Today I began as a contributor to the Examiner. It is an on line publication that has topic for everything. Mine is about digital photography. I figured I'd share my knowledge with some amateurs that might be interested in making better photographs.
My first article is about preparing photographs for e-mail and includes a couple of free image editor softwares for down loading. Click here to see my first attempt at mass journalism in a hundred years.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Since my last post, my son Rick crashed into a mountainous area with 4 to 6 foot snow and after surviving for several days, was captured by enemy forces and with several other U.S. Air Force personnel is undergoing torture and interrogation. He'll be home Sunday.
Yes, it was only training, but when we last talked, he said it was very real-- it had to be! As an AirForce pilot the conditions he underwent in his survival training can happen, and he must be prepared if it does, to cope and survive. He says that this was the hardest course he has taken in the Air Force, but I know that when he graduates the course and comes home for a couple of days, he will be a more confident person than the one who left us a few weeks ago.
Learning to cope is not a textbook course. It must be learned "hands on" to be effective. In my lifetime, according to an article put out by the Federal Reserve, there have been 10 recessions, including the one we are enjoying right now. That's nine learning experiences -- the old "hands on" training. Am I or any of my friends who have gone through the same training really prepared for this recession? Only in that we know we have to cut back on our spending and find better investments with what money we have left from the other investments.
I think those of us who went through growing a business from nothing to something have a better idea about how to do without things. We don't like it, but we get used to it and we will ride it out.
And those of us with faith in the Lord know that we will survive -- if not in this world, in the next.
Yes, it was only training, but when we last talked, he said it was very real-- it had to be! As an AirForce pilot the conditions he underwent in his survival training can happen, and he must be prepared if it does, to cope and survive. He says that this was the hardest course he has taken in the Air Force, but I know that when he graduates the course and comes home for a couple of days, he will be a more confident person than the one who left us a few weeks ago.
Learning to cope is not a textbook course. It must be learned "hands on" to be effective. In my lifetime, according to an article put out by the Federal Reserve, there have been 10 recessions, including the one we are enjoying right now. That's nine learning experiences -- the old "hands on" training. Am I or any of my friends who have gone through the same training really prepared for this recession? Only in that we know we have to cut back on our spending and find better investments with what money we have left from the other investments.
I think those of us who went through growing a business from nothing to something have a better idea about how to do without things. We don't like it, but we get used to it and we will ride it out.
And those of us with faith in the Lord know that we will survive -- if not in this world, in the next.
Monday, March 23, 2009
No Structure
I miss more chances to blog than I take. Not being a person that journals, I am not used to setting apart time to enter thoughts or ideas that come to me and I miss out on a lot. For instance, and I'm sure a lot of you are like this, I think of a great idea for an ad slogan, don't write it down, and it's gone.
Oh to have a system, a structure, but unfortunately, I don't function well under a structured life. And tomorrow I get another year older and still out of control.
What's the point? I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to justify my lack of structure.
Oh to have a system, a structure, but unfortunately, I don't function well under a structured life. And tomorrow I get another year older and still out of control.
What's the point? I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to justify my lack of structure.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
First things first
It has been more than a week since I last posted and I've experienced a lot of great stuff. One of the reasons I haven't been posting is that I have been busy trying to master Facebook. The high school and college kids have got it down to a science. They can access and post messages on their computer, on their cell phone, while they are at home, school, car, in the bathroom, movies, wherever. I on the other hand stare at the computer screen and wonder what to do next. I did manage to get a little more than 300 "friends" and with them, a warning from Facebook that I may be doing something illegal in my approach for friends.
I don't want to do anything illegal, so I follow their directions to search for specific people to become my friend and I get the same warning that I may be doing something illegal. If anyone has a suggestion for me, let me know.
I don't want to do anything illegal, so I follow their directions to search for specific people to become my friend and I get the same warning that I may be doing something illegal. If anyone has a suggestion for me, let me know.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
I didn't ask for this job... or did I?
Today started out great. I slept in until 8:00, coffee was hot when I wanted it, Aletha was in a really good mood even though she had to go to work. All was right with the world.
Then I began my every-other Saturday ritual ... running maintenance on my computer. Now I know a lot about computers, but I am not an IT person, what ever that means. I think it stands for "introspective thinker" which of course, I am not. Or maybe it stands for "Idiotic Timing" which is definitely a strong trait of mine.
After running Ultimate Troubleshooter, I was still having glitches on the Internet, so I ran another program that has worked great in the past, but I couldn't let well enough alone, I had to check an additional box on what areas to clean. Now "clean" in computer talk really means "delete, remove, kill and send somewhere never to be seen again". I know that. I really know that. But I was having a great day and it didn't cross my mind that anything could go wrong.
So I hit the "clean" button. It said it had "freed up" 300 megabytes of space on my computer. ("freed up" has a similar definition to "obliterate")
Hey, my computer was now troubleshoot, cleaned and freed up, I was ready to go.
On to the internet I went. I checked my e-mail, then on to facebook. Up pops access denied, enter your user name and password, which I did. Then comes the disaster... it says "cookies are missing" that allowed me to access facebook with my user name and password. Now I've been on diets where the cookies were missing and it was sad but necessary. But the kind of cookies they were missing weren't chocolate chip. In Internet language, cookies are like a pass key or credit card that prove who you are. Apparently, I had clicked the button to destroy my identity.
Boy o boy, what had I done. I'd screwed up my computer to the point that it had disowned me. I was a man without a computer. Then the company that I have taken their name in vein more times than I can remember actually came to my rescue (literally).
There is a neat little program called "system restore". It should be called "when you do stupid things, click me". You click it, it asks you "when was the last time your computer ran correctly", you pick a date from a calender, and select run. About 20 minutes later, you have your computer back, running like it did a week ago. So much for Maintenance Saturday. The whole morning is gone, Aletha is back from her job, and all is good with the world once again.
Then I began my every-other Saturday ritual ... running maintenance on my computer. Now I know a lot about computers, but I am not an IT person, what ever that means. I think it stands for "introspective thinker" which of course, I am not. Or maybe it stands for "Idiotic Timing" which is definitely a strong trait of mine.
After running Ultimate Troubleshooter, I was still having glitches on the Internet, so I ran another program that has worked great in the past, but I couldn't let well enough alone, I had to check an additional box on what areas to clean. Now "clean" in computer talk really means "delete, remove, kill and send somewhere never to be seen again". I know that. I really know that. But I was having a great day and it didn't cross my mind that anything could go wrong.
So I hit the "clean" button. It said it had "freed up" 300 megabytes of space on my computer. ("freed up" has a similar definition to "obliterate")
Hey, my computer was now troubleshoot, cleaned and freed up, I was ready to go.
On to the internet I went. I checked my e-mail, then on to facebook. Up pops access denied, enter your user name and password, which I did. Then comes the disaster... it says "cookies are missing" that allowed me to access facebook with my user name and password. Now I've been on diets where the cookies were missing and it was sad but necessary. But the kind of cookies they were missing weren't chocolate chip. In Internet language, cookies are like a pass key or credit card that prove who you are. Apparently, I had clicked the button to destroy my identity.
Boy o boy, what had I done. I'd screwed up my computer to the point that it had disowned me. I was a man without a computer. Then the company that I have taken their name in vein more times than I can remember actually came to my rescue (literally).
There is a neat little program called "system restore". It should be called "when you do stupid things, click me". You click it, it asks you "when was the last time your computer ran correctly", you pick a date from a calender, and select run. About 20 minutes later, you have your computer back, running like it did a week ago. So much for Maintenance Saturday. The whole morning is gone, Aletha is back from her job, and all is good with the world once again.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Looking for some great teenagers from class of '10
Thought you'd like to see some of my work and at the same time do me a favor. If you have friends or relatives who are members of a Stark County area high school's class of '10 please send this link to them. I'm looking for ambassador/models to be photographed early and show off their photos to their classmates. We usually have between 30 and 50 Ambassador/models from 15 - 20 High Schools.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The Prez, not him, me
I have the slightest, minuscule feel for what his position must mean to President Obama. Yesterday I spent most of the day taking training along with about 50 other people who will be presidents of their Rotary Clubs during the 2009-10 year. I really had not been too worried about it until I got a 3" notebook full of the duties, responsibilities and loads of forms and reports that I will have on the table beginning in July. This was only the District presidents-elect training session and I feel daunted -- next month Ohio's 300 presidents-to-be meet in Columbus to spend an entire weekend of training.
Before my training, having been elected President of the club, I had all these great plans of what I would do to make our club greater. Having been briefed, like President Obama, those plans have changed. The campaign promises of the past become the reality of the position.
I'll be lucky to get the forms and reports done!
Before my training, having been elected President of the club, I had all these great plans of what I would do to make our club greater. Having been briefed, like President Obama, those plans have changed. The campaign promises of the past become the reality of the position.
I'll be lucky to get the forms and reports done!
Monday, February 16, 2009
More on Where the Action Is
Greg Nettle, the pastor at my church, has a blog that I enjoy very much. It is called The Roar of Love . Check it out, I think you'll like it.
But the reason that I mention it is that he had a link to the complete interview of Richmond Wandera, who went from being a child in the slums of Uganda to working on his masters degree in the United States due to being sponsored as a child by Compassion International. The link is http://vimeo.com/3176176.
Be ready to be moved.
But the reason that I mention it is that he had a link to the complete interview of Richmond Wandera, who went from being a child in the slums of Uganda to working on his masters degree in the United States due to being sponsored as a child by Compassion International. The link is http://vimeo.com/3176176.
Be ready to be moved.
Inspiration at the NBA All-Star Game
I love professional basketball, especially since the teams have begun using defense. Up until a couple of years ago professional basketball was nothing but a bunch of really tall guys running up and down the court making sensational scores, dunking the ball, shooting from unbelievable distances, with no opposition except an occasional deliberate foal.
If you haven't watched the NBA recently, the best teams are winning because they are not only playing offense, they are defending against the other team making points. What a concept.
Anyway, what is so inspirational about that? Nothing! What was inspirational was the time devoted in last night's all star game to pointing out the NBA's role in volunteering to the communities where they have their franchises, but to sending the message to viewers that they need to do their part. It was not just a couple of public service announcements... they devoted the entire half-time to it. It included one of the all-stars discussing the importance of community awareness and participation in volunteer efforts and a video message from President Obama about the importance of helping others. In the spot where most all star compititions bring on their spectacular entertainers, the NBA had a gospel choir backing up John Legend and Juanes presenting music associated with the theme of volunteering and helping others.
The NBA players are a mix of races and nationalities -- From Chinese, to Australian, Croatian to Ukrainian.
But most are African-American. These guys are role models to teenagers of all races, but especially black teenagers who see basketball as their identity. With these role models setting the example of helping by volunteering in the community a whole new movement can begin.
If you are not familiar with Legend and and Juanes (I really was not)...Legend is a 5-time Grammey Award Winner for both performance and song writing and Juanes has won 15 Grammey Awards for his Latin Music. They performed Legend's hit "If you're out there" which deals with being out there with a purpose. Here is the complete lyrics of the song.
If you haven't watched the NBA recently, the best teams are winning because they are not only playing offense, they are defending against the other team making points. What a concept.
Anyway, what is so inspirational about that? Nothing! What was inspirational was the time devoted in last night's all star game to pointing out the NBA's role in volunteering to the communities where they have their franchises, but to sending the message to viewers that they need to do their part. It was not just a couple of public service announcements... they devoted the entire half-time to it. It included one of the all-stars discussing the importance of community awareness and participation in volunteer efforts and a video message from President Obama about the importance of helping others. In the spot where most all star compititions bring on their spectacular entertainers, the NBA had a gospel choir backing up John Legend and Juanes presenting music associated with the theme of volunteering and helping others.
The NBA players are a mix of races and nationalities -- From Chinese, to Australian, Croatian to Ukrainian.
But most are African-American. These guys are role models to teenagers of all races, but especially black teenagers who see basketball as their identity. With these role models setting the example of helping by volunteering in the community a whole new movement can begin.
If you are not familiar with Legend and and Juanes (I really was not)...Legend is a 5-time Grammey Award Winner for both performance and song writing and Juanes has won 15 Grammey Awards for his Latin Music. They performed Legend's hit "If you're out there" which deals with being out there with a purpose. Here is the complete lyrics of the song.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
How About Some Chili ?
On Saturday, Feb. 21, The Rotary Club of North Canton will hold it's Chili Open. An all-day affair that includes golf (usually on a snowy course where no hole is longer than 100 yards) lots to eat including chili, chicken, pizza, subs, rigatoni, donuts, cookies, plus pop, coffee, and beer. All that for a $20 ticket. Plus there are door prizes and a Reverse Raffle that costs $50 with 200 tickets being sold and every 10th ticket pulled wins $100, with $2000 for the last ticket drawn.
Plus the Mid-west Championship Chili Eating Contest
with both professional and amateur eaters. Last years winner "ate" 9 pounds of Wendy's Chili in 5 minutes (and kept it down for another 5 minutes). Below are some pictures from the events last year.
If you are looking for something to cure the winter blues, the North Canton Chili Open at the Sanctuary Golf Course is it. For Tickets, send me an e-mail. rogersphotos@ameritech.net
Plus the Mid-west Championship Chili Eating Contest
with both professional and amateur eaters. Last years winner "ate" 9 pounds of Wendy's Chili in 5 minutes (and kept it down for another 5 minutes). Below are some pictures from the events last year.
If you are looking for something to cure the winter blues, the North Canton Chili Open at the Sanctuary Golf Course is it. For Tickets, send me an e-mail. rogersphotos@ameritech.net
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Breakfast Club
This morning I had a weekly breakfast with six friends. We meet at a restaurant that saves us a table which we usually occupy for a couple of hours. We've been doing this for more than a year. We do it for several reasons...
We're a bunch of old guys, but no matter what age you are, if you can surround yourself with friends -- true friends -- it does a lot to keep you fresh and excited about life.
- We solve all the problems of the world
- We need to eat anyway
- We need to check to see if the others are still breathing
- We reinforce our friendship and see if anyone needs our help (physically or spiritually)
We're a bunch of old guys, but no matter what age you are, if you can surround yourself with friends -- true friends -- it does a lot to keep you fresh and excited about life.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Where The Action Is!
Today was a great day. Actually, this whole weekend was pretty great by my standards which are pretty high. I guess greatness for some might mean getting to sleep in or getting a new car. Today I heard a man who, as a child, lived in a 10 foot by 10 slum shack with his mother and seven brothers and sisters. In Uganda some hold life in little value (his father had been shot and killed in front of his mother) and when you are poor -- really poor--and hungry -- really hungry you don't think much of yourself.
But at eight years old, a woman in the United Kingdom became his sponsor through Compassion International. This means that the woman sent $34 a month to make it possible for him to get food, medical attention and go to school. The woman also corresponded with him on a regular basis, letting him know that she loved him and prayed for him.
He grew in age, in knowledge and in faith. Because of Compassion International and a woman in England who he never met in person, he graduated high school. Then he qualified to go to college in Uganda under another Compassion Program. He graduated with a degree in accounting but his faith in God led him to seek a position in Christian Ministry as a youth pastor.
Not to stop there, he desired to be able to work with other pastors in Uganda, who had little formal education. He received a scholarship to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago where he will study for two years and take his Masters Degree in Religious Studies back to Uganda.
About 2,700 people at RiverTree Christian Church heard this story about what the Compassion sponsorship did for a dirty, hungry little boy who had little expectation of living to adulthood and now speaks six languages and is about to get his Masters Degree. Before the message from the Ugandan, members of the Church already sponsored about 900 children in third world countries through Compassion. Now there are about 1,200 children sponsored by members of RiverTree Church. THAT'S ACTION!
Last night ChildReach Ministries, another organization to help children at risk, held it's 4th annual "Ball" at a local country club. We provided photography of the couples with all the proceeds going to ChildReach Ministries. The night was very gratifying in a year of bleak economic outlook. About 100 people attended the event.
The country club donated the space. A popular band provided the music (there is nothing like a live band at an event like that). The band donated it's services free too! Another man payed for all of the food served. An auction was held and things were bought. The things were all donated. My Rotary Club presented a check to help pay for the text books for a school in Ecuador that ChildReach runs.
This was a great weekend!
....except the Cleveland Cavs lost their first home game. There are probably those die hard fans who now think that this was a lousy weekend. They missed the real action.
But at eight years old, a woman in the United Kingdom became his sponsor through Compassion International. This means that the woman sent $34 a month to make it possible for him to get food, medical attention and go to school. The woman also corresponded with him on a regular basis, letting him know that she loved him and prayed for him.
He grew in age, in knowledge and in faith. Because of Compassion International and a woman in England who he never met in person, he graduated high school. Then he qualified to go to college in Uganda under another Compassion Program. He graduated with a degree in accounting but his faith in God led him to seek a position in Christian Ministry as a youth pastor.
Not to stop there, he desired to be able to work with other pastors in Uganda, who had little formal education. He received a scholarship to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago where he will study for two years and take his Masters Degree in Religious Studies back to Uganda.
About 2,700 people at RiverTree Christian Church heard this story about what the Compassion sponsorship did for a dirty, hungry little boy who had little expectation of living to adulthood and now speaks six languages and is about to get his Masters Degree. Before the message from the Ugandan, members of the Church already sponsored about 900 children in third world countries through Compassion. Now there are about 1,200 children sponsored by members of RiverTree Church. THAT'S ACTION!
Last night ChildReach Ministries, another organization to help children at risk, held it's 4th annual "Ball" at a local country club. We provided photography of the couples with all the proceeds going to ChildReach Ministries. The night was very gratifying in a year of bleak economic outlook. About 100 people attended the event.
The country club donated the space. A popular band provided the music (there is nothing like a live band at an event like that). The band donated it's services free too! Another man payed for all of the food served. An auction was held and things were bought. The things were all donated. My Rotary Club presented a check to help pay for the text books for a school in Ecuador that ChildReach runs.
This was a great weekend!
....except the Cleveland Cavs lost their first home game. There are probably those die hard fans who now think that this was a lousy weekend. They missed the real action.
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