Curly Girl: A Handbook." It was one of the first books written on the subject, and while the "Curly Girl Method" isn't quite it anymore, it started a lot of curly haired people on their journey to healthier hair, and she taught you how to do it all - including skip the salon and cut your hair at home, because if you're a curly haired person of a certain age, you remember being traumatized by the harsh hair products and uneducated hair stylists of the 80's and 90's. And my sister happened to drop out of beauty school after purchasing the full kit, so I've had a lovely pair of shears ever since. Now, I can't say I beat Brad Mondo to the technique, but I was doing his "wolf cut" technique for a good five years before he dropped his tutorial . Nowadays, I kinda blend the technique with Manes by Mell's Pigtail Cut , which is why I spontaneously cut my hair last night. I put my hair in pigtails in preparation to put the two sides in cornrows to sleep, and BOY does my hair grow unevenly 😅😅 The left side is thicker but grows slower, while the right side is thinner but grows faster. That takes a lot of upkeep to keep up with! It's only been a month since my last trim. But this means I'm pulling a Penelope here (Odysseus' wife, not my cat) - grow two inches, cut off one. I'm still making plenty of progress... but I'm definitely not being time efficient about the growth process in favor of keeping the ends obsessively even. Also, I'm not apologizing for my cheugy, aura point reducing slightly off-center part. It's to compensate for that whole hair growth uneven-ness thing. This also means I'm going to look like Mirabel a little longer. Disney owes me royalties for using my image, I swear to God.

Hamish the Haggis fully experiences the nip, while Milosh can hear colors.

Look, I'm not trying to get up here and mixed-splain traditional African hair care, but natural hair influencers, and hair growth influencers in general seem to have glommed on to two very puzzling "facts" recently - water is bad for your hair, and oils and butters dry your hair out. Chebe is getting a lot of blame for causing thinning hair nowadays, too, getting caught up in the oil and butter discourse. You know, that mix that's been used to grow hair successfully in Chad for what, millennia? Definitely can't be user error, no... My hair is highly, HIGHLY porous (which means it absorbs water quickly, but also loses that water to evaporation quickly) and very fine (fine refers to the thickness of the hair strand itself, "thin" refers to how many grow out of your head). Behold, the hair structure. So, my highly porous hair means that that webbing bit in the cortex is literally full of holes. It acts like a sponge because it's structured like one. That makes my hair incredibly fragile, to the point where the ends actually disintegrate at the slightest hint of physical distress. So far, chebe butter steam treatments have been the only thing to allow my hair to retain the ends. Like, to the point where they still look blunt cut a whole month after my last trim. I've shared the recipe I use for chebe butter a few times. Here's the process: This is a wash day activity, I use my Kojic acid soap to scrub my scalp, and use the extra suds to wash the strands. Obviously, this leaves you with completely saturated wet hair. Blot it a bit, but you still want your hair dripping just a little before using your products. I start with my scalp oil and massage for growth. I then use about 1/8 cup of store bought leave-in conditioner on the strands. This will obviously increase as my hair gets longer. My hair adores Cetyl/Cetearyl Alcohol... they're fatty alcohols, not drying like the Isopropyl in your medicine cabinet. They're what give your favorite conditioner the "slip" to detangle your hair. And then I use about the same amount of chebe butter on top of the conditioner. Here's where I move from the bathroom to the bedroom so I can get comfortable for the steam treatment: You'll need: a steam bonnet (that's the one I have, I'm not getting paid to share that link), or heating pad long enough to wrap around your head with clips to hold it in place, a plastic shower cap or plastic bag with a headband to hold it in place, and the fuzzy cap your steam bonnet came with if applicable. Put your wet, chebe-ed hair into the plastic cap or plastic bag, top with the fuzzy cap if you're using a steam bonnet, and put the steam bonnet on or wrap your heating pad around your head. Choose your temperature - you want it as warm as possible without making your scalp sweat. That can take some trial and error at first. Relax for at least a half-hour while you heat up all those butters and oils and resins. Your hair will still be wet after the steam treatment. I don't diffuse my hair, I just tidy the part and clump the curls with one of those curl brushes before letting it air dry. How often do I do this? Every 2-3 days. Up to once a week during flares or migraines. Why does this work? Your hair needs water. That's why it gets frizzy in humid air, the cuticle is opening as wide as possible to absorb as much of the moisture as possible. Yeah, moisture. There's only one ingredient that provides "moisture" and "hydration" to your hair and skin - water. Everything else is a humectant - more commonly called a "slug" nowadays in skincare terms. That's an ingredient that does not itself contain water or provide moisture (unless you live in an extremely humid climate), but it provides a catch barrier to hold the water in your hair and keep it from evaporating out. Now, if you put a humectant on dry hair... that barrier the humectant provides goes both ways. It won't let the water in, either. That's why so many people think that oils and butters are drying out their hair... they're putting it on dry hair and expecting it to "moisturize." I think we all know what heat does to oils and butters... and water, for that matter. Heating these ingredients puts them into the best state for your hair to fully absorb both the moisture and the oils and butters, all of them can get past the cuticle and fill up all those sponge holes in the cortex. Then, when your hair returns to room temperature, so do the oils and butters... now your hair is fortified and the cuticle is sealed, it's like putting a scaffold on every strand. It took me about a month into my chebe journey to figure out the steam treatments step - without it, the butter sits on top of the strand. Fine for sealing the cuticle, but not great for filling up that cortex... and boy was my hair greasy. That was new for me, my hair positively inhales oils. And here's a bonus tip - wear silk sleep bonnets , not polyester satin (again, not paid for that link, I just like the brand). There's a huge, huge difference you'll see in your hair. And yes, wear a bonnet even if you have silk pillowcases - I've been sleeping on satin pillowcases for over a decade, and can attest that that's more for your skin than your hair. That's me in my steam bonnet, which makes me feel like one of the Egyptian soldiers in Stargate (1994), but extra fabulous... which is pretty on point for Stargate, tbh.

Well. "Owala." It's the "Freesip" design, but I have no idea if it's "real" or not. Nor do I particularly care. The Freesip bottle seems to be number one on everyone's "What I'm Not Buying in 2026" lists. I didn't buy mine! [ cue lil' Miley Cyrus singing the Hannah Montana theme song ] I'm at my Surgical Optimization Appointment a few weeks back, and my Nurse Navigator comes in with all my goodies - the itchy af pre-surgery wipes (they're basically off-brand Hibiclens), the Ensure glucose drinks you drink on a schedule the night before surgery, the ice packs for the incision icing schedule I have to keep up immediately after surgery, the walker I'll be getting around on for six or so weeks... and a water bottle branded with the health system's logo, which she started right out with. Why? Because I'm the first ever orthopedic surgery patient to get one. They did a study recently, and realized a huge majority of patients who land in the ER in the 72 hours after surgery do so because they're dehydrated. And, they figured that patients would actually want to use their new water bottle if they're the latest trend style. Basically, had this been a year ago, it would have been a 40oz tumbler. Anyway, I was given a 32oz Freesip, and told to drink 3 fills per day during post-op recovery. What are the dang odds, that the first patient to get the fancy water bottle and the post-op hydration instructions is the outlier super young (in comparison, at least) patient with the existing hydration obsession? I haven't even used it yet, because I'm so used to just re-filling my 50oz tumbler, though the Freesip will likely be easier to haul around with the cup holder on my walker, so I'll probably switch over next week. As for pre-op prep, I packed my hospital bag today. I'm pretty sure Penelope lost her first home when her family got evicted, because she freaks out if she sees me packing an overnight bag. I waited until she wasn't around to start putting my bag together... but she found me about 3/4 of the way through, and proceeded to have a freak-out. So, now my bag is living in my closet, on a high shelf she can't get to or see, for stress reduction and less chance of getting peed on in protest. I'll write up that breakdown of what's inside later this week, but right now, I need to go finish that meal prep stuffing!