March 19, 2004

Yesterday I got "The Writer's Handbook 2004" from the publishers of "The Writer" magazine.

If you have any inclination to write and publish your writings, GET THIS BOOK! There are over 3,000 publication listings. There are 50 essays by successful writers. It is well worth the $29.95. Shipping is amazingly fast too!

There were great thoughts on writing in the preface, written by Natalie Goldberg. Here is one snippet:

"And isn't that the writer's task? To claim experience, even if we write about things we've never done and by characters who are not us. Writing is a physical activity. It comes from our whole body, from our lungs, shoulders, hands, kidneys - and from beyond the corporeal, from memory, vision, imagination, the fusing of what is and what isn't, a coalescing of time."

The end result was my journal entry for yesterday, "The Fact Is." It's about cancer. I wrote part of it while in the waiting room of the doctor's office. I thank Natalie for the motivation I received from her article.

Posted at (EST)

March 18, 2004

I stand corrected, and relieved, and happy for my dear friend, Leonnie. She IS Irish!

Here's proof:

"Hey Sam,

Just thought I'd let you know that I have Irish blood!!!!!!! I thought that you would have guessed that easy!

My great grandfather was Irish - Paddy Purcell!!! (and boy did he have the old Irish temper to go with his name.)

So you see, that's why I have such a great personality and sense of humour. I've got some green blood in me. Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!

See ya,
Leonnie."

An Aussie Lassy!

Posted at 9:45 AM (EST)

March 17, 2004

Three things...

First... Happy St. Patrick's Day! All the cool people are Irish. The rest of ya are just jealous of us!

Second... Some snow for my friend, Leonnie, who lives and Australia. Not only is she not Irish, poor girl, she also gets no snow. So here are a few photos taken this morning after yesterday's snow.

Third... We haven't seen very many birds in our yard lately. One evening I discovered that this was due to a mean old hawk that was sitting in the tree, waiting for birds to come to the feeder. I saw him chase a dove that evening. Our one feeder remained nearly full for two weeks or more. However, with snow on the ground again I noticed that the feeder was nearly empty in just one day. I filled the feeder and put a new suet block out. Then I sat in the kitchen and waited, kind of like the hawk. Below are a few photos of birds that I took this afternoon. The first is our old friend, the downy woodpecker. The second is a white-throated sparrow. The third is a red-bellied woodpecker. Beautiful bird! I know... I don't get it either. Why is he called "red-bellied" when his head is red and his belly is white? It must have been one drunk ornithologist who named this bird!

Yes, ornithologist is a word. So is defenestration. Know what that means? Hurry! Run! Get a dictionary and find out before I do it to you!

Posted at 3:30 PM (EST)

March 16, 2004

I got up at 6 AM, woke up my son for school, looked out of his window when I remembered that last night's weather forecast called for 6 to 9 inches of snow today. I didn't see any snow. I saw a beautiful sunrise. I got my camera and took a few shots. Before my computer could even boot up, all the color was gone from the sky. Now the grayness prevails. But I saw it. I saw it.

Posted at 6:20 AM (EST)

March 15, 2004

Posted at 2:00 AM (EST)

March 12, 2004

Perhaps you have noticed the Theme Thursday and Photo Friday projects in my PHOTOGRAPHY section. I want to encourage you to browse through the photos that other people contributed to the projects. Last week, there were nearly 100 people who participated in Theme Thursday and over 400 who were involved in Photo Friday. There are some awesome photos contributed to these projects.

Also, if you have a digital camera, or a traditional camera and a scanner, why don't you consider participating in these projects? You don't even need to have your own website. There are websites that will allow you to put your pictures up for free. A few of them are Photo Bucket, Photoblog, and Fotopages. Just do it! If you need any help or advice, send me an email.

Posted at (EST)

March 9, 2004

"What are YOU lookin' at?"

Posted at 10:34 AM (EST)

March 8, 2004

Five heads are better than one!

I wonder if those two little heads in the middle are actually attached to just one body.

I get the impression that the guy all the way on the right is not enjoying the ride.

Posted at sometime (EST)

March 5, 2004

The theme for yesterday's Theme Thursday was "desperation." For my entry, I had a tough time deciding which photo to choose as the best one. I had to get my good Friend D to take a look at the pics and give me her expert opinion as to which one was the best.

My kids and a few of their friends helped me to make this photo. We had a blast making it. I guess blasts are bound to happen when you use a gun as a prop. Yes, it was a real gun. No need for worry though. It's a Daisy Red Ryder bb gun. (That's right. Just like Ralphie wanted in "A Christmas Story.") It was my father's when he was a boy. It couldn't even break the skin of a fly anymore. When it shoots, the bb curves. You have to aim 45 degrees to the left of anything you hope to hit!

Well, here are the runners up. (Or should they be called the "runners away?")

Posted at whenever. (EST)

March 1, 2004

"A Day in the Life - Leap Day, Feb. 29, 2004"

For those of you thoughtful enough (or brave enough) to check out ye olde weblog, here are brief descriptions of the photos in the Day in the Life gallery:

• 12:01 AM - my hand-written, private journal.
•  1:09 AM - a book I am currently reading.
•  2:04 AM - on my way to pick up my son in the middle of the night.
•  3:11 AM - the recent MAD Magazine that I was reading because I couldn't fall asleep.
•  8:18 AM - the morning sun coming through the window.
•  9:31 AM - a rather happy breakfast.
• 10:13 AM - a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, written by C. H. Spurgeon in the 1800s.
• 11:00 AM - one of life's annoyances.
• 12:29 PM - another of life's annoyances.
•  1:42 PM - a nap which was much needed after driving at 2 AM.
•  3:30 PM - a good cup of tea to wake me up again.
•  4:12 PM - the magic machine that brings you these photos.
•  5:13 PM - something the world is thankful that I finally did so late in the day.
•  6:18 PM - the latest Cheap Trick CD.
•  7:34 PM - the kid I picked up at 2 AM (who is not as cocky as he looks here).
•  8:22 PM - nope... I'm gonna leave ya wondering on this one! Email me.
•  9:09 PM - junk food - a true artist's source of inspiration.
• 10:51 PM - one of the many stars of the movie "Joe's Apartment."
• 11:38 PM - lights out.

Posted at 6:00 PM (EST)