Walking out my destiny

The title outlines the purpose very succinctly… Walking out my destiny… taken from the title of a religious magazine I found in the bathroom this morning… Kenneth Copeland Ministries… July 2006… perhaps I should have read it earlier ;0… but walking I am doing now… my brother and I began last week, but one thing and another, he got distracted from it, and I just waited for him to get back on track… however, last night I had a bad night, and lots of dreams… always dream, never go to sleep without dreaming… most are what I call entertainment, nothing to write home about… but this morning I had one which upon waking had me thinking a mile a minute… getting into shape… ideas were coming at me from every direction… from going walking, to fixing up a used tread mill that I had repaired, into a gym centre, with weights, and pulleys, to making weights that would fit on my body, without encumbering it so that I couldn't move around, or work… like some of the stuff I see people in Gym Ads wearing, leg and ankle weights, definitely not what I am looking for… want something that I can wear with street clothes and it isn't noticeable that I am, aside from perhaps appearing a bit overweight… (NB have resorted to plastic bags of cat litter, it is almost like sand, 2lb weights, 3 bags to begin with, in the bottom of knapsack)

The point to the wearing weights, over weight people can loose weight faster than lighter people because their bodies have to work harder… ergo, if I add weight, then my body has to work harder and the weight will come off faster… now I am hoping that by positioning the weight in areas that need to lose weight that too will have a beneficial affect… perhaps, perhaps not ;)
This morning, I knew that I could not get the weights ready, so I got my Sony CD player and put some batteries in it, only to find that the music, which I hadn't listened to since this time last year, while working at the church, was Christmas music ;0… then I got the camera and tripod, put 3 layers of shirts and my fav hoodie on… I met my brother as I was getting ready… he was headed back to bed, after he had a rough night, at 6:45… told him, and he said, 'I'll believe you, thousands wouldn't!!'

I headed out at 7, and walked down to the lake, thinking that I would take a few pictures, not that the weather was any good, dark and dismal… very over cast… it took me only 15 minutes to get to the lake, then I wandered around within a very constricted area, taking pics, then started back at 7:20… arriving at 8:39… took longer because I was still taking pictures ;0… really got into it hahaha… anyway, I arrived home and made some coffee from Chile, which a friend of my eldest daughter's gave me, and set about blogging… when it went frizz… I did take a pedometer that my brother had given me last week, and it registered 5449 steps, which translates into about 2.57 miles… so really not bad as a start… but as I have discovered once started, gotta keep going… so there will be more morning walks to the lake… perhaps taking the whole morning to walk about… as for the weights and the tread mill, that will have to wait for another day…

right now I have some work for money to do, packaging sample breakfast diet drinks HOL, now how is that for co-incidence… only found out when I had a peek while sorting stuff out just now… I REALLY think Some one is trying awfully hard to get through hahaha…

The New Enemy of the Modern World

Sleep, where is thy balm!!! and ISP, where is your honesty in advertising... they advertise, 'NO SLOW CONNECTIONS, EVER!!!' yet the past 5 days has seen my connection speeds drop from 60 to 100+ kilobytes per second, to 3 to 5, my IE windows once snaped open, now they groan, and if I phone up their front line CSR's who know virtually nothing other than what they are told by the management lackeys, complain that my modem is too far from the main incoming line, or that there are two many computers on the network... never their problem... let a real IT professional, like my son-in-law get involved and they run for cover by passing the phone to someone on the second string...but that is not what this blog is about, only a symptom of what and why I am writing at this time of night... the ENEMY!! SLEEP!! not the middle eastern terrorists, but our own culture of work, Calvinistic work ethic, the successful are closer to heaven than the poor, so work, work, work your buns off and YOU, will be one of THE CHOSEN!!! GOD will be smiling on your life!!! THAT IS A LIE FROM THE PIT OF WALL STREET!!! or Bay Street if you are Canadian, Canary Warf if in THE CITY!!! why are we sacrificing our health and our sanity, our marriages and very lives to work... we sell our time to the highest bidder we can find, in exchange for making a living, which in most cases is not enough to live on, so we are forced to put our spouses and children out into the work force to make life tolerable, by earning more to live on... the basics of life have now extended from food, clothing and shelter, to include transportation, electronic gadgets to make life easier in the kitchen, the workshop, and in our computerized den... our 'relaxation' time away from the act of gainful employment, now revolves around running around getting the kids to their extra curricular activities, sports, clubs and part time jobs, picking up groceries, doing the house hold chores, and then trying in the fading minutes of the day, to relax and do something 'productive' on the computer, or vegetate in front of the tv in the bedroom, watching some imitation 'reality' show that bears no resemblance to reality at all... and NOW I am going to post this and go check my other computer which is in the process of being wiped in preparation for a rebuild later tonight!!! TIME WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY@

The Photographic Tyranny of the Modern World

I was out the other night picking up pizza with my brother, we were driving west into a gorgeous sunset, with lots of yellows and reds in the clouds, against skies ranging from ultramarine to a jade green, lasted for about 45 minutes as it transitioned into the dark purple and finally black of night... or as black as it gets here in the city ;(but that is another blog) all the while I was in pain, not because I didn't have my camera, that was not the issue, but it was the unsightly collection of business buildings, and high rise apartments, as well as the criscrossing lines that cut across the roads and from building to building marred the view of the sunset... I even said so to my brother, culminating in this outburst, "WHY did God waste such a beautiful sunset on such a dreary fore ground; no artist in his right mind would paint such a scene...!!!"





This is a recurring 'problem' for me as a photographer, the intrussion that man made creations have on the scenery that is God's creation, which is what I am trying to capture before it all dissapears under a network of wires, buildings, concrete and ashphalt...here are two examples, the after and the before, of taking out a little bit of Man's Stuff to enhance a picture... there is a debate about this sort of manipulation, rightly so in the case of reporting photography, and images to sell products or ideas, but it has extended into any photography, "when is manipulation, a lie and not 'REAL' photographic art..."

Photographers have been manipulting their photos since the first one entered the first dark room... working out ways of enhancing their art as it developed in the fluids or was projected on the photographic paper... learnt some of the tricks when I was first introduced to the art... in some countries, there were whole industries dedicated to deleting people and buildings from newspaper photos during the so called Cold War...

the above example took approximately an hour to do, perhaps a bit longer... to do a massive intrusion as in the sunset, would be enourmously exhausting in time and effort... the only conclusion I came to, is that I can take the pictures, and reflect on God's creativeness, and suck up the pain... but then hope and plan for pictures that limit the amount of Man's creativeness that marrs God's... what else can I do, while living inside of man's creation... The Modern World...

The Purchasing Illusion

Last weekend I went to one of THE 'churches' I attend on a regular basis, Princess Auto, a hardware, tools and general surplus store, that has stuff from sunglasses, and surplus liquidation computer and car accessory equipment, to farm milk bowls and generators, wood and metal working tools... A man's haven, a place that smells like it should be a man's cologne... Lot of women come in there, but generally wives and girl friends... like the ones that watch foot-ball and wrestling with their man, bringing the beer and cheering at the right time...ok, ok, that's really sexist... actually it does smell good, and the women are farm wives, or just as interested in the place as the guys, and probably just as knowledgeable...

well I was there for 'bout an hour, browsing here and there, picking up a pair of winter sunglasses, gloves, magnifying glass, etc, small stuff, 1 dollar to 6 dollars... not paying attention to how much the damage would be... when I got to checking out, I was surprised that my purchases were 63 dollars... Whoa!!! did I spend that, nothing that was an extravagances... after the initial shock I went ahead and paid it...

everyone gets e-mail notices telling them of the latest and greatest in software upgrades for their computer programs, right... well, I had been getting notices about upgrading some of my computer programs over the past 3 months... and the last 3 weeks, after purchasing a new 300 gig hard drive and having some issues with my old 200 gig drive, and an even older computer (p3-667) I realized I needed to upgrade some and there were a few more programs I didn't have... just small stuff really, 25-40 dollars, one was 99, but it was important in that if I wanted to recover lost files this would do it... this is all in aid of keeping the computer current and in good working order, as well as protecting my files and computer...

but again, when I stopped to think about it this morning, (before I had my first coffee, miracle of miracles) I came to realize that again my credit card / bank account, is being nickeld and dimed to death... and I have now put on hold the purchases of two new programs for the music library, and an upgrade (second in the past year) for a paint program, and the purchase of another paint program from the same company that would further enhance the main program... this latter would help financially in the long run, but right now would be extravagance...

this 'Wake up call' has me thinking about the feeding and care of these 'slaves, pets, tools' we have invited into our houses... seems a bit of an update on the camel and the Bedouin... you know the one, where the camel is outside the tent, and he complains about the cold... can he , the camel, just stick his nose in, to keep it warm, oook... then a few minutes later, how about his front feet, oooook... well eventually he is in the tent and the Bedouin is out in the cold...

and that is where I am thinking these computers may end up putting us... out in the cold... with our computer's owning the house and us sleeping on the streets...what are we using them for and why is it costing so much for software and hardware upgrades and accessories... why for one particular area, ie. music, is it going to cost 100Cnd to convert files from format to format, and organize the files into a library, so that they can be found... then another program to record, analyze and filter, change recordings, which I bought back when a P2 was new, for 149 dollars, which I have not needed to upgrade, it is doing the job just fine thank you very much and I am hoping when I upgrade to Visat, it will continue to work... (but now checking to see if there is an upgrade, find the co. had been bought out by one of the big boys and the software is now being sold under a new name and for 350Us, for the base product which has way more add on bits and tweaks than I, a simple home user would ever need or use... keeping my fingers crossed…)

now these are not bread and butter issues, things that I can't live without... other than the paint programs, they are just hobby stuff... they enhance the usability of the investment that is sitting in this corner, becoming a money pit... growling every so often at me as I pass by ;) and I am beginning to wonder what justifies it's existence in my life... where does it enhance that life, and is the enhancement absolutely imperative to have... how to control the burgeoning expense in accesories that threatens the bank balance, after the initial purchase...the initial purchase of 5 to 600 dollars for a computer seems"Affordable!",

this is the Purchasing Illusion -THE EXTRAS: Internet Access, online memberships, Office Programs, Virus and Adware protection, fire wall, encryption programs, spam ware protection, games, utilities, software ad infinitum... extra memory, universal power supplies, hard drives, video cards, printers, scanners, better monitor etc... in the life of the computer, 3-5 years we add hundreds, perhaps thousands to the purchase...bit by bit over the years, it grows like a bubble, until the natural happens and the computer is totally obsolete, no purchase is going to bring new life to it (like my P3) and needs replacing... and we hope and pray that some of the stuff we purchased is still current with today's technological wonder... and the cycle is repeated...

The Curse of the Empty Page

well, I have procastinated long enough... how many ideas does one need to write a blog entry: Sooooooooooo why have I not used one of the hundred or so that came to mind today... simply because I couldn't decide... indecision...yesterday morning I went to a marsh near here, and took pics of the geese and ducks... caught these two flying over head, going north to feed in some farmer's field...

interesting fact, geese mate for life... and the saddest sound I have ever heard was one evening when I lived on the farm, just before sunset, one lone goose, flying down to Rice Lake, honking, it was such a mournful sound, echoing in the valley (the house was about 200 feet up on a moraine)

as the sun set... yesterday I didn't see any loners, but many family units... that is the way I imagined it, as they took off in flights of 10 to 15, over a period of an hour... some will winter over here in the marshes along the northern edge of Lake Ontario, so long as there is food... they are well insulated with fat, and can withstand the cold by settling in the waters at night... it is only lack of food that would drive them to go further south...

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

or was that yesterday... well, this is the first blog entry, not expecting anyone to peek in, so just rambling... up early, for a change, fed the 7 cats I live with (my sister in laws), and my brother just came down into the black hole of 'the Haven' and is singing to annoy me... gutten morgan sonnenshien, good morning star shine... before I have had my first coffee... now he is telling me I should check the forcast for tonight... "you've gotta check it out!!"... oh well, that is the beginning of my day and this blog... down right un-awe inspiring... HOL!! I can't pwomise it won't get any worse, but I can pwomise that it I will try to get a better Handel on it by Christmas ;)I will leave you with one thought before I go taking pictures : is nervousness, really excitement in disquise...and ware is the spel chequer on this ting ;0