Emergency Preparedness

"Because you never know when the day before... Is the day before. Prepare for tomorrow." ~ Bobby Akart

Good morning; afternoon; and evening friends and fans! Namaste. For the last several years I've been watching prepping channels and it's very informative information indeed. As of late or whenever time permits, I'll go on Amazon and take a peek-a-boo at what items are for prepping (as well as having a bug out bag on hand). More on the prepping channels in a moment while I'm trying to sort out my thoughts on what I want to say but don't get me wrong, I can be meticulous when it comes down to writing and photography and will list some of the channels I do watch at the moment. So far, I've purchased several items in the past year or so are LuckyNV Carry Travel Case Cover for LifeStraw in October 2021; Survival Vegetable Seeds Garden Ki Over 1,6000 Seeds Non-GMO and Heirloom; 30 Pieces 4 Sizes Mylar Bags Assorted Sizes 5 Mil Mylar Bags for Food Storage also in October 2021; The Ultimate Survival Medicine Guide: Emergency Preparedness for ANY Disaster by Joseph Alton, MD and Amy Alton, ARNP; Survival Kit, 220PCs Emergency Survival Gear First Aid Kit Mobile System Compatible Outdoor Survival Gear. I also recently ordered a 24 BattlePack Tactical Backpack. There are other items I may come back for when I have the available funds. I've also ordered Survival Vegetable Seeds Garden Kit over 1,600 Seeds Non-GMO and Heirloom, Great for Emergency Survival Gear, 35 Verities Seeds for planting Vegetables 35 Plant Markers Gardner's Basics. I'm slowly getting my bug out bag ready for when there's an emergency and will have to order several additional bug out bags for my son, Stephan. If you know of any retail stores here in New York City that I can check out and, in the meantime, I'm going to find any stores on my own. I'm a fan of having several different options than having very limited options and may have to find a bug out checklist to print out for my own records so to speak. I may have to get myself a new mountain bike since my bike currently have a flat tire, didn't have the bike for a month at the time of the flat tire and I have no way of getting my bike to Target in College Point for flat tire repairs. The next two Mylar Bags had been mentioned in either on The Angry Prepper or The Angry Truth channels on YouTube. These two Mylar Bags can be found on Amazon.

• 100 Pieces 5x7 inch Mylar Bags
• Mylar Bags for Food With Oxygen Absorbers
• OXYGONE 500 CC [100 Packets] Premium Oxygen for Food Storage, Oxygen Absorbers (pack of Absorbers.
  

-My YouTube Suggestions-

 "A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm." ~ Henrik Ibsen

Onto prepping channels on YouTube, there are several YouTubers I'm a fan of that I regularly watch from time to time. Several of them have at one point (once upon a time) served in the military and one of them I like because this dude is a natural speaker, he doesn't talk down to you or at you but does get you thinking and curious enough to look things up on the internet. The name of this dude's YouTube channel is Survival prepping for normal people and this October will mark two yeas since this guy posted any videos on YouTube. Another YouTuber is Black Scout Survival, I believe Mama Bear Prepping is another active military personal if I'm not mistaken. Another suggested YouTube channel is City Prepping; The Angry Prepper/The Angry Truth; Prepper Nation. They'll often mention Alaska Prepper in several of their videos or often times when they take the live stream route and another YouTube channel I watch is Pinball Preparedness. There are some of the YouTube channels I do watch and there's another YouTube channel, I forgot the name of this YouTube channel but I know it's a husband and wife team. I'm sure it'll come to me when I find out which channel I regularly watch will make mention of this particular YouTube channel but I'm not going to drive myself crazy trying to think of the channel. I often watch Poplar Preparedness and any other channel on YouTube, best to click on the hashtags in the description part of the video (yeah, I know, such a millennial thing to do but I don't get the whole point of in or the significance of these hashtags). It's been a hot minute since I've watched Sensible Prepper or Survival Dispatch, The Urban Prepper. That YouTube channel I was trying to break my head over is Full Spectrum Survival! Just know that when we end up in a Shit Hits The Fan scenario that no one will come to save you and just think of The Walking Dead, there may be a separate blog about what I've learned what to avoid; a general idea of what could go wrong and what could go right. I'm currently up to season nine of The Walking Dead on Netflix and there's another zombie themed show on Netflix I've watched but sucks that it's only five seasons of Z Nation. [Side note: You may recognize Christian Serratos from The Walking Dead, she plays the character Rosita Espinosa and she's done two seasons of Selena: The Series on Netflix.] Another zombie show I'm watching is Black Summer (currently up to season two) and another zombie related show I've never gotten past episode one is Reality Z on Netflix (Reality Z is mostly in Spanish, I'm a non speaking Spanish Latina). Okay, I'm getting a bit carried away with zombie related shows but these are a whole other blog in itself. I've found another YouTube movie titled 'Prepper | FREE FULL COMEDY MOVIE | End of the World Comedy Drama Movie'. There's a reason why I've put the preppers who are currently serving in the military but haven't come across any preppers whom are police officers. I'm sure there are active police officers who are preppers. One of these YouTube channels have mentioned where to stock up on food: Nutrient Survival and as well as stocking up on medicine: Contingency Medical.

-Electromagnetic Pulse-

"Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival." ~ Winston Churchill

If anyone knows of any items for an EMP attack (Electromagnetic Pulse), I'm all ears and open to checking out items. I'd have to find some faraday bags, as well as faraday cages and making sure I have all my devices protected. I hope I wouldn't have to experiences this my lifetime and if need be, I should stock up on novels from Anne Rice or any other novels if in the event of an EMP attack. Stock up on what you need now, even if it's a little bit at a time until you have a good ten years worth of food, books, and entertainment (such as board games, card games such as Uno! Dominoes, whatever you may have on hand for you and your family). Here is a reading suggestion for you to read: 'How To Defend Against The Electromagnetic Pulse Threat By Literally Painting Over It' and 'DHS Combats Potential Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack'. Best to be prepared for anything that life throws at us and I don't trust the government since I feel they have something devious up their sleeves. I'm hoping to keep this type of blog in three blogs, meaning there may be two future blogs about prepping and I have not yet decided whether if there will be two additional blogs on prepping. Best to be prepared with anything from books to games and anything to keep yourselves occupied. If you're not much of a writer, pick up the habit of writing and always have several copies of dictionaries on hand since you may not be able to use your phones to look up whatever words you're looking for on your phone. Personally, I find people to be spoiled with their phones.

-Shortages-

"Recent research shows that many children who do not have enough to eat wind up with diminished capacity to understand and learn. Children don't have to be starving for this to happen. Even mild under nutrition - the kind most common among poor people in America - can do it." ~ Carl Sagan

It's bad enough there's baby formula shortages on hand in many retail stores and now we're facing another. Here's a reading suggestion: 'National Tampon Shortage Is Affecting American Women - and No One Knows When It Will End' and 'The FDA is facing an investigation into its handling of the baby formula shortage'. I'm going to be honest, I'm grateful that I don't have an infant to care for at the moment because I don't have to worry about how the baby will be fed, etc. If we're currently facing all these shortages out there on store shelves, I'd suggest stock up on diapers of different sizes so you'd be best prepared for what's to come and I know this sounds insane but I'm sure somewhere in your subconscious mind you know I'm right. Even if you have to go to BJ's Wholesale Club or even Costco Wholesale for things like garbage bags, shampoo/conditioner, bath soap, and whatever else you feel you need to stock up on. For freeze dry food, I wish I could suggest which freeze dry foods are good because I have not [yet] ordered any freeze-dried foods. Perhaps you can order small amounts from Amazon and see which ones you fancy. I wouldn't know too much about things like freeze dried foods since I have zero experience with trying freeze dried foods.

 

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/preppers

Blessed be,

Jennifer

'New York City: Five Borough Tour' Part II

“There is one thing the photograph must contain, the humanity of the moment. This kind of photography is realism. But realism is not enough - there has to be vision, and the two together can make a good photograph.” ~ Robert Frank

Good morning; afternoon; and evening friends and fans! Namaste. As many of you already know, I'm still working on my 'New York City: Five Borough Tour' book and I still haven't come up with a subtitle for my book which will be on Blurb Books. I hope to self publish several books on street photography, as well as music and fashion. Don't get me wrong, I have an idea on what I want to do as I can eventually turn my ideas into reality and these are places I want to go within New York City. Since my camera is currently out of commission at the moment but feel free to refer to Photo Plus Expo 2018 blog and since it costs money to have my camera serviced but I'm itching to go on my photography walks again whenever time permits. Once when I find a place that would fix up my Minolta X-370 and it's going to be a challenge because I'm not sure how many places still repair Minolta cameras. I'd have to research more into the backstory of Minolta and nowadays people are proud camera parents of Canon, Nikon or Sony cameras. Sony cameras takes decent pictures but I heard they aren't the best. I hope to complete my project within the next three years and I hope it'll be worth it but to say the least, I hope to get back to school with what I have so far. Don't get me wrong, I have ideas on which films to use for each borough. For example: Staten Island Ilford Delta 400 Professional Black and White Film; Brooklyn I plan on using Ilford FP4 35mm Plus Black and White Negative Film (50 pack); Queens, I plan to use Ilford HP5 Plus Black and White Negative Film; Manhattan: Ilford XP2 Super Black and White Film; and the Bronx: Kodak Professioal Tri-X Black and White Negative Film. Who knows I may throw in a random Ilford Delta 100 Professional Black and White Negative Film for any five of the boroughs. I have ideas of how I want to set up my book and I do want to have enough pictures for roughly two books, perhaps if I'm lucky, three books at most. Once when I've completed my project, I'll do a final blog based on my 'New York City: Five Borough Tour' book and I still have to come up with a catchy subtitle [that stands out from the rest] for my book that will get people curious to purchase the book!

• Staten Island: Ilford Delta 400 Professional Black and White Negative Film (35mm Roll Film, 36 Exposures)
  
• Brooklyn: Ilford FP4 Plus Black and White Film, ISO 125, 35mm, 35 Exposures, Propack 50
  
• Queens: Ilford HP5 Plus Black and White Negative Film (35mm film Roll Film, 36 Exposures, 50 Pack)
  
• Manhattan: Ilford XP2 Super Black and White Negative Film (35mm Roll FIlm, 36 Exposures, 50 Pack)
  
• The Bronx: Kodak Professional Tri-X 400 Black and White Negative Roll Film (35mm Roll Film, 36 Exposures)
  

As an update to my project I've started during my spring semester at LaGuardia Community College for Intro to Photography in 2013. I'm still working on my project and yes, I've already passed the class but want to complete my book. It's mainly street photography themed for the moment and have three other book ideas in mind, one of which will include a second street photography book but in color. There's a professor I had during my first semester at LaGuardia Community College that I continue to follow on her WordPress account and have been downloading her syllabus and have been saving them onto my flash drive each semester, yes, I realize I've already passed Intro to Photography but figured I'd keep up with the class for the most part to keep my sanity. Yet, I hope to complete my project and due to unfortunate circumstances, I've postponed my project due to shutter issues with my trusty sidekick, Minolta X-370. It's making me a bit frustrated because I don't have the available funds to have my camera serviced and nor do I have the funds to upgrade to a digital camera. However, if I had a choice of digital cameras, I'm leaning towards Nikon and in the beginning, I was leaning towards Canon since at the time I wasn't a fan of Ashton Kutcher because I thought he was obnoxious (to say the least, I'm still not a fan of his). Since I haven't seen many commercials featuring Ashton Kutcher being spokesperson for Nikon much these days but you can find these Nikon commercials on YouTube from various YouTube channels. I've found a link in regards of a debate on choosing a camera: Canon or Nikon and I will post 'The Great Debate: Canon Vs. Nikon' but however, I'm an avid [35mm] film user and have found another link for Expert Photography titled: 'The Complete Guide to Film Photography: 94 tips' but will continue on with my research both internet and going to B&H asking questions in regards to the cameras and testing them out.

I'm very excited about my book because I feel like I can learn about on how I can improve my photography skills and I also want to share my gift with the world, especially those who have doubted my talents!!! However, I'm aware that I may not "look" like much until people either see me in action and as well seeing my work. I pray that my photography will receive some positive recognition for my talents and I am so used to people speaking negatively about me or to me. For example: my stepfather's bible hugging sister, Mary Ellen had told me that I'd never make it very far as a photographer, and the same goes for my former ACCESS - VR counselor and a random Asian woman. I've had three different people telling me that I'd never make it as a photographer. Truth be told, I don't know why I've even listened to them. Don't get me wrong, I have the talent and two things that work against me are: Lack of employment opportunity and not having a college degree but specifically a Bachelor's Degree. I'll eventually have both under my belt so to speak and the talent is a piece of cake for me.

I have ideas on what I want to do with my project and figured I'd get a head start on this project then at least I can begin scanning my negatives for each borough. There are places of interest that I want to go to and I know Citi Field and Forest Hills Stadium are two of those places here in Queens to visit. There are several places in Brooklyn of interest that I want to go to: Downtown Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Bridge area; Dumbo; along the G line; Coney Island/Luna Park; New York Transit Museum; and all those awesome places. I'm not familiar with the Bronx other than Yankee Stadium (Let's go Yankees!) and Bronx Zoo or Staten Island. I'm more in favor of going to the Bronx over Staten Island any day, any time or unless if there's a family gathering such as a wedding, or a birthday celebration, whatever went for that day. Only place I can think of are the Staten Island Ferry and the Staten Island Mall but other than that I'm drawing up a blank. A third place is the Alice Austen House also in Staten Island. Since I have friends who reside in the Bronx and Staten Island, hopefully we can all meet up at some point and I could use some time to hang out with some friends, whether it's out to lunch or dinner. If need be, there's always Google search and do as much research as possible for different locations for my project and I realize this is a bit time consuming but I don't mind the research... I hope to find some possible leads on where to go in the Bronx and Staten Island.

I have selected three different reading materials to read at your own leisure and a fourth link for my upcoming project I've originally started as a class assignment! It'll eventually be somewhere in the Blurb Books portion of the site.

• Blurb Books 
• A Street Photographer's Guide to New York City for further reading materials.
• Top 35 Spots to Photograph New York City: Voted by the Locals!
• An 8-Hour Photo Walk Around New York City.
  

Blessed be,

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