Christmas Gift To Myself

On Sunday, December 14th I ordered a gift for myself. A brand new Canon digital camera. It's got all kinds of great functions that make taking better pictures extremely easy. Why a new camera when I rarely take pictures? Listen up while I explain.

I haven't sold any of my writing in years and haven't made a nickle on my artwork in some time but in this epoch of layoffs and business closings I'm determined to make some extra dough by selling stock photos. I'm not about to make a career of it but one never knows. I do intend to make it a source of rainy day insurance.

My everyday job looks to be secure for now and if my employer continues at the current pace and can weather the storm I should be okay. Still, one can't just sit around and hope everything will always turn out okay.

I'm well aware that taking pictures is not just a matter of pointing the lens and clicking the shutter. Content and composition are paramount. I've got a lot to learn but I'm convinced my artistic talents will guide me as I set up shots. I intend to take the advice I gleaned from various blogs by successful photogs and carry the camera with me at all times. You never know when that perfect picture will reveal itself. I'm prepared to take dozens of shots from as many angles as I can think of in order to get that one perfect picture. Practice makes perfect in anything you do.

I'm compiling a list of types of shots I want to watch out for and where I might have to go to get them. This is not going to be a hobby but rather a way of life. Pursuing this is going to get me out of the apartment and away from the glare of the television. One side affect could and should be a stimulus to get me to jump start my artistic talents. It's already gotten me to write in this blog which I haven't done in some time.

I envision taking a number of floral pictures at first or "crowd" shots of interest, local sports or playground shots. I may end up chasing a few fire engines to get news shots or of an accident or two or something of human interest that may see print in local newspapers. Who knows... maybe in a couple of years I may be jostling for the optimum position with other shutterbugs for that perfect shot of Britney Spears cleavage? Yeah, right! Dream on sucker.

Timely Service... Forget it!!!

On August 28th at 4:30 PM my phone service went dead. Along with it went my DSL service from Verizon. Since I'm not an owner of a cell phone and don't care to own one there was little to do at the time. There's been a lot of remodeling going on in my apartment complex and a wire could have gotten accidentally yanked loose.

At work the next day I went online to Verizon to request repair service. The request form is not set up for people who don't have cell phones. It asked me for an alternate phone number so they might call me if they had to. No help there but it wouldn't take my request without some phone number there so I put in the one that's dead. Naturally the dumb machine took the useless number. I was also asked for my e-mail addy. I put it in but without the phone working I've got no DSL and as a result no e-mail. After it tried to see if my line was working it told me they couldn't send out a repairman until Sept 3rd. What! Seven days without service. They got to be kidding!

So now I have to take a day off from work to wait for the repairman because he will be around anywhere between 9AM and 8 PM. Nice of them to be so specific. If I'd had some serious ailment or was an invalid they would have made the effort to get to me right away. Sometimes being healthy is a drawback.

Since I'll be without service for a week do you think Verizon will offer me 25% off my bill this month? Yeah! When pigs fly.

But all is not lost. My new PC that I bought last February has a WiFi connection and it has been telling me of signals it detects in the area every time I turn it on. I've ignored it but now I was interested. I expected to be asked for some password to sign on and I was correct but the machine has detected half a dozen signals so I kept trying and what do you know. One allowed me to connect but it is an unencrypted source. I'm online again. The signal is a little week and drops out at times and I'm not going to be doing any online banking soon. I've got to check out the encrypted provider and see what they want for their service. Unless their transmitter blows up I'm not likely to be without service again. And it works a hell of a lot faster.

The Incredible WALL*E

Since I had no where else to be yesterday, July 4, I went to see a couple of movies. The first was Wall*e, a tongue in cheek love story between two robots. A too long alone trash recycling robot left behind on the Earth to clean up the mess left behind by the Earthlings taking a cruise to the stars and a sleek, clean, ultra-powerful probe sent back to Earth to see if it's worth returning to.

After it gets over its fear of being destroyed by the ultra-powerful probe, it's love all around for Wall*e the bumbling little trash recycler. Wall*e follows the probe, designated Eve, to the stars by hitching a ride on the outside of the ship sent to retrieve her/it. They are taken to the cruise ship Axiom where humanity has been in space for 700 years. Having grown fat and lazy the humans are waited on hand and foot by automated robots.

The movie is full of sight gags and inuendo and the facial expressions of the robots trigger the same emotions in the viewer. I couldn't help but laugh and feel sorrow for the little robots as the situations changed. A film well worth seeing again and again.

The second film was The Incredible Hulk. This sequel is far superior to the first installment. Ed Norton did a far better portrayal of Bruce Banner than the previous actor. And William Hurt made me believe he really was Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross. Even though the action was between the Hulk and the super-powered antagonist, the battle was and always has been between Banner/Hulk and Ross. Each with their own separate ideas of right and wrong.

Even for all his brutality and blind rage the Hulk has a sense of right and justice. He does nothing more than defend himself when he is attacked. It's his enormous strength and lack of control that makes him appear to be a brutal, rampaging savage and killer. If left alone or ignored he'd just go away to be by himself. Clearly, Thunderbolt Ross is the true cause and is ultimately responsible for all the carnage done by the Hulk.

Given this new adversary, the Hulk is pitted against his equal, physically and far outmatched by this creature that has human intelligence and reasoning. But the aversary has ego which is his weakness while the Hulk's strength is and always has been his blind, insane, rage. This seering rage and to some extent, virtue, keep picking the Hulk up after he has been beaten down and should stay down. The gamma loaded adrenaline that courses through his veins magnifies the Hulks strength transforming him into an unstoppable juggernaut. Unstoppable except for the influence of one slim, unassuming, beautiful woman... Betty Ross. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of the Hulks brutish, manic-depressive brain resides a spark of humanity that is Bruce Banner's undieing love for this woman. She alone can calm the flames of his insane anger. While, on the surface, this may appear to be a weakness, it's actually the Hulk's greatest asset.

This movie was superbly put together graphicswise. The computer generated hulk actually looks like he is right there interacting with the other humans and his surroundings. The movie is an adrenaline rush from start to finish with just enough oases to let the viewer catch his breath.

Films such as this one don't get nominated for the best picture Oscar but this one needs to be considered by the Academy.

Superhero -- Who? Me?

With great power comes great responsibility. Those words were first strung together by Stan Lee after he created Spider-Man. While these words were meant to define the duty of the superhero in the comic book universe it could also apply to any public official or upper echelon of the business world. But let's concentrate on the superhero.

Imagine yourself with the powers of your favorite hero. After you got done playing with and exploring the new abilities would you design your costume and go out to fight crime or be committing them. For the sake of arguement we'll say you want to fight crime.

Would you openly display your abilities or be a creature of the night and do things as quietly as possible? Done in secret would only last so long. Sooner or later you'd get caught at it and be on the run. Someone once said "No good deed goes unpunished". No matter how good the intentions you'd be hunted by the law.

Would there be mistrust -- ceretainly, fear -- absolutely, bad propaganda -- for sure. The Government would want to not only control you they'd want to disect you to see if they could make more of you into soldiers. They'd want to brain wash you and/or use you as a weapon of blackmail to enemy countries. But before that they'd want to use you as a superspy. Your life would not be your own.

Of course, if you were powerful enough, they'd try to destroy you if they couldn't control you. You may believe this thinking is a little paranoid but I think it's very close. Human nature is what it is.

While it's entertaining and often thrilling to read about superheroes I don't think I'd want to be one. Well, maybe being invulnerable wouldn't be so bad.

Status Symbol

In the United States that could be none other than the automobile. The sleeker, faster, racier, the priceier the better. But now, since the price of gasoline has gone so high it does more parking in the driveway than driving on the Parkway. (pardon me George Carlin for stealing your line)

In the seventies we had much the same thing happen. More cars were sitting and public transportation was being utilized. But that was because you couldn't get any gas because of the shortage of fuel due to the oil embargo beset upon us by the oil producing nations not because of the price. Now as then, cars with higher mileage ratings were being sought out rather than the big status symbols. At the time a five year old Volkswagen beetle would set you back $2000 - 2500 while a gas guzzling five year old Cadilac Eldorado could be had off the lot for $500.

The long sought after and so handsomely prized by Soccer Moms everywhere, SUV, is being sent out to pasture and the gas sipping sub-compacts are flying off the lots. The SUVs were sold under the banner that it was the safest, most reliable vehicle that you could count on to keep the loved ones safe in an accident. Now... who cares if the wife and kiddies get crushed under an 18-wheeler, WE CAN'T PAY FOR THE GAS. And speaking of the 18-wheeler: I heard last evening that in order to fill one up with Diesel fuel will set the driver back $1300. Be prepared to pay even more at the grocery store and any other place that relies on these big rigs to bring in the goods.

Scooters are also the transportation of choice by the thrifty or just plain poor. Getting 100 miles to the gallon will cause most anyone to forget how silly they might look on one. Guess what's going to cost more in the near future. Hint: it's the first word in this paragraph.

Remember the old sales pitch by the used car dealer: "It was driven by a little old lady from Pasadena who only used it on Sunday." Now I can hear the pitchman saying "It was driven by a small family from (insert town here) on the weekends." What with the cost of gas so high many are resorting to only using the car on the weekends while they take public transportation to and from work. Even the usually auto-choked highways in Southern California are suddenly experiencing a lot less traffic. And the trend is spreading around the country. Look for tolls on bridges and turnpikes to increase as revenue starts to plummet.

If something isn't done I can visualize more and more of these rapidly growing detriments to the budget sitting in front yards with "For Sale" signs on them. Or maybe someone will fill theirs up with dirt and grow flowers or brocoli or maybe asparagus in it. Now there's a status symbol for ya!

The Writing Muse

Mine, at least, must be female. Why do I say that, you ask? Because it's so fickle.

She jumps into my thoughts at the most inopportune times when I've no time to be productive and when I'm at the keyboard with all the time in the world she decides to go out for a walk. And her step-brother, Ambition, usually decides to take a nap.

This doesn't happen all the time but more often than not. I suppose it might have something to do with having no deadline to meet or being in need of the funds I potentially could earn if I actually sold something. But is that really my fault? :-)

I suppose, if I could shut out all the other distractions, she might be willing to get down to some serious work. Then again she hates to get down to any serious research which really slows down the process.

What's a writer to do when they have a clunky muse? Is there any place to exchange an old one for a new one? Can they be reprogrammed or are you stuck with the one you're born with?

So many questions -- so few answers -- so little time.

Friends

What are friends...really?

I used to think they were that someone who stood behind you in good times and bad. Who took the time to listen to what it was that troubled you. Someone you could seek out for advice or who would seek you out when they had a problem to solve. But most of all, someone who would never shut you out just because they thought you might not understand or forgive a transgression.

And you know what? All of this is true. The difficulty is in deciding just who are friends and who are just letting you fill in time until something better comes along. Sometimes you have no idea who really are your friends until adversity shows it's ugly face. Then those you believed to have thought you were invisible suddenly show you how wrong you were.

But what do you do about those who tell you "how glad I am to have found you" then become invisible themselves for whatever reason they had. Do you forgive? If you're any kind of friend and want to keep calling yourself that, you better. Do you trust them ever again? Trust has to be earned and can be earned again if the person really wants it.

What it all boils down to is if you want to have friends you have to be one first. This is not some revelation I just thought up; no, it's been around since the beginning of man's existence. It's just that sometimes you have to remind yourself of it.