I'M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!! TAXES DONE, SUPPER COOKED, POST FINISHED!

ONE HAPPY CAMPER

 THIS IS MY AVATAR. TAKEN AT THE COLUMBIA ZOO, I SAT FOR 20 MINUTES WITH MY LENS TRAINED ON THIS MONKEY. FINALLY IN UTTER FRUSTRATION I YELLED,

"DAMMIT MONKEY, DO SOMETHING!"

SCARING ALL THOSE ABOUT ME. MIRACULOUSLY RIGHT ON CUE THE MONKEY OBLIGED.

HE YAWNED!!!

YEP, THIS IS A SIMPLE BORING YAWN, OF A MONKEY BEHIND GLASS IN A SC ZOO IN THE 1970'S!!

NOT A SNARLING, FEROCIOUS BITE OF DEATH, BUT A BORED YAWN- THE STORY OF MY LIFE AT THAT TIME, SUMMED UP BY A MONKEY!!

I WAS PROUD OF IT BACK THEN AND HAD IT ENLARGED AND FRAMED. ONE OF THE FEW 8 X 10 PICS I HAD WORTH KEEPING AT THAT TIME.

I'M SO UN- PHOTOGENIC, I DECIDED TO USE THIS AS MY ONLINE PERSONA. IS IT TIME TO CHANGE?

A LOT HAS HAPPENED TO ME THIS PAST YEAR. MAJOR LIFE CHANGES. FROM WORKING, TO HOMEBODY, FROM BUSY DOING WHAT I LOVED, TO FINDING OUT WHAT ELSE I LOVE.

BLOGGING & PHOTOGRAPHY!

WHAT STARTED OUT AS KEEPING A PERSONAL JOURNAL ON-LINE, INSTEAD OF IN A NOTEBOOK, HAS TURNED INTO A VERY WONDERFUL CREATIVE OUTLET. MEETING NEW PEOPLE AND EXPRESSING, AS WELL AS READING, OTHERS EXPRESSIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS OF LIFE!

I JUST WANT TO TAKE A SECOND TO THANK ALL OF MY OLD, AND ESPECIALLY MY NEW-FOUND BLOGGING FRIENDS. IT IS SUCH AN HONEST OUTLET, THAT WITHOUT IT, I'M NOT SURE WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED SINCE LAST JULY.

NOW I'M NOT TALKING SUICIDE, DOOM AND GLOOM, BUT I AM SAYING THIS HAS MADE A GIANT IMPACT ON THE RECENT PATH MY LIFE HAS TAKEN.

I SIMPLY WANT TO SAY 

THANKS !!!

I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUE POSTING, AND ESPECIALLY VISITING NEW BLOGS!   FURTHERING MY KNOWLEDGE AND NEW FOUND PASSION FOR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY. IT IS ONCE AGAIN MY CREATIVE OUTLET.  IT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE TOTAL CONTROL YOU HAD WITH THE OLD 35 MM MEDIUM!

I USED TO TAKE SO MANY 35 MM PICS, THAT I HAVE A GIANT TOTE FILLED WITH COUNTLESS VACATION AND RANDOM PICS, DOCUMENTING ROUGHLY THE LAST 30 YEARS OF MY JOURNEY! THE DIGITAL MEDIUM WILL MAKE SCANNING THEM IN, AND THE TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE WILL BE WONDERFUL!

OUT OF 1,000'S OF PICTURES I MAY FIND A HUNDRED OR SO WORTH POSTING/KEEPING. THE REST CAN BE BURNED TO DISC AND A LOT OF SPACE SAVED! IT IS A DAUNTING PROJECT AND I WILL HAVE TO GET A NEW FLATBED SCANNER. MY ALL-IN-ONE PRINTER IS ONLY A SHEET FED SCANNER, AND I MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE GIVING AWAY MY OLD FLAT BED WHEN I GOT THIS ONE.

ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A GOOD ONE????

I WONDER WHEN I TOOK HUNDREDS UPON HUNDREDS OF PICS OF THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY, (WHERE MY MOTHER NOW LIVES), WHY I THOUGHT THAT ALL THOSE PICS WOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER. UPON REVIEW- THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME-LOL! LEAF IT TO ME!

I WISH I HAD TAKEN MANY MORE PICS OF THE PEOPLE I HAD MET ALONG THOSE JOURNEYS. BUT THAT DID NOT DRAW ME BACK THEN. NOW, A BLACK AND WHITE OF A BEAUTIFUL FACE, FULL OF CHARACTER AND WRINKLES SPEAKS VOLUMES TO ME!

YEP! YOU ARE IN FOR ONE GIANT BORING SLIDE SHOW AFTER ANOTHER. 

PICTORIAL BLOGGING--- OR BLOGOGRAPHY!!! BLOGTOGRAPHY? WHAT'S A GOOD WORD?

A VISUAL SCRIBE.

telling a story on a blog with pictures. some captioned, others not, to allow individual interpretations. My form of writing, poetry or singing!

SINCE I SUFFICIENTLY SUCK AT ALL OF THOSE! 

 SINCE WE AREN'T RELATIVES AND YOU DON'T COME OVER- I CAN'T HOLD YOU CAPTIVE WITH THE KODAK CAROUSEL WHEEL OF BOREDOM! 

BUT I CAN TELL PICTURE STORIES THAT HOPEFULLY WILL EDUCATE, AMUSE, INSPIRE, AND ENTERTAIN.

MIXED IN WITH PHILOSOPHICAL POSTS LIKE THESE, I SHOULD HAVE A READERSHIP IN THE 20'S BY YEARS END! :-) !! 

THAT IS NOT THE GOAL OF THIS BLOG. I ONLY DESIRE TO ENCOURAGE, AND HOPEFULLY GARNER ONE CHUCKLE. IF I DO THAT, THEN I HAVE SUCCEEDED IN  MY PURPOSE IN LIFE!

GOD BLESS EACH AND EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER STOPPED BY, HOWEVER SO BRIEFLY;

AND A PROFOUND THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE PUSHED ME, ENCOURAGED ME, AND STUCK BY ME ALL THESE YEARS TO 

KEEP ON BLOGGING!

LOVE TO YOU ALL,

JMc

THIS IS ONE OTHER FROM THE 70'S. 

TAKEN FROM THE BOW OF A BOAT AT 35 MPH GONG OUT DEEP SEA FISHING OUT OF CHARLESTON SC. 

THIS DOLPHIN GRACED OUR PRESENCE BY BOW RIDING OUR WAKE ON THE WAY OUT!!

I WAS LEANING OVER THE BOW AND LUCKILY SNAPPED AT THE RIGHT TIME!

I also have to learn how to better Watermark my Pics during upload. Like getting the "Sample off", and leaving the JMc as the watermark! I guess I need a good Digital Photography Book, or Photoshop book huh?

I have never seen the Sample Watermark before, unless it is a default in Picasa during early uploads.

 
I would love feedback from you. If the posts are too long, redundant, boring, or really suck, I'd like to know so I can change and learn. Like do you need to re-size all pics to a smaller size for posting, so they will upload faster and make you page load faster--stuff like that! If there is a better way to post pictures, improve my photography, or Blogging in general, I'd like to know. This is sharing life, and a learning experience, and part of what I think Blogging is all about!. While I'm not "fishing" ar ar,  for compliments, at the same time we all desire to be acknowledged and appreciated. To say we don't would be a lie. 

Honest feedback is one thing friends can give each other, to help us improve in all aspects of our lives! I value yours! I desire to grow in Character, Faith, and Love, as a Child of God and as a Person. Thanks for your help!