Really ...

need more ...

music, laughter, pictures, memories, maid & some laundry soap.

Ha ha!

And if at first

You don't go crazy .. try try again.

Yes people .. that is my profound achievement for the day.

I didn't have to try very hard .. and well will you look at that ... I have already completely mastered my first task!

~~~

In other things less exciting but more noteably:

Trying hard to make sense of the boys band, and their attempts at moving forward, given the fact that he makes up 30% of the musical creativity.

So, for now will have to ignore that one ... unless I need to call a lawyer. AND if that's the case .. well then you know that things have definitely gone SOUTH!

Went to my camera group last night. Again .. interesting .. EXCEPT for the hum in the room, where the already QUIET talkers were muffled by the hum. It took all my restraint (as the new comer sitting in the dark) ... to not wildly hiss ..."STAND UP and talk you FREAKS ... the old guy on the other side just SAID .. "I can't hear you ... " I will be allowed back due to my stealthly silence.

I can't wait actually, because along with anything that I do ... it becomes an experiment into the human mind ... I love to see where people get there passion .. and how they project themselves onto an image - in relation to how they master their shots. I wonder if I'm just too simple .. I try and do as little editing as possible. I get quite perturbed when the camera can't see what I see ... so in effect I am left to fiddle and faddle with settings that help me to project my intentions.

One lady stated: "I shoot RAW". That's nice. I eat things that are RAW. Big deal.

I loved Harry's photos ... except that Harry shouldn't take pictures of his hands. Harry's hands were something strait out of a 1700 century warrior ... squishing grapes too boot. I'm not sure if my reaction was one of complete repulsion or extreme fascination.

I also LOVED Grant's photos. He's left handed. Of course I would love his photos. GAWD. How's that for writing on the wall.

Then there was the computer operator girl with the skinny ankles that didn't click NEXT on the slide show fast enough when it came to the ugly pictures. There were the gasps of WOW-NESS when the shots of the singular rose flashed upon the screen. Hello. Macro. Lens. Big. Whoop.

GIVE ME SOMETHING that I can sink my teeth into ... as in .. TELL me what the aperture was for the snowy owl .. and did you shoot in aperture .. or how did you shoot it .. and what was the ISO.. and tell me the F stop. Please. Left handed GRANT didn't have to ... because his photos were REMARKABLE.

So ya .. moving on ...

The snowman is melting .. I should get a picture of him .. while I still can ...

Well .. that was it.

For the snow.

Now .. it's been nothing but rain rain rain ... and a little wind thrown in for good luck.

In other things crazed and out of control.

Me.

No... just kidding.  Well .. semi not kidding.

Currently the state of mind is this ...

Overwhelmed by the stupidity of others; and frustrated by the fact that being thrown underneath a bus doesn't seem to have an impact on it's victim.

OH well .. can't change what is.... however now it will be important to pick up the pieces ... if there are any left to pick up.

It's January

What else do you take pictures of ... birds in trees, or on the road, and their luxury homes, the random goat .. and what looks to be a his and hers fence .. guess which one is the HIS side!

Now it's sunny .. with snow falling.

There's a little clear patch in the sky above ... with the sunshine peaking through. Kinda cool .. however ... all the cameraness in the world will not capture the excitement of the moment. Really.

Blue skies above us... with a hint of snow trickling through. Interesting.

In other things of great interest ... my hair colour is brown, with a huge hint of grey falling ... Interesting.

Given the fact that I did not run my group today ... (weather condtions leave people having to leave their homes in MAYBE ways that could make them slip) .. I have the time to perfect my hair back to the perfect brown-ness ... ok not perfect brown-ness, but some assorted flavour of colouring more than the colour grey. Ick.

In other things ...

The boyson has a new love interest. Yae him. Yae for the mother that loves the new love interest ... only because the new love interest is in fact in love with school. While love is still young and blossom filled .. will happily regard the situation as a walk towards the light! I will not speak of the torrent of dark cloud that has cast it's ugly shadow over our homestead for a great number of months in attempts to get the boyson to the education system.

I have been told that my work to get him to the education system is one that shouldn't be done, and in fact enabling the boyson to continue to behave in a manner that is far than admireable. My response to the pointedness of the facts include the simple and mere truth ... I never wish to look back and say "what if". "If only" ... "Maybe if I" ...  The truth of the matter be told ... is this exhausting .. YES. Is this equivalent to hammering your head against a wall? YES.  Is this torcher one that will have a positive outcome? Perhaps not.

BUT ... at least my inner soul will not be one of regret if there comes a day that the boy doesn't make it to the end of school. It wont be because I gave up on him. It wont be because I just couldn't be bothered any longer. It wont be because I gave him the OUT of not going. It wont be that he somehow decided it was OK not to complete his education.

BECAUSE he is a very smart kid .. eventually he will get it ... even though he doesn't quite get it yet .. I have been told by many people .. "if he doesn't want to go to school .. and won't get out of bed ... then just leave him .. let him fail". OK .. how about NO. How about ... everyday he join the grind .. every day he makes an attempt to join in with the rest of the ranks and plug his way through the system ... just the same way we all have to. Everyday that he remains in the school system the is actually under somebodies radar. Everyday that he joins in with the school system ... somebody will influence him ... Everyday that we trudge our way to school and not giving him an out to excuse himself from the rest of the world ... there's the lesson. Like I know .. he's a smart guy ... he can make it through the work requirements ... if only I can get him through the life requirements.

YES .. it is soul taxing on my part, on the families part. Is it completely stressful getting this hugely smart young man to the four walls that will eventually lead to his freedom? Yes.

Is it worth it?

It's priceless.

See, blue skies .. with a little snow falling ...

Well look at that...

I am back ... at the old interface.

GAWD ... how I love this interface ...

Not certain how a box, and tabs across the top, and tan coloured sections can put one at great ease, but it has with me.

In other news:

I forgot to send the cheque with the boy. How shocking is that.

In MORE important news:

I charged my new watch ... holy crap is that ever cool ... I signed in with my FB account ... and now it has all my activity from April of last year, of course with the exceptions of all the times that I did not use my ipid to do my walking/running with. Very cool. The NIKE people have suggested that I try bumping up my work outs .. ya, sure NIKE people, not a problem. FRUITACAKE you, if you know what I mean. I will just bring the menial labourers on board to clear the way for mamma oompa to powerhouse around the town at all hours of the day so that I can increase my workout time. Somedays I look in the fridge and wonder who is really in charge of this whole grocery shopping thing anyways.

That's always been a confusing one.

WELL .. I am just so relieved. .... I just love this interface. That will teach me for clicking buttons that lead to possible great black holes ... yes people, I do believe that if I change this layout I could manage to find myself in  that very blackhole ... and upon being a semi-interested learned one ... those blackholes have quite a bit of gravity going for them.

IN OTHER THINGS ....

I spied the bears trails yesterday .. holy crumble cakes (better write this quietly .. he might come knocking) ... has he made a mess out there ... omagawd a mess and a half. If you take the time to peer through the bushes ... he has crap scattered all over the place. AND ... it was comical to see this large black object fly through the air yesterday ... and plop into the bushes ... that I know was scaredy cat running and jumping ... what a bad boy he is.

All this talk of running and jumping .. better be off ...

I liked the old layout.

What was wrong with the old layout ... it was prettier to look at, softer corners, a nicer box, something told me it was saving my draft every 20 seconds, the publish button was easily at the bottom left.

And now this ...

A white box.
Something that flashes to the top right of the screen every so often.
I don't even know where I am any longer on this thing.

I fear greatly that if I try to update or change this thing ... then the last 7 years will be lost in blogger blackspace ... which could be very similar to those big black holes that are somewhere out their 5 universes from here .... and I will never be able to get my fence pictures ... ok, well I will let the fence pictures go .. but the rest ... like clouds and stuff .. well I will never get that back.

Eagles, bears, bobcats, children .. well we will be able to find them again ... certainly so.

I will go to the options now ... who knows .. it's a new year, you may never hear from me again ... eeke.

And because I dont get around much ...

Even more fences. Well ... I was out waiting for a friend ... and I had my camera ... with non other than the 70 -300 mm range ... so uhm .. right ... off I trudged in the rain, (but not as much the following day, so thankful for little things !) ... I wasn't quite sure what to start experimenting with .. so I just randomly started finding fences ... because there are lots .. and many that we don't see because of the walls that surround them. Hm. Believe that.

Anyways ... it forced me to go crazy with trying to figure out using different features on the camera ... and I even went into the very scary mode of MANUAL. I joined a camera club ... because in reality .. it's the right thing to do ... given that I am an enthusiast, or a wannabe. Not sure.

I signed up for another two hour camera course ... in the perfect DIM light of January. I wanted to know if we were going out in the wet weather .. she suggested that I wait til May or June. I told her that I wanted to figure out settings in the this remarkable low and dreary days that follow us around for months on end. In reality ... it is easy to take pictures of things with colour, and manage to make the pictures look interesting and thought provoking ... it is even more challenging to take what is grey, feed it light, and make that interesting. But that is only me ... thinking that thought.

There's that whole issue of discussing cameras with people. It's hard. They ask, you tell them. Then the pause. It's interesting talk.

In other things:

The school just called .. they wanted money from me.... for Mr Outstanding. I asked the lady what they were for ... she said that she was only covering, making phone calls, and when would I be coming in to pay the $145.00 in fees. I asked her when would somebody be able to call me back when they could tell me what I was paying for. She told me Home Economics. I told her Mr. Outstanding wasn't in Home Economics, and would I be bringing in the check today. No. Not today.

In other things:

The school just called. I owe them money. $45.00. Whew. Good thing I didn't relent the first time around.

In other things:

Personal comedy at it's finest.

Oh .. and saw the bear jump into the bush this morning. I didn't see if he had another garbage in tow, because clearly that has been his winter occupation, since sleeping isn't the first thing for this bad boy to be doing.

I found some fences!

January hilights!

Using the camera, one mistake at a time.

It's a new day ... along with a new year.

Sounds like a religious experience.

But it's not.

Today .. well .. off I went, had a shower, got all tidied up, just to put on my oompa pants, and then on a whim reached to bring my running pants .. and off I went to drive the Jimston over to school, and then bypass the rainy weather, and assorted tracks and headed to Port Moody ... 4 miles later in the cover of the rec centre I decided I was done. I probably could have stayed for hours .. but knew that wouldn't be the best of decisions ...

I still have a wait list of excitement waiting for me in the homestead .. of which I must tend to .. sometime this year....

Yesterday I fell upon an opportunity that I was most pleased with .. I was asked to accompany a friend, but not accompany a friend .. and all I had to do was sit and wait for her .. except I didn't sit and wait .. I just took my camera and wondered around the little side streets. That was fun ... in the pouring rain ... learning the configurations and limitations of my camera .. the limitations were more than likely all me ... anyways .. I was pleased with the outcome .. of sorts.... but more importantly it gave me the confidence to continue to press buttons, and shift film speed and aperatures for greater effect.

That reminds me ... I bought a groupon for another camera learning experience ... I better get that sorted out!

Well .. it's the beginning of the year .. surely the adventures will be of great excitement and even more excitement ... ya .. believable ...

Interestingly though the principal called from the Celista school district and told us that they had found our dog Cicely ... as the german shepherd had a tag on it with that name, and our phone number ... uhm ... I asked the fellow ... I guess Celista is considered heaven on earth I said to him ... because unless she is getting kicked out of heaven .. because she has been gone for a great many years ... Poor Prance ... can't even cut it in doggy heaven .. what a crazy lovely evil queen she was!

As the clock ticks on .. so do the chores .. pop cans are klitanking.