coffee theory
A week from today our friend Luke is leaving for Ethiopia on a top-secret mission. All I can tell you is that involves coffee. Oh wait, it's not actually top-secret: you can hear all about it at coffeetheory.org. I still can't tell you any more than that it involves coffee, though (well, coffee and international travel) because the endeavor is still very much a work in progress. Here's what Luke has to say about it:
I believe that we’ll be able to find a way to bring a sustainable, profitable, coffee business into Addis Ababa, which will provide employment and empowerment to some families there.
There's more to it than that, of course—Luke hadn't written anything for the internet in a while so he saved up a lot of words. But the key point is that he's going to do something with coffee and maybe bicycles that'll help poor people in Africa. What could be finer?
If you want to help out or just keep up with the goings-on, you can get hooked up with the coffeetheory.org RSS feed, or subscribe by email, or follow Coffee Theory on Twitter. Check it out!
dreads, day 1
The other day I wrote about the spiritual concept of "the now and the not yet." I'd like you to think that way in terms of my hair.
I got my hair dreaded last night, but it'll take about six weeks to look like cute tight normal dreads. So there is the finished look I'm going for, that's the "not yet" part," and then there's the "now" part which has things to celebrate while still not being the exact finished thing. Got it? Okay, I guess I'm just trying to set your expectations low. Here's the day-one pic:
not trying to look high in this picture on purpose... the sun was really bright and I was squinting.
And here's how I'll wear it until it tightens up and looks less messy in the front
looking all demure for having a humongous head
I actually think the wrap looks pretty cute! I have like an imperative to accessorize now.
wrapped up and ready to go
I've had some moments of "Oh Lord, what did I do to my hair??!" in equal measure with "Oh my God this looks so adorable!!!" My curly hair was lovely, but I needed a change and a reprieve from the way the curls pulled at each other and hurt all over. I'm happy to report the dreads feel feather light, as if there's nothing on my head at all. Not to say that I dreaded my hair to help my sensory integration issues, but it's definitely a plus.. All in all I'm enjoying the feeling that this hairstyle, while feeling major in a way, is actually a rather low stakes life change. If I don't like it I can have really short hair in a few months. Is that really such a big deal? Anyway, for now I feel good, and I'm excited to see how the dreads will cinch up and get thinner in the coming weeks.
I want to make a cute funny joke here, but I stayed up past midnight with the hairdresser and Harvey woke me up at 5:30. So, um, yeah. Dreads. Yipee!