Childhood Cancer & Team Kayla California

I'm helping my friend Amy with a great cause to help raise funds and awareness about Childhood Cancer.

There are many websites to help with different contributions, but why not start with a great group of people at Team Kayla California? Keep all children in your hearts and help out in ANY way you can to raise awareness!

The only way I could contribute right now, was to create banners that link back to the teams website, which will guide you in ways that you can help :)

Aspiring Photography

As an aspiring photographer I have made my way from only reading about the excitement to joining in the fun. I have taken portraits of my children, friends, and done a few promotion banners for my brother's music web page, simply entitled J. I have also photographed and blogged about From The Beginning, a band who I remain friends with today. But, what started it all was a Google search on photography that led me to Flickr.com. I uploaded a few cell phone shots and bam, I had a list of 52 contacts commenting on my "photography". What a way to build confidence.

I found that Kodak and Snapfish would allow me to use their services to print and deliver to buyers. They would also offer me gallery options to display my professional art work, for a small fee. Imagekind would allow me to display my photography in a gallery setting with a profile page and the ability to gain a friends list of fans. Their printing services are available with canvas and framing options. But of course, the prints come in sizes that require custom framing.

Finding an outlet to display my photography was a tedious task. It is discouraging enough taking inspiring photos of quality imagery with a 35mm automatic camera, or a cell phone. I had made it possible with a layman's easy Canon Power Shot, but one cannot be a presentable Professional Photographer without a Canon 5D, Nikon D300, or other single-lens reflex (SLR) camera. Not to mention a number of accessories. When it comes to editing photos, there is Photo Shop. A must have in the aspiring photography world. The cost ranges from six hundred to over a thousand dollars for such software. Without proper funds I opted for a free download of Paint.net I found on the web, which seemed to work well enough.

What it comes down to, as in almost every aspect of life, is that you need money to make money. Or, in the artists explanation, you need money to make anything worth someone’s time to acknowledge your work. Being friendly and taking the time to know your editors and peers helps, too. I suppose, the latter has a stronger effect when paired with an excellent artist of god given talent. It is true in any case, you must put the time and effort into that of which you wish to be successful. Sometimes, the rewards are greater than finance.

Book Club~Literary Legends

Previously written in Mystrish List (blogger.com)

.Revised edit. September 21, post


THE WHEEL OF TIME:
"In the beginning, the Creator made the Wheel of Time, which spins the Pattern of the Ages using the lives of men and women as its threads." -Wikipedia

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan begins with The Eye of the World. The series was brought to my attention by a good friend of mine. There had been talk of Jordan's fading health and whether the series would be completed. On September 16, 2007, only days prior to now, Jordan passed away. His wife has made arrangements for his wishes to be fulfilled pertaining to Memory of Light, the 12th and final novel in the series.

Consuming me at the present time are the pages in the series of Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Malevolent page turner, that first book, simply entitled The Gunslinger. Book Four began my journey, as a gift. Sporadic reads here and there eventually fueled my interest to start from the beginning. As well as a peeked interest from a mutual fan, who insisted I read from book one.

In his journey for the Dark Tower, The Gunslinger will come across mystifying characters who accompany him in his travels as they are confronted by the Man in Black. If your wondering why that sounds familiar, King notes that he began the series with Tolkien (TOLL-KEEN) in mind. However, the story itself is one of legendary "Kingology".

King mentions in the forward that the series finds it's voice in the second book, The Drawing of the Three. Only 260 pages to go before I reach book two. Another six novels until I reach The Dark Tower, book seven and the final in the series. Then, I can begin The Wheel of Time and submerse myself in the mind of a modern day legend, Robert Jordan.