Happy Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving today. Fucking Yea!

I was told many years ago that when I feel down, just this side of suicidal, I should sit down and remember the things I should be  thankful for. My sister, who is magnitudes smarter than me, seemed to think that remembering the positives in life would help to alleviate my out look. Maybe elevate is a better word here. 

Well, I am in a shit mood and will try and follow her advice now.

I can't really find anything to be Thankful for right now. At least anything positive. Let me list the things that are important to me:

1.   My beautiful Daughter, the Runtyun.

2.   My parents.

3.   My desire to be a well compensated writer.

4.   My camera and desire to be a well compensated photographer.

5.   My ability to spell, this goes with #3.

6.   Beer.

7.   My job, I guess.

Of all of these wonderful things Beer is he only one that I can really predict. And THAT sounds like an addict to me.

So lets count down these seven things.

I love my daughter, she is the one anchor in my life that can really bring me back from the depth of my world. When she was younger I was the architect of her future. The building seems to be falling down now. I put the screws in the wrong places, the infrastructure was not adequate enough for the building. The foundation I tried to build is crumbling and her life may be as fucked up as mine. It is my fault. Her outlook and impressions in life are the ones I imposed on her and they are wrong. Yet, right now she helps me to find a smile. I'm Thankful for that

They are getting old and will not be around soon. I will not be able to rely on them, their wisdom and love soon. When that happens...life will REALLY suck. Though they are getting a little old, their love and guidance are a profound influence in my life. I'm Thankful for that.

Though I write often, it seems flat. I can make my point, but people do not seem to become enthusiastic. It seems 2 dimensional in  a 3 dimensional world. I may be able to, make my point when writing, I fear though this is not the case.  Even though I will never be a great writer, the act of writing has a powerful effect on me. I'm Thankful for that.

Writing and photography go hand in hand here. I can take a nice picture, but nothing spectacular. Maybe with practice... Ansel Adams I will never be, nor will I make the cover of The Nation Inquirer, I can use of my meagre talent to create pictures that a few enjoy. I'm Thankful for that. 

Spelling! I'm Thankful for Spell check.

Now beer. Ah beer. On this, I could wax elegant, or at least convince my drunken self it was. It costs soo much, but tastes so good, yet is not really so good for me. However, if I control myself, sometimes the effect of it can help to ease the stress of the past day. I'm Thankful for that

And I'm not gonna talk about work. You, my fine reader, should be Thankful for that!

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

A rainy ride

Rain, rain, rain. It seems all we get is rain. We have had a beautiful fall, but whenever I get a chance to ride, it is raining. Grrr!

I took a chance today and ignored the weather maps and the drizzle falling out of the sky. The Grinner was waiting. She jumped at the touch of key and throttle.

I used the excuse of the need to get something from the local photo shop to do something besides work on Photoshop. Riding down Brevard Road feeling water hit my face, I tried to convince myself it was water blowing off the windshield. It worked until I saw cars coming at me with their wipers working over time.

The weather did not matter to me though, the bike was running and tires humming. My face was smiling and I could feel my shoulders loosen.

Riding the Parkway, I started to think about a story I have been working. Jason, one of the protagonists, is going to have a chapter all to himself. He needs to think about his motivation and the woman he is falling in love with. He may wonder about her and the bad guy they after, after all like most charismatic bad guys he is attractive and beguiling.

My musing had brought me to the  photo shop. These guys at Ball Photo and Supply (http://www.ballphotosupply.com/Rental.html) (This app does not allow me to embed links, I'll smooth it out when I get home on the desk top.) are a fantastic resource for beginner to Pro. Whenever I go there, I get so much more than what I bought. They ooze knowledge, and more importantly patience. More customers were coming in, so it was time for me to leave.

I stopped at another store. The cashier saw the Grinner and me and made the deduction the I was riding it. Smart girl. She said it was kind of a rough day to ride. I could not believe what she said. I replied, "It was a fine day to be out riding." She asked, "Really?" I winked at her.

More rain was coming down, so I tried to fashion my bandana as a mask to protect my sensitive face from the rain bullets falling from the sky. It worked except my glasses were getting fogged up with every breath.

My grin still did not fade, though. I thought through some more of Jason's chapter. Then I let my mind wonder a little and planned my next shoot. This one will be at home taking a picture of a photo negative of train track. I took the picture with the TX and want to transfer it to digital.

I have tried to do this once by using the monitor as a back light, but did not take into account the dots that are the display. They created matrix of black dots throughout the whole image. This time I will use a sheet of white paper as a filter.

Gotta and give it try!

olc