Water Effect

Here are a couple of my latest projects. I've been enjoying learning new techniques for Photoshop and I've created a few new backgrounds. Enjoy!

Take the Big Splash!

Baptism by Fire

10 Years Ago Today

I was a student at a small liberal arts college studying theology. It had been a busy year, I had just moved to Texas from California and had just gotten used to my room and roommate and my classes when I showed up for class on September the 11th, 2001 and my political science professor, Mel Hailey, gave us the day off and told us instead of coming to class we should watch the news. So, I went to the student commons on campus and watched one of the TV's there while grabbing breakfast and listening to the buzz of the students: "Buildings are coming down." "Who's doing it?" " Was it on purpose or an accident?" We all sat glued to the screens around campus watching the news.
For those of us still in college it was not a clear message from a fanatic backing up years of negative propaganda against US foreign and national policy, it was simply a crazy act of hatred. I'm sure there were those who had been more cognizant of the global affairs than I was but even with a full grasp of the information there was not emotional empathy on the part of my generation, a generation that had, for the most part, been only still in diapers when Iran, Libya, Afghanistan and other such Middle East countries had come up on US radar as places of conflict.
We were kids coming of age at the end of the Cold War, unaware of the powder keg that had been lit years ago during the back and forth struggle for power around the boundaries of the dangerous USSR. It had never occurred to me that the homeless guys wheeling themselves through the Metro in Moscow legless, toothless and drunk to the gills were the result of battles fought in Afghanistan only a decade and a half earlier. Had the information been lavished on me, I might have had an opinion when the towers fell. I would have known why there was so much anger in the hearts of a nation of "tools."
There's nothing worse than being discarded as a tool after being used to do another nations dirty work. Now that I am nearing 30 and remembering that day when everything took a sharp left turn, when the fanaticism of one man brought a whole religion back onto our radar screens and our destination was locked into a spiral of conflict and empty resolution. We will continue to see the ripples of this event for a few more years and then another drastic event will shake us to the core and leave us recalling the date and time of it's transpiring. It will change our moods and possibly leave us traumatized ever marking our calendars and watching to see how long our memories hold to events that shape our decisions about things to come.
Until then watch the skies for falling buildings. My condolences to all who have lost never to regain.

A-Kent - Antalya Transportation Map

I looked for a few minutes online the other day for a good map of the brand new Antalya bus system map and could not find it anywhere. I thought of all places the creators of this lovely new bus system (you decide if there was sarcasm, I am still waiting to see how this system works once all the kinks get straightened out) could at the very least put a map online of the very complicated new system. This is the best I could do with my small scanner and a severely sat on map handed out on the buses around town, compliments of A-kent - the government transportation office.

8 Years Ago Today

I gave my word, a word of love, to you
That though the problems of this time -
The bickering, strife and petty crime -
That robs us of our humanity is rife,
Despite my nature, my hypocrisy,
My laughable attempts at mediocrity,
My sometimes deep and sometimes shallow self,
When paired with you would be beautiful.
Beauty, not that of TV ads or billboard signs -
The kind from which good men avert their eyes,
But beauty that defines itself in truth and life
That says for me I need one faithful wife.
That kind of love and truth and beauty are
The very thing that mirrors heavens heart.
If we could find such perfect love on earth
Then heaven has begun to show it's worth
And art's true form when brought before us
Would no more scare or blind or bore us.

Instead, in joy we'd see it was all for us.

judgement middleton common portman hayek quake threat knight

This is a test for my theories about trending. Today I'm taking the trending items from Yahoo and seeing if putting these items in my title will get me increased hits from you web surfers and people looking for interesting bits of information. Think of this as a test of your patience and a general investigation as to the effectiveness of following trending items in a dynamic marketing plan for websites. I will follow up with my discoveries on this attempt.

If you have reached this post due to searching for one of these trended items please leave a comment and let me know what you were searching when this page caught your attention.

In the trending news of Yahoo today:

1. judgement-day

Apparently someone in FL has the inside scoop on the end of the world, and the ancient Mayan's or whoever it was who predicted the end in 2012 is wrong cause the end of the world is apparently just two weeks away.

2. pippa-middleton

I now know that Pippa Middleton is the sister of the newest member of the royal family and that she is an English party planner.

3. rapper-common

What do you know! A rapper has had harsh words for a symbol of authority in the person of G.W. Bush. This has thrown his recent invitation to a White House event into question. Wouldn't that put everyone in the Democratic party on the do not invite list for any White House Functions?

4. natalie-portman

Apparently Natalie Portman is or is going to be a mother.

5. salma-hayek

Trending for something other than her appearance, in a film called "Puss in Boots."

6. chelsea-handler

Dated 50 Cent, is a comedian, told the news she doesn't want children.

7. brandon-knight

Best bet for number one NBA draft pick over Kyrie Irving. Detroit seems to be "eyeing him."

8. family-health-care

Probably trending due to recent changes in the health care with regards to Medicaid cuts suggest by the GOP.

9. rome-quake-forecast

Ruffaele Bendandi is the instigator of this trend having predicted in 1915 that there would be a giant earthquake that would destroy Rome today. Maybe he knew there was no way he'd live to face the ridicule if he was wrong or maybe it just hasn't happened yet. 10 hours 18 minutes and counting.

10. medicaid

I bunched this information in with family health care since there wasn't room in the title area to get this in.

Have a nice day.

This 1s Only a Test of Conscientious People

This article spotlighting a set of twin sisters who have both reached 100 years of age and a book by Howard Friedman PhD convey ideas about longevity that point towards the hypothesis that living by your conscience leads to longer life. There is a brief moment where what kind of conscience and principals lead towards the best form of life. The evidence shows that people who live a life free of divorce and by principals outlined in the Bible live longer lives. Check out this link if you're interested in what they may have to say.

This 1s Only a Test of National Censuring

So, I’ve been having trouble accessing Google’s blog pages this week due to an issue with the censuring of materials by the government of the country I’m presently residing in. I’m simply trying to test my ability to post via Live Writer regardless of the issues.