#daniela franco

DANIELA FRANCO

age: 29.

gender & pronouns: cis female & she/her.

neighborhood: claret park.

occupation: owner of bloom wellness.

fc: adria arjona.

BIOGRAPHY

trigger warnings: learning disability, medication, and gambling.

Born Daniela Franco in Los Angeles, California, life was pleasant and on the verge of cookie cutter. Her parents were good people from good families that had a sense of community and wholesomeness about them that could have been considered boring. At least Daniela did growing up in that household. While boring was far from a bad thing, it was simply uneventful and could lead to destruction for someone that wanted more from life than the normal milestones that way of living offered. Life spans were short; something Daniela learned when her first grandparent passed away when she was just seven years old. It was that event alone that seemed to really draw out her ADD and thus began the complications of keeping her within the means of the family dynamic. As cliché as it was, she was the youngest child with an older sister named Melissa and often went unnoticed unless there was a problem. As a child and into her early teens, it was mostly that she couldn’t sit still and she had far too much energy for her parents to contain and keep after her sister as well. So Daniela was thrown into sports, which worked when it came to expelling some of the restlessness, but the issue was more in the mind and not the body. Too often she would stay up all night because her brain wouldn’t shut down for sleep, it would constantly spin on thoughts and daydreams and thus began her insomnia.

Intelligence was something she very much possessed. Daniela was observant in the sharpest of ways with an eidetic memory and broad interest in varying topics and subjects, but the problem was focus. Unless something strong captured her attention and she was able to force herself into a hyper-focus then her mind would bounce around and it made homework and tests an absolute challenge. No matter how well she knew the material or could figure it out on the fly, Daniela would often blank on tests and couldn’t buckle down to focus on homework. The result was too often subpar grades, scores below her intelligence level but because of a disability and standardized methods of schooling her IQ was never genuinely reflected and it all had an effect on her self esteem. Daniela’s sister, just as smart, did very well in school and was praised rightfully so for it but Daniela was always a disappointment or in trouble because she couldn’t perform the same way.

When the insomnia led to her sleeping at school or passing out from exhaustion, her parents sought out professional help. Daniela was sent from her regular doctor to see a psychiatrist and the journey of various medications began, all just to get her to sleep. Some meds would leave her groggy and feeling like a zombie, others would make her sleep walk, and then there was one or two that would generally work but her ADD would combat it. It took a while for her psychiatrist to recognize and finally diagnose Daniela with Attention Deficit Disorder, but that was a whole other trip of medications that Daniela opted out of quickly in hating how it all made her feel. All the medications for this or that just did more damage to her self esteem, feeling like she was one issue and problem after another. She never really began acting out but her restless nature led Daniela to seek adventure and whatever would get her blood running. Whether that meant racing cars and staying out all night with friends, or going into places she was far too young to really be able to handle like pool halls and card rooms then she seemed game for it. One thing for sure about Daniela was that she was competitive.

Due to a job transfer, the Franco family moved half way across the country and settled in a mountainous city named Providence Peak. It was a tough move mostly for Daniela who had a final year of high school to finish and of course having to reexplain her situation to new teachers and a new school system. Thankfully her file did most of the talking for her and her parents and while Melissa attended the local university she pushed her way through a new high school where she felt completely out of place. It was only a year and Daniela made her family happy by graduating with a GPA that was good enough to get her accepted at the same local university her older sister was attending. During her time at Providence Peak University she met and made friends pretty quickly with a couple of girls, who would soon begin to feel more like the friendships she’d had growing up. Like they had grown up together. The three girls were together all of the time and formed a band they called Black Sheep after an amazing karaoke night, and for a while the band took more of her free time than her cards did. Eventually the band ceased as university became more difficult and their lives pulled them in different directions.

By the time she was nineteen she had made her first six figure income year, and by twenty-one her first six figure income day all by playing poker. It wasn’t that she was some exceptional card shark, it was more so that she had talent but a very sharp mind. Not only could she calculate and make raw decisions on the fly it was something her ADD and hyper-focus could attach to. The amount of brain activity it takes to play poker would often exhausted the average person but Daniela could have ten to twelve online games going on at once and it played perfectly into the rapid fire way her mind worked. She definitely experienced some low points since no one always wins, and she had some hard losses but for the most part Daniela was living a life that was beyond the wildest dreams of someone from a conventional family. She was able to travel the world and follow the live poker tours, sit at the table with some of the greats and legendary players and hold her own — occasionally winning. But most of all, Daniela was able to live a free and independent life, one that wasn’t structured in the typical contemporary fashion. She did make it through university but she didn’t have to run off to a corporate job or punch a clock anywhere. Daniela got to live life however she wanted and she loved it.

At twenty-three, after a night of playing cards in a back room in Dublin, Daniela married an Irishman she’d spent the night before with drinking and just having fun. It wasn’t love, it was just exhilaration. He was wild and adventurous and matched exactly with where she was in life at that point in time and she was careless in not recognizing that he was just in it for the ride and whatever he could get out of the nuptials. And she didn’t recognize that he was milking her for all she was worth until it was too late; nearly a year into the marriage and waking up one morning with divorce papers and an empty bank account. Through the divorce he held his claims that he really did love her, even called her his soulmate, but that he just didn’t want to be married and tied to one woman. Either way, Daniela got screwed and learned more lessons about life. Making her way through the world and through life as a professional poker player certainly made for an incredible way to live.

Broke and then a divorcee, Daniela moved back to Providence Peak to stay with her sister for a while who still lived in the city. It took a little while to build herself back up and fill her accounts again, especially after losing her confidence when it came to the distractions of her personal life. After working mid-level games for a while as a rounder, Daniela eventually moved up and began playing again before the disaster that was her marriage. She continued her mix of both online games and hitting actual tables to have the feel of cards in her hand and just enjoying the rush of high stakes a little more when sitting at a table with people that were likely to kill you over what most everyone considers just a “game”. The time soon came for Daniela to look for her own place and give her sister her space back, especially since Melissa had a serious relationship blooming and they deserved their privacy. She didn’t really like it, the thought of living alone made her sad and contemplate how lonely she was willing to feel. Daniela refused to move back home into her parents house, feeling like a failure if she had to do that so instead she found a house and settled in. It looked like Providence Peak was going to be permanent.

After the move, with her pockets and bank account lined and cushioned, Daniela decided to make a big change. It was time to put her university degree to use and all the certifications she’d earned as an esthetician. She’d been doing the research for years, so why not? Daniela opened up her own shop: Bloom Wellness. Where she sells handmade healing products to soothe and cleanse the mind, body, and soul. Since many of her products are made with CBD, she has a relationship with a local grower and in the last two years bought part of that company. Daniela ended up in a battle with Square over CBD and eventually won after sticking it out and standing by her products. They did almost put her out of business though and she’s feeling rather proud and blessed now. Though, being a solitary business owner hasn’t been without hardships, last year she lost her entire inventory to humidity and was devastated and had to completely rebuild her stock. Since it’s just her and two employees making everything, working the shop, and since it’s her only source of income, Daniela got worried about the bottom falling out on her. During that really difficult time, battling Square and losing her inventory, when she was feeling her lowest, Daniela nearly sold her business for next to nothing. Thankfully, she stuck it out and what she will tell anyone in making their own business: trust the process.

by: Daniela Franco

Bye man buns, hello man braids. Whether you loved or hated the man bun, you must admit that man buns did have a lengthy run. Thank You David Beckham, Shia LeBouf, Future, and Tumblr models, but a new phase is now upon us. French braids, Dutch braids, Fishtail braids, and Cornrows and all other types of braids are now beginning to influence male hairstyles.

This is not the first time man braids make themselves present in male hairstyles. Braids in women and men have been predated as far back as 3500 BCE. In history, braids have meant much more than the next big trend. Instead, braids were used to identify a person's wealth, status, tribe, kinship, and courtship. The oldest record of braids dates back to 28,000 BCE to 25,000 BCE, with the statues of Venus of Willendorf and The Venus of Brassempouy. The statues depict what historians debate to be a type of braided hairstyle. In later history, braids were also discovered in  African, European, South American, and North American culture, with each culture using braids distinctively.

Egyptian, African, and European braids helped distinguish the wealthy from the commoner; additionally, intricate designs would signify wealth and high status. The more complex the design, the higher the individual's status. This occurred because the forming the hairstyles would consume many hours implying leisure time that the commoners or peasants did not have.

Various Native American tribes had different symbols for the braids worn by both genders of the tribe. According to indians.org, the official website for the American Indian Heritage Foundation, “In the Quapaw Tribe, women who were married wore their hair down loose while single women wore their hair in braids. Often they would roll these braids in coils and fasten them behind each ear. These coiled braids would then be decorated to attract a mate.” Meanwhile, according to the same site, “In the Blackfoot Nation Tribe men were the ones in braids. Men wore three braids often with a topknot or pompadour. Women wore their hair loose or occasionally wore two thicker braids down the front.”

So the man braid may not be so new, but it is catching a lot of attention through social media; Jared Leto was already spotted rocking the new ‘do. So, next time you're at the shop and the barber asks you “what’ll it be?”, your response might be, “can you braid, bro ?”

Source

http://www.indians.org/articles/braids.html

http://www.lovelyish.com/2013/04/15/the-beautiful-and-amazing-history-of-braids/

Cool Beans : Millennial’s Coffee Consumption  

By Daniela Franco

Sitting in her college dorm with a Red Sox sweatshirt and a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee next to her, Alyssa Ruiz remembers her first time drinking coffee. “I was ten and it was a weekend and I asked my dad if I could try it, so I tried a little bit from his mug, ” she explains.

Not until the age of 17 did she become a casual coffee drinker. Now, she enjoys large iced mocha coffee light and sweet or on other occasions black iced coffee. Spending on average “18 dollars a week on coffee”, she says.

A coffee trend among Millennials has been brewing up and major companies have noticed. The high consumption of coffee can be seen when walking through college campuses. Carrying coffee cups and tumblers in one hand and balancing books in the other can be described as a typical morning for many students.

Are Millennials really drinking more coffee than past generations? In the new world of cyber connectivity, is there more to keep up with in which coffee may aid millennials, just as early American surgeons used cocaine to help keep up with excruciating hours of work?

Third year medical student, Marie Perrera, admits that everyone she knows “drink[s] a lot of coffee and that's because they are doing long hours and trying to stay awake and focused.”

Coffee is everywhere from franchise shops to high end cafés. With constant advertisements, it may be hard for consumers to avoid the temptation of coffee drinks. Companies like Starbucks spent 95 million dollars in 2013 just on advertisements. In 2013, Starbucks generated a total of $14.9 billion in annual revenue, according to statists.com.

On average, Americans spent 21 dollars a week in 2013, according to statistics. An entire generation of millennials is growing up in a coffee culture, and they're paying for it.

Specialty coffee shops catering to the sweet tooth of millennial coffee drinkers quickly learned that the new best drink is what sells. Constant competition between chains has created a seemingly infinite number of peppermint, mocha, caramel, and spiced flavors for consumers to choose from.

Millennials between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to choose specialty coffee drinks than adults between the ages of 35 to 44, who are more prone to choosing regular brewed coffee, according to the Datassential study, commissioned by S&D coffee and Tea, Inc.

Dr. Vincent Serafino, a practicing physician of almost 31 years, confesses himself as being an avid coffee drinker. He claims that he uses it to stay awake and to keep him going throughout the day, averaging between 3 and 4 cups of coffee per day. Belonging to the X Generation,  Dr. Serafino prefers brewing his own coffee at home or in his office, Although when “on the go” he prefers Starbucks or a fine bean, favoriting the Colombian bean, “a strong, bold, bean.”

With diabetes running high in the millennial generation, could the sweet coffee drinks beloved so much be hurting more than just the pockets of the twenty-something-year-olds?

“A person that begins at a younger age is more inclined to continue coffee consumption versus someone who starts at an older age.  I think I'm proof of that because I remember drinking coffee before my teenage years," discloses Doctor Serafino.

“It’s the speed, it gets you moving, it gets your heart beating. Your heart beats a lot faster and your resting pulse can be much higher. Your mind can be firing off and going off too quickly. You can get the shakes and jitters; having a more rapid heart beat isn't always the best for your heart,” explains Dr. Serafino on the effects of coffee on the body.

“It's a total lifestyle if you are drinking caffeine, smoking cigarettes, overweight, and you're not exercising; it can cause increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, and these things take their toll over a long period of time. Eventually, it can lead to  hypertension, cardiac problems,” said Dr. Serafino.

A student from Saint Peter’s University, Chelsea Forbes, explains her daily routine as waking up, grabbing a coffee, going to class, heading to work, and once again, picking up another medium, two sugar and cream coffee at a nearby Dunkin Donuts.

“I've had fluctuations; right now, I'm at a steady pace. I know that everything taking in excess is bad for you, because there was a point where I was drinking up to seven cups of coffee a day, and it was taking a toll on my body,” explained Chelsea.

By Daniela Franco

Do you remember running home from school to log on to your AIM account to talk to your BFF? Although you had just spent a whole six hours at school together, you needed to quickly log onto AOL Instant Messenger to gush about all the latest middle school drama. How about checking if that boy or girl that sat behind you in English class had come back from their ‘away status’?

Lets also not forget that embarrassing screen name you spent hours contemplating on.  You knew that your screen name would make or break you. At fourteen-years-old, you were pretty much branding yourself for your entire middle school. Who would've thought AIM would give you your first lesson in marketing?

AIM also gave us the buddy list, which allowed you to create friend groups and place them in order from favorite to least favorite. But what happened when everyone had either logged out or had a ‘brb’ next to their name and you were the only one left in the chat room? Talk to Smarterchild, AIM’s version of our now well-known Siri. The chatterbot would keep you amused long enough for your friends to log back in after doing typical ‘90s kids things.

by Daniela Franco

What are you really giving away when you agree to those “terms or service?”  I bet you are not really sure because who actually reads them, right?

Artist Richard Prince has been screenshotting selfies and has been able to sell them for up to $90,000. Prince displayed the selfies in the Frieze Art fair in New York where art enthusiasts have been purchasing the selfies for their own private collections. Prince was never granted permission by the people in the photographs.

According to Instagram's Terms of Use, you own your own photos and videos. However, a small loophole legally allowed Prince to sell your Instagram selfies to strangers.

Instagram's Privacy Policy states that “once you have shared user content or made it public that user content may be re-shared by others.”

By slightly modifying the pictures and by changing the captions and filters on the photographs, the selfies have now become Richard Prince’s original pieces.

“I would be honored if someone took my selfie and thought ‘wow you took this beautiful selfie let me put it up in my home’. I would be an art piece,” Ronaldo Sanchez, a Saint Peter’s student explains.

Meanwhile other students feel as though their privacy is being violated.  

“The only person that should have a picture of my face in their home should be my mom,” said Chelsey Forbes a junior at Saint Peter’s University.

Other websites such as Facebook and Snapchat have had their own problems in dealing with the copyright of pictures and users’ privacy rights.

It is undeniably the year of the selfie, and people have been seeking ways to make some easy money out of this social media trend.  The invention of the selfie stick, Kim Kardashian’s new selfie book, and now a large print of a selfie that costs up to $90,000 are all ways that the selfie has prospered in today’s commercial and social worlds.  

By: Daniela Franco

        Have you noticed the art building?  Unfortunately for photography, art history, music, theater, and all other art students at Saint Peter’s University, their invisibility has left them under budgeted.

        Students, professors, and staff members all know Saint Peter’s works with what it can. Since most students attending the school are on merit-based scholarships or athletic scholarships, undergraduates commonly counterbalance mediocre facilities with cheap education. This is unfair to students who feel that their education is unreasonably overpriced.

        When receiving an acceptance letter with a scholarship that will pay half to all of your education, of course many students will jump to the chance. According to the latest numbers of the National Center for Education Statistics, 83% of Saint Peter’s students receive grant or scholarship aid, including institutional aid.

        John Boshart, art history professor and chair of the art history department, has been teaching at Saint Peter’s University for 39 years. Professor Boshart opens up on some of the major issues the art department is currently experiencing.

        “One of the major areas that our modest budget gets used up is in the graphic arts.We have to constantly be updating software programs and every couple of years we have to replace all the computers because students who major in graphic arts have to be working on the most current types of computers and the most current types of the software. So we are always struggling with our budget,” explains Prof. Boshart. Similar stories regarding budget can be heard by other professors around the campus.

        For the dungeon-like appearance of Rankin Hall there may be hope. Jersey City has approached the University for possible plans of creating a mural on the side of Rankin Hall. Unfortunately, other endeavors such as making Rankin Hall handicap-accessible has been a battle that Prof. Boshart has been unable to win.

        “This building needs to be made handicap-accessible because the studios are on the second floor. I have asked time and time again and even suggested ways they could do it without too much cost but they never seem to have the money to do it ”, explains Prof. Boshart.  

        In last year’s State of the University Address, President Cornacchia stated that “historically, we have been at the bottom of the ranking among private institutions in New Jersey for the number of inbound transfers–second from the bottom in fact. Now we are seven out of fourteen.” He also continued to explain how Saint Peter’s plans on increasing revenue in the future.

        “Saint Peter’s is a 15% equity partner in this development. Once it is up and running it will begin to generate a revenue stream that will help support the University’s goals. The value of that revenue stream runs into the millions of dollars. We need more of this kind of creativity–thinking outside the box–to find new ways to support our core mission,” explained President Cornacchia a year ago.