DrPepprChica , 28

So a couple of posts ago I wrote about my sister wanting me to take pictures of her. I just now am ready to take the pictures. I took my time because I haven't taken photography in 4 years, and I wanted to use my fancy camera, because I'm sure it'll take nice pictures (with my digital camera as well, for backup). See, last time I used my fancy camera (that I can remember) was in 2006, when I went to South Africa. And out of a whole roll of 24 photos, only 3 turned out at all. lol. So yeah, I really really needed to read up on my camera!! Meanwhile, my mama has been bugging me about taking my sister's pictures: "you keep putting it off, by the time you get to them, she ain't gonna be pregnant any more" Yes I know that...but if I'm taking pictures, dang it I want them to be as good as I can possibly make them. They're very important to me, and I know they're important to my sister, or else she wouldn't have asked me to do them. And then on Labor Day, I was off, and my mama was basically making plans for my sister to come to my house for me to take pictures of her. And I was in no way ready on Labor Day, so I really got onto my mama for making plans for me like that, without even asking me first. So I studied up on Labor Day, and told my sis I was ready to take pictures of her this weekend, if she was free, and I told her what I thought the best times would be as far as lighting and all. The cable guy was supposed to come over to her house on Saturday between 11 and 1:30, and you know how unpredictable those people are, so I told her it might be best if we just wait til Sunday, because she wants her boyfriend in some of the pictures, and they can't exactly be in 2 places at once, and one of them had to be at the house to meet the cable guy. So okay, I thought we had Sunday completely free for pictures. And then Saturday night, her and her boyfriend, and my husband, my brother, and my brother's girlfriend all went to a little party at my brother's girlfriend's house. My sister and her boyfriend dropped my husband off at around 3:30 maybe, so they couldn't have got home til about 4 a.m. Knowing they were wanting to take pictures the next day, a biiiiiggggg no-no, because they'd end up looking really tired, and who wants to look tired in their pictures? So I was a bit irritated about that, and also because I know my sister, she is a big sleeper, so there was little chance of her getting to my house the next day to take advantage of the good light coming into the room I was gonna use. And then on top of that, she informed me at like 12-something earlier that night that her boyfriend's brother's wife's baby shower was the next day (Sunday) from 2-4, which she hadn't even bothered to tell me about. And then she had the nerve to tell me she would either be there before the baby shower, or that she was planning on leaving the baby shower early, so she'd be there after the baby shower. Either one or the other. Which is a lie there, because she obviously had no intention of showing up there *before* the baby shower, seeing as she only got home around 4 a.m. So I told her to just wait til after the baby shower, so she could get some sleep and all.

So...Sunday comes. I get up late myself (about 12), and watch some Hollyoaks episodes online, take a shower, etc. And I went ahead and cleaned up the room, cleaned the windows in the room which I had forgot to do Saturday, had Craig (hubby) help me put a sheet up for a backdrop, had Craig help me figure out some good lighting options, got my cameras ready, studied my camera book a little, etc. So I was pretty much ready to go, as ready as I could possibly be at that point. 3:30 comes and goes (she said she was gonna leave the shower early---which I knew she wouldn't as soon as she said it)....4:00 comes and goes (that's okay, it takes her 20 minutes to get to my house, it's fine), 4:30 comes and goes, and finally I think around 5 or so, I get a phone call (I had told her to call me before she left for my house, so I'd know to be expecting her in case I had any last minute things I needed to do to get ready). It's her. She "ums" a few times and finally tells me that they're not coming because her boyfriend has to get his shoes ready for work the next morning. His SHOES. WTF. Seriously??? It is 5 p.m., so she was telling me it takes him 7 hours to get his shoes ready for work the next morning? Yeah....I don't think I mentioned anything to her about her lame excuse. But I did crawl her about how she handled the situation, waiting til the last minute to even tell me about the baby shower, and then wasting my day--when I'm sure she knew that morning that she had no intention of coming that evening. And when I told her she wasted my whole day she said she didn't waste my whole day, which I don't know how she gets that, since it was 5 p.m. That's pretty much the whole day, there's not a lot of options at that point really. I could've went out with my husband and spent the whole day doing something we both wanted to do. I think she had asked at the beginning if we could just do it next Saturday....before her OWN baby shower, which is 2-4. Haha. I amused her by just saying sure. I know good and well that has absolutely ZERO chance of happening. But she claims that if she has somewhere to go, she'll be able to get up at a decent time. I don't know when she thinks she's going to get the baby shower set up, because I'm sure my mama's gonna be at her house at the crack of dawn to set up. So I'm not holding my breath at all. I told her okay, you figure out the time you can come and let me know. What else can I do? It really just ticks me off though. In the first place, she never even asked me if I would take pictures of her (as far as I can remember, I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure she didn't), she just assumed. She knows I'm artsy, she knows I like taking pictures, so she pretty much just volunteered me for the role. It's fine, I would've taken pictures for her anyway, it's just how she's going about it now. You can't just volunteer me to do something and then waste my time, or even worse, lie to me.

Which is exactly what she did. Because she couldn't come because her boyfriend had to get his shoes ready for work, right? Well, after I got off the phone with her, I went and told Craig about the situation, because it was just absolutely ridiculous, and I was just irritated (not angry, just irritated) about it all. He had been playing around on the PS3 most of the day, putting music on and stuff. So I was sitting there trying to decide what to do with the rest of my day, and about 10-15 minutes later, who shows up on the PS3?? My sister's boyfriend! Fancy that! Craig and I both looked at each other. I mean are you kidding me?? I don't know if her boyfriend noticed that Craig was online or not, but Craig had the idea that I should call my sister and ask what her boyfriend was doing. I thought that would be a little weird, because she knows I really couldn't care less. So I suggested Craig call and ask her. So he said if I dialed, he'd talk, so I thought what the heck, why not? And her boyfriend answered the phone, so Craig used the excuse that he just wanted to play a game, and wanted to see if he wanted to join. lol. So they play some games, and then Craig sent him a message asking why they didn't come to the house. And he wrote back saying they had the baby shower and he had to get ready for work. Craig was tempted to say something back, but decided to just leave it. That's probably the best thing to do anyway, because there've already been several things that have happened to cause riffs between them and us, so rather than start some more, we'd rather just keep the peace. And anyway, they know good and well they were lying, and they must be off their rockers if they think we're stupid enough to believe the lies they told. That's one of the things I hate the most: people lying to me. I really wouldn't be surprised if her boyfriend didn't have some hand in them not coming over. I was already a bit ticked off at 3:30 a.m. when they showed up to drop Craig off, given that I just found out about the baby shower. And so I was being pretty short with my sister, and it was dark in the room, but I noticed her boyfriend kept looking over at me. Don't know what he was thinking but I'm sure it wasn't anything good, because I'm sure he noticed where I was being short with my sis. He already thinks about as highly of me as I do of him, which is pretty darn low, so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't use that as a reason not to come.

But anyway, I don't think there's much left to say about that situation without typing up a million pages' worth of crap that's gone on.

I just had to get it all off my chest though, because it's still bothering me. I'm still not angry about it, just irritated, but it's been on my mind a lot, and I just feel pretty lousy today.

Just sitting at work now. I was actually pretty productive today! Woohoo! I just hope I can keep it up!

I should be studying my photography & camera books, but, ugh, I just don't wanna right now lol. Wait til I have something to do, *then* I'll want to! My sister wants me to take pictures of her sometime soon. She's pregnant and due October 14th, so I think she might be about 7 months now? I get so confused when I try to figure out how far along she is. It doesn't really work logically this pregnancy thing lol. I tried to add up on my fingers, you know, January-February=1, February-March=2, but when I do that sort of thing, she'll wind up going 10 months before she has the baby, by my calculations. I don't know how the doctors figure it up, but it sure has me baffled! So anyway, according to what they say, I reckon she's about 7 months. I'm not really sure what kind of pictures I'm gonna take. I haven't really sat down and thought about it. I have a few ideas swimming in my head. I'd like to do some black & white shots, maybe hang a white sheet up in this big room I have and use it as a backdrop. I know she wants to do some pictures that include her fiancé, so not really sure how I'll work him in just yet. I think it'd be cool to do like some nude silhouettes, or faux nude even lol, that might be better lol, eek I do not wanna see her naked!! lol! You know, like they do in the magazines with the celebs, like Britney & Demi. Something classy. I wanna do some black & whites, maybe incorporate some flowers. I would like to do some really cool stuff, but I'm not sure what I'm capable of, because I don't know a whole lot about my camera! And my creativity button seems to just be barely hanging on these days.... I think it's pretty awesome that she would ask me to take pictures for her, though. I'm honored. Cuz she could just go anywhere else and have them done, but she chose not to, and not only did she choose not to, but she chose me, her sister. She could've had anyone else do it, but she asked me. That makes me feel pretty good. She and I don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and we've went through some trying times, so it's cool she thinks enough of me to do something special like this. I'm so nervous though. I've only ever had one photography class, and that was in 2004 I think, and I don't know just how good of a job I did, the teacher didn't seem to like my work as much as other students'. But I liked what I did, so I guess that's all that matters really. I thought I knew how to work the camera, or at least the basics, but when I took it with me to South Africa to really test my skills, it was a disaster. Out of a whole roll of film, 3 pics came out, and they weren't even all that great lol. So glad I brought my digital for backup!!!!

Anybody got any ideas for poses for my sis?

I think she wants me to do something with photoshop at some point, you know how they have like a black & white photo with only a rose in color? Something like that. Another thing my skills are bad about, but I'm gonna give it a shot lol.

Ugh I'm so frustrated. I went to Las Vegas in April and they had a stand for these cool dresses (irisimpressions.com). They're made so that there are supposedly hundreds of different ways to wear the dresses. Only thing is I can't really figure any of them out! Except for the basic one tie to make a skirt or sleeveless. That's pretty much it. They give you a brochure with all the different steps, but I just can't figure them out. I'm feeling jipped. I looked at the video online, and the lady's wearing a black bodysuit thing underneath, so I'm kinda feeling like if I don't have a bodysuit underneath, it's just not gonna work like it's supposed to :-/ It's like every time I try, my bra or underwear ends up showing, even with a strapless bra. And that's just not acceptable lol.

Does anyone out there know the dresses I'm talking about? Got any suggestions? Do you know anyone who's having difficulty as well?

Hey

La la la...just procrastinating doing my homework for a little while. I have so gotta get my homework done. It feels like everything is piling up on me all at once, but really it isn't! Yesterday especially felt like it. I had to work from 12-8 at the grocery store, and I had Spanish homework and a song to memorize and I had to do that all last night, whew! And the counselor has been giving me all kinds of college stuff. And I still don't even know what I want to be!!!! Aiyiyi!! Is there anybody else out there that doesn't have a clue about what they want to be? I want to do something that has to do with art, like maybe a cartoonist, an animator, or even a sketch artist would be cool. I had wanted to be an interior designer but that didn't go over so well with my daddy. And a cartoonist isn't going so well with my mama. I finally got Mama to agree with a sketch artist, she said I could do that if I took the classes so I could draw people really good. I'm thinking about taking some language classes, too, like Sign Language, maybe Spanish, and French, and Italian, and German, all the languages I can get! lol

Whew, I watched The Fast and The Furious the other day. What a movie!! It's niiicee..hot cars, hot guys, what more could a girl ask for? I loove those cars, they are so cool. They have some spoilers for your car at Spoilers.com

Welp I gots to be going and do my Spanish homework for tonite and read some on Jane Eyre. I gotta memorize The Prelude to the Canterbury Tales by Friday...aiyiyi...that looks like some crazy mess to me!!

Chau for now brown cow!!
Sayonara marinera!!

~Amber~
@>~>~>~

Aviation in America
Charles Lindbergh was considered one of the most famous men of the decade. "Lucky Lindy," as he was known, became famous by making the first solo transatlantic flight from west to east on May 20 and 21 in 1927. He started his flight at Roosevelt Field in New York at 7:52 A.M. and traveled 3,600 miles in thirty-three hours and thirty-two minutes to the Le Bourget airport near Paris. He was met in Paris by 100,000 people and Napoleon. Lindbergh was originally a mail pilot and delivered mail from Chicago to St. Louis. He started his flying career at the age of twenty. After his heroic feat, Charles was given the Langley Medal for Aerodromics on December 8, 1927. Several parades were also held all over America for this national hero. He became known to people of all ages, and even had a dance, the Lindy Hop, named after him.
Charles Lindbergh's flight was just one of many during the 1920s. The first transcontinental flight took place on May 2 and 3 in 1923. This flight was from New York to San Diego, California and lasted twenty-six hours and fifty minutes. The first flight around the world also took place during the decade. This trip began on March 17, 1924 in California and ended in Seattle, Washington fifty-seven stops and 351 hours later. The first flight over the North Pole was on May 9, 1926 by Americans Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett. Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly over the Atlantic Ocean from June 17 to June 18 in the year 1928. And, last, but certainly not least, was the first flight over the South Pole, achieved by Richard E. Byrd and Bernt Balchen on November 29, 1929. The '20s proved to be a decade of many firsts for airplane flights.



A Look Back at the Miss America Pageant
September of 1921 sparked the beginning of the infamous Miss America pageants. It was started in Atlantic City, New Jersey to bring money and people to the area even after the summer came to an end. Attract people is exactly what the pageants did. The paraades and celebrations leading up to the main event attracted pageant fans, while the pageant itself gained the interests of many activist groups that were eager to criticize the event. The first pageant brought together eight contestants, each of whom had been chosen in a picture contest by local newspapers. The winner of the first Miss America pageant was sixteen-year old Margaret Gorman from Washington, D.C. She looked very much like actress Mary Pickford. At first the pageant rules allowed pageant winners to recompete to try to keep the Miss America title. The rules also stated that each contestant had to be at least sixteen years old. Columbus, Ohio's Mary Campbell was the only contestant to win the title of Miss America twice, once in 1922 at age fifteen and again in 1923 at the age of sixteen. In 1924, the eighteen-year old Ruth Malcomson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was crowned Miss America. She was the first high school graduate to win. The rules were changed in 1924 to prevent any Miss America from competing in the event a second time. Miss America of 1925 was Fay Lanphier of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the first winner that wanted to become famous in Hollywood, and also the first to make money for winning the pageant. Tulsa, Oklahoma's Norma Smallwood was Miss America of 1926. She received a Golden Mermaid trophy for winning. Sixteen-year old Lois Delander, who represented Joliet, Illinois, won the crown in 1927. She was the last Miss America. The protestors who had criticized such aspects of the pageants as the tight swimsuits, short hairstyles, and bared knees were finally heard. After 1922, the Miss America pageant was cancelled. Although the pageants were short-lived, they will never be forgotten.



Eager for Equality
The 1920s brought several rights to the deserving Americans. A new beginning was brougth to the lives of American women who had fought tirelessly for the right to vote. Women's suffrage was finally obtained on August 26, 1920 when the nineteenth amendment to the Constitution became a law. Women finally had the right to vote, however, they wanted more equality and rights. On September 8, 1921, National Women's Party members went to Washington, D.C. and cleaned a statue of three very important women in American history. The statue, which had been put away in a storage room, contained Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cody Stanton, and Lucretia Mott. More rights were achieved by women when Rebecca Latimer Felton became the first woman senator in the United States on November 21, 1922 and on November 9, 1924 when Nellie Ross of Wyoming was elected as the first woman governor in the U.S.
Although women gained many rights during the decade, they were not the only people who were treated more equally. In Texas, blacks had been treated unfairly when they were banned from voting. Equality was won when Congress declared this act unconstitutional on March 7, 1927. Equality was also won by American Indians in June of 1924 when they were declared United States citizens.
Equality rights were an important part of the 1920s society. Although many rights have been achieved so far, as the future goes on, hopefully even more rights will be given to all Americans.



Sacco and Venzetti Sent to Trial
The trial of the decade was that of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Venzetti. They were immigrants that believed in anarchy. The event that led up to their trial was the murder of paymaster F.A. Parmenter and a guard in South Braintree, Massachusetts on April 15, 1920. Sacco and Venzetti were arrested of this crime on May 5th of the same year. Their trial began on May 31st, 1921. On July 14th, 1921, the two were convicted of murder, and their sentence was the death penalty. Sacco and Venzetti appealed many times, but to no avail. Activists around the world protested against the accusations, saying Sacco and Venzetti were only arrested for their beliefs. Immigration laws during the decade were being passed to try to control the immigration population in the United States. Most people believed the two were being executed with little evidence to prove their guilt. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Venzetti were executed in 1927.



Religion on the Radio
The radio in the 1920s was an extremely popular item in America. Almost everybody owned a radio. Radios provided Americans with news information, sports statistics, and music. Religious services were even broadcast over the radio. The first radio station to include a religious service on air was KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 2, 1921. The religion over radio idea was wonderful. Some people were unable to travel to their local churches, so the radio allowed them to receive religious sermons. This type of service was especially good for the elderly, who could not move around as easily. Religion over radio was a service that provided them with sermons in the comfort of their own home. Religion over radio also provided parents with the ability to better reach their rebellious teens, who liked nothing better than to disobey rules and not go to church. Religion aired on the radio gave teens at least some morals. The teens had no choice but to listen to the religious services when they were broadcast through the radio and into their own homes. Religion over the radio aided in the spiritual needs of elderly people and eased the worries of parents whose teens ran amok and had no morals.



Leopold and Loeb: Too Young For Punishment?
One of the most controversial events of the '20s was an occurrance that some call the murder of the decade. This specific event was the murder of a fourteen-year old boy, Robert Franks, on the night of May 22, 1924. Robert Franks was taken from his home and then murdered by nineteen-year old Nathan Leopold, Jr. and eighteen-year old Richard Loeb. He was murdered because the two older teen-agers thought killing someone would be fun. Leopold dropped his glasses at the scene, which provided evidence for the boys' arrests. Their lawyer, Clarence Darrow, kept the boys from the death penalty by having them claim insanity. Even though Leopold and Loeb did not receive the death penalty, they received some punishment for their crime. The teens were sentenced to a life in prison on September 10, 1924. This event was so controversial because many people thought the verdict on such a young roup of people was cruel. People also believed the teens should have received smaller punishments because their families were wealthy and the boys did well in school. No matter what their ages, these boys deserved their punishment. Even thought it was not as harsh as some people believed it should be, it was still punishment, which the boys needed after such a cruel and heinous murder. What Leopold and Loeb did was pure evil. What they did to that young boyn was for fun. Nobody should be allowed to committ such a terrible crime and get away with it without punishment, no matter what their age, wealth, or intelligence. Their pleading of insanity was also wrong and unlawful. These boys took advantage of those who really were insane by claiming this lie just to get a shorter prison sentence. Of course, the boys were young and maybe they didn't think about the consequences of their actions. But this fact still does not make up for the fact that they committed cold-blooded murder. The fourteen-year old was young, as well, and because of two boys' idea of fun, the younger boy never got a chance to experience most of his life. His life was taken away by Leopold and Loeb, therefore, Leopold and Loeb deserved whatever punishment they received.



Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentino, known to most as Rudolph Valentino, left this world on August 23, 1926. His death was caused by a perforated ulcer and blood poisoning. He was the son of Giovanni and Beatrice Guglielmi. He was born in Catellaneta, Italy on May 6, 1895. He was the star of such films as The Sheik and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Rudolph Valentino's funeral services were held at St. Malachi's in New York August 30th, and the funeral was at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Hollywood, California September 14th. His final resting place was in a crypt in the Hollywood Memorial Park. This young Latin Lover left behind his sister, Maria, and brother, Alberto. Rudy will truly be missed.



Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, died on August 2, 1922 at the age of seventy-five. His parents were Alexander and Eliza Bell. Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, Alexander Graham BEll was born on March 3, 1847. He had many achievements, such as being inducted into the National Academy of Sciences, becoming an American citizen, and helping to educate the deaf-mute population. Alexander left behind six cousins, his wife, Mabel Hubbard Bell, his two daughters, Elise Bell Grosvenor and Daisy Bell Fairchild, two sons-in-law, Gilbert Grosvenor and David Fairchild, and nine grandchildren, Meliville, Gertrude, Mabel, Lilian, Elsie, and Gloria Grosvenor and Alexander, Barbara, and Nancy Fairchild. He was buried at his family home at Beinn Bhreagh, Nova Scotia in Canada.



"America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford and the "King of Hollywood" Douglas Fairbanks were wed in March of 1920. This Tinsel Town wedding caught the eye of film lovers throught America. The twenty-sevent year old bride was the star of Pollyanna. The thirty-seven year old groom was the star of The Mark of Zorro. The Hollywood couple moved into Pickfair- -their twenty-two room home in Beverly Hills, California. The world's most famous couple traveled many places together. Fairbanks and Pickford even starred together in The Taming of the Shrew in 1929.



Several fads sparked the interests of the American people during the decade. Mah jongg was a Chinese game brought to America in 1922. It was extremely popular in America in 1923, when the game outsold radios.
Another extremely popular fad was the crossword puzzle. In April of 1924, the first crossword puzzle books were introduced to the United States. The books even came with a sharpened pencil.
Another fad was aviator goggles, made popular by Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. Many people in America owned a pair of aviator goggles, even though most of them were not plane pilots.
A huge fad was dancing. One popular dance was the Charleston, which became famous after it was featured in the musical Runnin' Wild in 1924.
One thing's for certain: there were plenty of fads for everyone's tastes during the decade.



The Great Bambino
Babe Ruth was the most well-known American sports star of the decade. This Baltimore, Maryland native originally played baseball for the Boston Red Sox. He was sold to the New York Yankees on January 5th, 1920 for $125,000, which was the biggest baseball trade in history. On March 6, 1922, he signed a three-year contract with the Yankees. During this time, his salary was $52,000 a year. He was the only person to hit three home runs in a World Series game. And, if that event was not remarkable enough, he hit three home runs not only in the 1926 World Series, but in the 1928 Series as well. In September 30, 1927, at the age of thirty-two, Babe Ruth certainly earned his nickname "Sultan of Swat" by hitting sixty home runs in one season- -more than any other player before him. In 1927 he was the highest payed baseball star, with a salary of $70,000 a year. With all the baseball feats Babe Ruth achieved, it's no wonder he was considered one of the greatest sports stars ever.



World Series Arrests
During September of 1920, several Chicago White Sox baseball players were accused of purposely losing the 1919 World Series baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in return for money from gamblers. Among those accused were Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch, Chick Gandil, Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, and Lefty Williams. On September 28 of the same year, three players confessed of their crime and also told the names of the other players involved. These players were all arrested, along with Buck Weaver, who knew of the bribes but did not report them.
The Chicago White Sox team of that year became known as the Black Sox. On August 2, 1921, a Chicago jury set the players free. However, the new baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned all eight players from baseball for life.