A story from MY life - Current Event 16

This isn't something major happening in the world or a medical crisis. This is an event that I am personally excited about. On October 2 I turned 23 and my amazing family pitched in together and purchased 2 tickets for me and my fiance to go to a Dallas Mavericks game. I am so excited! I have not been in a couple years and I absolutely love basketball. Dirk Nowitzki, of course, is my favorite. He is so talented and I cannot wait for the chance to meet him and get an autograph...maybe a picture too!! I will be leaving soon after Tony gets off work for the American Airlines Center and enjoying my seats in the section behind court-side. Yes, I give you permission to feel a tinge of jealousy. I have been given the day of and the day after off of work because my boss is amazing. I am so excited. I will be going on November 7th and I am getting ansy. I feel like these last few weeks have been dragging and dragging. I want to get in my car and go right now!! So I have the best family in the whole world. My cousin said it was a sign from God. She was online looking for something to get me and racking her brain. Then she received a pop-up at the bottom of her screen for an advertisement for the Dallas Mavericks. She knew right then that she was being told that that was what she needed to get, so she called my brother and his fiance, my aunt and uncle and her husband and they all pitched in to give me this amazing gift.

GO MAVS!!!!

Law Abiding Citizen - Current Event 15

I have heard so many bad reviews on this movie, but they have yet to falter my feeling for desperately needing to see this film. I am a huge fan of Gerard Butler and I think that his attitude in the movie fits his character to a "T." He is such a good-looking man too! :D I was told that he overacts in this film and that the moral they are wanting to portray does not come out as clear as they probably would have liked. I like the revengeful side. There are so many people out in the country that feel the judicial system has failed them. I understand people being a little upset about spending years in prison and DNA proving them to be innocent, but you have to give credit to the system for taking action when DNA became available to release those who were wrongly accused. I personally have a sibling who has been in and out of the prison system for 15 years. I don't have a problem with that because he keeps screwing up. Now, I have another loved one who spent 4 years in the prison system and while in saw guys accused and convicted of murder being released. Now, I strongly believe that if someone is convicted of murder with a crap load of evidence against them, self-defense excluded, should have a life sentence at the least. Okay, done ranting now.

Where the Wild Things Are - Current Event 14

I have a niece that is 5 and a nephew that is 8 and I love having them around for when I wanna go see a kiddy movie. They are a great excuse/reason to go see a film for kids that I really want to go to but shouldn't be seen as a grown up with my fiance seeing a film for children. I will admit that I took them to see the Hannah Montana Movie and I loved it! Yes! I loved it. It had a nice moral to the story. Now, I have not tried yet to take one of them from their Mommy so that I could go see Where the Wild Things Are but since I'll have time this weekend I just might do that. I read the book when I was a kid and so did my mom and her sisters. My aunt has already taken her son and she said that it followed the book for as much as possible trying to stretch a 10 page book to an hour long movie. I personally think that the "monsters" look absolutely adorable and it looks like a cute movie. My great friend from my work wants to take his girls, too. However, when I was at my mom's house for a family get together yesterday my step-niece who is in 6th grade said that the kids in her class were saying the movie was "stupid." Her mom was telling her that she thought she would like it if she just went and saw it but she said, "No, Mom, it's not cool. Not for a 6th grader." So I said, "So if you're under 10 and older than 20 you'll like it?" Then my aunt said, "I'm 43, and I LOVED it." So I think it just goes to show that to enjoy and appreciate a good animated film you need to be either really young, or have kids that are really young. I know that I enjoy all kinds of animated films. I think I would watch Cars over Saw VI any day.

Saw VI - Current Event 13

I have seen all of the movies in the Saw series. I think I am addicted, but it has seemed to me that the more versions they make the more pointless it gets. I mean we got the point in the first one. What is your life worth to you? I understand. So the ones after that are a lot of gore that is cool but unnecessary. I have not gotten to see the 6th one yet, but after hearing from people who have, its the same old crap different film. So I don't have the excitement for seeing the 6th one as I did when the first few were released.

Family of Missing Teen - Current Event 14

The Jolkowski's lost there 19-year-old son in 2001. He was taking out the trash and on his way to be picked up for work but he never made it to catch his ride. The family reported it and an investigation was conducted. There is still no evidence of their son Jason. The tragedy that this family has suffered it unimaginable. In their time of sorrow, however, they have taken their loss and used it in order to help other families cope who have also had a loved one go missing. I get so inspired by stories like this one. Having the courage to take a terrible situation in your life and turn it around and use it for good. I don't have children and I could never even try to imagine losing my child, but I do know that if I were to have one of my nieces or my cousin or my godson taken away I don't think I could ever muster up the strength to go on after the investigation and take it to the state to have the laws changed and make fliers for other families to find their missing children. I would be so destraut and upset that all I could consume my life with would be finding the one that I lost. I guess, though, you never know until you're put into the situation yourself. So I give my props to this family for staying positive for the return of their son and for giving the community around them more of a chance for finding their own missing children.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/28/grace.coldcase.project.jason/index.html

FBI's Most Wanted - Current Event 13

According to the FBI a guy by the name of Eduardo Ravelo has now filled one of the three slots on the Most Wanted List. The FBI has come across with some new information on this fugitive, stated in the article, "has shaved his head, undergone plastic surgery and even manipulated his fingerprints to elude capture." The part that disturbs me is if the FBI knows that he has gone to the links of changing his fingerprints, why is it that they cannot capture this joker? If they can get the kind of information knowing how he changes his appearance, why can't they put him in cuffs and put him under the jail?! This seems just incomprehensible to me! At the same point, it makes our federal police department look incompetent. I understand that it takes time, money, and all that jazz to infiltrate the cartel he is working with but if they can get close enough to find out that he has literally changed his face, I really don't understand how he can still be on the run!!

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/20/texas.fbi.ten.most.wanted/index.html

COOPER, TEXAS

I love this picture because I have always been an old soul. I am a huge fan of old things. My mother collects antiques and I just love the beauty in something that was before my time.

This is my stranger. I ran into him while walking down the streets of Cooper, Texas. His name is Chris and he was really nice







These are the images I felt best represented Cooper, Texas. I have lived in East Texas small town area my whole life and had never been here. It is quaint and had an old glory about it.

Caylee Anthony - Current Event 12

This story caught my eye when looking for this current event to talk about. My fiance and I actually watched the story on 48 Hours Mystery. The whole situation seems very fishy. A 23-year-old woman was arrested on murder charges of her 2-year-old daughter. The news program went to both sides of the story, as it should have. My finance thinks the young mother is guilty, whereas I say that I still need more information. The story is incredibly sad. The things that make the mother suspicious are that 1) she was out partying with friends when her baby was supposedly missing 2) she waited a month before telling even her mother that her child was missing 3) her friends have even called her a habitual liar 4) the remains were found, I think, less than a mile from the house she had been living in with her parents.
I am still skeptical. There is evidence that she is the one that did it, but without hard evidence: fingerprints, DNA, anything like that, it leaves much to be proved.
I most feel sorry for the grandparents of the deceased baby. They have had to put up with ridiculous harassment. Protesters outside their home all hours of the day and night. People shouting out that they're daughter is a baby-killer, I can't imagine the stress they are going through. They still have all of the child's belongings, refusing to let them go. They are so conflicted with the knowledge that their daughter might have taken the life of their granddaughter. I hope that the right answers will be found and that they will get closure and justice.



http://www.star-telegram.com/462/story/1690185.html

Red Light Camera Tickets - Current Event 11

This article is about 2 specific people who were having a very difficult time paying for their ticket for running a red light. They are getting mad because they were being charged more than once for their ticket after paying online. Well, it clearly mentions the fact of the "Send" button being clicked more than once. If anyone has been around computers long enough, which by now we all have, then they should understand that when you pay any kind of bill, ticket, whatever online then no matter how long it takes for the next page to load and refresh then you should only click send once! It seems pretty dumb to complain about something that is your fault. Yes I understand needing the money back, but really why cause trouble? It was the fault of the one behind the computer so they should call the right people say, "Look, it was my fault I clicked send 2-3 times but I still don't need to be charged for this ticket twice." Those are my thoughts on this subject.

found on star-telegram.com

My Hero

Narrative: Janee Haynes

I come from a family that is very close. And when I say family, I am almost always talking about my mother's side. I have never been close to my dad or his part of the family so I never really developed any special relationship with any of them. So, in my family I have my mom and her 2 sisters. And from them I have me and my cousin Janee being the girls of our generation. My cousin is a major influence and inspiration in my life. She was the first one to go to college after high school and now has gone on to receive her masters, while raising a family with a new born being added recently.

I feel like she has all of her priorities in line. I look at her life and want nothing more than to live mine in a similar way. She finished college before she married, she got a job as a teacher with her degree, she had her first child then she pursued her masters and had her second child.

With me she has helped tremendously. Several nights I would go to her house and she would stay up with me and help me with my college algebra, while giving her daughter a bath, and cooking dinner before her husband came home from work. She was never more than a phone call away when I needed her, no matter what I needed help with.

I want to graduate college and find a great career that I enjoy going to every day. I want to get married after I walk across the stage and I want to have my children in a timely fashion. I look at her life and see it as a guideline for how I should walk my path.

I want to take images of her in her daily life, juggling her kids, the house work, and studying for her masters. I want to have a picture of me and her sitting at her counter in front of a computer with a notebook and textbook in front of us scratching our heads, glasses at the end of my nose and chewing on my pencil while she helps me figure out variables. I want to capture how she tells her oldest to clean up her room while changing the baby's diaper.

The basis of it is that she is my hero.

Grand Prairie day-care - Current Event 10

This article is a reason to just get really really ticked off! A van driven by an unlicensed 20 year old hauling 20 children ages 3-11 was in a collision late September. I do not understand the reasoning behind the person who hired this driver! According to this article, this newly opened day-care has had numerous violations recorded and were still allowed to be in business. I think that a business should be given a limit and once that limit is met they should be shut down. This driver sent several people to the hospital, luckily none of the injuries were fatal. The car that hit the van was also driven by an unlicensed driver!! Now, it says that the owner of the day-care and the husband of the second driver were cited for allowing them behind the wheel. However, I think the day-care owner should have to spend time in jail or pay a large fine for knowingly endangering children. I understand that sometimes people are easily convinced of the worthiness of people because they lie on applications or even in interviews, but if you are hiring someone to transport children across town shouldn't you at least make them show proof of a driver's license??!!! This story has really gotten my quite baffled. I have no words for trying to explain the blatant stupidity of people. This is what is wrong with America. I honestly do not understand how someone could even be in the position to let something like this happen. I wonder if the driver of the van was tested for being on anything while driving too when she was taken to the hospital? I question this because she passed a car stopped at a red light in order to run the red light!! What kind of sense does it make for her to be a perfectly sane individual?

RIZE

RIZE:

This video was about an inspiring group of individuals living in the slums of California trying anything to stay out of the drug and violence scene. They form groups, beginning with the Clowns, and just start dancing. They dance anywhere and everywhere. They say it is their way of expressing their anger without hurting anyone in the process. The original group actually calls their dancing, "clowning." But others form branches off of the Clowns and create their own style of dancing called "krumping."

So how does this relate to me?

I guess these people take their bodies and express themselves through dancing. In the same sense, I take my camera and express myself and try to give the audience the same feelings I had while taking the image, through my photography. I think that these folks, when they started this craze, in a way went through a journey of finding out who they were through their art. I feel that I am on that same path. I don't yet know how I want to use my photography or what I want to say with my images, but I am trying to figure it out through taking a journey behind my camera.

execution report - Current Event 9

Since the mid-90's we have been taking our technological advances and using them to release wrongly accused prisoners based on DNA evidence. This article is basically the epitome of a major problem in our judicial system. Our governor Rick Perry received a fax in his office 88 minutes before the execution of a man accused of burning down his house with his 3 children inside stating that there might be more evidence for proving his innocence. Now, if I read this article correctly, the fax that was sent was not sent through the chain of command fast enough to get to the governor in time for him to put a stop to this man's death. To quote, "...there was ample time for the general counsel to read and analyze the report and to brief the governor on its content," yet this man was still executed. It is also said that Willingham's attorney had corresponded with the governor asking for more time to prove his client's innocence, because according to the expert who looked at the case there were errors made in the investigation of the arson from the beginning. So, if there was plenty of time to give the governor this information, Willingham's attorney had tried to talk with Perry, and there was an expert saying that more investigation in the case was necessary, why is it that this man did not get his additional help before being executed? What are the consequences for ignoring this kind of information and finding out that an innocent man was killed? Will Rick Perry be charged for intentionally going ahead with the plan without considering the new evidence? All I am saying is that every man deserves his day in court and every man deserves a fair trial, but if that trial says guilty and there is evidence after the fact that could prove the suspects innocense, then that suspect deserves to be treated like a human and given the opportunity to have his case reviewed to see if maybe he shouldn't have to die for something he didn't do.

Bedford man arrested - Current Event 8

I am an avid watcher of shows such as Law & Order: SVU and I have seen some crazy things involving subjects such as this one. No I am no expert but I felt that it was good information to know what the pentalties are for such a crime. I am absolutely mortified that people such as Murphy (from the article) are capable of such horrific acts. From what I have seen, because again I am not an expert, the offenders who are caught transfering these photos over the internet often escalate to sexually abusing children. Now, the sentence of 5-20 years to some may not be enough, but I am not part of our legal system so I do not know or understand the reasoning behind the choice of how many years someone has to spend behind bars per offense. Now, I think that, like in this case, the offender, if released, since he/she has to endure a lifetime of supervision, should be forbidden to own any kind of technology in which he/she could transmit these images. The fact that this article did not mention apprehending the man who recieved these photos disturbs me. Now, I live with my fiance and he is forced to watch these shows with me so he has a strong opinion about these offenders. He says that they should be required to have permanent phone taps. I understand his reasoning but at the same time, can we as citizens afford a higher tax rate in order to pay someone in law enforcement to sit and listen to these phone conversations day and night? I do feel that it is a good idea but again, without forcing the public to pay more per year to the government I do not see that happening.

Ben Roethlisberger - Current Event 7

Last year while in Nevada for a celebrity golf tournament the well-known Steelers quarterback was accused of sexually assaulting a casino hostess. Now, with the Kobe Bryant case a few years back, Dirk Nowitzki's deadbeat criminal girlfriend, and even the over publicized Michael Jackson cases, it often leaves the public wondering if these people really are being victimized or if they are looking for a simple easy pay-day. I feel bad for the ones who were victimized but I am pissed off at the ones who falsly accuse. It is those people that make it so difficult for the ones who have been hurt because they look like liars and never find justice. Now, I am not saying that Roethlisberger is guilty or innocent, but if this is another "cry wolf" senario for a 5 minute lime-light then I think there should be consequences for trying to take advantage of the celebrity people. I think it is bogus that these people do not have to serve time or pay for their false police reports. I am not one to feel sorry for celebrities because in some cases they do it to themselves, they put themselves in the situations to be taken advantage of, but at the same time I do not think that because they have money for being talented that it should automatically be assumed that they committed the crime. On the other hand, if the celebrity is guilty they should have to serve the time just like any joe-shmoe on the street. I guess what I am trying to say is that no matter what a person's status is the legal system should have a blind eye to how they are looked upon by society and give justice to the ones who deserve it.

Article on Roethlisberger found on star-telegram.com

Tasers - Current Event 6

Sheriff Anderson of Tarrant County has decided to forego the use of tasers in his department. I think that his decision to do his own research was much more than most in his position would have done. Now there are arguments on both sides for using or not using tasers. I think that Anderson's choice is probably one I would have made. I do understand that tasers have helped in situations where the end result might have been much worse had the officers used a different way of immobilizing the offender, but the study that Anderson conducted showed that if the officer did not have the knowledge of whether or not the suspect was on drugs or was physically impaired that the "less lethal" approach of the taser might acutally cause the death of that individual. The article also mentions the adrenaline rush that comes with the chase. One officer held the trigger down too long and it was said in the autopsy report that the suspect's death was a homicide. The purpose of the taser is to give a 5 second jolt to temporarily immobilize the suspect in order to apprehend him or her, but if the taser has no way to shut off after that 5 seconds then there is the risk of the jolt lasting much too long and causing a terrible accident. I'm not saying that tasers are a bad idea, I think that they can be helpful, but I think that the makers of this product should put more research into them and figure out a way so as to not cause an accidental death by the use of them on the person being apprehended.


I found this article on the star-telegram website.

CATCH UP

Okay so this last week I have been sick from moving when the
weather was nasty. So my next few posts are going to be me playing catch
up. Lots of current events and a chapter to read and comment on. Bare with me!

LAST ALPHABET

THIS IS THE LAST SET OF THE ALPHABET THAT I DID. THEY WERE ALL TAKEN IN AND AROUND MY MOM'S HOUSE. I REALLY LIKE THE "X" ON THE WHEELBARROW. I THINK IT BRINGS OUT THE LETTER THE BEST WITH THE HIGH SATURATION IN THE COLOR AND THE REST HAVING NO SATURATION AT ALL.