Hey English Wolf I guess you wore every one out!! I can't believe it but I agree with you on most things: for instance Republicans, they should be ashamed of themselves for what they have done to this country, better yet disbanded. The Democrats aren't much better take a look at their track record on immigration etc. Not good.
As far as religion goes to me it is a very private matter. I'll just keep it to myself and if you want to know Who is a the steering wheel of my life, I'll tell you and then shut my mouth unless you want to know more.
I was a policeman for a lota years and I saw husbands and wives do things to each other that made my blood run cold. I was a 3rd grade teacher for a lot of years and I saw little boys and girls come to school with bruises, cuts, and cigarette burns, one even had a broken arm not a little broken but one that you could see by just looking. I've been told by parents, when I called about their kid misbehaving, that I had them in the day and they have them at night and then hang up.
If I could afford it I would move to Australia, not because its so far away, well maybe that is one reason but the main reason is who they run their government and what the prime minister has said many times: basically you assimilate with Australia and not the other way around. If you can't or won't do that I invite you to leave.
I think you have a lot of good things to say and a lot of good views on a lot of different things.
Have a Merry Christmas

Aside from Merry Christmas and the host of other greetings around the world that basically are celebrating the same holiday, the alternatives are not necessarily indifference. The ones that jump to mind are Hannukah, Kwanza and Winter Solstice. :D :D So to cover all the bases...a Happy Holiday to all.

I'm just now reading this thread and it's pretty easy to see what you are saying.
It's like when I was a little girl, my hero (my dad) told me many positive things to make life easier for me. One of those was:
"If you see someone without a smile, give 'em one"
I have only one person I don't like, so I guess I DO have an S list, but I speak to her politely. I read your post and never thought for a moment that you sounded angry. Merry Christmas.
As far as being a Christian, yes, I am proud of it, but if you are one, you don't have to tell it, your actions speak for you. (and you never should ever PUSH it on anyone)JMHO

And a cheery good morning to you English Wolf. I hope by now you've taken care of your neglected tummy.
It sounds like you had a bad day yesterday. We need those so we know when we have a good one.
I had a bad day to, for the first time in months it rained yesterday. Well not rained drizzled, a heavy mist and cold, mid forties and, of course windy, a poppy day. A 'friend ' called me and was having trouble and asked if I would help him and like a fool I said yes. Then come to find out he wanted to replace the wall on his shed because he had hit it with his car. So there we are in the rain and muck pounding nails. But today I'm OK except my thumb, give me a hammer and I'll hit it.
How many are you going to get to add to your list today? When things get going it fills up pretty fast.
But I still wish you and yours A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Oh man, I forgot to say hello yesterday. THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!!!

So hello (twice) to my little friends in my s*** list.

I have been really busy yesterday between computer repairs (3) and reloading one from ground up. MS drives me crazy, about 8 hours of DLs, updates and service pack and..... MORE updates!!! arf... no end to this crap it seems.

I am also in the process a creating a meet-up over photography and that is taking time too... result? I am a day late and a dollar short here...

To start to prepare myself I fired up my laptop and *boink* said the HDD. I had one available and restored it. Since this thing is about 3 years old, the HDD should have lasted much longer so on to get a replacement from Seagate.

And I just realized that I am impolite to those who are not on my S*** list. So, hello to you all.

For the meet-up group I wrote an about statement that I titled 'Philosophy' instead of about. Must have made a difference because all of a sudden I have more folks signing up for the group and coming to the first meeting in 10 days. I'll see the real trend over time.

My philosophy? It will offend many here but hey, if you have a thin skin, what can I do?

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Philosophy statement

Photography is much more than technology.

Before anything else, photography is a way to communicate a vision that by-pass languages, breaks communication barriers. It does for our eyes what music does for our ears, food to... You get the picture.

While technology helps us more and more it is not a priority. The only thing you need to know at first is your camera, its limitations as well as what it does and why. The technical 'how' is unimportant, almost superfluous. Yet, at one point or another, you will need to learn it.

Vision is always the keyword, no matter what you intend to do. As an 'old school photographer' it is all that matters. I really do not care about post processing (PP) simply because PP becomes a lazy way to make (not take) a picture. The mentality right now is: ”It does not cost anything so shoot as many pictures as you can, sooner than later you will hit the jackpot”, when I hear this, I cringe as I translate it to “sift though garbage and hope for the best”. Photographers that 'work' this way are not photographers, they are garbage collectors.

PP has it uses, an important one, but as part of your vision, not as part of correcting a photographer's lack of skill. One cannot make a bad image good, regardless of all the manipulations and how good one is in PP.

PP is a great tool to make a 'good' picture, otherwise flat, into something that is a work of art.

In short, learn to see, to capture, to transcend your feelings and your point of view so that you share your vision with your selected audience that be family, close friends or the rest of the world.way to communicate a vision that by-pass languages, breaks communication barriers. It does for our eyes what music does for our ears, food to... You get the picture.

While technology helps us more and more it is not a priority. The only thing you need to know at first is your camera, its limitations as well as what it does and why. The technical 'how' is unimportant, almost superfluous. Yet, at one point or another, you will need to learn it.

Vision is always the keyword, no matter what you intend to do. As an 'old school photographer' it is all that matters. I really do not care about post processing (PP) simply because PP becomes a lazy way to make (not take) a picture. The mentality right now is: ”It does not cost anything so shoot as many pictures as you can, sooner than later you will hit the jackpot”, when I hear this, I cringe as I translate it to “sift though garbage and hope for the best”. Photographers that 'work' this way are not photographers, they are garbage collectors.

PP has it uses, an important one, but as part of your vision, not as part of correcting a photographer's lack of skill. One cannot make a bad image good, regardless of all the manipulations and how good one is in PP.

PP is a great tool to make a 'good' picture, otherwise flat, into something that is a work of art.

In short, learn to see, to capture, to transcend your feelings and your point of view so that you share your vision with your selected audience that be family, close friends or the rest of the world.

Hello everyone.

It took me a bit more time to reload this PC (I have not finished yet) but I was interrupted by my better half who wanted to go out and see the city Christmas light, so I did. Good excuse no?

WildBill Sorry to hear that you were banned for your opinion(s) -or taking flak for the way you express yourself (I do all the time). If there is a shame, it is not on you. If there is a loss it is shared because they will never get to hear the other side of the story and you will never be able to learn from them either.

I just realized that I thought we were a different day!!!* Which means that one does not need medicine to think weird things and make mistakes. Don't worry about the errors, I make so many I would me really an idiot to call anyone on their spelling!!!

That make me think... Can I place the 'grammar/spelling police' in my s*** list? PLEEEEASE! I need someone to greet in there!

Let me know your thoughts about it because I would gleefully add them in there!!!

Otherwise, I am getting worried about my dog, she has more and more problems to get up. She still has a solid appetite and still greets me everyday with that damned wagging tail (ask my wife about her decorations that went flying off the coffee table - I WAS YELLED AT - for playing with the dog near a dangerous booby trapped table).

Life is good as usual. I am lucky to see it as such. Taking everything for granted is just too easy.

We have a small bunny in the yard and it leaves deposits of a giant hare in huge piles. I am getting tired of it (have to clean it along with the dog's mines). I guess a roasted rabbit will be on the menu in a couple of months.

Other than that I have very little to say (???).

Hello all (again) take care of yourselves. If you are in difficulty take comfort knowing that many care even if away and do not know you.

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* I sent a PM to someone apologizing for taking so long to answer a question when it was asked today!!! :shock: