January 27, 2012
We live in an unprecedented time in history. Our images are always being recorded by a camera no matter where we go. Can’t you just feel the love from Big Bro in the sky? Have a happy Friday!
Tag: Art
365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 25
January 25, 2012
Today’s picture is of an event of something I had never been a part of before. A couple of years ago the dance studio my daughters attended arranged a mob dance and my whole family except for my husband participated in it. Thankfully he declined because we would not have any pictures of the event. Mob dances are so much FUN! This one we did in the hottest part of the summer here in the lovely Mojave desert. I appreciate the fact that we performed in front of the dancing fountains of The Bellagio Casino. We even made it on to the evening news. That was such a great experience for me because it brought me out of my shell. I can say I have done a mob dance and lived to tell about it.
-EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2012
365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 19
January 19,2012
For the next few days I’m posting photos of my neighborhood. This blog challenge inspires me to grab my camera and take it with me everywhere I go. Last Sunday I went for a short hike with my daughter Elena. I decided to put on my “tourist eyes” and challenged my self to look at my neighborhood as if I was on holiday, just passing through. It’s amazing how much a place can grow on you, then you take it for granted and it ceases being special anymore. During my self guided tour I found out what a rich little community I live in and I’m so glad I moved here. These images are part of large a mural that is on the wall of the 7-Eleven convenience store…amazing right? 🙂 Challenge yourself to put on your “tourist eyes” and view your surroundings as if you’re seeing them for the very first time. You’ll be surprised!
-EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2012
365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 17
January 17,2012
Here is the horse I drew for Esther. At first her request intimidated me but I decided to try it. I found an image of a horse she liked online and I copied it. As I sat down to sketch out the horse, I kept running into some difficulty. Then I remember that I learned how to draw upside down when I was in the 8th grade. Mr. Atkins, my art instructor saw that some of us were having a hard time, so he suggested that we all turn the picture of the subject we were drawing upside down; in this way the left side of your brain won’t get in the way of what the right side is doing. I implemented it to draw this horse and I was glad I did. That night when her dad came home, Esther told him how I had drawn the horse up side down and he laughed in amazement. It’s mind blowing what we can remember from the past. I framed it andnow it hangs in her bedroom.
365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 15
January 15,2012
My daughter Esther has always had a fascination with horses. I would hear well meaning people tell me that it’s natural for young girls to have a love of horses. Well, she’s not so little anymore and she still adores them. I used to feel badly that I don’t have the money to get her one. As parents we wish we could give our kids everything they want. But one day I remembered what my uncle in whose home I grew up in told me when I was a kid: ” If I gave you all the things you want, you wouldn’t have anything to look forward to when you’re grown up.” So one day I told that to my girl and she looked up at me with those gorgeous long eyelashes that could sweep the moon right into my hands and she said,” It’s ok Mama, I understand. So could you draw me one instead? ” I told her I wasn’t sure I could do that and she said she knew I could since she’s seen my other art work. So I set about to do it and I pulled it off! Stay tuned because tomorrow that will be the picture I post. It’s wonderful when your own kids believe in you!
365 Snap Shots of Life Blog Challenge: Day 4
I am starting a year-long blog challenge. The idea just came to me after I was done viewing all the photos I took on my trip. Here it is, come rain or shine, hell or high water, I will post a photo I took and I will attach a short story or poem or at least a personal comment. There won’t be any web images on this challenge; in this way, I’ll be whetting my writing appetite and having to dust off my camera and start shooting snap shots of life.
January 4, 2012
The sun has set.
As you look back on your day,
what did you get?
With whom did you bet?
When you see the sun’s last ray,
who did you cheat?
Who did you beat?
Sort it all out at dusk.
Sort it all out before you hit the hay.
Make yourself this promise:
Tomorrow will be a better day.
-EVA SANTIAGO copyright 2012
365 Snap Shots of Life Challenge: Days 1-3
Hello Dear Reader,
I’m back from my holiday in Cali. By the way, I like saying that I went on holiday so much better than I went on vacation. No, I’m not British and yes, I love the way they speak English in GB. Going on holiday implies mystery and adventure while going on vacation, sounds so plain and mundane. Going on holiday excites me while going on vaca means I vacated my current premises and I’m not so sure where my feet are going to land next..
I am starting a year-long blog challenge. The idea just came to me after I was done viewing all the photos I took on my trip. Here it is, come rain or shine, hell or high water, I will post a photo I took and I will attach a short story or poem or at least a personal comment. There won’t be any web images on this challenge; in this way, I’ll be whetting my writing appetite and having to dust off my camera and start shooting snap shots of life. Since it’s already the 3rd day of the year, I’m already running behind so for today’s post I’ll put up 3 photos.
January 1, 2012
This is the place where the birds lead you around. If bird could talk oh what tales they would tell of their lives lived in ease. I’m sure they loath pesky camera crazy tourists like me, invading their private lives with an intrusive camera lens.
January 2, 2012
Ok, I wasn’t going for his behind no matter what you think. Spider Man and Shrek are betting on which dumb pedestrian is going to avoid using the cross walk so they can get hit on Hollywood Blvd.
January 3, 2012
There is nothing like free advertising for my new book. I was in Santa Monica beach before heading home. My kids were all writing on the sand and I said,” Why not? Everybody needs a free plug now and then right?”
30 Day Blog Challenge:Day 30
Whew! I am finished with this 30 day challenge; this was a nice little journey I took and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my posts. I had to look hard through my copy of THE MOM AND DAD CONVERSATION PIECE 
by Bret Nicholaus and Paul Lowrie, in order to find my last question. So without much further ado, I bid you adieu on this challenge!
Day 30 Question 30:When you were a very young child, what did you want to be when you grew up? When you were in high school, what did you think you would be doing for a living someday?
Answer: From the time I learned about words, I gravitated towards writing when I first began school. I also loved to draw so I was never without paper and pencil. My favorite subject in school was always the language arts; I quickly fell in love with reading and I read everything I put my hands on. Back then my favorite TV show was THE LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE.
So I wrote a story based on the characters, and I set them in present time. All through middle school and high school I wrote all the time. In the 10th grade, a friend of mine had a big crush on this guy and she loved my poetry. She had me write her crush several poems which she gave to him. Writing was my friend because I was a pretty lonely kid and I trusted my journal to keep all of my secrets. I could envision myself being a writer when I was very young.
In high school I discovered the seamstress in me. When I was younger and my Abuelita lived with us, I would never tire of watching her sew. When I found out I could take Fashion Design
, I was in! I loved making a new outfit and getting compliments on it at school. One time I made a dress for my aunt which she actually wore often; I realized that was her way of showing me she approved my work. I also made a couple of outfits and I was able to model them myself in the yearly Fashion Show. That fueled my desire to stick to fashion and pretty soon, I pictured my self owning my own designer boutique.
I went to college to learn fashion design. Once in the program though, I saw it was more of a challenge than I had previously imagined. Some of that passion I’d felt for fashion before began to wane. Then in my last year of college I enrolled in a fashion journalism
course and I fell in love with writing all over again. I knew then for sure, that writing and I would never part ways again.
When I self published my first book,
a couple of years ago, I knew I would always pursue this dream of mine to the end of my days. This year I submitted my 2nd manuscript to a major publisher and it was accepted right away. Mind you, I had plans to self publish again, but thanks to my 2nd daughter who kept telling me to submit it, I’m so glad I did! You see, I was terrified of the possibility of receiving a letter of rejection and my daughter would say,” So? If you do, keep trying .”
I am thrilled to announce that my second book, a volume of poems, short stories and prose will be published next year! I look forward to sharing it with you! I ‘ll leave you with a quote from yours truly: ” I’m gonna keep writing ’til they have to pry my pen from my cold hand!” – Eva
30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 22
Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense 
Day 22 Question #22: If you could choose only one famous quote that you would want your children to always remember, which one would it be?
Answer: This answer comes from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet: “Above all: To thine own self be true.” That is such an important and profound quote.
We live in an age where our children are bombarded by the media to be everything else but who they really are. Children are sent to public school to learn to conform and fit the mold in order to further an elitist agenda that disregards the unique, amazing individuals that God created.
Just think for a moment, if God wanted us all to be cookie cutter forms of one another why did He create such a diverse human race? Clearly God celebrates individuality while we live in a society that tries to get everyone to fit in the box of conformity. Our young men and women watch TV shows Like CELEBRITY LOOK ALIKE
where they pick someone to get a head to toe makeover so they can look like one of the famous Hollywood celebrities. Personally, I have always liked how I look and I’m not at all interested in looking like anyone else. Let’s turn that idea around and have a celebrity do a make over show where they look like the “Average Joe” or “Ms. Plain Jane” I guess that much reality would cause their precious TV ratings to plummet.
To thine own self be true: Thank you Mr. Shakespeare for having penned your words for a generation of people who are willing to sell out just so they can fit in with the crowd.
It takes great courage to be yourself in a culture where uniqueness tends to be scorned. That’s one quote my kids have heard for quite some time and I hope they embrace it through out their lives.
30 Day Blog Challenge: Day 20
Please refer back to my earlier posts and read what this challenge is about so that the later posts make sense 
Day 20 Question #20: Besides something directly related to the family (i.e., the birth of a child), what has been the most exciting day of your life?
Answer: It’s Sunday so I looked for an easy question! The day I received the first copy of my first self-published book came to mind right away when I read this question. I began writing the book in 2007 and it was the most amazing journey I have ever under taken. Writing your own life story is very difficult; I had to fight the nagging inner voices that whispered things like: You aren’t famous, who’d want to read about your life when you haven’t gone to the moon or stood on the red carpet?
Everyday I had to keep believing in myself and fight all the negative voices of the past as well. Having the support of my husband and kids helped me out tremendously.
Since I was self-publishing, I had to save up my own money to meet my publishing goals. One night after my kids had received their allowance from their dad, one by one they gave me their allowance and told me that they wish they could help me more. I was dumbfounded and as I’m recalling this right now, I’m getting a little choked up all over again. And so they continued, every time they got money from their dad, they immediately put it in my hand for my book.
I wrote my book for several reasons but the most important ones were: For my own personal healing and closure to my trauma filled past. Secondly, I wrote it in the hopes that others would be helped. Lastly, I wrote AS CLEAR AS CLAIRE GETS, A CONVERSATION WITH THE PAST, as part of the legacy I want to leave my kids and my future ancestors.
I compare the writing and birthing of my book to a type of birthing of a new baby. The pain was there for sure as I revisited some of the most painful memories of my childhood; once I wrote about it though I would feel free. As I continued to bury those things that tormented me in the pages of my book, I was giving birth to a new, more empowered version of myself. The day the UPS truck delivered my first author copy, I liken that to the same profound joy I felt every time after I had labored for a while only to end up holding a beautiful baby in my arms.
I urge you, whoever you are reading this, whatever you dream of doing, don’t put it off anymore. Fight past the nay sayers and the self doubt and take it step by step. Making your dream a reality is the one and only path to your destiny. Go and fear no more because the only thing we really fear, is fear itself. The definition of fear is this: False Evidence Appearing Real. Go make it happen!!
Eva Santiago 