Current Event #20

As we all know this Thursday is Thanksgiving. Well, my family has a tradition of going to New Orleans for the holiday at my aunt and uncle's house. I really enjoy going every year, but my work has denied my request for the weekend after Thanksgiving off. I was terribly upset about it, but my mom, being the saint that she is, gave me and my brother (he can't go either) and our significant others, our Thanksgiving on Saturday. We all got together and took a nice family photo, at my mom's request. The family atmosphere was great. I don't get to spend much time with my brother, so it was great to be able to all sit around the table and just talk. I was upset that my niece was unable to come because she was ill, but other than that ... the food was amazing, the pictures were good, and the time was well spent. I love my family, and though I won't get to go out of town with the rest of my family to celebrate, I was glad that my mom got us all together. I wanted to be able to go and take pictures of how I usually spend my Thanksgiving, but I'm going to have to post my family portraits later on instead.

The reason I chose to write about this is mainly because I was disappointed in the fact the my job would not even consider my request for the time off. I was told that NO ONE, from the top to the bottom, was allowed to take that weekend off. There are no exceptions! When my HR manager told me that the weekend was closed, she was not very nice about it, and I was really hurt. I just could not believe that there was no consideration or even any sympathy. Most of the people I work with stay in and around town for the holiday and it upsets me that I am one of a handful that goes out of town for the holiday. Anyway, I'm done ranting.....

DAVID HOCKNEY

This was a very time consuming project...I didn't like it all that much, but I guess the final product was nice.

This last one I was not impressed with but I tried to make it look okay.

Current Event 19 - I love you, Beth Cooper

My fance, Tony, went out the other night and rented some movies, so we could just have a night to relax. He rented I Love You, Beth Cooper. I didn't think that I would like this movie at all. I had seen movies like it, like SuperBad and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and I was not impressed by either one. They were annoying, not really that funny and I was bored watching them. I was skeptical when we started the movie but by the end I had laughed, genuinely, and almost cried. The end is really sweet! This is definitely a movie that I would recommend everyone to go rent and watch. It was nice to relax and enjoy my day off and to have a good laugh. It is still crazy to me that the little girl from Remember the Titans is now in her late teens (I believe) and is taking on really good roles.

Current Event 18 - Dallas Mavericks

Saturday, November 7 my fiance and I went to the Dallas Mavericks game at the American Airlines Center. I was given these tickets for my 23rd birthday. Most of you do not know me very well, but I get a lot of things from my Me Me, she was a huge sports fan, and while I do not typically watch all of the Texas teams (Cowboys, Rangers, Stars, etc.), I do LOVE the Mavericks. I have been watching them for as long as I can remember. I have only been to a handful of games and each time I do get to go I have the time of my life. They won Saturday by over 20 points and we had some really good seats. When the camera shows the fans waving the "bricks" when someone is shooting a free throw, well that is the section I was in. No, I was not on tv but I was really close. I am completely in love with watching Dirk Nowitzki play this wonderful game. He has over an 85% free throw percentage, he has the best jump shot in the league, and he is a great team player. Though I had great seats, I will be saving money in order to be able to see at least one game in my lifetime at courtside. I want so bad to meet Dirk, and hopefully one day I will. I honestly hate the fact that athletes and actors make so much money, but it is I (and others) who put that money into their pockets. I do not like that this is the case, but I sit back and think about it, and I enjoy these activites (movies and games) so I don't see myself discontinuing my "donation" to their pocketbooks.

Current Event 17 - Fort Hood

Last Thursday there was a tragedy at Fort Hood. Everyone has heard about the shooting there last week, and I have to say that I do not understand the brutality of people. My fiance has a cousin who is stationed there right now, and she was supposed to have been in that building when the shooting occured. Thank God she wasn't. I cannot imagine what the families of the deceased and injured are feeling. I would be beside myself if I were in their shoes. I was able to see the beginning of the President's speech at Fort Hood yesterday. He look very solmn and seemed to really care. He was sincere in his empathy for the families. The soldiers that were killed will be carried on in memory through husbands, wives, children, parents, and friends but I hope more than anything that the soldier who commited this terrible crime is brought to justice. I believe he was a psychiatrist to the soldiers coming back from war, he was the one who was supposed to try to help others adapt back to society, and he went crazy. I know that my fiance was very upset about this event. They revealed the major's name on tv and my fiance said "no wonder, just listen to his name." I hate to be judgemental, but I can see how some might think that he enlisted and worked his way to the top of ranks just to terrorize America. 9/11 gave names from that origin a bad rap. I think I'm just rambling now, but I really don't know how I feel about that part of it. His name is his name right? His name didn't kill those innocent soldiers. It's not his name that made him pull the trigger. It was him as a man, as a person, that made him perform these actions. I just want to say that those soldiers and thier families need your and my prayers.

Many Me's

MULTIPLES

These took a very long time to get the way I wanted them. I know I redid the first one 4 times. I liked this assignment, however, it was rather tedious. I thought that the images turned out pretty well. I will say that I am proud of them. I did other ones, with myself, but either the lighting was off or something in each picture moved and was different. For example, I tried to take some shots of me reading in my bed from different spots on my bed but the blankets got moved so it didn't turn out.

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