Flower Pictures - A Mild Obsession #3
June 30, 2009
Flower Pictures - A Mild Obsession #3
by: Patrick Heathcock
Yellow daisy, oh yellow daisy - please tell me about fills and flags! How does one use them effectively?
Good question sighs my daisy. An answer or two…
One can shoot anything straight without flash in good daylight and get okay results. I’ve read a load of articles in the last few months saying that bright sunshine is bad, bad, really bad, for color saturation when shooting flowers or anything for that matter - true often, but not always so.
One needs to consider all sorts of things - purpose, time of day, result required, etc! Dawn and dusk produce warm, shadowy light and if one wants to take a landscape photograph of note, this would be the ideal time to do it…using a tripod of course! Shutter speeds slow down in order to get the depth of field required, f16 or even f22, so one is often shooting at ¼ or ½ a second. I’ve met a few people who can handhold shutter speeds that slow but most of us…never in a million years! In the landscape world tripods rule okay!
What Is One Flower Benefit That You Know Of?
June 30, 2009
The biggest flower benefit of all is the fact that flowers make you happy.
Research has proven this.Flowers actually make you happy.When you are down, look at a flower arrangement and you will be in a happy mood.
Put a flower arrangement in your office, you can reduce your stress.When you are tensed at the office, you can calm yourself down with flowers.When things are not how you want them to be, ease your mind by putting flowers on your office desk.It might help.
When you get scolded by your boss, increase your tolerance level with flower arrangements.Flower arrangements have a big impact on you.
Spend happy family time at home when you decorate your home with beautiful flower arrangements. When you are happy, your husband is happy, your children are happy and your guests are happy, too.
Nothing beats the power of the flower.
When you are happy, studies have shown that your lifespan can be extended.That means, you have more time to enjoy your life, more time to achieve greater things.
Wouldn’t you like to see your grandchild get married? Wouldn’t you like to travel to places you’ve dreamt of going but never did? Wouldn’t you like to spend more time with your family?
Proofreading Your Own Document
June 30, 2009
Proofreading Your Own Document
by: Jan Kovarik
You’ve just written an important paper, business communique, or other document that will be read by others and perhaps will be the basis for a classroom grade, a prospective business arrangement, or provide necessary information for a specific situation. Regardless of the end use of this document, it is important to you that it not contain any errors or embarrassing grammar and punctuation mistakes. You’ve run spellcheck, but you understand that spellcheck isn’t foolproof. Your document needs to be proofread.
Ideally, you need a professional proofreader (or some other objective person) to read your document and correct whatever errors there might be in it. However, time and circumstance are not always conducive to using a proofreader. When this happens, you have to proofread it yourself.
Self-proofreading is fraught with pitfalls, the biggest of which is that you are “too close” to the text. That is, you know what you meant to write, even if that’s not exactly what you did write. Your brain can easily fill in the gaps and skim over simple errors like an incorrect wrong verb tense or a missed word in a well-used phrase. The mechanism in your brain that does this is called your “short-term memory”—and it can be very strong. Before you self-proofread, you need to allow your short-term memory (STM) to “dump” (that is, to allow what is stored in your STM to be deleted).
Best Pet Picks for Kids
June 30, 2009
Best Pet Picks for Kids
by: Mark Haakonsen
Pets are great for kids and every child should have a pet at some point in their childhood. Not only do they make great friends but they also teach a child life lessons of care and responsibility.
A child’s first pet will depend a lot on their age and level of maturity, so as a parent, you will need to decide what level of responsibility your child can handle, unless you want to end up doing all the work. In order to help make that decision easier, we have compiled a list of the 6 best pets for kids, with the list starting from the easiest pet to care from and going through to more advanced.
Fish
One of the lower maintenance and cheaper pets can be fish. In particular, the guppy is a great starter for kids. Guppies are a very attractive fish and are not only cheap but easy to maintain. Upto 5 guppies can be kept in a 10 gallon tank with the ideal temperature ranging from 72 - 80 degrees fahrenheit. Guppies also breed quite easily (if the temperature is nice and warm) and they give birth to live young. It can be quite exciting for a child to find new fish in their tank. The complete setup including: 2 guppies, tank, filter and food could be achieved for under $100.
Beauchamp Brings Diversity to Music
June 29, 2009
Everyone has a talent. For Miami, Okla.’s, Brian Beauchamp, it’s playing music. Beauchamp who began playing guitar in 1998 while attending college at the University of Oklahoma said he first played after borrowing a guitar from his friend, Jamie Neal. He now plays rhythm guitar and is lead vocals. For this he was nominated for the Payne County Line 2005 New Artist of the Year award.
The first baby born in Alaska in 1976, Beauchamp was born in Anchorage and moved to Miami when he was six months old. He later graduated from Miami High School and attended college off and on at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma and a college in Kentucky, where he played soccer. He said that although he didn’t start playing music a lot until college, it has been a passion of his since grade school.
"I credit Priscilla Fullerton, a grade school teacher, for my interest in music," Beauchamp said. "I was interested in Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, as well as Garth Brooks, Clint Black and Keith Whitley, while in high school. So, my music taste has evolved. I like non-Nashville type stuff and I have my own style."
It’s A Dog-Eat-Dog World In The Freelance Work Marketplace
June 29, 2009
It’s A Dog-Eat-Dog World In The Freelance Work Marketplace
by: Lorraine Cote
The Trials and Tribulations of Finding Writing Work in the Freelance Work Marketplace
There are many ways to find freelance writing work on the net. The most popular method is by signing up to one or more of the many freelance work sites available. There are a ton of them to choose from. Take Elance.com for instance, it is the site that I am known as a “service provider” and it’s where I get most of my writing projects. While I do also have offline clients, mostly corporations, Elance is a good supplement to my writing business.
However, there are some things that you should be aware of before you go rushing off to sign up to one of these sites. Take a look! (I will use Elance as an example because it is the one I am most familiar with).
Costs: Many of these sites don’t charge a signup fee, however, many charge either a monthly fee (can be quite steep like Elance, writing category, $75 per month for select provider status), or they charge a transaction fee for each project you accept. Many charge both (again Elance does this, 8.5% of total project amount).
I Shall Wait…
June 29, 2009
I Shall Wait..
On all the new mornings, and every singking evening, I wear a small crescent, in the finest of my accent…
Those memories come up storming, that tender touch so warming, That lovely soothing weather, Feeling as light as a feather, With hands across each other, And nothing else to bother…
With a feeliing as to fly, in the open blue sky, That lonely bank of the river, and a mild wintery shiver,
With silence all around us, and the huge Eucalyptus The water flowing faster with our murmur and our laughter, Those cascading whispers, Calm nature being a listener..
The sky appeared timid, and the rivir far too vivid, That firm hug under the vine, Sent chills down my spine.
A flicker on the nose and a peck on cheeks, and then apart for several weeks, I miss, so much the warm affection, Soul to soul- a pious connection, The care in your eyes and a tickle on chin and those caresses par satin…
It’s lonely sans you, Oh my dear! Being far away, I feel you near I feel your sound right within, Like droplets sound on the terrace tin.
Dog Care: 6 Easy Steps for a Terrific (and safe) Romp in the Woods
June 29, 2009
Dog Care: 6 Easy Steps for a Terrific (and safe) Romp in the Woods
by: O’Neal Hendrix
Leaves are falling and paws are crunching in the parks….
What a beautiful time of the year to get out with your canine companion and enjoy the crisp, cool air, frolic in the falling leaves and take in the visual splendor of nature. A walk in the woods can be an exhilarating experience for you and your dog, especially if you’ll take a moment for some basic dog care preparations. Minimize surprises and emergencies by following these simple steps.
I don’t know about you, but I will drive hours to find a place where the dogs can run free in nature. We all love it and often spend the whole day in the mountains together. I’ve developed a list of easy dog care to-do’s to ensure we have a great time and arrive and leave together safely.
I recommend the following items for your outdoor adventures:
1. Orange vests for you and your dog
Leather Jacket Care
June 28, 2009
Leather Jacket Care
by: Jake Berlin
If you own a fine leather jacket then you’ve probably drawn a few looks here and there because of the style. Unfortunately over time, even a great leather jacket can turn ugly on you if it isn’t properly maintained.
Prevention is Your Best Option
When you first bring your leather jacket home, you want to condition and waterproof it. After that, proper care will keep it looking fabulous for years. In fact, did you know that with proper care, leather out wears denim 20 to 1? I’ve heard stories where a good quality, well maintained leather jacket can last as long as 50 years!
Find out everything you can about your leather jacket, get the right stuff and set aside time for mandatory cleaning. If you don’t do it yourself, then pay a pro to clean your leather jacket for you. You can thank me later for that tip!
Leather Jacket Repair
How can you repair the sleeves on your leather jacket when the edges are cracking, without making the leather weak or super soft?
September Gardening Tips
June 28, 2009
Well it is now September, and the mornings are great aren’t they? It is now beginning to be the best time to plant trees and shrubs. It is a great time because the above ground temperatures are dropping and the below ground temps are still warm.
This helps plants get a jump on next spring because the roots still develope in the warm soil while the tops slow down in growth. Also, there are less winds and typically more moisture during this time of year, which of course reduces stress on newly planted shrubs and trees. You should be able to plant just about anything, including pansies, (which will last thru next May) mums, winter veggies (starts), most trees and shrubs.
There are a few exceptions: Palm trees might be better planted in the spring and summer, in order to get a good root establishment before the winter sets in.
Oleanders may experience some winter kill if planted too late in the season, especially the 1 gallon size. The larger sizes seem to suffer the least winter kill. This is usually for the the first winter, after that they will have even less winter or no winter kill as they age. Using a winterizer fertilizer with plenty of potash will help increase winter hardiness just about all shrubs and trees.
