Camera Practice

So, we have a new camera.  I have actually been reading up on different camera settings, and how to manipulate the camera to do what you would like.  For the most part, I think I achieved my main goals using low ISO once I figured out how to take the camera off of it's "automatic" setting.

And this is what I came up with.

 Tulips outside the house.

 Daffodils.  Focus on the front bloom.

Focus on the back bloom

 The Confederate Cemetery.  This place is kind of cool.  It's also kind of creepy that it's across the street from our house.  Apparently the original cemetery for the Confederate POWs  of the Civil War was in such a state of disrepair, the Daughters of the American Confederacy raised money and created a new, honorable place for these soldiers.  

 The tops of the headstones are pointed.  The tops of other veteran headstones are rounded.  According the legend, the Confederate stones are pointed because they didn't want Yankees sitting on their heads.

 I'm not sure why this stone is "fresher" than the rest.  But it stands out.

I thought this looked cool.  It would have been cooler if the wind was cooperating enough to position the flag more visibly...but alas, it was not to be.

 People still come to pay tribute.

John is very into ancestral history and he is kept busy tracking down his ancestors in various parts of the Midwest.  He also found an online board where you can request that people find your ancestor's headstones and take a picture so you know where they were buried.  He has since received TONS of requests for the Confederate Cemetery.  He is not finding them all, but simply taking pictures of ALL the headstones.

As for my skills, I still have a long ways to go.  Mostly on the technical side I think, but also in composition.  I've never been "a natural" with good compositions, but sometimes I get lucky.

A lack of oxygen

...makes me snort.

Apparently.

And only when laughing.

So, John and I decided to head to Lowes today to get some plants for our very sad front-of-house area.  Even though we are moving from the premises in 9 weeks.  It seems like the thing to do on such a nice day.

Whilst shopping for flowers, this exchange happened:

J:  I hope they have good flowers in Germany.
Me: I'm sure they have flowers in Germany.
J:  I hope they have *GOOD* flowers in Germany.  They're probably aggressive German flowers that overtake other flowers.  Like the French lilacs.  Whose blooms are white.

And then I laugh so hard I snort.  Five times.

In other news, I'm working on other posts.  But not hard enough.  I've been a bad bad blogger.  More later!

Digesting the News

From Royal Wedding Detox....to THIS?

Osama bin Laden has been killed and the US has his body.

Let me reiterate...OSAMA BIN LADEN HAS BEEN KILLED!!!

This is...this is huge.

I was tuned into CNN, MSNBC and Fox News (for once, they all agreed!) mostly because John hates hearing reporters say the same things over and over again whilst burning time waiting for the President to make his statement.  So we channel surfed.

At first, disbelief.  Then amazement!  Then joy for justice!  Now...I'm a little torn.

The reactions from people on facebook and twitter (love social networks) are mixed and so am I.  People are celebrating a death.  How does that seem right?  And yet, it can be argued that it was the death of someone murderous and evil.  Someone who organized attacks on our country and other western countries and killed thousands of people.  Not just thousands of Americans.  Thousands of Afghans and Pakistanis.

It's hard to be diplomatic with an organization so convinced they are "right" that they strap bombs to their own people in order to try to blow *you* up.

And there is the kicker.  The US is responsible for the death of the "ring leader" of the organization so to speak.  We could hope that now Al-Qaida will just crumble from within.  That will most likely not happen.  And now I realize that we need to be extra alert for repercussions.

(anyone remember that SNL Weekend Update with Tina Fey when quoting the statement that we need to be on high alert after 9/11 and her replying "Bitch, I can't be any more alert!"  Hilarious.  I love Tina Fey.)

Yet...I can't help but feel some sort of satisfaction.  I can almost feel the sense of relief from the people who were directly affected by 9/11.  A sense of closure.  Of..."finally."

I am aware that if were not for those attacks, that my husband would not have had to serve 3 tours in the Middle East over the past 8 years, risking his life and being responsible for hundreds of others in his command.  I would not have had to endure 15 of the longest months of my life worrying about the possibility of his injury, capture, or being killed.  I am aware that our deployed soldiers are probably in greater danger at this moment.

To conclude this muddled post, I'm not quite sure what I feel.  Overall, I think an important step has been achieved.

What I'm most certain of is this:  war sucks.  Conflict will continue.

And I'm equally certain that I am grateful to our Armed Forces.  For our protection.  For their sacrifice.  For volunteering for the hardest job there is.  And I'm proud of my husband for his contributions, however indirect they may be.

EDIT:  (the following morning.)  I finally figured out how to express my thoughts.  I am overjoyed that he was captured.  I am satisfied (but otherwise ambivalent) that he was killed.  I'm uncomfortable with people dancing in the streets in celebration much as extremists danced in the street after 9/11.

Royal Wedding Detox

I swear, I watched so much coverage of the Royal Wedding on Friday, with a brief interruption for a dentist appointment, that I dreamed of the Royals on Friday night.  In my dream, they were very down to earth and good friends of mine.  William especially.

Of course, right?

The rest of the weekend has been spent in detox from the event.  I am slightly tired of hearing about the event, but still read and watch what I see on TV and online...as if paying more attention will let the couple know of my very real wishes of happiness for them.

But I digress.

In all this coverage, I noticed a few parallels between the nuptials of the new Duke and Duchess and John and I's wedding.

Wills will not wear a wedding band.  While, John has a wedding band and it was a part of our ceremony, he rarely wears it.  He forgot it completely on our trip to Houston last weekend.  (more on that later.)  It doesn't bother me as I thought it would.  It does look nice when he wears it though.

A Rolls Royce Phantom IV from the 1950s was used for the arrivals.  (Of Prince Charles and Camilla, I think.)  John and I's getaway car was a Rolls Phantom IV.  It looked very similar, except ours was white.  (and gorgeous!  I highly recommend going that direction instead of a classic stretch limo.  It had so much character!)

OK.  That's really it.

I did also really enjoy watching the carriage ride from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace as my friend Craig had given me a walking tour of the area in 2005.  So I kept saying "I've been there.  I've been there too!"

I can't wait to go back!