Car Raid

Having grown up as the eldest of three siblings, 53-year-old Treva Felps has learned to be prepared for anything that may come her way.

"They were a handful," Felps said.  "And while we did get along, it was still helpful to be prepared for anything they might do.  Pranks, tricks, whatever."

This mindset has carried all the way into her adult life.  In her vehicle, a 2014 Ford Taurus, Felps carries things such as a toothbrush, a sweater, pillows and blankets, and spare emergency change.

"I travel...prepared," Felps said.  "You never know, when you go someplace--somebody's house, or a business, or whatever--if it's cold.  I keep a sweater in my car so that I always have one to put on if I need it.  Same thing for the go-bag in my car with the blanket and pillow in it:  If I'm stranded, I'm gonna be comfortable."

This careful preparedness does not only apply to possible emergencies pertaining to everyday life; Felps keeps a table in the back of her car, along with an extra ink cartridge for her work printer.

"[The table in the trunk] is for work," said Felps.  "Because I have different places that I go to, I don't have an office at any of those places.  So I bring a table so I can have a place to set up my laptop and printers."

Along with having a stressful job that spreads all over central Texas, Felps is also a mother and grandmother.  Gum, mints, an extra phone charger, and a stray pink teacup have their places in her car because of the children in her life.

"When [my granddaughters and I] visited the grocery store, she had to take her tea cup with her," said Felps.  "Then she lost it, and we came to realize that it had rolled under the seat where she couldn't see it...The other people in my life definitely have a big impact on what I keep with me at all times."

Felps' head is occupied so largely by her job, family, and friends, that she and the granddaughter are usually more forgetful of the little things.

"You can sit anywhere in my car at any given time and see at least three half-full water bottles from where you may be sitting," said Felps.  "[My granddaughter and I] always bring water bottles into the car, drink a little and then forget about them, or get wherever we're going and don't remember to take them out.  I guess it just adds to always being prepared, even if that one is accidental."

A forgotten teacup sits in the backseat of Treva Felps' car.  Felps' young granddaughter lost it under the front seat weeks ago during a trip to the grocery store with her sisters.

Car Raid Preparation

1.  My subject is my grandmother, Treva Felps.

2.  The weekend of May 21-22.

3.  Some questions based off of the objects of the car--for one, the only thing I remember from her car the last time I saw her is a blanket tucked under the front seat.  Questions about the stories or reasons behind the things sitting in the car, or maybe the scuffs on the inside/outside.

4.  The details of the car--make and model--and things inside of it, the age of the person, general information about the person.

Extra Credit Images

Current Events 6.3

1.  After the first claim was made about the cake with the homophobic slur on it, Whole Foods initially fired back with $100,000 defamation countersuit and surveillance video footage proving that Brown had been fabricating the whole thing.  After Brown apologized profusely for having made these things up, Whole Foods retracted the lawsuit, saying that, after an apology and confession, there was no reason to pursue it.

2.  The bison calf died (had to be euthanized) after Yellowstone tourists put it in their SUV, because its mother had rejected it as a result of the "interference by people."

3.  Geofilters are filters or designs that can be added to a Snapchat photo in order to show the location of a person.

4.  Berkshire, a firm headed by Warren Buffet, bought the stocks of Apple.  Buffet usually doesn't invest in any technology companies because it's too hard to figure out or even estimate which ones will last any long period of time.  Buffet buying the stocks of Apple has heavy implications on what he thinks and the future of Apple.

5.  "Captain America: Civil War" was the top (what else would be?), "The Jungle Book" came second, "Money Monster" came third, "The Darkness" came in fourth, and "Mother's Day" was fifth.

6.  I would "prefer" (understatement) to go to Harry Potter World, for ridiculously obvious reasons.
   The competition for these two places is heating up because Harry Potter World is getting more and more popular, which is cutting into Disney's number of visitors and the amount of money they get each year (particularly the summer).  To heat things up even more, Disney is fighting back by adding things for the Star Wars franchise.
   I don't pay enough attention to Disney to exactly have a favorite character, but I like Aladdin.  There's something about going from poor and parent-less to prince, a story that's much more centered around a guy rather than a princess damsel in distress, that was always much more appealing to me than almost everything else Disney has come up with.
   I've taken the Sorting quiz on Pottermore more times than I'm able to count, and have almost always gotten the result "Slytherin."  Respect.  (I got Ravenclaw once.)

HDR Images

HDR Photography Intro

1.  Shadows are definitely a problem while taking merger photos.  In this picture, the shadow is cut off at the head in one place and another doesn't have one altogether.

2.  Some place that's already in shadow, probably against a wall that has the sun on the other side (the side behind the wall).

3.  Not really.  Maybe tell a story, different expressions or body language in each photo.

4.  Clothes don't really have anything to do with this, unless it pertains to the story of the photo.

Final Exam Planning Warm-Up

The most interesting thing I'm doing this week is seeing Civil War, and I'm not willing to take it any later.

1.  This week or this weekend.

2.  At my house, or in my neighborhood.

3.  Cooking a meal.

4.  A DSLR, things from the grocery store, pans, utensils, blah blah blah.

5.  Some of the video portion will probably be the boiling of something, or the process of something baking.  The pictures will be throughout the shopping portion, most likely, and at the very end.  Since I'm technologically impaired, the narration will probably have to be during the videos.

HDR Photography Intro

1.  HDR images are just images taken at several different exposures and then mashed together--so the only changes to the camera while taking the pictures would be the shutter speed, allowing a different amount of light to be processed for each.

2.  Tripods and DSLRs.

3.  HDRs make images look better and more memorable; the first website describes them as "National Geographic-worthy."  They bring attention to more detail and exaggerate the features of the photo taken, both the highlights and the lowlights.

4.  The differences will be the contrast between the light and dark aspects of the photo.  The lighting will be more obvious, and the different aspects of texture/architecture.

Movie Review: Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips is a film based off the 2009 hijacking of the cargo ship, Maersk Alabama.  At the start of the film, Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) sets off with his crew on the mission of delivering cargo to Mombasa.  After an alert on the sonar about possible pirate skiffs, he and Shane Murphy (Michael Chernus) tell the rest of the crew.  After sending an email to his wife, Andrea Phillips (Catherine Keener), the ship is taken over by four pirates, leader Abdawali Muse (Barkhad Abdi), Najee (Faysal Ahmed), Elmi (Mahat M. Ali), and a teenaged accomplice.  Throughout the course of the Captain's experiences, the audience learns what it means to be a leader and to be strong in the face of fear.  Due to the lack of cliché themes and a small amount of graphic violence, audiences younger than 13 would not be interested in the film.
     While the beginning is mediocre in the department of keeping the audience's interest, the rest of the film is tense and keeps the audience on edge while inspiring curiosity pertaining to the pirates.  Nine out of ten to Captain Phillips for being realistic and well-scripted, the only problem being the first twenty minutes of exposition.

Current Events 6.2

1.  Nearly 56% of voters rejected Proposition 1.

2.  The provision of the campus gun laws at UT states that a license holder carrying a semi-automatic handgun on campus cannot have a chambered round of ammunition so as to reduce the change of accidental discharge.

3.  El Chapo's new prison is rated very low for inmate conditions.  The site of the prison is also believed to be controlled by cartel.

4.  Petcube is a company that keeps people connected with their pets while away from their place of residence.

5.  Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby yesterday.

6.  I've never used Lyft or Uber to get a ride anywhere.  The fact that I never go anywhere within Austin is probably a reason, but another is that getting in cars with strangers that probably don't have significant background checks isn't very appealing.  I've heard stories of super unfriendly people driving for Uber and Lyft, and that kind of negativity is completely unnecessary, especially if I'm just trying to go the library to get some work done, or something.  Prop 1 is something I probably would've voted for, if I had known what it was at the time when some guy came up to my door asking me to give him my opinion on it.
    Ride sharing is certainly beneficial to a city like Austin, and everyone has their own choice as to whether or not they want to take advantage of it.  Despite my distrust, I can see how it would help out a lot of people - but just because it's an app, or it was started by someone other than the government, doesn't mean it should've still be held to the same safety standards.  It's basically the same concept as taxis (except it's from home, not a building-oriented company), so it should be just as safe, if not more.