Caruso Curlers: The good, the bad and the foam?

I'm going to be a bridesmaid in a wedding next saturday. At first I planned on pinning up my hair, but since it just got retightened, its not as flexible as it used to be. Plus, my hair is getting fuzzier and more unkempt? looking. I've lost about half of my fluffiness and I'm kind of in a weird in-between stage. So I started to look into purchasing some Caruso curlers to try to smooth things out. Reading Blaqkofi Leighann, LaChanda and Brunsli's posts about Caruso's was helpful. But after reading a a lot of customer reviews I'm starting to freak out.

I learned several things:

The good: You get great curls without damaging your hair. Hair looks smoother, and makes your ends look pretty. They last one day to several days depending on your hair.

The bad: There's this ticking noise that's annoying but not annoying enough to keep people from using the curlers.

The foam (or should I say the ugly): This unit, the newer one that doesn't use salt, has died on people within months. And, the foam doesn't last! What's up with that?!

I know there are SL sistah's with Caruso curlers out there. After all this reading, and at the risk of being redundant, I still gotta know some thangs. Could ya give a gal a hand?

How long have your rollers or the heating set lasted? Have you had a set die on you?
How do you run out of foam?
How do you heat up the rollers without getting your hair wet and losing your curl?

Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance (:

Happy Memorial Day!!! Summer's here Yay!--that rhymes!(:

Danielle is America's Next Top Model!!!

Hey people,

I don't watch a lot of TV but I do have my favorite shows. And I was so excited to watch the Finale of America's Next Top Model because my favorite girl won! Danielle, the country gal from Little Rock, Arkansas, the one who sprained ankles and became sick and was ridiculed for her gap and her accent won! She overcame all of her obstacles and let her beauty shine through. When they announced her win, my best friend and I were screaming and jumping all over the room. I think I like her so much, because there are so many little black girls who are like her, and want to become a model in a "European-friendly" industry. You could tell she had to face a lot of cultural hurdles when the judges constantly admonished her about her accent-- despite the fact that she tried to suppress it. Although they tried to water down her "Blackness" she stayed true to herself and is a genuine beauty inside and out. Cheers to you Danielle, you go girl!

When I grow up, I wanna be a scientist! (One month and 11 days down)

I wrote the blog below on may 10th and never got around to sending it. But today I was reminded why I went to grad school to learn how to become a scientist.

Today was mind-blowing day. Today I learned to think like a geneticist. With a background in biochemistry, I'm trained to understand topics at a very basic level. However, a biochemist tries to understand either proteins or DNA and then employ techniques that allow them to understand the structure or how to understand the nuts and bolts of how that protein works. A geneticist takes away a one or more genes looks at outcomes (or phenotypes) and uses those outcomes to create a story (or model) of what the removed gene does within a cell. This approach is very direct and helps simplify very complex problems. I love it!

Today I met a potential postdoc mentor. His science was very interesting but after having lunch with him I was reminded that I really love being scientist. My lab hands are not perfect or "magic". But when things actually work I get this high that's unbelievable. Science is truly a drug you choose. What else would make me stubbornly pursue difficult topics and techniques and allow me to believe that I could just learn them and keep going. The hours are long because you have to motivate yourself. You spend days, week, months, years even working at something. Along the way, some things work and some don't. I think it took me a few years to learn how to let a project go because my heart was so invested in it I just had to make it work! In graduate school there's always some obstacle you have to work through. If its not your project, its the psychological aspect of learning how to live with and more importantly, learn from failure.

Anyway, I met this guy and he was so passionate about his science he just made me excited about science again. I get excited when things work and then that high lasts for a few days and then something else grabs your attention and your back in the trenches again, banging your head against the wall. But meeting successful scientists excite me because they remind me of who I want to be in my future career. In a perfect world I would like to be a scientist in academia and run my own lab. But the real world, the tenure clock runs right along with your biological clock and successful grant writing makes your world go round. Not to mention the fact that there are typically 200+ applicants per faculty position. There's just not that many jobs to go around.

For me, I'm gonna focus on learning as much as I can and just enjoy what I do. Don't get me wrong, my job search (post doc and faculty/senior scientist) will include both sides (academia and industry) because self preservation is the order of the day. But today, I said aloud "I would like to be in academia" to my boss, and I really meant it. I'm willing to put up with the politics and the stressful grant funding cycles, and the stress of teaching and the not living where I want (although I think I'll have to cross this bridge when it comes) to reach out, mentor, and make a difference. I want my science to make an impact on the lives of others. I don't want to study a random protein because its interesting, I want my science to apply to disease and the development of therapeautics. I don't know how I'm gonna do it, I just know that I am. And today I got that free feeling you get when you're doing what you love and you understand where you're going. It doesn't come often so I'm gonna ride it for as long as I can.

Cheers!
Chi(:

The Africa Channel

Hey y'all
Have you heard of the Africa channel? My consultant sent me a link to its website but this is an actual cable channel that talks about events going on in African countries. I wish I had this while growing up. Unless you visit, the only media access we have to African countries is when there's something negative going on (war, famine, scandals, etc.. . ) They don't offer it in Chicago and I doubt it is widely offered but if enough people call their cable stations, it may be more readily available. Check out the site and tell me what you think.

Chi(:

Quick Hello

Hey people,

Just wanted to send out a quick hello to all my friends in blog land. It's been a while but I've been keeping up wit'ya! Here I am at 5 months locked with Janet Hubert of the "Fresh Prince of Belair" I meet her at the Biotechnology conference this past April. She is such an inspiration and truly has a beautiful spirit. If you ask me, there was only one "Vivian" on that show. The conference was a blast! President Clinton and Magic Johnson spoke at our luncheons and I learned how academia, industry and non-profit organizations fit together but are yet so far apart. . . but that's for another post. The conference hosted receptions every night. On the first night we went to Navy pier and several Drag queens showed us the way to the show--so you know I had to take a picture. I also had a conversation with a robot from Nebraska--yes a real conversation! That was last month. But I just realized that May 4th is my six month lock-aversary! Here's my most current photo, just hanging out in the lab, playing around with the lab camera. My hair is sort of locked in the back (almost teenage looking) but hardly in the front. Diana said that it would take a year, but I'm not in a hurry. I really love my hair at every stage during these past six months (except after retightenings--ouch!) I love to just shake my hair out and go everyday. Getting SL's is the best self investment that I made for myself in years. Until next time, Cheers!