Merry Christmas Everyone!

Worth Passing On

Hello All!

I know I have not touch base with you in a while, its been pretty hectic lately but I have found a nice read. I like it and I hope everyone can benefit from in some way.

Have a wonderful holiday and New Year!

Enjoy

please note: if for any reason, the link does not work, I know, I check it (clicking on it doesn't seem to work but copy and pasting it into the browser does), you can always just copy the entire line of text and copy it into the browser and read the article that way. Normally, I would just not post it but since it is such good information worth sharing; it's worth extra effort. "Trust me!"

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/13-smart-things-to-do-before-year-end.html

Epic vs Greatness

My track star boys finally found a way to race to each other; not easy being on the same school track team. Ha ha ha

Central High Spring Track Highlights

This is a video of CHS Spring track meet. I put it on YouTube but forgot to post it here and since I have not post anything in a while, I thought I would post this video from last year before posting anything related to this year's track meet. Enjoy Stay tuned for more!

Disclaimer: I do not own the copyrights and/or license for the song associated with this video. The ownership belongs to singer, Jamie Foxx and the production company J-Records label.

"Children of Children Keep Coming" digital poem

I have been catching you all up on what I have been doing and I forgot one of the most important thing I have done all year in 2010 (in my own defense I had to wait for clearance to post this; didn't really forget ha ha). Any who, as I was saying, my boys and I got to play a major part in as actors, director and filming a digital poem with a wonderful woman, Mary Anne Sullivan, who was at the helm of it all. She also played a major roll in bringing it all together. She did all the editing, additional directing (my part was not as large as her's) and much, much more. It is an amazing piece of work that was written by a great man, Russell Goings. He attended a historical event in Washington, D.C., on October 16, 1995, The Million Man March.

http://law.jrank.org/pages/5251/Civil-Rights-Movement-Million-Man-March.html

He was so moved by the experience, it inspired him to write a collection of poems. Mary Anne Sullivan did a review of this book of poems on her website, "The Tower Journal"

http://www.towerjournal.com/.

Russell Going some how caught wind of this and track down Mary Anne. One thing lead to another and a digital poem was created. She asked me to assist to her. I happily agreed along with my two boys, Brandon and Christien. It also features others who are a part of this wonderful occurrence. I strongly urge you all to check it out and also read up on who Russell Going is as well. I foresee his book becoming a textbook for study in schools. It is "that" good and has that much meaning and purpose.

Learn and Enjoy!

A fortune cookie proverb; not really but should be

"Respect is not defined; it's understood."

-Anita J.

You have to value the other person's opinion and feelings

in order to truly respect them not by how "you" WANT

to respect them.

There is a difference.

Short Story teaser

This is a teaser illustration panels I have created for a short story I started working on last year while doing an assignment in my Illustration class. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun working while learning and doing the creations that have brought me to this point. It is my desire that I can share this joy with others.

So, let me know what you think? Leave a comment, be polite and share your thoughts or request, if you would like a custom Mr. Bubbles illustration.

- Anita J.

One of my many hobbies

This is what I did during a break from life, school work and family life. Everyone has a past time paradise; this is one of mine. I finished it last night.

My New Endeavor

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Place/303947884772

Teen House (information) Exchange Place

Is a place for children ages 14 to 18 (possibly 21) to meet, share, get information, associate with their peers and most of all have fun. There are tons of places for children 13 years of age and under like day camps, after school programs and the likes but there is nothing for our teens.

THE PLACE is somewhere young adults can go to be among their peers. They can comfortably get help without being inhibited by the embarrassment or frustration of working with an adult who may not “get” them or unfortunately not available like the working single mom, dad, grandparent or guardian.

The Place provides an atmosphere where children of their own age can get a more in-tuned, unbiased and reliable reference to information like driver education experience (and school referrals), places accepting employment in their age category, events, sports camp and where to purchase sport gears, school supplies and clothing (on sale or the preferred trend that maybe hard to find).

The place is also a good source for employers (including moms looking for baby sitter), parents and businesses can look for potential hires. We at The Place would require potential employers to absorb the cost to provide back checks and also provide reference to us so we and the teen’s parents can be assure us all that the potential employer is a safe, secure and enjoyable place to work.

The Place would be staffed by both volunteers and employees that have either graduated, participated and/or work at places of interest to the teens i.e. college graduates, seniors and juniors from their school (or college of interest) along with professionals. This way the teens and young adults have someone to turn to for advice that has actually walk a mile in their shoes and/or can assist them in how to prepare, study or gain beneficial knowledge to help with school, college & university or driver’s education and obtaining meeting driver’s license requirements. The Place is also a location where teens can gather to have planned, safe and organized fun, hang out or get assistance with school work, college entrance, study for their SAT and similar test, seeking employment or dealing with the obstacles and hardship of being a teen or young adult in this current day and age.

The Place would have link game systems for multiple play enjoyment, computer with Internet service, donated item to help those who would like to participate in sport but cannot afford the equipment. There would also be (hopefully) donated vending machines with proper food choice items so parents have the assurance their children are consuming healthy snack and beverages when away from home at an affordable cost.

The majority of cost at The Place we are hoping can be generated sponsorships, donations, fund raisers and through a nominal membership fee, the use of the vendor machine, event cost like a GameStop sponsored gaming event i.e. game tournament, gaming promotion event like a small scale E3 www.e3expo.com along with other sponsored events and fundraisers. The last resort would be grant funding from large corporations that would require the creation of a board which would result in the control, vision and direction of The Place being taken out of the hands of those who have work so hard to create it and to minimize outside involvements that may want to influence the mission of The Place in way that would truly benefit those who need it most, the youth of our future.

The Place would also have their own organized charged events like an annual New Years bash where children could gather to enjoy the approaching New Year while playing fun filled games, competitions and tournaments while bring in the New Year freeing their parent(s) and/or caregivers to also enjoy the New Year.

Another option for fund raising would be to rent out tables for surrounding residents to use for yard sales in a more central and high traffic count area oppose their own property where it maybe hard or impossible to do. We are also hoping that given our strong contribution to the community that the town, business and its schools will help support the development, prosperity and growth of The Place.

The Place will also have a website and blog with a forum where teens can befriend and associate with other teens their age across the globe willing to chat, share and exchange.

Childhood Passion Re-visited: Illustration & Art

As a child I would spend my mornings lying on the floor in front of the television watching one of my favorite shows, "The Joy of Painting" hosted by Boss Ross. As I got older, I had forgotten how much I love to draw and was not able to practice the art. I have recently rekindled my love of drawing and have begun to build a gallery of those creations on a website meant for showing casing and sharing my love with others. It can be viewed here:

http://esbest.deviantart.com/gallery/

A must needed break

Hello everyone!

I have been gone for sometime. I had some computer issue, medical (health related) and personal ones that has kept me away for quite a while but I am back!

I have several thing to update everyone on and I am not sure where to begin so I will start with the most recent and work my way back over time. I would not want to bombard you with too much too soon and overload anybody's circuits. Ha ha just a little computer joke but don't worry. I do plan on keeping my day job and not taking up stand up or should I say, online comedy, as a career choice.

Any who. Here is the skinny. I have returned to school and have been at it for a couple of years now. I am doing a dual major in Graphic Design and Small Business Management. During that journey have re-ignited my love for art and primarily illustration. I took a class called 2D design where I learned how to take my drawings and used a software program called Photoshop CS5 to create two dimensional characters and work. I have also since used it to more quickly and efficiently colorize my work. I have since, under the influence of a classmate, created an online gallery of the work I have done thus far and the work that may still remain in progress as well. If you would like to take a peek at my gallery, please feel free to do so by clicking on this link: http://esbest.deviantart.com/gallery/

The other cool thing I have been doing is working on a project. I have been working on it for quiet a while actually but I was given the opportunity to bring to the attentions of other and get assistance as it had became a class assignment to put together a marketing package for it during the last semester while attending a business class with a study in advertisement.

I know have a logo, flyer and Facebook fan page for my project. You can learn more about it by reading about "The Place" on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Place/303947884772 The logo is profile image. I will also create a website for it. The best thing ever since its inception is when I ran into a computer specialist friend at the store one day who asked me what I had been up to later. I filled him in on my project. He told me once I get a location for it, it would give me all the help I need on the computer end. He will provide free server service and also help me in getting high-quality computer for a fraction of the cost. I am super phych now to get the ball really rolling. I have found a few potentials. Now, I have to do some research and writing some letter to see if I can possibly have preferably my first choice location, donated for The Place.

Okay, let's see, hmm. What else have I been up too? Well, I have been to a lot of school sporting events. My boys are a lot older and participating in various sports and activities at school. This past summer they were both on school football team, which did amazingly well. The team won the City championship. My oldest son, BJ is also a member of the school's track team this past Spring and now participating on winter track team. This year his younger brother, CJ has joined him, who is also a member of the winter track team. He is one of the fastest sprinters on the team.

I have some images on my new online photography gallery at www.at-e.smugmug.com. I have also added a lot of other photographs of some wonderful places, events and artwork...you might wanna swing by and take a gander at that as well.

See! I told you it would be a lot if I tried to list it all at once. But don't you fret. This is not even the half of it. There has been a whole bucket load of thing going on over here. I will leave with this nice big plateful for the time being, okay.

Well, take care. If you are like me living anywhere along the path of this massive ice and snow storm blowing across the U.S, please be safe, stay warm and enjoy it if you can. I do have some school work to do but I decided to take a break, update my blog for all you wonderful folks out there and now I am off to make myself a nice hot cup of cocoa.