whether you`re just starting out or you`ve had your dreadlocks for sometime there are a couple of fundamental rules, we hope by committing them to paper they will make things clearer for you.
rule #1:
recognise your appellations.
once your dread is at a recognisable length, you find yourself being called by these names, it`s in your best interest to learn them: `dread`, `ras`, `fari` and `brethren` or `sistren` as applies.
rule #2:
acknowledging your fellow dreadlocks.
the correct procedure for acknowledging your fellow dreadlocks is the head nod. there are variations on this including the closed fisted chest thump and the close fisted chest thump with greeting: `bless` or `respect`. white people with dreads are required to acknowledge black dreads but the reverse does not necessarily apply.
rule #3:
you will get questions about your hair.
there are going to be a lot of questions and comments about your hair and it`s best to be prepared, following are a number of common hair related statements for which you can develop your own standard answers to.
“is that your hair?”
“how long did it take you to grow?”
“how often do you wash your hair?”
“you don`t have to do anything to it. right?”
“are you rastafarian?”
“do you eat meat?”
“i wish i could grow my hair like that”
“why you want to do that to your hair? you have such nice hair.”
“can i touch your hair?”
“i just had to touch it, i`ve never felt dreadlocks before.”
rule #3b:
people will try to touch your hair without permission
you should either learn the head bob, lean or hand swat to avoid said touches, more on this in another bulletin.
rule #4:
you are expected to be a definitive source on bob marley.
this includes his music and his life, as well as all aspects of reggae and jamaican culture.
rule #4b:
you are expected to own clothes with the colours of red, gold and green, in combination.
rule #5:
you have marijuana.
you will always have marijuana and related peripherals on your person, otherwise you will have connections with various retailers of said and be on a first names basis and immediate contact with them.
rule #6:
expect delays at airports.
if you are a dreadlocks originating in the caribbean with a caribbean passport, expect to spend a lot of time answering questions. particularly about your net worth, your ability to provide for yourself, the length of your stay and the contents of your luggage. if you don`t answer these questions to their satisfaction, there may be a cavity search in your future.
rule #7:
dreads decrease your intelligence and your ability to do your job.
once you have dreads in the work place expect people to talk down to you and ignore your advice. you brain has been contaminated by the dreads and the only thing you can talk about with any authority is marijuana and bob marley.
rule #8:
you are a stereotype.
there is no getting around it. learn to accept it. here are just a few you need to get accustomed to:
you are a drug dealer
you have a big penis.
you are promiscuous.
you don`t perform oral sex.
you are/will be doing something illegal.
you have/will spent time in jail.
you have a jamaican accent.
you are belligerent.
you are uneducated.
you are a bad person.
you are lazy.
we here at the ICoDP are here to help, but we may have missed some of the rules, please feel free to let us know and we will try to include any omissions. we will try to cover all stereotypes so no dreadlocked person is misrepresented.
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dreadlocks, rastafarianism, rules, international confederation of dreadlocked persons
a bipartisan look at the major lies coming out of both camps this election cycle.
and some interesting insight from dan savage
nine months, one week – just about enough time for me to have been pregnant. but this isn’t about an addition, it’s actually a subtraction, i shaved.
for the first time since november 1, 2007, i am clean-shaven. it wasn’t planned. i was trying to neaten up, had an oops moment and decided that it would be a good time to start over. besides, i haven’t had a single donation to my fund-a-stache in five months.
clean-shaven for the first time since november 1
it’s kind of liberating, considering i’ve had some sort of consistent facial hair growth for almost a year. the ‘stache and beard will be back but i think i may enlist some professional help for the grooming. anyone know a good barber?
Politics is the Art of Controlling your Environment
That is one of the key things I learned in these years, and I learned it the hard way. Anybody who thinks that “it doesn’t matter who’s Presided” has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid War on the other side of the World? Or been beaten and gassed by the Police for trespassing on public property?or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons?or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will wish you had voted.
Hunter S. Thompson
I’m at the claims office waiting to give the adjustor my police report and took a moment to test of wordpress iPhone app. I have to say I’m pretty impressed. I can tag and add categories and it’s taken less than 90 seconds to get most of this text typed.
this make actually get me posting more often because I can write as I think about it, save a draft and come back to it later and just post and edit later.
oh technology, thou art sweet.
Ventura County Star, August 3, 2008
