57 Secrets You Didn't Know About Me

Have you ever...?

[X] Been drunk.

[X] Smoked pot

[X] Kissed a member of the opposite sex

[X] Kissed a member of the same sex (I got hit on by a drunk white woman once in July of 2013 on the streets of Manhattan)

[X] Shoplifted.

[_] Been fired (I've been laid off before, does that count?)

[_] Been in a fist fight.

[_] Got hit by a car.

[X] Snuck out of your parents' house (Good times...)

[_] Been arrested.

[_] Been in love.

[_] Gone in a mosh.

[_] Stolen something from your job (Why bother stealing when you could work for it?)

[_] Celebrated New Year's in Times Square

[X] Lied to a friend.

[_] Had a crush on a teacher.

[_] Celebrated Mardi-Gras in New Orleans

[_] Been to Europe

[_] Skipped school (I've only cut classes)

[_] Thrown up from drinking.

[X] Lost an immediate family member.

[_] Played 'Clue.'

[_] Had a sleep over party.

[_] Cheated on a boyfriend/girlfriend.

[_] Been cheated on.

[_] Had a sweet sixteen (I didn't have a sweet sixteen because my grandmother passed away several days before my sixteenth birthday)

[_] Had your tonsils out.

[_] Had a car.

[_] Driven

Do you...?

[_] Have a boyfriend.

[_] Have a crush.

[X] Feel loved (...Sometimes)

[X] Feel lonely.

[X] Feel happy (Depending on my mood)

[X] Hate yourself.

[_] Have a dog.

[X] Have your own room.

[_] Listen to Hawaiian music.

[X] Listen to rap (Sometimes, depends on who it is)

[X] Listen to rock.

[_] Listen to country (Too depressing)

[X] Listen to Reggae (Once in the blue moon)

[X] Paint your nails.

[X] Have more than one (1) good friend

[_] Get good grades (Maybe when I was in junior high school? Does that count?)

[_] Play an instrument (Does 'Guitar Hero' count?)

[_] Have slippers.

[_] Wear boxers

[_] Like the color blue

[_] Like the color pink

[X] Like to read.

[X] Like to write.

[_] Have long hair.

[X] Have short hair.

[X] Have a cell phone.

[X] Have a laptop.

[_] Have a pager.

I hope everyone enjoys this entry and finds it interesting. These are just random facts about myself.

Warm blessings,

Jennifer

Personal Choices

"We believe in personal choice, rather than society dictating how must live our lives." ~ Mike Peters

For some women, it's a personal choice of whether if we want children or not and for most (men or women) who struggle with infertility while other women either murder their newborn or they abandon them at birth or they brave it out through adoption for their own personal reasons (may it be through rape/incest, an "Oops! I'm pregnant!" or they're simply not ready for motherhood) or whatever reason, they know they're healthy enough to conceive. I ended up getting pregnant in 2009, it was hard to pin point when I got pregnant since I've had a history of irregular menstrual cycles (past and present) and when I wanted to go for an abortion, it was too late to for an abortion. For the remainder of my pregnancy, I was depressed, angry, bitter, confused, lost, embarrassed, and a good part of me wanted to die and yet disappear. With my sons father, he had only showed up to two of my doctor's appointments and rest of the time, he'd send me text messages about an hour before my scheduled appointment that he wasn't "able to make it in time." I recently had my OG/BYN appointment this past week and had inquired about contraceptives (to be more specific, the Intrauterine Device or IUD for short), I was told to wait until I was going through my menstrual cycle before I could go for the contraceptives. At first I thought it was rather odd figuring I had just finished my menstrual cycle about several days earlier and never considered having to wait until I have my next menstrual cycle before I go for the contraceptive. I’m going to let all you guys who may be reading this blog that are looking to me for a quick sexual fix (in case if you’re single or already in a committed relationship on where your significant other just isn’t giving you the sexual satisfaction you’re looking for at home), I have had a history of history menstrual cycle in the past and yes, I still experience irregular menstrual cycles which can be scary at times (depending on who I am). I do like children but never had any interested of wanting to be a mom at any given moment in life but over all, I enjoyed my freedom of not having children. I have told people my personal interest of wanting to have my tubes tied, people’s response was: “You may change your mind when you meet the right guy.” And I personally doubt it because I have already made up my mind about not wanting to experience pregnancy, ever. It’s a matter of personal choices we make in life, for example, we make personal choices of being with certain people whether if they’re good for us or not, so choose wisely in who you hang out with and especially for the women who are sexually active because you don’t want to be with the wrong guy if he gets you pregnant then he runs for the nearest exit without return once when you say those magical words: “I’m pregnant.” At press time, it’s something I don’t need and whether if you agree with me or not, it’s my personal decision. It should be my own right to decide for myself.

I haven’t lived life yet but I want to live life, explore the world, gather myself (mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and as well as career wise), have a clear mind/conscious, being able to feel comfortable but confident in my own skin and figure out what I want in life before I settle down. I want to accomplish something in life with hopes that I can lay my head down at night knowing I’ve made small accomplishments for day and so far, I haven’t made any serious accomplishments. I have trust issues when it comes to men: My biological father was never around much when I was growing up but I knew who he was (he passed away from a brain aneurysm earlier this year) so I’ve never had a father/daughter relationship with him, my stepfather sexually molested me in the early ‘90s while my mother was either in culinary school or in bed sleeping (Yes, my mother has known about this for the last three/four years but she didn’t do shit meaning going to a lawyer for divorce papers or anything, I’m assuming she doesn’t care about me so there is something wrong with my mother) and my sons father bailing on me during my pregnancy. By choice, I chose NOT to get pregnant in the future because I have no desire to get pregnant in the future and on the same token, I am not getting any younger, I want to be able to (try to) enjoy life without the guilt and frustrations. The idea of having my own biological children sounds nice but by choice, I have no deep desire in having to experience another pregnancy in years to follow. Yet, in my own right, it’s my choice, my life, my body, and my decision alone in not wanting to get pregnant in the future.

I can picture people saying: “Just one more!” Deep down, I’m skeptical because of how I emotionally handled my first pregnancy and I was feeling very negative towards pregnancy. If I’m meant to have one child in this life, let it be the way it is and end of story. So far, I’m comfortable with the idea of having one child for now and I have no plans to experience round two of pregnancy any time soon! If I were to change my mind on having another child in the future, it has to be with the right guy and once when I’m established with a steady income, career, as well as being comfortable, confident and secure in my own skin. To me, that’s important with the idea of being/feeling comfortable, confident, secure, knowing where you’re at in life and being completely sure of yourself in your own skin can be attractive without coming off as condescending. Lastly, I’ve been trying to Google search contraceptives (IUD’s actually), so far in my reads, some of the websites mention nada about having the IUD inserted while you’re on your menstrual cycle. I haven’t found anything that answered my question on whether or not if you need to be on your menstrual cycle in order to go for the IUD procedure.

 

Warm blessings,

Jennifer

New York City: Five Borough Tour

"Photography, painting or poetry - those are just extensions of me, how I perceive things; they are my way of communicating." ~ Viggo Mortensen

It's been a year since I've started this project but originally a class project (or an assignment was a class assignment, whichever) and I haven't gotten around to finishing my project. I still have a combination of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens to finish. Staten Island isn't exactly a place of where I can think of places to photograph besides the Staten Island Ferry and the St. George Terminal in Staten Island. The name of the project is "New York City: Five Borough Tour" and keep in mind that I haven't come up with a subtitle for my book yet but, however, my book will be featured on Blurb (which is a self publishing site). I'll be sure to post the direct link to my Blurb page all to see and order several copies of my book! After this project, I hope to self-publish several other books similar to what I'm currently working on. My second book I plan on publishing will the same idea as New York City: Five Borough Tour but this time, it'll be in color! And my third book will feature at least five different popular CosPlay events in New York City but ending with Comic Con at the Jacob Javits Center in October. Those are my three book projects for the time being but keep i n mind that there may be a possibility that there will be future books beyond the three that I plan on doing. For my Anime/CosPlay book, it'll feature different events such as the Sakura Matsuri at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in Brooklyn, New York, and anywhere in the New York City area but not limited to Sakura Matsuri and Comic Con but I'll for now focus on my New York City Five Borough Tour book. If there are (photography friendly) places that no one knows about or rather that the general public may be fully aware of and please feel free to contact me either through Blogspot, Facebook and/or Twitter. I'm searching for a place that's not as "attractive" but as long you have one of those rare people that tends to find "beauty" in highly but unlikely place and places that are unique in its own way when people tend to "view" the area as a dump. Once when I have the chance to purchase just enough FujiColor 35mm film from a combination of Adorama; B&H; and as well as K&M Camera but I'll make my rounds photographing what inspires me.

Places of interest (that I have in mind, of course) in four out of five boroughs are: The Knitting Factory, Dumbo, and Coney Island in Brooklyn; Harlem, the Financial District, the East Village area, Greenwich Village, Lower East Side, from Herald Square to Times Square, expanding to Bryant Park, Grand Central Terminal, the Belvedere Castle, most of Central Park, The National Underground, The Mercury Lounge and anywhere that have bands performing in the New York City subway system in Manhattan. Yet, I'm not familiar with the Bronx but I'll say the Bronx Zoo, Yankee Stadium, and random areas that appear busy, a neighborhood that is full of life so to speak. Finally, Queens. Jamaica along Sutphin Boulevard near the Long Island Rail Road station and along Jamaica Avenue, Flushing Meadows Park, Flushing, whenever Benjamin N. Cardozo High School have plays or some sort of school related event going on, Jackson Heights, Ridgewood (a shout out to friends in Ridgewood) and again, anywhere that is vibrant and alive. I'm not worried about Staten Island because there's not much to do in Staten Island or unless if you have friends who live in the Staten Island area that knows Staten Island (I mean very) well beyond the Staten Island Ferry, Staten Island Mall or even the beaches in Staten Island. No offense to those who live in Staten Island, to me, Staten Island is the boondocks of New York City set aside from Long Island and the residents of Staten Island must be bored to tears because Staten Island is pretty much dead since there's no form of entertainment other than the beaches, the Staten Island Mall and the movie theaters. For those who are Staten Island residents, please let me know what places that I can go to that you'd consider a photographer friendly area but limited to just the Staten Island Ferry, the beaches or the Staten Island Mall and areas that are filled with hustle and bustle. I may have to consider a specific "theme" for Staten Island and the other four boroughs of New York City but mostly Staten Island and the Bronx. For example, the Bronx area, I'm considering visiting different Barber Shops, the Bronx Zoo and places that are filled with life and different personalities of the Bronx. I'm not familiar with the Staten Island area so I'd have to Google search different areas of different places that are photographer friendly and I am also open to suggestions as well! In terms of Manhattan and Brooklyn, I'm considering music venues as mentioned before that are in the works. I have several friends who are in bands and I'm waiting for either Biting Saints or Vividly Dim to promote their sound, their music. Yet, I have no idea when they're going to go around from lounge to lounge and in the mean time, I plan to purchase more film so I'm prepared. Mentally and emotionally I'm ready but I want to go prepared with several rolls of film. I'm not going to spend too much time in places like The Trash Bar or The Knitting Factory but I plan to explore Brooklyn and in places no one has ever thought of!

My personal goal for my New York City: Five Borough Tour book is to pursue a thought provoking and inspiring book in a way that you'd never thought possible and explore the possibilities. If anyone knows who is an inspiring model or a talented musician and are looking for a photographer, feel free to contact me so we can coordinate a location, date, and time for your photo shoot (please refer to my Price Package). As a fair warning, many of the pictures will be in Black & White and you may choose a location in the Bronx, Queens and/or Brooklyn. So, if anyone have any interesting places in the Bronx that I can go to [that are photography friendly] with my camera and as long as there's plenty of people in the area to photograph in their candid, unexpecting moment. Any ideas on where to go in the Bronx? So far I've Googled search place to go that are photography friendly areas such as Governors Island, and Cronton Aqueduct. I know there's an area listed on the website for Central Railroad of New Jersey but it's not on my agenda of interest to go to. I am always on the search for new and exciting inspiration to go by for my book! At the end of the day, my photography is what keeps me motivated and alive! In the end, I am very much looking forward in sharing my photography [work] with the entire world! Yet, I just wish I have the same enthusiasm for photography and imply that to outside of photography!

Warm blessings,

Jennifer