Draco Photography - Life and Times of Janine A

Happy Lunar New Year – Year of the Water Dragon– HELLO 2012

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:39:57 +0000

Hello Good People. Sorry I have not posted in a bit. I have been keeping busy with a new passion I recently re-discovered the last 3 months of 2011. I have begun a new journey into loving beauty, hair and makeup. With this new passion, I have created new social media outlets. Ever since I rekindled this part of myself, The fact of not being afraid of being an amateur has not stopped the energy flowing extremely in positive and constructive ways. Here are the Links to my new part of myself : Beauty Blog , Twitter, Tumblr, FaceBook, YouTube Channel. My Mischief eye tutorial – just one of the few videos on my Beauty Channel.

Now before you guys think I have given up on photography or blogging about life in general, nope. Photography and I have a love/ hate relationship only because as of late, I have not felt truly inspired to shoot. I know what the block is and I am going to get over it. I know I have to get started shooting again since I know I will not be here for at least a year and I need to have NYC with me when I go abroad.

shot by yours truly

I do hope that the followers I have here will also follow me on my beauty journey as well. This Lunar Year brings much energy and life and I am going to take full advantage of it .

Enter End o Year —— and some new prospects

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:43:21 +0000

FIRST AND FOREMOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Love Mordicai and Rigby

Well, I will be finished with my second Bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising as of this Saturday. ( Yeah I’m Done oooo I’m Smart).
To Top it off, I made the Dean’s list for my last semester.. again OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Now that I closed another chapter in my life, I began a new one as this one is winding down. I have decided to be a lil more altruistic and Teach English abroad That is right loves. Im going overseas. I am truly excited about doing this. I have decided that I wanted to teach in South Korea. I have been telling the universe, god and my friends and family this is what I am going to do, so Imma do it.

im Going there

I have already found a place in NYC that teaches the TEFL/TESOL courses. (I love NYC cause it has everything) so I will be doing those classes in late March / Early April. I have already renewed my passport, will be studying for my learner’s permit and driver’s license (I know am a late bloomer with this,but hey better late than never and I will be learning to drive stick) giggles.

Also I will be learning Korean and will be looking for classes here in the city and doing Rosetta stone as well. (Yeah I am on my grind). I also began a beautyblog and a FB Like page and I created a Youtube page for it. ( Yes branching out). It is nice to branch out and enjoy this fabulous world we live in going for it and it feels amazing.

The end of this year does not feel like it did last year. No longer looking to the future in dread but with open arms and learning to accept the good and the bad.

Looking for forward to 2012.. BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reflection of Self — Time to self analyze

Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:50:28 +0000

Well it is about that time, I guess. Unfortunately, I no longer have someone special in my life. This was my choice because we were not on the same page and truth be told, I was not going to wait around for him to figure out when he needs to grow up. I am not going to fully blame him because I saw this and I stuck it out instead of just going about my own business. I know people like to change people but I just wanted him to be more motivated, but once people get settled into a groove, it is hard for them to pull themselves out of it.
google-site-verification: google632ffe43d7e1cb99.html
What this break up has taught me though is I need to take a GOOD and HARD look at myself. I have noticed a pattern in my relationships. I have dated guys who seem to be afraid of succeeding or moving forward and I am wondering if that is what is wrong with me. In a prior post, Am I Passionless, I questioned if I am truly afraid of succeeding. While I know I have the ambition to be better, I know I am truly afraid to step out on faith. I have realized this now (only taken me about 10 years). So I deal with men who seem to be afraid of the same thing. After all sometimes, we do deal with people who are a reflection of ourselves. I talked with my mom and I told her, I am not arrogant enough to think I am the best thing since sliced bread and any man would be lucky to have me ( though they wouldn’t be too bad off but i do know i do have some growing to do. Now while I love being a relationship ( spending time with someone special, going out to eat, doing weird things, fun things, great things and adult things) I realize I am not happy with me so therefore it would not be fair to anyone I may potentially deal with in the future. I am not a leech that wants to suck the happiness from someone else. I want to bring my own happiness to the plate.

Throughout our whole lives we grow, we change and we hope whoever we share our lives with is comfortable with the changes as we should be with theirs. Truth be told, I used to be the little girl who wanted to get married. Now, I want to get my savings back, be back in love with life, truly be happy with me and stop being so afraid of succeeding.

So back to the old drawing board.

Drawing Board

Over Ten Years Later and the Movie Soul Food still gets on my nerves

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 19:32:04 +0000

I have what I consider a decent movie library but this movie will never make it into my DVD library. I have seen this movie on cable and the mood that it puts me in is never a happy one.

This movie showcased every black stereotype and family issue and completely put it in view of the whole world to see.

The family is made up of a matriarch, Big Mama, who has three daughters who each have significant others. Vivica Fox’s character, Maxine has a blue-collar worker husband and 2 kids. They own a home but it seemed to me, not really have a lot of money. While they were not poor by any means, their money did not match the money Vanessa Williams’ character Teri made. She was a lawyer who had a lawyer husband. They lived in a beautiful apartment but work consumed them both which meant they never really spent quality time with each other. Nia Long’s character, Bird has her own beauty shop and has a husband who was in jail.

The title soul food was to show how the family dinner would bring the family together and all the problems they had would be taken care at the dinner table. If that isn’t the biggest crock of ish I have ever heard. Most of time, all the tension and issue that families face are made more a problem and creates bigger rifts than it heals them at dinner.

Since Teri was the breadwinner, she was expected to pay for everything. Even of her sister’s would claim to pay her back, they never would. When Teri would gripe, all the Big mama would say is ” Teri, stop hounding your family.” But truth be told, family can be your worst enemy and this movie brought that to light. I say this from personal experience because I have a family member who feels that all family is good for is being their own personal ATM.

Bird as her name sake to me was a chicken head aka a Bird. She runs a beauty salon and while that is a worthwhile endeavor, she is flirting with an ex and accepting gifts from him even though she is married. When her husband gets out of jail, he of course cannot find a job, so after failure after failure of 6 interviews, the battle cry is” the man puts you in jail to make you better but when you get out the crackers control the jobs, so you can’t get hired.” When she tries to find him a job, of course she flirts with her ex and while the ex does get him the job, he wanted to show his prowess and control decides to rub it in Lem’s face. Lem of course loses his temper because is his pride as man has been damaged and lashes out and attacks him. He them goes and yells at Bird for hurting his manhood and then goes to a bar to drinks his pain away. Teri thinking sister got beat by her husband intervenes and has cousin Blimp beat up her husband and Lem pulls out a gun which he shouldn’t have had (you know terms of parole) end his ass right back in jail. Now while I will never know the plight of the black man or claim to ever, I think anyone who has gone to jail, no matter the race, has probably experienced the same problem.

And then they have a cousin Faith who comes and goes as she pleases and uses the family when she can. She used them so much she stayed in Teri’s house and because Teri and her husband’s relationship is strained Faith sleeps with Teri’s husband.

Throughout the movie, the true link was Maxine’s son, Ahmad. To be honest, that annoyed me no end. This little boy was never in his damn house at any real-time. He is always in every body business but that was the only thing that would gel this story together. While I know family is close, this is truly southern thing. I have no idea what this closeness is because my family unit is nothing like this.

Now while I guess to some it may seem like I’m jealous, this movies just made the closeness a little too uncomfortable at least to me.

So or course in the end, everything worked itself out but if this movie was made now, I bet you certain things would probably not be tied up in a neat ribbon. I know human beings want movies to entertain and give us hope because somehow we are never truly satisfied in our lives but in reality, sometimes things are not are not in a neat bow.

For the love of Pete——- Why does it Take someone to their last nerve for people to react

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:10:28 +0000

It never ceases to amaze me.Human beings are the strangest creatures. While talking to my most important parental unit aka MOM, she told me that she had a mini breakdown yesterday. She basically did a primal scream and then she told me here brain had shut down. Back story, times have not been well in my house ~~as with most people in these times~~, but nerves in my house are FRAYED!!!!!. But the reason for the frustration had to reflect on my stepfather is treating my mom. ( Personally, anyone who treats my mom badly is on my ~~shit~~ list , but leave it to god and karma to handle the retribution. My Mom has told me that she has never been treated well by anyone and that everybody felt the need to just say anything you want to her because she may be a little loud and boisterous. My mother basically laid it on the line with my stepfather. Told him everything and anything that was bothering her about their relationship. Now before you think my mom took too long to say anything, she has been talking forever but I have a feeling as with most men, when they feel their women are just nagging, they just tune them out. Once my mom said she wanted a divorce, then all of a sudden, He woke up.

So he then proceeded to say his peace and how he wants to make the marriage work. AGAIN!!!!! why is it takes ultimatums for people to actually do something. It is not like this was not something he really didn’t see coming. I know it is painful to face the truth of a situation, but it shouldnt take someone being at the end of their rope before you get off the damn pot. If this post seems a little preachy or upset, it is. I have lived on this earth 35 years and realized that only the truth will set you free and the earlier you face the facts, the less pent-up anger and frustration later.

Snide Remark……. Oy Vey…

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:58:40 +0000

It bothered me then about a month ago and it bothers me still. Some construction worker who is/was black decided to say to my Filipino

Hunny and I

boyfriend “”You are the wrong race for her (meaning me)”. He was upset as we walked on towards the waterway. I did not hear the comment but once he told me, I became extremely upset. I was upset because my mother did not raise me to make to judgments on people. How people choose to live their lives is their business. I know people get upset when other races date but isn’t the point to get along. How can we say we want people to get along but NO NO NO don’t you date someone from a different race.

Give me a break people. But what the comment did was bring me back to reality. People will be people. They are mad at themselves and decide to throw their comments on others.

We pass strangers everyday and we only get what I consider a “trailer” (like when you see movie trailers) of their lives. Unless we know theses people personally, we will never have an idea of what brought them to the point that you caught them at in their lives. Maybe if people thought it about it like that, they wouldn’t make such a judgment on people. I don’t honestly care who my friends’ date ( as long as they are happy) so why should I give a flying F&^K who strangers date?

YA FEEL ME!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Dark Girls – Preview ( documentary about exploring deep seated biases and attitudes about color)

Sun, 29 May 2011 00:26:12 +0000

While cruising around FaceBook a couple of days ago, my friend posted a video link about a new documentary called Dark Girls. This documentary speaks on the deep seated biases and attitudes about color especially with dark skinned women. Watching this documentary hurt my heart. I sat there watching all these beautiful women of color speak of the hurt that they had to endure just because of the color of their skin. It is bad enough when black people get it from other races, but this hate is coming from other black people. Our slave history has locked us into this mentality and because of the separation back then, it only enhances it now. The documentary preview also showed an interview with what I consider a young black man who stated that dark skin women do not look good next to him and he prefers lighter skinned women. When I heard that , I wanted to smack the hell out of him. How do you not appreciate your own blood? I would love to know what his parents look like. His ignorance only reinforced why black people cannot unify. Some of our own men do not even like us but I bet he would be the same one to have a snide remark if he saw a black woman with a another race. (i digress). Then they showed a young lady ( I assume she was a senior in high school) she stated that she feels natural hair is “DIRTY LOOKING”.She felt her natural hair is dirty looking. ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SERIOUS YOUNG LADY!!!!!??????? It is the hair you were born with and you feel it is dirty. Talk about a warped sense of self. Yes there are some black women who have a softer texture but we were born with a tight curl and if any of you know anything about black hair care companies, there are so many products now for natural hair that it is staggering. But to say that natural hair is dirty, girl please check yourself.

I honestly cannot wait to see the full length documentary to just learn more about how deep this self hatred goes. Divide and conquer is what they use in wars and in the war against black people, it has and still seems to be a very powerful weapon.

We cannot help they way we are born. We cannot determine our skin tone ( no matter how much science seems to want to make a race of super babies) but I thought in this supposedly progressive times we would have gotten better. I guess I was wrong.

I do hope you all check out this documentary.

Going out on Limb…….

Wed, 25 May 2011 01:36:25 +0000

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I read the book “the secret” sometime last year. It spoke of how to manifest your wants and your dreams. Now since I was little, I have manifested things. ( Now do not get freaked) Just wishing for things that would make me happy. These days, my manifests and dreams are few and far between. I mean I have created a vision board and put the things on it that I want, but the universe

Come on.. dont be so selfish

is taking its sweet ole time to give em up. But I noticed that when I think of things to me are not huge ( and we all have huge dreams), I have thoughts about spending time with someone or wishing my friend gets the job they want, it manages to happen for them or that person just magically appears.

So am I wondering? why are my dreams being deferred? Is the universe telling me to not be so selfish and my dreams will come. Maybe I just need to use my powers for the good of my friends. After all, they mean as much to me as my dreams do. The one thing I did manifest for myself was to p

parlay a better schedule for myself at my job.

see.. I told you.. MAGIC!!!!

I went out a limb asking my boss for a different schedule. after all, in this economy sometimes you can’t afford to be too brazen but I realized that I needed to take care of myself. I am currently taking online classes to get my second degree in Fashion Merchandising so I need time to write papers and read and look and listen to classes. Working nights was not working so I decided to ask for an earlier shift. I know it was a long shot but I got it and honestly, I am very happy.

So maybe the universe is gonna help me as long as I keep taking these leaps of faith so here we go……weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Weeeeeeee

Do you have a soundtrack for your life?

Tue, 24 May 2011 00:07:40 +0000

The thought above popped into my head while I was at work working on jewelry accessories. I usually listen to my ipod

ooo I-Touch, i so need a new one

on my way to work and before my store opens. The reason being music speaks to my soul and always has. The saying music soothes savage beast, it is true. Human nature can sometimes be very savage. Now, this isn’t to say that I feel like a savage beast when I wake up in the morning ( at most, I feel like a hot mess) My I-Touch is full of variety. You can find Classical, R&B, 70′s, 80′s, 90′s, millennium, pop, rock, international, Techno, instrumental, rap, hip hop and so on. I really try not to discriminate when it comes to music because I listen for beat and words and I always take my friends recommendations. After all, how can I find the soundtrack of my life by just by listening to one type of music?????

These days I am listening to more K-Pop and techno and whatever is currently on I-tunes top 10 ( maybe except for sir Justin beiber but I have one song of his, just not listening to anything else from him right now). The K-pop came about because of recommendations from my boyfriend’s cousin ( Hi Lady M) and people I found on Tumblr (told you I was a Tumblr fiend). Never realized how much music is over there and how over psycho some of the fans are. I swore in the U.S. they were bad but nothing compares to those fans that idolize Korean pop stars.

Anyhoo, when I thought about the soundtrack for my life, I realized that my I-pod is perfect for me. Though I don’t consider myself over moody, Sometimes my Ipod will give me the right song just for picking up my mood.

My current soundtrack is as follows:

Sofi Needs a ladder (original Mix) – DeadMau5

Cosmic Girl (classic mix) – Jamiroquai

Killer/papa was rolling stone – George michael

Universal Mind Control- Common

Keep Your Head Down – TVXQ

Beautiful People – Chris Brown featuring Benny Benassi

Nu Abo – f(x)

Alright (fred Falke remix) – Jamiroquai

Superthug – Noreaga

Strong Baby(cover) – Various artists

Da Rockwilder – Method Man & redman

Run the world Girls – Beyonce

Whats your soundtrack??

What a Surprise :) I am a featured blogger on Bloggers.com today

Mon, 23 May 2011 21:09:49 +0000

Hey blog Family.

I got a wonderful email this morning from bloggers.com.

Bloggers.com to me

show details 8:21 AM (9 hours ago)

Hello Janine:

Congratulation!

You have been featured on BLOGGERS as one of the Bloggers of the day. Your profile and Blog “Life and Times of Draco Photography” has been showcased in Bloggers Home page (http://bloggers.com). In addition to that you are awarded with Featured bloggers badge on your profile.

Thank you again for your brilliant work. Enjoy the latest features and tell your friends to join this wonderful community.

regards

Thank you
The Bloggers Team

I am truly honored. I am so happy that I have also gained some new friends on bloggers.com so I have much reading to do. From my perspective, I just write whatever may cross my mind that day. I just want to say THANK YOU BLOGGERS.COM

Check me , Im featured blogger Number 2