This post is actually a rather long reply to a question about flash photography in a heritage forum Midland Heritage, so it may read a little strangely.

Blimey now this is a big can of worms. Firstly I would really recommend the strobist blog as an excellent resource lighting 101 this will take you straight to the first page of their (rather long) lighting tutorial which will give you all the info you could possibly want.

One way to use these flashes  is  to fill shadows   when you are lighting a dark dingy room, I would suggest that a set of triggers is a good first purchase for this and will help immensely, especially if you havent got any of the shiny flashes that will trigger wirelessly.

I always find it easier to work from an example and I quite like this one as it is not immediately apparent that I have used a lot of flash.

I have just used the one unit which has been placed just behind the door on the left and bounced off a silver reflector (though the wall would also work).

The reason I needed to light this was that the difference between the sunlight streaming down the stairs and the door which was deep in shadow and rather gloomy, so I metered for the stairs and used a process of trial and error to find the correct fill.

With this shot there is some evidence that I may have used a flash, first the colour of the light is different, cool the side where I have used the flash and warm on the other where the sunlight is coming down the stairs. Secondly the light is concentrated at the bottom of the door which is a giveaway that a small light source has been used (firing two or more flashes through a diffuser or large bedsheet may have helped lessen this but it is not really the most practical or portable of solutions).

I will often use a flash to highlight a section of detail aswell, this shot is the usual long exposure on a tripod which people are used to 1.3 seconds at iso 100 and an aperture of f13. the flash here is lighting the foreground and bringing detail to the “thing” at the front.

In this shot the flash would have been firing at quite a high power despite the long exposure, this is due to the aperture being so small and the way that flash lights a picture.

Put simply the flash only cares about aperture as the burst of light is emitted for roughly 1/10000 sec, only one burst is emitted during a normal exposure so it doesnt matter what the shutter speed is to the flash.

Having said this the ambient light obviously cares about both so in a long exposure the flash may not appear as evident but this is only due to the natural light taking over as the dominant light source and stifling the light from the flash.

Going back to the picture the flash is very evident here because the area it is lighting is in shadow allowing the flash to be the dominant source of light, it needed the high power to allow enough light to hit the sensor through a small hole in a very short space of time.

This was the part of flash photography I always struggled with but the best way is really to experiment.

Another way I will often use flash like this is to kill all the ambient light in a room and allow the flash to light the scene on its own.

The geek info for this image is: 1/250 sec at f10.

It would make sense for me to increase the shutter speed further to something like 1/1000 as this would allow me to reduce the aperture and put less strain on the flash units, however the flash will not sync at this speed 1/250 being the maximum on my camera. So I am stuck with f10 which isnt so bad as it allows me to keep everything nice and sharp.

Without the flash the frame is black, the little detail you can see on the background is due to spill from the lights

To light the picture I used two lights, one on a stand right in front of where the model was jumping at around chest hight on the model. This flash was zoomed in towards the model as I wanted to concentrate the beam of light on her (this also reduces the power needed as more light goes where you want it) doing this makes the beam harder and narrower and is a great way to bring attention to a specific point in an image.

The second light was low down right below the camera and bounced off a silver reflector, this light was as wide as I could make it and lower power than the first as I wanted a soft light just to fill the shadows left by the main beam (it is also this light that caused the spill).

The only problem with lighting this way is you are forced to blend the light, filling any unexpected shadows and keeping the light from becoming a distraction.

You are not restricted to darkness for these techniques either and they can be a viable and interesting alternative to a HDR image. This shot was exposed for the sky on a bright day with the sun at my 5 o’clock. This caused the top of the Helicopter to be exposed, but left the detail at the bottom dark and in the shadow. To counter this I used two lights one either side of the helicopter (my 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock), these lights were used to give the bottom of the helicopter a little more exposure than the light hitting the top, bringing your focus to the front of the helicopter and giving the picture more impact than a normal exposre could allow.

I hope this has been somewhat useful to some people, and sorry about the length, this is a technique I use in most of my images at work and while it may take some getting used to, once you have an idea about what the light will do it becomes a very powerful tool that can be set up quickly and easily

A note on my kit: All the above were taken with a Fuji S5 Pro, a Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 lens and one or two nikon speedlights. I use an old Sb26 connected to a trigger and an sb800 which fires wirelessly when it detects the light from the first flash (or any other flash for that matter) my bag also contains a silver/gold reflector and a cheepo Jessops tripod which I use as a stand. All fairly cheap and most importantly very portable

I regularly put images using this technique on my Flickr page and include a brief description of the lighting used.

Hello world. I am sad at the moment despite having had one of the best mornings ever. But yeah, I am currently feeling sad. Seriously, I am just tired of feeling sad. It is tiring, draining the energy out of me. I mean, I am sad and I no longer want to show it to the whole world. To you. To him. To her. To them. To anyone. Because I no longer have the energy or the strength to share it and show it to anyone. I feel like there is no point of sharing. No point of telling.

I had lunch with Mr L just now at Burger King Section 13. Was with him since morning. And like, at around 3:00pm, he went home and I did as well. On my way back, I cried. I cried because (insert sad incident here). I don’t feel like sharing. Right now, I am faking every smile, every laughter and every word.

What he or she or you say doesn’t convince me anymore. As in, I don’t believe in anyone right now. How could you hurt somebody you love unless you don’t really love them? Right?

How could you lie, when the truth is so freaking obvious, like seeing the moon in a clear cloudless sky at night.

Remember the post where I said I had this wrong feeling? This something that was telling me things aren’t right. And yes, now, I know it is not right, not right in any way at all. Things went wrong for real and they still are.

I, honestly, thought that someone could change, given time and faith and all that. But I was wrong. I was terribly wrong. People don’t change. People stay the same. If they are liars, they will remain as one forever. FOREVER. If people kill, they never stop. If people cheat, they cheat until they die. They won’t change.

Why am I saying this? Because I haven’t seen any proof that people will change in REAL LIFE. Movies? OK, I am clever enough to figure out that movies are bullshit. Like 2012, which I just saw last night. How could you be so terribly lucky during that bad of a catastrophe? And oh COME ON, that’s not even the end of the world. What tha hell? What kind of bullsh*t is Hollywood trying to plant into our minds?

That we have the chance to survive during Independence Day? That the government in building ships to let people go in during the disaster? Huh? No f*cking way, man.

I mean, Hollywood is really planting stupid stuffs into our minds, actually. If you look at it in a bad way, yeah. I am way off topic right now but who cares. Back to the main point.

I am waving the white flag. You win. You all win. Are you happy now?

I am beaten, broken and defeated.

It is such a shame. I really thought you have changed. I really thought that it was real.

God. Such an emo post but I just had to let it all out to avoid suicide or something.

xoxo, Fanah.

I was a sucker and took my Canon with me to Thanksgiving even though I can’t see a thing when I’m using it, what with its broken LCD screen. I’ve never been so cautious with my camera. I didn’t realize how much not being able to see would affect me. For one thing, I couldn’t change any settings and be sure I hadn’t overturned the clickwheel or something. I thought I might be able to instinctively feel the frame the way I usually do even when I have the LCD working, but something about knowing that I was blind made me less sure of myself. It was a good thing I brought along the Sony, too. Here’s one of the shots I took blind.

I like it, but I would have taken a few other shots with this pretty chandelier if I’d been able to see. It was satisfying to see that I’d gotten what I wanted when I stuck my memory card into my laptop, but it wasn’t so fun holding my breath wondering if I’d gotten it before I was able to go home and check.

Here’s another one:

I got this one in the place that I wanted it when I took it, but I ended up cropping it when I looked it back over. I’m satisfied with the ceiling, but I mourn how the lights came out. I would have liked them to look more like this,

which I took on the Sony, because I doubted I’d be able to get it right while blind. Usually with lamps and lights like this, I’m shooting in Manual and changing the aperture, shutter speed & ISO more than I do with most of my other shots. Actually, they’re probably only rivalled by the moon.

If and when I get my camera fixed, hopefully I’ll know it better than I do now. I thought I knew it well enough, but maybe not. I think I did well considering the blindness and my unwillingness to somehow put my camera in a worse condition by using it too much while it’s down, but maybe someone else would disagree. Has anyone else ever found themselves working with a camera that had no viewfinder or working LCD screen?

Pe astăzi m-am hotărât, cam cu greu ce-i drept, să scriu un post despre o parte din cele mai ”delicioase” colaborări, din punctul meu de vedere, între diverse trupe şi diverşi artişti. Poate în viitorul apropiat voi mai face posturi de acest gen, în caz că prind bine.

Încep cu capitolul Apocalyptica. Cei care au ascultat vreodata Apocalyptica ştiu foarte bine că aceasta e o trupă total diferită de orice altceva aţi asculta. Diferenţa asta o face faptul că membrii trupei interpretează piese rock pe 4 respectiv 3 violoncele. Ei au început ca trupă de cover pentru Metallica, dovadă fiind şi sufixul numelui. În orice caz, după primul album (”Plays Metallica by Four Cellos”) care e constituit integral din cover-uri Metallica, băieţi au început încet încet să îşi facă propriile piese, dar totushi neîndepărtându-se total de la vechiile obiceiuri, ajungând să facă cover-uri pe Faith No More, Pantera, David Bowie, Rammstein etc.

Revenind la subiectul principal al articolului, de-a lungul celor 7 albume ale trupei, aceştia au făcut diverse colaborări care mai de care mai reuşite. Nu le voi lua în ordine cronologică pentru că nu le ştiu, şi pentru că sunt prea ardelean in momentele de faţa să caut pe net.

În schimb am să încep cu prima, şi anume ”Hope vol.2”. Încep cu această piesă deoarece de obicei când o ascult îmi dă o oarecare stare de euforie. O voce de care nu mulţi oameni ştiu, dar valorificată de Apocalyptica pe bună dreptate, Matthias Sayer, vocalistul trupei Farmer Boys, face din originala ”Hope” o piesă mult mai… interesantă.

A doua piesă, ”S.O.S.”, sau  ”Anything but Love”, colaborare extrem de reuşită a trupei cu Cristina Scabbia, solista trupei Lacuna Coil. Piesa e extrem de reuşită, mesajul e foarte clar trimis, intrumentalul de asemenea este extrem de bun, nu că am putea avea alte aşteptări din partea Apocalypticei.

A treia şi ultima piesă pe care o menţionez de la Apocalyptica în acest post, este binecunoscuta ”Bittersweet”. Posibil cea mai cunoscută colaborare a trupei cu alţi muzicieni, ”Bittersweet” combină cu un succes incontestabil vocea lui Ville Valo (HIM) cu vocea lui Lauri Ylonen (The Rasmus) cu instrumentalul tipic Apocalyptica. Nu sunt sigur că experienţa ”Bittersweet” poate fi descrisă la modul general, cred că diferă de la individ la individ, şi singurul mod să afli cum ţi se pare este să o ascultţi.

Pentru că nu vreau să mă axez în totalitate pe Apocalyptica în acest articol, las celelalte piese pentru nişte posturi viitoare.

O altă colaborare foarte reuşită, pe care eu personal am ascultat-o zile la rând cu mici pauze, este ”Broken”, colaborare între Seether şi Amy Lee. Original, piesa nu conţine vocea solistei de la Evanescence, dar ulterior Seether au făcut un cover pe propria piesă, featuring Amy Lee. Rezultatul a fost foarte reuşit, vocea artistei potrivindu-se aproape perfect cu vocea solistului de la Seether. Oricine a ascultat vreodata Evanescence, ştie foarte bine de capabilităţile vocale deosebite ale solistei. Păstrându-şi tenta Seether, piesa îşi schimbă sunetul datorită vocalistei şi, după părerea mea, mesajul este mult mai clar.

Ultima piesă pe care am s-o menţionez în acest articol este ”Lily was Here”, colaborare între Dave Stewart şi Candy Dulfer. Ştiu că nu sunteţi obişnuiţi cu astfel de exemple din partea mea, dar piesa era prea ”sexy” să nu o menţionez măcar. Ascultaţi cu încredere dar aveţi grijă că piesa provoacă diferite stări ”spirituale”. La ce să te aştepţi altcumva de la o combinaţie între chitară şi saxofon?

De-a lungul articolelor trecute, am mai enumerat diverse piese de genul, diverse ”featuringuri” cum ar fi ” I Don’t Care” (Apocalyptica & Adam Gontier) sau în special ”Lucky” (Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat).

Acestea fiind spuse, vă las să ascultaţi în pace piesele precizate. Sper că v-am sporit curiozitatea cu acest articol, şi vă las cu mioriticul Numa’ Bine!

I’m incredibly broken right now. but the cry of my heart is brokenness. [weird, huh?]  I want to be broken more. I want to be more Christ-like. I need Him like a hurricane. To tear my walls down.

I want to be broken. I want the thunder, wind, and rain of God to come crashing down on me. I want Him to break me and mend me. I want Him to demolish me and make beauty out of the pieces. I don’t want to have anything but Him to cling to.

And this isn’t because I’m addicted to pain or anything. In fact, I hate pain.  I hate pain. Emotional, physical, and spiritual. BUT I love God. And I’m willing for Him to break me. I want Him to break me. I want to be molded by Him. I want His perfect love.

I realize the weight of this prayer. It is intense. It shouldn’t be something I’m asking for lightly. And it isn’t. I don’t want to be an agent of Coop. I want to be an agent of God. I need God to be my focus, not others or myself. I don’t want anything but Him. But I really do want Him. And I really want Him to break me so He can break me in to who He wants me to be. I want Him to give me His eyes, His heart, His ears, His love. I feel like I’m clinging on to too much. To a very negative self-image. To pain.  To hope in things besides God. To ambitions. To grudges. To wounds. To bruises. To memories. To lost friends. To broken relationships.

I want to be broken and renewed. I want God to come in like a hurricane. I want to see Him more clearly. I want to be able to love Him more deeply. I want Him to fit in my heart where He belongs. In my God-shaped hole. I want to be broken and healed. I want to be freed through brokenness. I don’t want my will. I want His way.

And if You are the war
Let me be the casualty
Til Im Yours alone

He can see what’s going on soooooooooooooo much better. I want to be broken in accordance with the plans he has for me.

shatter me and mend me,

coop

This song will go down as one of my favorites of the year. Right up there with 40 More Falls and a few others. That’s ok to say, isn’t it? I mean, I’m not saying it’s a good song. I’m just saying I think it’s one of my not-so-bad ones. Let’s try again: This song isn’t nearly as crappy as most of the songs I’ve written this year. It sits on the “less-crappy list” right up there with 40 More Falls and a few others.

There. That’s better.

The song surprised me. It became more than I thought it would. I’ve wanted to write a song like this for a while – a song about the depravity of man – about the general brokenness of our souls – about how we’re all messed up in some way. All of us. Undeniably. It’s darker than I thought it would be, but dark enough to get the point across. Maybe this is an Ash Wednesday song. Maybe.

If I had time, I’d bring in a few other elements of sound to amp the pre-bridge section. Maybe I’ll put that on the to-do list for 2010.

Love to hear your thoughts:

(And if any of you are wondering: No, I haven’t finished a single song this week. I’ve been fighting a head cold that has left me stranded on the couch watching an entire season of Survivor. And I think that’s ok. My mind is resting, and I expect to bury these last 5 very soon. VERY soon.)

There is no doubt, in a Catholic belief system homosexuality is intrinsically “wrong.” However, there is a direct lack of evidence why. It is almost as though if questioned, a believer would merely say (in a more eloquent manner) “because God said so.” If as human beings we were to believe and worship everything with more power than ourselves then where would I society be headed? Would there be any scientific development? Would there be any progression of humanity?This other terribly discriminatory ideology that homosexual relationships have the capacity to devalue or in effect hinder a heterosexual relationship is completely illogical. How can a relationship that you have no knowledge of, destroy your relationship? In regards to homosexual marriage, American comedian Wanda Sykes puts it into a humorous colloquialism, “If you don’t believe in same-sex marriage, then don’t marry somebody of the same-sex.” Marriage is another topic that is too lengthy to delve into right now, however, people argue that the sanctity of marriage must be protected at all costs. However, marriage existed before religion, before Christianity, before Islam, before Judaism. In fact many of modern church practices (the use of candles, incense, etc.) were derived from the more ritualistic services of paganism. The Church’s view on homosexuality is clear and concise. Clarity is usually beneficial in most situations. But the passion at which the Church argues that these acts of homosexuality are “wrong” has a direct relationship to the amount of discrimination that exists in the wider society. One might even go so far as to argue that it could be the one of the underlying factors in the higher rate of suicide in gay teens. It an absolutely appalling statistic that approximately 30% of GLBT youths will attempt suicide. The Church is also used as a justification for violent and discriminatory acts. Matthew Shepherd’s death is a tragic example of the extent to which fear and text can motivate someone. Imagine if it were you, tied to a fence post, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die. Why? Merely because of the colour of your skin, the type of men you found attractive, your religion, your political beliefs, the way in which you desired to express your sexuality and who you were as a person.

This cycle of discrimination has to be stagnated. If not for the safety of the GLBT community, but so that we can function and develop as a species. The Church had made its stance loud and clear, but there must be logical and rational Christians and Catholics that see the flaw and larger consequences that this stance creates, not only for homosexuals, but for the wider human society.“Homosexuality is a lifestyle choice.” -Wrong. Homosexuality is not a choice of lifestyle, but more of a part of a person perceives himself or herself to be. Modern psychology states that homosexuality is at least 30-70% genetic, therefore it can’t simply be argued that a man or woman wakes up one morning and decides that from this point in their lives that they will be homosexual. This is not to be confused with a period of discovery that many homosexuals undertake, but as Erikson defined in his stages of psychological development that all teens undergo this stage when they are attempting to find themselves and who they are as a person. The detrimental influence of society also creates this fear amongst many of today’s youth that instills into them a fear of being themselves. Not only around their peers, but also with family and even by themselves. Hiding from one self may also lead to many psychological problems in latter life.

To place this in context the quote was articulated to be within the town of Sodom, and the two “men”? Well they were said to be angels of God. The ideologies contained within in the quote are not direct and clear. To begin the quote itself does not exclusively denote the act of homosexuality. But also in addition to this it does not even state that the abuse of the two angels was intended to be sexual. Regardless of the implications, even if this was intended to be sexual abuse, then would this simply mean that “Yahweh” as described in Genesis was condemning Rape, Sexual Abuse and Nonconsentual Sex? Rather than jumping to the discriminatory conclusion of homosexuality? Angels were beings completely void of sexual sin; meaning that even if women intended the same actions it could be stated that this would be “wicked” in the context as well.

The simple fact of the matter is, that Sodom was not an exclusively homosexually inclined town, but a cacophony of sinning did occur. Rape, murder, incest, bestiality were all the norms of this province, meaning that one cannot simply jump to the simplest conclusion to merely justify their own beliefs.

One of my intellectual and quizzically inclined readers pointed out some interesting biblical quotes regarding the church’s stance on homosexuality.

Let us begin:
Genesis 19:5-8-”Calling to Lot they said, ‘Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so that we may abuse them.’
Lot came out to them at the door, and having closed the door behind him said, ‘I beg you, brothers, do no such wicked thing. Listen, I have two daughters who are virgins. I am ready to send them out to you, to treat as it pleases you. But as for the men, do nothing to them, for they have come under the shadow of my roof.’”

To place this in context the quote was articulated to be within the town of Sodom, and the two “men”? Well they were said to be angels of God. The ideologies contained within in the quote are not direct and clear. To begin the quote itself does not exclusively denote the act of homosexuality. But also in addition to this it does not even state that the abuse of the two angels was intended to be sexual. Regardless of the implications, even if this was intended to be sexual abuse, then would this simply mean that “Yahweh” as described in Genesis was condemning Rape, Sexual Abuse and Nonconsentual Sex? Rather than jumping to the discriminatory conclusion of homosexuality? Angels were beings completely void of sexual sin; meaning that even if women intended the same actions it could be stated that this would be “wicked” in the context as well.

The simple fact of the matter is, that Sodom was not an exclusively homosexually inclined town, but a cacophony of sinning did occur. Rape, murder, incest, bestiality were all the norms of this province, meaning that one cannot simply jump to the simplest conclusion to merely justify their own beliefs.

There is no doubt, in a Catholic belief system homosexuality is intrinsically “wrong.” However, there is a direct lack of evidence why. It is almost as though if questioned, a believer would merely say (in a more eloquent manner) “because God said so.” If as human beings we were to believe and worship everything with more power than ourselves then where would I society be headed? Would there be any scientific development? Would there be any progression of humanity?This other terribly discriminatory ideology that homosexual relationships have the capacity to devalue or in effect hinder a heterosexual relationship is completely illogical. How can a relationship that you have no knowledge of, destroy your relationship? In regards to homosexual marriage, American comedian Wanda Sykes puts it into a humorous colloquialism, “If you don’t believe in same-sex marriage, then don’t marry somebody of the same-sex.” Marriage is another topic that is too lengthy to delve into right now, however, people argue that the sanctity of marriage must be protected at all costs. However, marriage existed before religion, before Christianity, before Islam, before Judaism. In fact many of modern church practices (the use of candles, incense, etc.) were derived from the more ritualistic services of paganism. The Church’s view on homosexuality is clear and concise. Clarity is usually beneficial in most situations. But the passion at which the Church argues that these acts of homosexuality are “wrong” has a direct relationship to the amount of discrimination that exists in the wider society. One might even go so far as to argue that it could be the one of the underlying factors in the higher rate of suicide in gay teens. It an absolutely appalling statistic that approximately 30% of GLBT youths will attempt suicide. The Church is also used as a justification for violent and discriminatory acts. Matthew Shepherd’s death is a tragic example of the extent to which fear and text can motivate someone. Imagine if it were you, tied to a fence post, beaten to a bloody pulp and left to die. Why? Merely because of the colour of your skin, the type of men you found attractive, your religion, your political beliefs, the way in which you desired to express your sexuality and who you were as a person.

This cycle of discrimination has to be stagnated. If not for the safety of the GLBT community, but so that we can function and develop as a species. The Church had made its stance loud and clear, but there must be logical and rational Christians and Catholics that see the flaw and larger consequences that this stance creates, not only for homosexuals, but for the wider human society.“Homosexuality is a lifestyle choice.” -Wrong. Homosexuality is not a choice of lifestyle, but more of a part of a person perceives himself or herself to be. Modern psychology states that homosexuality is at least 30-70% genetic, therefore it can’t simply be argued that a man or woman wakes up one morning and decides that from this point in their lives that they will be homosexual. This is not to be confused with a period of discovery that many homosexuals undertake, but as Erikson defined in his stages of psychological development that all teens undergo this stage when they are attempting to find themselves and who they are as a person. The detrimental influence of society also creates this fear amongst many of today’s youth that instills into them a fear of being themselves. Not only around their peers, but also with family and even by themselves. Hiding from one self may also lead to many psychological problems in latter life. 

I’m coming down fast
And the cast is off but the bone is still broken
You may like him better so you can just go and

Off my place and on the race entwined and rough like a carpet burn soothed with wine
What is the one thing I must do today
What is the one hurt that must be healed today
Someone somewhere is waiting for you or me
Just to hold a hand
Just to tear open the pain and say I understand

Sorry on the delay on these – galleries are getting created/loaded as we speak! All galleries can be found on our main website.

Samples from the galleries:

It is no secret that Coke’s 1886 “brain tonic” recipe called for cocaine. However, it’s not widely known that Coke still uses the coca leaf in their secret recipe.  There is only one company legally permitted to import coca leaves into the United States, the Stepan Company of Illinois.

Coca Leaves

Stepan uses the coca leaf to produce pure cocaine for medical use and a non-narcotic ingredient that Coca-Cola uses to flavor Coke.  Most of the coca leaves are imported from Peru, and in 2004, The Washington Times reported that 100 tons are imported per year.

BrokenSecrets.com

Photo Credit: Ryan Greenberg (Flickr/Creative Commons)

What’s on my iPod : (ironically) Iris by Goo Goo Dolls.

I’ve decided that I will keep this blog up and running as a place for my crazy brained ideas. A place where I actually commune with the Muse. My other blog I’ll reserve for more professional posts. That being said, I thought that I might sit down and have a one on one with my MC and Hero of BROKEN.

~~Disclaimer~~ This is just a fun exercise to get into deep character development and see what really makes my characters tick.

So, getting my characters to cooperate was a little harder than expected, but once I finally sat them down and strapped them to a chair, I got some intriguing answers.

First up in the hot seat is Caleb…..

 Cate : So, tell me a little about yourself.

Caleb : (with a smirk) I’m an angel.

Cate : Uhm, besides the obvious. Why don’t we start with simple questions like what’s your favorite color?

Caleb : (the smirk widens) Black.

Cate : That explains alot. What’s your favorite food? (Why do I feel suddenly like I should just hand him a Slam Book?)

Caleb : French Fries. And anything that can be eaten with French Fries.

Cate : Have you ever had Tater Tots?

Caleb : No, what’s that?

Cate : You’ve never had Tater Tots? You’re missing out. But on to the next simple question, or let’s get a little more complex, shall we? Favorite musicain and why.

Caleb : I could say there are too many, but I have a feeling you won’t let me get away with that.

Cate : Nope.

Caleb : (deep sigh) The first musician that really struck me and drew me into his music was Mozart. I remember hiding in the eaves of the German opera house with Az, listening to The Magic Flute and thinking this guy has raw talent, a little off, but still amazingly talented. His music moved me, and that’s saying a lot.

Cate : wow, see how ease it is to open up. So, what about recent musicians?

Caleb : There really are too many to mention.

Cate : Nice try.

Caleb :  (another deep sigh) How far back am I going?

Cate : the past twenty years?

Caleb : Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Roger Waters, Madonna, and recently someone special turned me on to the Blues and Jonny Lang.

Cate : Really. So, why play the guitar? It seems like you’ve had years and years to choose any instrument you wanted? And why are you the lead singer?

Caleb :  (shifts uneasily in the seat) Az would say that I like to be in the spotlight – all the time. And that’s just not true, that’s Az’s fantasy. But ever since these fools banded with me, I guess I’ve just taken the lead. So, I guess it was natural that I front the band, and since most frontmen don’t play drums, I chose to play the guitar.

Cate : What about the others? Why did they band with you, oh so long ago?

Caleb : Now, you’re asking deep questions. The Fallen tend to find those not fallen in hopes of redemption. I’m not able to provided that for my brothers, but at least, I keep their noses clean until they are redeemed.

Cate : Now for a really deep and revealing question. What was it about Sarah that caught your attention, changed your ways, and made you break a gazillion rules just to be with her.

Caleb : (doubling over with laughter) I always break the rules. there’s nothing new with that one. This time I just chose to break some new ones. And Sarah ( a deep sigh) well, she didn’t put up with my crap, for one, and second, her soul makes the most beautiful music. When she sings, it’s even more beautiful.

Cate : All right, I’m going to let you off the hook now.

about everything we have to be thankful for. My thanks? First – my family (including my pets), friends and health. These things I cannot do without. Second – I’m thankful for a creative mind and at least some talent to do something with it. Life would be boring for me if I were not able to create fun & interesting things. Third – I’m thankful that DH & I are, at least for now, able to provide a home for my SIL. As a developmentally disabled person she doesn’t have many options. It can be frustrating and a struggle at times, but she can also be very funny and absolutely adores the dogs. The dogs are thankful they don’t have to spend everyday in their crates while DH & I are at work. And I am really, really, really thankful that my broken foot is finally mended and I can work on getting normal use & movement back now.

Speaking of my foot…..here’s a photo of the “aftermath”…..and no, the photo won’t spoil your holiday meal…and yes, it explains my newest nickname – Scarfoot. The incision on the right was the first one to insert the pins, the little tiny one just above & to the right of the incision in the middle of my foot was the planned one to remove the crosswise pins. However, with one pin absolutely refusing to come out, I ended up with the bigger incision in the middle of my foot. That one little pin turned a 15 minute procedure into 1 1/2 hr surgery. There are three more scars due to this whole episode – one on the bottom of my foot where the stubborn pin finally came out and two on the side of my foot – one to insert the pins in my 5th metatarsal and one to remove them. I couldn’t take photos of those by myself though. Now my task is exercising and working my foot to regain normal use. And I’m working hard on that!

Now that life is returning to normal around here, or at least pretty normal, I can get on with my knitting projects. Finally finished is a pattern that I started before breaking my foot. So without further ado……introducing the Pamper Yourself Spa Collection…now exclusively available at sandrasingh.com. The pattern includes instructions for all three pieces – Hand towel, Face cloth and Soap sack. Each piece features a unique eyelet border that is easy to work. (Border stitch pattern devised by me, not to be found in any stitch dictionaries or anywhere else.) The Face cloth and Soap Sack are creatively worked from the center out. Knit in Schaefer Susan, a wonderful 100% mercerized pima cotton, this set is quick to knit (perfect if you still need holiday gifts), feels and looks lovely and is sure to be appreciated by any recipient.

So that’s it for today – I want to share some thoughts with you on some of the yarns I’ve been working with but that will be another post. For now – I wish you all a very happy, healthy and safe Thanksgiving holiday! Enjoy good food, friends and companionship. I’m off to figure out what I need to start first for our holiday meal.

Cheers! Jean