I have to admit, I’m not really into Miley Cyrus. I didn’t even really know who she was til this whole big media circus about her escapades at the MTV music awards.
So far, I’ve seen her on Saturday Night Live and now this great clip showing on utube using old film from Star Trek. Someone posted it on my Facebook page and I just cracked up laughing.
I love the reactions of the crew. Captain Kirk, Scotty, Spock and Uhura, Chekov finally lost it. OMG, funny!!! The guy who made this video got it down PERFECT!
I’ve never heard of ‘twerking’ before the awards. OK, I’m way past 30, so I know I must be out of touch with what’s going on, but I have learned to use google. 😉
Apparently this is some kind of new dance fad. I don’t think I’m missing much, but during my googling this morning, I discovered that there is an event called the UK Twerking Championships in London. I watched the highlight video. Let me tell you, it’s hilarious!
I’ve always enjoyed watching people dance. All kinds of dance. This twerking is something else. I would have a hard time keeping a straight face in that place. I wonder what they do to people who bust a gut laughing? They looked like they really were pretty serious. WTF???
I even found online lessons. In case you’re interested, here’s one. Enjoy! 😉
Yes, it’s late, but I decided to go ahead and post my entries for the Word a Week Photography Challenge. It’s only a couple of weeks late. 😉
Here’s the link to the original post from Suellewellyn at a Word in Your Ear blog. People have some nice photos they’ve entered there.
I’ve got a few flowers, a pretty little fish, some fanciful lights, a motorcycle and rider (or not), a cute little witch, a couple of playful green and purple/violet leprechauns from last St Patrick Day parade, and finish it up with some more colorful flowers…
orchids
more orchids
I would have posted more photos but for some reason I’ve been having a HELL of a time uploading photos. I’ve had to shrink them down to a much smaller size than previously. I don’t know if my computer has a bug or if it’s something going on with WordPress. Anyone else having issues the last couple of days?
I’ve been meaning to post this for a while. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get around to it. Since it’s time sensitive, I really should have put it up earlier, but things have been very busy lately. So, here it is..
The Houston Museum of Fine Arts is having an exhibition of Impressionist Artists. It is already ongoing and will only last until March 23, 2014. The link to the article will give you all the information as far as location, artists represented, etc.
I was up there at the museum the last time I was home. I thought about going to that exhibition, but I was running short on time and I didn’t want to waste my money. The Houston Museum is FREE on Thursdays (which was when I was there). I figured I would look around at what I could for free with what little time I had.
There is a nice sculpture garden outside. I took a bunch of pictures but I don’t know what happened and they all disappeared off my camera! Luckily, the rest of the pictures I took that day were still on my memory card and I was able to get them onto my computer.
I’ll put a couple of them here just to wet your whistle. I’ll put some more up in a gallery once I get them ready.
I have a little bit of a weird taste in art. Here are a couple of my favorites I found at the MFA…
Takahiro Kondo- Dimension Box
1903 eggshell porcelain, decorated by H.G.A. Huyvenaar
a monster by Antonio Berni
plasticine on wood by Grupo Mondongo
That skull was almost the last thing I saw at the museum that day. They had it down in the basement and I almost missed it. It REALLY impressed me. My photos don’t do it justice.
Every inch of it is made up of small figures and items fitted together to make the whole. It’s VERY detailed if you look closely. It was made by Grupo Mondongo. I had no idea the name means ‘tripe’. Thanks Wikipedia. 😉
I wish I knew Spanish better, all the links I can find about them are in Spanish. I definitely want to find out more about them and see more of their work. 🙂
I hope to make this another ‘regular’ feature here. I love music and I listen to all kinds of things. I like folk, rock, reggae. Irish, Latin, Cajun, blues, bluegrass, classical, etc. I especially love a good ‘ballad’. Pretty much everything except most heavy metal, rap and opera. 😉
I don’t listen to the radio much anymore. I don’t like listening to all the commercials and I really can’t find a station I can listen to for long before I get bored. The only one I listen to now is Houstons KPFT. They’re non commercial, listener sponsored and they have a huge variety of good stuff on there.
I thought I would try to share some of the things I’ve found that I liked on a more regular basis. I have posted a few songs in the past and people seemed to like them. I’ll continue to do that whenever I come across something I really like, but I wanted to showcase here music that relates to the sea in some way.
This particular song is one I just really like. I like the energy, HEY! I loved the imagery in the video. Absolutely fantastic! I liked the melody. I liked the feeling of the whole thing. In all honesty, I could barely make out the lyrics while listening to the song, but I did hear something about a ship. So I guess it’s enough to qualify for a “Song of the Sea”. 😉
So here goes… Little Talks by Of Monsters and Men…
“Little Talks”
Hey! Hey! Hey!
I don’t like walking around this old and empty house
So hold my hand, I’ll walk with you, my dear [Video version:] The stairs creak as you sleep, it’s keeping me awake [Live version:] The stairs creak as I sleep, it’s keeping me awake
It’s the house telling you to close your eyes
And some days I can’t even dress myself
It’s killing me to see you this way
‘Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Hey! Hey! Hey!
There’s an old voice in my head that’s holding me back
Well tell her that I miss our little talks
Soon it will be over and buried with our past
We used to play outside when we were young
And full of life and full of love.
[Video version:] Some days I don’t know if I am wrong or right [Live version:] Some days I feel like I’m wrong when I’m right
Your mind is playing tricks on you, my dear
‘Cause though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Hey!
Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Hey!
Hey!
You’re gone, gone, gone away
I watched you disappear
All that’s left is the ghost of you.
Now we’re torn, torn, torn apart,
There’s nothing we can do
Just let me go we’ll meet again soon
Now wait, wait, wait for me
Please hang around
I’ll see you when I fall asleep
Hey!
Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Don’t listen to a word I say
Hey!
The screams all sound the same
Hey!
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Though the truth may vary
This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore
Check the date on the link above. Yeah, I’m really late! I am having a really hard time keeping up with my emails lately and this is one I finally got around to. I thought some of you might still find it interesting, so I’ll go ahead and post it now.
Gcaptain continues its series of maritime movies, this weeks round-up is all about submarines. I have to admit, I don’t remember the last one. Were there were already 4 others about submarines? Or just 4 maritime movie posts. I find it hard to believe there are THAT many movies just about submarines.
But I do remember posting at least one with submarines. I remember spending a while trying to find a recording of that classic song about the submarine races. I did find a couple of versions, but not the one I was thinking about. The one I was looking for was something I heard while listening to the Dr Demento Radio Show a LONG time ago.
It cracked me up! That show was great entertainment. I used to like to stay up all night and sleep late. Listening to music and reading til all hours of the night. That was when I was a lot younger and didn’t really have anything important I had to do. Things have changed. I can’t even stay awake that late anymore. 😉
This batch of movies looks like it would make a good all nighter. Too bad I can’t hang with that kind of thing anymore. Cook up a bunch of popcorn and turn on the DVD. 😉
Of course, they’re pretty much all war movies. But at least a few of them concentrate on the drama of the personal choices of the people involved. For instance, “SubmarineAttack” (Torpedo Zone) is about a sub commander who sinks a ship and then picks up the survivors. Now he has to decide what to do with them.
Kind of like what happens now when a merchant captain picks up a bunch of refugees. It used to be simple, take them with you to your next port and drop them off, no worries. NOT any more!
The shoreside officials have made that simple thing SO difficult. It’s a very hard decision for a ship master to make now a days if he sees a raft full of refugees. Pick them up and deal with the mess? Or just sail on and take the easy way out?
It has ALWAYS been the tradition to help another vessel in distress, but the shoreside people are making it very hard on mariners to continue that automatic response. There have even been reports of ship masters forcing stowaways overboard. Pretty much leave them to die. All because of the trouble the ship will be in when they get to port!
It’s really pretty sad. The officials have made it SO hard to do the right thing.
Back to the movie review…
Submarine Attack sounds like it would probably be my favorite. I haven’t actually seen any of these movies yet, but I do love old movies and anything maritime. 😉
One other I would like to see is the one based on the true story of the USS Tang. “Submarine Command” looks like an interesting story. The story of the commander and his crew during WWII who wound up sinking a total of 33 ships. A record for American submarines.
The movie concentrates on the guilt the commander feels for the death of his gunner who died when the commander ordered the sub to dive during an enemy attack. Yes, he saved his ship and his crew, but he still felt guilty.
The last one I’ll mention here is another one based on a true story. “Trapped in aSubmarine” (aka “Men Like These“), is the story of the HMS Poseidon (P99), a British sub that was hit and sunk by a cargo ship. Some of the crew managed to escape the sinking submarine and reach the surface. It sounds like a good story and something I would like.
Check the link to the original movie review from Monkey Fist. If you’re not watching the Superbowl, give some of these a try. 🙂
I came across the Great Dictator today (again) and I can’t even remember where. I think it might have been in an email from the Sovereign Man (an ‘investment’ newsletter I subscribe to). Yes, yet another of my hobbies. 😉
I had a little time this morning so I took a look and tho I’ve seen the movie before I was just stunned this time. I guess I’ve just been primed by all that’s been happening in the world lately.
I’ve seen a few Charlie Chaplin movies and I’ve enjoyed them all. For his time and place, I would agree with the people who consider him a genius. He could make you laugh, but he could make you THINK.
He had a way of putting himself out there and making people feel his emotions. He made people feel what he wanted them to feel. To understand his characters and their emotions.
He did so much in his films, and considering that a lot of them were silent movies, he was so far out and ahead of everyone else in the business, he really had no equal.
This movie was his first ‘talkie’. He played the leading roles of the dictator and the barber. He also directed it. He did a fantastic job in every way, and the public appreciated that. This was his most commercially successful film (even tho it was banned in most of Europe- for obvious reasons).
The Great Dictator came out in 1940 (while we were still formally at peace with Nazi Germany). It was written, produced, scored and directed by Charlie Chaplin. And he played the starring role(s)! WOW!
I watched the ending speech on youtube again and I can hardly believe how powerful and moving it STILL is after all this time. It is SO powerful. It is SO prescient. It is SO MUCH still true today!
I wish more people around the world could see this movie. It is a warning to us all. His speech is so moving. Even almost 75 years after he spoke those words, they can still affect me that way. I hope others can understand that feeling. I hope others can understand what he was trying to do with this film.
I hope people today will take his message to heart and unite to solve the problems we have. I hope people today will work together to find solutions to hunger, hatred, violence, sickness, oppression, poverty and war.
I hope people will come to understand that we (common people) need to unite to overcome the forces against us. It is the same now as it was then. There are people in this world who lust for power and will do anything to get it and to keep it. ANYTHING!
Nothing else matters to people like that. Not you, not me, not their friends, not their families, not their pets, not their neighborhood, not their community, not their country, not their PLANET! NOTHING!!
From the reviews of the movie and it’s commercial success, I think Chaplin succeeded in showing large numbers of people how idiotic it is to allow anyone to rule over you.
To give a dictator (or ANY form of government) the power to rule is just plain stupid. WE must maintain control over our lives. Chaplin does a fine job of showing that in his film.
Not enough people understood his message in time. We still had to fight the Second World War, (and then the Korean ‘War’ and then the Vietnam ‘War’ and then the assaults on all the little countries that no one even remembers-except the people who were directly hurt by them- and then the ‘War on Terror’ carried out in Afghanistan and Iraq and Libya and Yemen and Mali and, and, and…and America). 🙁
When is it going to end? Are people ever going to wake up? Will we ever find the gumption to tell all those power hungry bastards that insist they need to rule us “for your own good” to GO TO HELL!!
I actually started this post a couple of weeks ago and ran out of time to finish it up. It’s been on my mind for a while. So, it’s a good fit for todays Zero to Hero task: Revisit a Task and a Post. I did at least figure out how to get the video to play correctly since the last time I worked on it! 😉
If you’d like to know more about the movie, Wikipedia has a pretty good overview. Please let me know what you think! 🙂
Here’s a video of the band I was talking about in my earlier post tonight. I saw them playing in the street as I was window shopping on Royal Street in the French Quarter (New Orleans).
It was a gorgeous Fall day and their playing was just perfect. It put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. They had a bunch of people of all ages/types, dogs, kids on bikes, etc all watching, listening, dancing. It was a great experience.
I bought a CD from them before I wandered off. I really like it. They deserve more notice. The commercial stations don’t play stuff like this, but if you try you can find interesting new music like this on the radio or the internet.
In Houston, I listen to KPFT, 90.1 FM . Its listener- sponsored, no commercials. They have EVERYTHING on there. I like how they have such a huge variety. Everything from Irish music to Latino to Heavy Metal to Zydeco. You really need to go online and check out the schedule. 😉
I’m not sure what to categorize this band as. Folk? Americana? String Band? Bluegrass? Traditional? Alt Country? Blues? They could be called any of that, but the do it all well!
I’m taking a break today from the Zero to Hero Challenge. Todays assignment was to look around at other peoples blogs. Find something there you really liked (not content). I’ve been doing some of that but I haven’t seen anything today that I really MUST have on my blog. 😉
Actually, I did see something a while back, but now I can’t find it again. When I do, then I’ll do more of todays assignment. Or maybe not. 😉 In the meantime I haven’t been doing much with music on here lately. I really love music. All different kinds.
I really like this band. The Be Good Tanyas. I have a couple of their albums. I thought I’d post this particular video since I just did that post on New Orleans and this video was done there (and around).
I see the street performers around the French Quarter every time I go there. I bought a great CD from a band last time I was there. OK, I’ll do another post on them. But first…
I’ve been busy with the Zero to Hero Challenge lately so I haven’t had much time to do any other posts, but today I didn’t post anything for the Zero to Hero challenge.
I just did the assignment, which was to visit other participants (and comment) in the event I joined on Day 22.
So today I am posting a few photos for the Word a Week Challenge from A Word In Your Ear’s blog. The word of the week is ‘undulate’. Here’s the definition:
1. to move with a sinuous or wavelike motion; display a smooth rising-and-falling or side-to-side alternation of movement: The flag undulates in the breeze.
2. to have a wavy form or surface; bend with successive curves in alternate directions.
3. (of a sound) to rise and fall in pitch: the wail of a siren undulating in the distance.
verb (used with object), un·du·lat·ed, un·du·lat·ing. 4. to cause to move in waves.
5. to give a wavy form to.
I really like this one, so I am going to add some pictures for a couple of the definitions…
The flowing, wavelike forms of these flowers.
The sinuous movements of the octopus and anemone.
The intricate, fluid movements and undulating music of the Balinese dancers.
I was looking around at the list of blog events for the Zero to Hero assignment for Day 22 and I found this one I thought would be interesting. It’s called the Travel Journey of the Week from Melissa at the Liberated Traveler’s blog.
I liked her idea of asking other people contribute by writing a post and linking back to hers. Since she seems to be focusing on FOOD, which of course New Orleans is deservedly famous for, I thought I would add to hers by posting some photos of places to find some great food in New Orleans.
I’ve got everything here from the Cafe DuMond for their famous chicory coffee and beignets to Rouses grocery store for the best muffaletta to the old JAX Brewery. World Famous restaurants Arnauds and the Bourbon House compete with less known but just as good local favorites.
You’ll find everything from classic French to Cajun and Creole. Old style steak houses. Oyster bars. Fresh seafood and local delights like catfish and alligator fixed a dozen different ways.
If you just have to have it, there’s always a slice of pizza to go with your daquiri. Hot dog stands supply snacks you can eat as you wander down Bourbon Street with your Hand Grenades and Hurricanes. It’s hard to miss a good meal in the French Quarter! 🙂
Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to ‘publish a post inspired by your post from Day 19, and publicize it on one or more of your social networks.” I actually did 2 posts for the challenge for … Continue reading →
Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to add a new page. Since I just added one a couple of days ago and it took me a loooong time to put it all together, I think I’ll take … Continue reading →
I’m trying to catch up on things around here, getting a little behind on the Zero to Hero Challenge, but here’s my take on the one for Day 10: Widgets.
I already had quite a few widgets on my blog. It’s taken me some time to figure out how to get them on here and how to get them to work like they’re supposed to. I still have a lot of work to do in that department.
So, I didn’t add 2 more widgets today. I found one that I had been wanting to add and it took me quite a while to figure out how to do it and then to add all the updates I wanted to. I actually got a little sick of it so I’m sure I missed a few places.
I found this one of cities where I’ve been on www.geckogo.com. I started playing around with it and signed up on the site and then got into all the other stuff on there. It just sucked me in. 😉
So, I finally got the widget finished and uploaded it onto my blog. I like it. 🙂
I think there must be tons of things to do with widgets on here. I’m still trying to figure out how to get some of them to work.
For instance, I’ve been trying to get one from Amazon to work for a couple of weeks now. It’s a blog and I think it’s pretty cool. It’s not trying to sell you anything, it’s just a neat scrolling list of comments on various books. It looks like my twitter feed.
I still can’t get it to show up here as anything but a plain link. It doesn’t even link to the book feed like I’d like, but to a half dozen different feeds. I’m still messing around with it but won’t put it up here until I can get it to work right. Anybody out there know how to do it?
Since I got off the ship the other day, I’ve been busy just trying to get back on schedule. It’s really hard to switch back and forth from working nights for 3 weeks to being up in the daytime like most normal people. I feel like I need to be up days while I’m home, it’s hard to get anything much done at night here.
So, I’m a little caught up on sleep and mail and bills, got some groceries in the house and so ready to take up the Zero to Hero Challenge once again.
I did go over my About page again (day 8’s assignment). I don’t really know how to make it ‘irresistible’, but I did spiff it up a bit. I’ve been thinking about adding some other things there but not sure if it would actually make it any better.
For day 9’s assignment, to find more blogs to follow, I’m having a hard time limiting myself to just 5! I am starting to wonder just how much time can I spend wandering around the blogosphere? 😉
It’s REALLY hard to try and find ‘new’ things, things I’m not already following or new subjects that I don’t already have an interest in. So, I didn’t really follow directions, I did take a look at some things I really have no interest in, like sports, and cars, and fashion, but I don’t really see the point in following things I’m not interested in at all.
So, I looked around some more and found some outliers in subjects I am interested in but don’t follow as much as I would like.
Here are my picks for today…
Human Rights Warrior– I love her tagline “There is some good in this world…and it’s worth fighting for.”
The Official How To Blog– It’s always good to learn how to do things! Laugh while learning is good!! 🙂
Beer & Whiskey Brothers– I always like a good drink, beer was never my favorite, but it’s always available so learned to like it. Learning about more flavors is great!
The Squeaky Robot– This looks like an interesting blog with nice photos. 🙂
Coffee and Irony– I liked the post on the Civil Wars (I LOVE their music!) and lots of variety on this blog, I think it’s worth following for a while.
Austin Music Source-This one’s not a wordpress blog, but it’s one I like and found today while wandering around online. I do love Austin! Lots of good stuff on this one!
Texas Music Scene– Here’s one last one, it’s not a wordpress blog either, but I found it today and really liked the stuff they had on there.
I found all of them interesting and plenty more, but I don’t have enough hours in the day to devote the time and energy they deserve, so limiting myself to these today. 😉
Todays assignment is to “publish a post with a new-to-you element”.
I’m not sure what to do with this since I’ve already published posts with text, photos, videos, music.
They do suggest ’embedding’ tweets, a song, a map, adding pins from Pinterest, etc. So, I’ll try to add a map of some of the places I’ve traveled (so far).
OK, tried and tried again with the map. Not working. It disappears every time I save the draft of the post. Maybe I’ll try it again later with googlemaps since they specifically tell you how to do that one in the WordPress Support pages here. Not having any success with either zeemaps or traveladvisor which I already had made on my facebook page.
One more time, if it doesn’t work, will just have to be satisfied with a neat picture from Pinterest. I’ve never added anything from there here before either, so I guess that should count for todays task. 🙂
Photographer (writer/blogger) Kim Carver says her main goal with this project is to inspire more young women to work in the maritime fields. I wholeheartedly support her in that goal.
Before the days of excessive political correctness, this calendar used to be called the ‘Sexy Women of Maritime’ calendar. I’ve read a lot of the posts on various maritime forums about this calendar controversy and can understand the reasons behind changing the name.
I’m going to have to get one of these calendars this year. If for no other reason then to show people that…
YES, women can work at sea.
YES, women do work at sea.
YES, women look good on calendars! 😉
If you like the idea of this calendar and would like to get involved (or know of someone who would), Kim says…
“I’m already seeking accomplished female mariners to feature in the 2015 calendar, and would love a few volunteers from the OSV crowd. Send inquiries or nominations to me at kim@jacktarmagazine.com”
It sounds like a ton of fun and a great way to promote women in the industry. If I even remotely resembled a ‘calendar girl’, I would volunteer for this project myself! 😉
I say cheers to the ladies who joined the project in the past and to all the ones in the future good luck!
Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to take some time to find a theme you like, or if you have one you like already, go take a look around and sample something different.
So far I like the one I have right now. I read over the post on choosing themes to see if there was something I was missing.
I’m looking around the Theme Showcase and there are a few there I like. It looks like I’m still liking the same sorts of themes as when I first looked around and decided on this one. 🙂
Here are a few of the alternatives I almost chose…
I really liked the look of some of the others but I felt they didn’t really fit what I’m trying to do at the moment. Mostly to do with the photography. They had some great themes for showing off photos (ex: Photography) but I want to do more than that. Maybe later. 😉
Also, I’m not ready for a premium theme yet, so I didn’t look very hard at any of those. Some of them looked really nice, but not for me just yet. Maybe later. 😉
Well, this has been an interesting assignment. I originally picked the Twenty Eleven theme and I still like it. Maybe I’ll get tired of it one day and change it. But for now, that’s my theme and I’m sticking to it! 😉
Todays assignment was to learn how to use the Reader and to follow 5 new topics (as well as start finding bloggers you love).
I already was following quite a few bloggers, WordPress and others. I had never really used the reader much tho. So this morning, I took a look around.
I have to admit, I was tired and so didn’t really find anything outside of my ‘normal’ interests to follow (yet). I spent about and hour poking around and finally had to just force myself to STOP it!
Warning: WordPress Reader is addictive!
Since I’m short on time today, I’ll just list the new blogs I found and decided to follow…
Natures Place– looks like an interesting mix of science, nature and photography (macros, lots of bugs- cool!)
Eleventh Stack– a variety of librarians recommend things to look for at the library
OK, so that’s the quick and dirty for now. Check them out if you want. I’ll have to get to it later. I just wanted to get the Zero to Hero post for today finished before I knock off. Those last 2 blogs I did not find on the Reader. I’ll be trying to take a closer look at these blogs later and maybe even make another foray into the realms of the Reader tonight. 😉
Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to ‘write the post that was on your mind when you decided to start a blog’.
OK, well I didn’t really have any particular ‘post’ on my mind when I decided to start a blog. It was more like a general idea.
I have been trying to find a way to make a living without having to be out on a boat all the time. Yeah, I still like sailing. Yeah, I still like my job (most of the time, most of the things about it). But I’m getting to the point where I’d like to do something a little different. At least for a while.
I’d been hearing for a while about how it’s possible to earn a decent living by working online. Writing, stock photography, copy-writing, etc. I’ve even taken a few short courses/workshops to try and learn how to do it.
I’ve enjoyed going to the workshops. I’ve learned a lot in each one of them. But I’ve never managed to pass muster (yet) and get anything I’ve done accepted for publication.
I admit, I haven’t spent a lot of time trying to ‘sell’ my product; my writing and photography. I tried a couple of times to get some of my photographs accepted onto a couple of the stock photography websites like istock.com.
So far, I haven’t had any luck. My photos were rejected and I had to take a course to even begin to understand what the heck they were talking about when they told me why they rejected them all. 😉
I haven’t even sent in any of my articles to anyone yet, tho I have sent a few queries to a couple of magazines I thought might be interested. One magazine even told me they were interested but they never got back to me and I let it fall by the wayside due to all the other things I’ve been busy with.
FOCUS! I think that’s what I need. I’m pretty sure if I had all the time in the world and no ‘real’ job and wasn’t busy with a dozen other projects, I could find the time to hound the gatekeepers of the publishing world until they let me in. 😉
Too bad I don’t have that kind of schedule right now.
SO……
I decided to start a blog instead.
My plans for the blog have changed a little bit. I’m not focusing so much on putting my magazine type writing on here. Maybe one of these days I’ll post one and see if I can get some feedback from the blog world. I’ve been spending a lot more time just posting about things I find of interest.
I’ve really been posting a lot more about what gets ME going, what interests me, what turns me on, what turns me off. I enjoy catching peoples attention and trying to make them think.
Of course, I am still trying to work on my writing and photography. I still plan to try again to get my photos accepted online and my articles by some magazines. I work on that stuff when I can find time too.
I figured if I started a blog, I could get my work out to people WITHOUT having to go through an editor. Just get it out there and let it stand on it’s own merit. Either people will like it. Or they won’t.
Of course, the original purpose was to find some way to make an income. I’m told you can do that as a blogger too. So far, I haven’t the slightest idea of how to do that, but still hoping to learn. 😉
In the meantime, I’m enjoying myself here. I especially like interacting with people all over the world. It’s really fascinating to me when I look at my blog stats and see people have visited my blog from places like Namibia, or Ghana, or Pakistan, or Ukraine.
I wonder what was it that interested those people and why? I have seen a lot of people online who have so many similar interests. It seems a great community here, even if it’s only ‘virtual’.
It’s great that we can all have blogs now, no need to hold back, just get ourselves out there and the whole world is open to us! 🙂
I’m happy to announce that I’ve been nominated for the WordPress Family Award! I had no idea there even was such a thing so it came as a complete surprise.
I only started blogging in August of 2013 so I am feeling really delighted, amazed, thrilled and a little bowled over to have this kind of recognition so soon. 🙂
I have to say a HUGE thanks to Mercedita at the Atidecrem Life Project!! I am humbled and honored that you would think so highly of me after such a short time. I am especially touched that you would nominate me for a ‘family’ award. 🙂
I never had much family (that I knew about) and at this point, I only have one brother left that I grew up with as real family. I have friends which I consider as my ‘family I chose’.
So, in that light I am happy to accept the nomination and will pass on the favor. People here really are very nice, friendly and helpful and it is like a family here.
Here is the explanation of the award and the rules…
The WordPress Family Award
“I start this award on the basis that the WordPress family has taken me in, and showed me love …. The way people take a second to be nice, to answer a question …. I wanted to leave my own legacy … as many have done before. This represents ‘Family’ we never meet …. It is my honor to start this award.”~ Shaun from Praying For One Day
Nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your wordpress experience and family.
Let your 10 Family members know you have awarded them.
That is it.
And here are my nominees for the WordPress Family Awards…
Andrew was also my first follower and of course it makes you feel just fantastic to get even one follower when you’re first starting out. http://adoptingjames.wordpress.com
Charlotte was one of my first followers and gave me help and encouragement when I was trying to figure out how to set up my blog. http://charlottehoatherblog.com/
Ijassdie was one of my first followers and still keeps in touch with many ‘likes’ and comments. http://ijassdie.wordpress.com
OM, who I met through a post of his, something about why women are crazy, of COURSE I had to reply to that! 😉 Since then, he has given me lots of attention and always takes the time to answer questions and comments I’ve had. http://aopinionatedman.com, http://shatteredsmoke.com
JG Burdette at the Map of Time, always giving good advice and enthusiastic remarks on my maritime posts. http://jgburdette.wordpress.com
Rommel has been one of my earliest followers and stops by quite often to ‘like’ and comment on my posts http://sophomorejinx.wordpress.com
Don Charisma has been very friendly and helpful, he answers comments and he even nominated me for an award recently!! I’ll be doing another post on this award/event as soon as I can manage. 🙂 http://doncharisma.org
I really had a hard time choosing these 10 and I would have liked to have added a few more. I’m not sure but I think this is supposed to be restricted to WordPress blogs so I tried to stick to that. Some of the links don’t show it, but all of the ones above did show up as belonging to WordPress, so I hope they’re all OK as far as the rules. 😉
Now, to finish up, I have to figure out how to let each of my nominees know that they’ve been chosen. I guess I’ll just go and visit their blogs and comment with a link to this post like Mercedita did for me. 🙂
OK, so here it is (finally). This months (or maybe it’s last months by now) Monthly Music Sampler from Utne Reader.
I always love to get these and check out all the interesting music. Artists I never would have heard of otherwise. I think it’s one of my favorite parts of the magazine, tho they also do the same thing with films/videos, magazines/books, etc and I’ve found a lot of really great stuff from looking at some of their suggestions.
The Utne Reader used to call itself ‘the Best of the Alternative Press’ and that was exactly what it was. Now, their tag line is ‘Cure Ignorance’ which I like, but I’m not sure that is really as accurate or if the magazine is really doing any of that (curing ignorance). 😉
So, this months sampler has some music I really liked a lot. I’ve already made a couple of posts about individual songs…
Other then those 2 bands with the links above (Lily and Madeline and PigPen Theatre Company), there are songs by the Casket Girls, the Temples, the Liminanas, by itsnotyouitsme, and a great one by De Temps Antan (in French I think).
There’s everything from indie folk, to jazz, to psychedelic, to French flavored folk/cajun. There’s a good selection from England, France, Canada, and around the USA. I really enjoyed this months samples. I hope you do too. 🙂
I took this photo at the AWAI photography workshop in Washington DC a couple of years ago. I had just got my new camera and was really going crazy taking pictures of EVERYTHING. The people at the hotel must have thought they had a bunch of real weirdos hanging out there. I got a lot of strange looks every time I pulled out my camera and started taking pictures of all my food during breakfast, lunch and dinner. 😉
A friend sent me an email about this event the other day. I’ve been to the Netherlands (Amsterdam) a couple of times and always had a great time.
me and a friend in Amsterdam
I’ve always wanted to go during the spring to see all the flowers bloom. This event takes place in September, in a town called Zundert. So now you can see the flowers all summer and into fall!
I never even heard of this event (Bloemencorso) until my friend sent me the email (thanks S.!). It’s kind of like our Rose Parade out in California, but they make the floats out of dalias.
Take a look at the link to the website (they do have a flag you can click to get it in English), they’ve done a fantastic job!
Good tips and a good post from Belle Beth Cooper at the Buffer Blog.
I’ve got the first one down…give yourself permission to write like crap and JUST START.
Yeah, no problem with the writing badly, it comes out pretty naturally. My problem is when to stop. I can go on and on. 😉
I think I get the part about ‘write like you speak’ too. I’ve never tried to write in any other way (yet).
Eventually, I think I would like to try to write stories or even a book. I’m hoping by writing posts here on my blog, it will get me some good practice and feedback.
In the meantime I hope I can keep things here interesting and entertaining. 🙂
I do wish I could just put everything else on hold, take the time to just chill out and do some real work on this more artistic side of me. So far, I have not managed to do that. I have so many things going on and so I just do a bit here, a bit there, nothing is ever as good or as finished as I would like it to be.
I wonder how anyone can manage to survive, much less THRIVE in this world we are living in today. How does a person manage to ever take the time to relax enough to just let things happen and do what THEY enjoy?
I am doing my best to work hard, so I can save up, so I can one day take a nice long break to do just that. I have so many things I would like to do with my life and I worry that I’m running out of time. I hate to think that I’ve spent so much of my life just working.
Yeah, I’m lucky that I still do enjoy my line of work. Yes, they HAVE taken MOST of the fun out of it. It would be SO much better if they would stop letting the lawyers and accountants run everything and go back to allowing some common sense out there. But it’s still a better job for ME then I can imagine any other type of work to be.
I just hope one day soon, I can drop out of the ‘rat race’ altogether and spend my time doing what I really want to do, instead of spending so much of it doing what I feel like I HAVE to do.
Maybe the tips in the article will help me become a SUCCESSFUL writer. 🙂
I got my Monthly Music Sampler from Utne Reader a while ago but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to even look at it til recently. I’ve been trying to catch up on some of my emails and just started looking at some of these samples.
Today’s choice is a song by a group called the PigPen Theatre Company.
This band is a little different. PigPen IS actually a theatre company, just like their name implies. They put some of their original music in their plays, pretty cool! They just came out with a new album ‘The Way I’m Running’. I think I’ll have to get it. 😉
I listened to this song ‘Song From the Stone’ of theirs from the Sampler and really liked it.
I got my Monthly Music Sampler from Utne Reader a while ago but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to even look at it til now. Today I’m trying to catch up on some of my emails and just started looking at some of these samples. I listened to this song ‘Devil We Know’ by Lily and Madeline and liked it. A lot.
I took all of these at the JAGA (Jamaica-Galveston) Festival in Galveston last Spring. I actually had a decent camera with me (but still no tripod). Glad they turned out OK.
These are for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Let There Be Light. You can see the other entries and enter at…
Here’s another one for the Weekly Photo Challenge. It’s still on ‘Light’. I took these while I was at work (offshore). I can’t believe I got the moon to come out so good. I took a ton of pictures, it was the ‘supermoon’, but I only had my little point and shoot camera with me and with all the vibration on the rig, I’m just really surprised to get anything like this.
The boat was another story. It came so close to us, I could have thrown a stick at it and actually hit it (I can’t throw very far). Driving us crazy since all vessels are supposed to stay outside our 500 m zone unless we grant permission. They were just about up under our lifeboats. 🙁
We worry they may interfere with our thrusters or ROV with their fishing gear, but they could care less (until something happens like they actually catch a fish and they lose it because their line got cut in our thrusters).
If you want to see the other entries for the Challenge, or enter it yourself, here’s the link
