Lately

Lately I have been feeling quite inadequate. That I am not smart enough, thin enough and talented enough.
Lately I have been feeling artificial. There are words coming out of my mouth, but not meaningful enough to take form.
Lately I have been feeling lonely. Is it weird I want the comfort of another person but not the commitment? Yet I do not even know how to flirt.
Lately I have been feeling as if I am not kicking enough ass. I compare my success to what I see in others. Sometimes ass kicking is subtle.
Lately I have been feeling as if I am failing. Am I doing enough with my life?

The Land Bound Flight Attendant

 It is day 4 of 5 since being in my hotel room in Montreal, Quebec. After first it was only a three day trip, but than turned into 4, than 5 as storm Jonas ripped through the east coast. As I scrolled my Facebook to kill time, I saw that my other flight attendant friends were in the same predicament as I. They were all land bound.

  Most of my crew grumbled about the layover, but I was excited. It was mt first time in Montreal, so I was going to use the opportunity to explore. So that's what I did. 

  I took the 747 bus from the airport to downtown Montreal. I explored Peel St, a shopping district where hundreds of shops were all located underground so that you would not have to be exposed to the harsh winter air. I explored intricate Cathedrals and got to hear a grand piano echoing off the church's 200 year old walls

   Then I went over to Chinatown, where the streets bustled despite the -10 degree weather. My mouth watered at the sight of the decorated pastries that popped with color and appeal. My fingers warmed around a bowl of sumo ramen, which I was told the owner made from complete scratch.

  Merely walking down the streets gave me exposure to the architecture and diversity of the city. Conversations in French floated past my ears and almost everything was in written in French. Made me wish I knew more, but I was still well received whether I knew it or not. 

  I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit Montreal. Any other layover, I doubt I would have had the time to explore the city like I was given now. 

  Oh, it can be boring sitting in a hotel room for days on end, but I also have to remind myself that I am sitting in a hotel room. There is a comfy bed, heated air and breakfast offered to me every morning. That is more than what some people get in their entire lifetime. Even in New Jersey, people are having to leave their homes and power outages are leaving them in the cold. 

  I would say the storm is affecting me, but really it's not. I am not outside shoveling layers of snow or worrying my home is going to be destroyed. I am not one of the 31 people who have died because of storm Jonas.

  I understand not every person was given the opportunity like I did. I know some are bound to their houses or rooms because of the storm or do not have the opportunity to venture out like I did. The frustration is understandable, but I ask that we all put it in perspective. 

  Think positive and stay safe! 

  

  

You Have the Right to Reserve Proactively

It is day two on reserve and I have not gotten a call yet. Forever in my jammies, I say, as I load another episode of "Mysteries of Laura" on Netflix.
  The nagging feeling in the back of my head tells me that I am not using the most of my time. Before I was a flight attendant, when I lived full time at home and had a normal full time job, this would have been more acceptable to me. I would have felt that I earned this relaxing time more because of the hard work that I did that day.
  Reserve life is different than that. You can be on duty all day, waiting for a call from crew tracking, but in reality not doing anything at all. For me I have an hour and a half call out time to be at the airport if crew tracking calls me, I really cannot go anywhere. Or anywhere far in fact. Since I am based in D.C and live part time in a hotel far from anything walking distance, I have no other choice than to hang around the hotel room most of the day.
  By nature I am a proactive person. Laying around sounds indulgent at first, but then tiring after the 3rd, 4th hour of the 2nd day in a row. Proactive me wants to get things done, go somewhere, do anything but sit and watch another episode of "The Office". Really, I just want to have meaning outside my job. I want to feel like I am using the most of my days, rather than just sitting and wasting away.
  Trust me, I was warned of the "reserve nightmares" as many of the flight attendants like to refer to it. I was prepared for the countless dead days, of waiting and waiting till you finally get the call to action. I knew the pros and cons of this job, but now I want to maximize it.
  I can feel it in my bones, literally! I feel my body calling out to move, to grove, to do something different for a change. And I have addressed those issues, because I want to help myself before I completely lose myself.
  I don't want to lose myself physically, but also not emotionally or spiritually. I don't want to become so compliant sitting around, I forget who I am outside of this jobs. My fear is that I will forget who I am . My passions, my interests, my hobbies, my inner being.
  I believe that is when balancing is very important for me. Because I like to be in control of my life, I sometimes feel like I am out of control when the days slip pass me and I successfully completed a season of "New Girl" and barely moved an inch from my bed to the kitchen. I hate to admit it because it sounds like I am a complete slob, but there are days when it's hard to motivate yourself to getting up and merely taking a walk around the hotel complex.
  I don't want to make the impression I am ungrateful for this job or no longer enjoy it. Neither of those apply to me, as I am beyond blessed to be living out my dreams. Let's just say, my dreams turned out to be a bit different. But that's okay with me. It presents a new challenge for me to do life. The flight attendant life is different than the average life and with that comes unique ways to balance the new opportunities that are presented to me.
  I just need to remember to remember who I am. Just because I am far away from, doesn't mean I need to be far away from me.

My friend

She is scrambling.

  Her finger tips are losing hold on the illusion of sturdy walls around her. Slowly and deliberately, they are moving farther and farther away from her. Her heart flutters in waves of panic, her rapid breathing reflecting her soul. With desperation, she tries to cling to what she knows. Splinters become embedded under her fingernails.

  If only she knew.

  If only she knew how loved she was. How the walls moving away from her are not a curse, but a means to surrender. I wish she knew her value. That she doesn’t deserve side remarks, one-night stands and shallow touches.

  My heart cries for her. My heart cries for all the times she came to me and gave me her sorrows. She spilt them on my lap, her thoughts disorderly, her wants misconducted. She tells me she wishes she knew the answers to her pains and sorrows. I tell her there is a way, but her ears are shut to anything else but her suffering.

  How do I show her she is worthy if her heart is closed? How do I put words into her mind that make her reestablish her value from nothing to something that is priceless? I see her falling and I try to help her stand. I reach my hand towards her.

  Here, let me help you. Let Him help you. Let Him take care of you my friend. Let Him love you.

  The desperation in her eyes is unbelievably heavy. My friend, please take His hand. She politely declines and turns back to her crumbling tower. They give her a sense of security while there is none.

  I want to yell out and force her to take my hand, but I know that’s not how it works. Slowly, He is folding down the walls around her heart. Slowly, God is showing her that her ways are not working.

  They tell me as a Christian, I plant a seed. Sometimes it does not feel that way. Planting a seed is when the soil accepts it. It feels like I am just trying to dig a hole in the stubborn ground, dry from the drought. Chipping away layer of layer of rusted dirt, trying to find the core.

  He will not grow tired. He will not cease to pursue her heart. My friend, He will not leave you. You may believe you are fighting the dark alone, but He is there, waiting for you to look back and accept His help.

Murky Waters

The lonely feeling came to her even when she believed her life was not that bad. She had a steady job, a close friend and was going to school full time. Things were coming along well.

 Her life was normal and good. Except that terrible, burdening ache that always came to her. It would approach at dinner, as she picked at the rice in her bowl. A slight tingling of sadness. Nothing too much she could push away and finish her meal. As she watched her nightly shows, it came back to her this time more forceful. Almost knocking the breath out of her. Her eyes stung and she gulped back the strong urge to sob. She didn't- wouldn't let it take over her evening. At least not yet.

 In her bedtime routine, she brushed her teeth, washed her face and laid out her clothes for tomorrow. She even decided to get the coffee pot ready for the early morning rush she would be faced with.

 She liked to be prepared.

 Then it was time for bed. She creaked open the door to her room, hesitating at the entrance. Her bed was neat, made up cute and girly.

 To any other person, it would appear comforting and inviting, yet she knew what would greet her when she would lay her head on the pillow. That feeling again. The aching, forceful, invading doom of loneliness that would engulf her. No matter how many times she tried to shove it away, sadness always won. It would not let up until she fell asleep, sniffling, her body physically exhausted of itself. The result after a hard battle that she did not conquer.

 She sucked in through her teeth. Now or never. She flicked the light switch off and dragged herself to the side of the bed. Slowly, she folded back the sheets and at once the feeling kicked in.

  Almost if on que. Her eyes welled and she looked to the ceiling to tilt the salty tears back in. She did not want this to start. She did not want to begin this cycle all over again.

 But it was too late. Tucked into fetal position, she let the day's sorrows overwhelm her. Loneliness was more than a feeling. It was her. 

It hung back in the shadows as she went along with her day, but as soon as she was alone enough, he would haunt her with his heaviness. Whispering lies of despair into her ears.

 She blew her nose and settled after a solid cry. She wondered how she never ran out of tears, crying each night before she fell asleep. Is there no max to sadness or does it simply

 go on forever? Can one not simply weep away their sorrows? If only the solution was there.

 She wrapped herself further into the sheets, comforted by their coolness on her face, but aware of how alone she was. So very aware of every empty inch around her. Heavy eyes drooped shut, her breathing became even.. The anxiety, sadness and loneliness melted off as she went into a comatose state. Being asleep, she wouldn't have to feel anything. It was a haven from the plights of being alive.

 Here, she was simply fine. And that was okay with her.

 Tomorrow she will wake up, refreshed and ready for the day. She'll get dressed, brush her teeth and make a semi-healthy breakfast. Most of her day will run smoothly, except for the minor bumps and bruises. Which are easily fixable. Her mood will be chipper, the empty feeling in her stomach far in the corner of her mind. She might even believe it gone. It was times like these she held onto hope.

 But she feared the sunset, like a curse in a fairy tale, nothing could stop it from running it’s course. As it dips into the horizon, so will the loneliness dip into her heart and then splash all at once, engulfing her in the murky waters.

Get Psyched

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     From "How I Met Your Mother" to "The Internship", they each have something in common. The main characters have their own "get psyched" mixes to get their heart moving and motivation streaming. I've heard of other people doing these, but I've actually never got around to making my own: until now.

  I hand selected my songs to make my own "get psyched" mix I can play wherever I am to get PSYCHED! 

 

     Pepper's "Get Psyched" Mix:

1. That's Not My Name -The TIng Tings

2. Royals -Lorde 

3. I Love It -Icona Pop 

4. Gangman Style -PSY

5. Rise (Kyekye Remix) -Josh Garrels 

6. Shut Up and Let Me Go -The Ting Tings 

7. Blurred Lines -Robin Thicke

8. We are Young -Fun

9. The Fox -Ylvis 

10. Lose Yourself -Eminem 

11. Mr Saxobeat -Alexandra Stan

12. Hips Don't Lie -Shakira 

13. Just Give Me a Reason -Pink 

14. Bullet Proof -La Roux 

15. Hello -Martin Solveig 

16. Ob-la-di Ob-la-da -The Beatles

17. Kids -MGMT

What are your go-to songs? 

Beautifying Ourselves

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

Psalm 139: 13

     I've spent many hours getting myself ready in front of the mirror to look “captivating" for a guy. I tried to perfect my curly mass of hair and make myself visually thinner so I would be more appealing. My stomach would churn as the distance between my crush and I got smaller and smaller until we were almost face to face. It was my hope for his attention that was painfully obvious by the detail I went through on getting myself ready for this moment.

    Then hope is utterly crushed when he doesn't look at me.

     It’s defeating when I leave, hope draining out like a popped balloon. The time spent mustering up all the beauty God created and hoping to get noticed by it. Get some kind of attention from this person. But when it feels like they don’t see, it feels as if I’m not adequate.

     Every once and a while, I need to reevaluate myself. For example, obsessing over an appearance for a person who I have feelings for and not getting what I wanted from them. I need to take a mental step back from all the energy I've put towards this and see how it’s affecting my life.

      The person could be a great person, but I shouldn't let their disinterest (or at least just not seeing me) be a fault on my part. If they aren't attracted to me then I can’t force it.

     What my point is, it is that when I put makeup, clothes, jewelry on in the morning, it should be for me. Not for someone else, but for me and what I prefer. There’s a scene in a movie where a woman is shopping in a store and comes upon an elegant night dress. Her friend shopping with her encourages the woman to buy it, but the woman says in a rather sad voice, “For who?”

     The friend replies with, “For you.”

     For you. 

     The problem I face is that I should want to look pretty for myself and if someone notices, than I’m flattered. I need to reevaluate my thoughts in the morning and put them in a different direction. What makes me feel beautiful, captivating and stunning?

     For some people, this is easy to do because they are confident or just don’t pressure on themselves. They are enjoying the process of picking out their clothes and applying their makeup with no grand expectations on how the world will respond to their appearance. 

     Than there can be people like me who make up themselves for the person they like. It shouldn't be that way entirely; it should be about making yourself beautiful because you are beautiful.

     If you do have a boyfriend and want look pretty for him, than that’s okay. I’m not discouraging that, it’s just the fact that when we focus all our time and energy for the acceptance and attention of a person.

So, if you like spa days take a spa day and get refreshed. If you like painting your nails, paint them with your favorite polish.  If you like shorts over dresses or are the opposite, wear it because you like them. Don’t wear them for a boy. If he’s the one for you, then he will see your beauty the moment you enter the room. He will see past the makeup on your face and see the true spirit God made you. Simply be beautiful because you were made with a beauty that is unique and shows itself no matter what you are wearing. 

A Brief Note

     September 22 welcomes the first day of fall. The air turns crisp and cool, as if the weather waited for this day to come all year. When the sun goes down it is cool to take night walks around the neighborhood, absorbing the feeling of fall.

     Coffee shops display  large variety of pumpkin, apple, cocoa and spiced drinks to get their customers in the fall spirit. Cakes are swapped for pies. Lemonades for spiced apple ciders. Summer shorts for leggings and closed toed flats. Spunky neon prints for warm plum and mossy greens.

     Fall gives a feeling of community. With potlucks, thanksgiving, and all the events that come with cold weather. Families and friends come together just because. When the leaves turn mahogany and mustard yellow, it sets a mood no other season can. The landscape is visually stunning, stirring the sense of God's magnificence. It’s the Earth way of closing the year with a grand exit, preparing for the next one to come. 

Unintended Intimacy

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There are times when you just don’t want to be that close to a person. For example,

  on the bus after a long day, squeezed up against sweaty Arizonians. Rank air that wraps around germaphobic nostrils. As the bus starts moving, a kind gentleman offers you his seat and you gladly take it. All is well until that feeling when you sit down and realize it’s warm. A toasty imprint of a complete stranger’s underside.

  Unintended intimacy from someone’s body heat on your butt.

This has always weirded me out. Sitting in a chair that a stranger recently occupied and feeling the warmth touch me. I just don’t want to be that close to a stranger, even if they aren’t there anymore. It just feels too close, too personal and too intimate.

  Then there’s the “warm toilet” incident. You know, standing in line in the bathrooms after a movie. Going to sit down when it’s your turn and then it hits you. Warmth. I can’t help but sense it and wish I didn’t.

  But then, if I like the person and they offer me their seat, then it’s just awkward. It’s literally their warm butt heat touching my behind. It’s like snuggling with a ghost, it creeps up on me. I smile politely but sense that underlying closeness. It sounds crazy and probably is, but this is what I’m always thinking when I sit in another person’s chair. An intimate and heated encounter left behind.

  The term “I’ll keep it warm for you” takes on a whole new meaning. 

My Space

If you're like me, the room is a sacred place. I share a room with my sister but I have to have my own area for my things. If not, I get overly stressed. My room is my escape and if I feel like I'm getting smothered, I might go crazy.

This is it...where I do my homework,sleep and work on blog posts.

My favorite place in my room would have to be my desk. It's the place where many stories,drawings,blog post have been created. It was originally my Great Grandmother's and was passed down to me. My Grandpa tells me that she and I were really similar, so it holds a special place with me. 

I also have a map collection. From Europe to Asia, I've collected so many over the summer. It's interesting to see the whole world on the walls of my bedroom. 

Then there is my bed. I do enjoy my bed. I recently got a new comforter and it is the softest fabric I've ever had as a bed comforter. This is a pretty pointless post, but I thought maybe you'd like to see where all the blogging happens! 

What's your favorite place in your room? 

Bento and Ramen

  Here's an eye pleasing post. My sister, mom and I tried out a hole in the wall ramen shop we found online. They have savory ramen and fresh bento that were all at a decent price. The staff was friendly, more so the food was delicious. I will definitely be going there in the future to get my ramen and bento fix. For an after dinner treat, we indulged in a caramel mocha cupcake, yum!  Enjoy these mouth watering pictures!

Is there a must-have food for you? 

Boys and Girls: Why We Can Be Friends

Romans 12:10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Out do one another in showing honor.

There is a time when boys are boys and girls are girls. When a girl looks at a boy and sees him as a boy. And a boy looks at a girl and sees her as a girl. Not as a potential girlfriend or boyfriend.

  I remember when I was in 2^nd grade there was a boy l liked. I wrote on the inside amongst my other doodles of my math folder that I liked him. He wrote back alongside it and said he did too. It was so innocent, this “crush” I had on him. I didn’t even really “like-like” him. He was just a great friend who I really bonded with. We were so young we only held hands but more out of friendship than anything else.  In 3^rd grade I went to another school but after a year I came back to the school I had previously been to. I was older and the world was bigger than it was two years ago. I saw the boy who was my best friend and he saw me, than announced proudly to his circle of friends that I used to be his “girlfriend”. I was shocked that he said that because I never viewed us that way. I saw our friendship as two people who admired each other. Maybe I was naive (probably since I was seven when i told him I liked him) but in my mind we were just close friends. I saw him as a boy who I liked as a friend and occasionally held hands with. By the way, that didn’t end well because he gave me hand warts, so don’t hold hands with boys! Hold hands responsibly.

  My point is that once we hit a certain age, the innocence of two genders becomes something else entirely. There is an age where boys are friends and then there is an age where they are no longer friends but “boyfriends” or “potential boyfriends”. Or plainly just a threat to our moral compass.

  Alise Wright, a writer talked about cross-sex friendships and how the church and society has made it something that men and women cannot friendships without sexuality: 

     “As children age, this intensifies. Not only do adults place this burden on children, but they begin to place it on themselves. Boys and girls begin to notice attraction and automatically assume that their friendships with the opposite sex, or in some cases the same sex, must have a romantic outcome. Boys and girls begin to look at one another strictly as potential sex partners.”

I’ve been in situations where I've felt this way. That a boy who gives me attention in a positive way could lead to a relationship, not even realizing we could just be friends. to me I think "If he gives me attention he likes likes" me, even if he's just being friendly. 

It brings me again to when we are children. Friendships with boys while being a girl are so innocent. We didn't view the boys as a pathway to sin, failure, sex or other reasons we regard in them now.

  In 5^th grade there was another boy in one of my classes that was my friend. We would goof around sometimes and this lead us to kicking each other’s feet under the table during class. My teacher noticed and announced to the entire class saying “stop playing footsies” and made a grand show out of it. The class laughed but I was mortified. It felt as if my teacher exposed me as someone dirty rather than seeing I was being silly and we were simply playing with each other. Wright also addresses this problem in her article:

     “Additionally, with our desire to keep people pure, we begin to sexualize all physical expressions of love. We make all physical contact suspect by implying that it is the path to something immoral. We make intimacy something to be feared rather than something to be sought after.” 

  There was nothing impure or inappropriate with my actions playing with another classmate who happened to be a boy. In a way my teacher sexualized our intentions and turned it into something way beyond what it originally was.

  Can’t we be friends with girls and boys? Do we have to limit possible amazing friendships because we've been told that deep friendships with the opposite gender leads to impure actions?

Like my friendship with the boy in my math class, he was dear to me. We were both still too young to understand how a girl and boy body fully functioned. There was no lingering expectations or implications in our friendship. We were friends. Great friends. That’s what matters at the end.

" Rather than using fear as a fence to keep us safe, perhaps we can center our friendships on a deep love that keeps us in the center of God’s will for those relationships, which means that we will do what we can to protect our relationship, not abandon it."

-Alise Wright 

To read the rest of the article by Alise Wright you can go here 

One Year Anniversary

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I'm a little late with this, but Would You Like Pepper With That? has been running over a year now. I'm amazed that I've made it this far with my blog. Before, I never made it far with blogging, so I'm pretty proud of myself for sticking to it. Every post I've written has been a lovely adventure and I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I have. I would also like to thank you, for reading my blog and all the wonderful feedback I've received from you all. Plus, thank you for following me!
  Though each blogger is miles apart from the other, it seems as if there is a small community right here.
Thanks again!

Pepper 

Nurse Kellye's Rant

  It seems in the media, quietness is not allowed in order to be seen by the other gender. The media wants us to alter ourselves to become outgoing and flirtatious in order to gain a guy's acceptance. Isn't that what Seventeen magazine is for? If you just peek at the cover, it is clustered with 'Ten Flirty Tips to Win Him Over'. It's a confusing message being sent to girls that is putting pressure on them to change their personality to catch a guy's eye. Then there are times because of a person's reserved or shy manner, whatever it may be, it seems the wall is swallowing them up and that they are purely disappearing.
  Do you ever have those days? Where you're holding in all your emotions and suddenly they all just come out in a rush? I've most certainly had those.
  Watching MASH the other night, I came upon this scene and I could relate to it in so many ways. Sometimes in life a girl will go through the feeling of being invisible to the other gender. I've felt it and I'm sure you have felt it one way or another. This scene seems to sum it up perfectly and puts a perfect topper on all the times I've felt like the wallflower.

Public Speaking

   I'm taking public speaking.
  I don't know what my feelings are about this. Nervousness, yet in a strange way confident in what I think I can do. Generally I'm a quiet person. It's hard for me to be the first one to start a conversation. I'm not very witty around new people. Once someone gets to know me, I become more outgoing and relational. In reality, I fear that talking with someone new they won't like me and only leave myself embarrassed.
  A teacher once told my class and I to challenge ourselves. She said if we never challenged ourselves, we would never learn something new. I agree 100% with her. So I think public speaking will be good for me, even if there are hard times when I'm jittery and standing in front of a room full of curious eyes. It will challenge me. I will learn, grown and meet new people. If people never challenged themselves with something that made them a 'tad' uncomfortable, then the world would be sitting ducks. There would be no accomplishment or even the effort of trying. We cannot stop growing in our mental,spiritual and physical health.
  There are countless of opportunities for each person every single minute,hour,day that is waiting to challenge them. Waiting to challenge you. 
  And the results of challenging ourselves?

  Priceless.


  This verse is one of my favorites. It assures me that I am not alone in my journey. The path God has directed me to is steady and firm. When we do things that challenge us, God is right along side us. He is upholding our path.

The Lord makes firm the steps
    of the one who delights in him;
 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
    for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Psalm 37:23-24

Sweet 16

Saturday was my sister's sweet 16! She spent the day getting treated like a princess with a facial, massage, pedicure and dinner to Buca di Beppo. As a present from me to her, I took her photos of an abandoned couch left on the side of the train tracks. It made great pictures, so I thought I'd share them with you. 

School Supplies

  Even though I am now in college, I still love school supplies. I love going to the store and purchasing fresh new items to start the year. I love the colors of the notebooks, planners, folders and pens. It speaks to my inner soul. Ever since I started kindergarten, I have loved the process of preparing for school.
  I can't say what my favorite part is. Buying or organizing my supplies into my book bag. All of it is great.

What is your favorite thing about going back to school?

Movie Quotes is What Brings Us Together

In my family, movie quotes are apart of our everyday conversation. We say them more than necessary when we talk to each other, it's become almost too natural.  Below are just a few out of the countless(!!!) movie quotes my family and I say:

Marriage is what brings us together...

- Princess Bride (Favorite movie!)

Don't talk about me like I'm not here...

-Steel Magnolias 

You're a corker Shannon, you're a corker...

-Far and Away 

Don't make me sing...
-SNL skit (Technically not a movie but a favorite quote) 

At least I didn't use a spoon...

-Robinhood: Prince of Thieves 

I'm clean, I'm clean!
-Baby Mama

It's a little bit funny...

-Moulin Rouge 

There you have it! A handful of the main movie quotes we say all the time. Some of them mean nothing at all, but somehow stick in our heads and attach themselves to our family circle.

What movie quotes do you say and are your favorite? 

A Day in the Life: Machado

My final project for my photography class last semester. This is the artist statement I included with my project: 

Machado is a bust that sits on top of my family’s piano in the living room. We originally got him at a yard sale and the previous owners of Machado told us a little bit about him. They said he was their uncle and a famous doctor in Brazil that helped to bring medical rights to the poor. He was hand made by a famous artist. Since we bought him we've moved several times, but he’s stayed with us. For my final project, I wanted to do a self portrait of Machado. He has an interesting, kind face and people who see him are fond of him. He seems part of the family. For being a bust, he seems to have so much personality as if he was a real person. I wanted to capture some silly and realistic features of Machado so I decided to take him along with me to the places I go most to. We went to the school, the library, the light rail, the grocery store, the laundry mat and more, capturing Machado as if he was an actual living person. He did all the tasks a human would do if he had the arms, legs and well, a full body. I was inspired by the Travelocity gnome that is always captured in various places, making people smile by his innocent looks. I thought Machado would be a new twist on it being that he weighs 20 pounds and is a bust. As I took pictures, it seemed his facial expression would even change with the different settings of the pictures. Sometimes he would be more smiley than others and then he would be serious, gazing out and pondering. It was quite interesting to see how the backgrounds changed the perspective. Overall, it was an interesting experience.

These are the pictures I submitted: 

The End.

Hoped you enjoyed!