Just because

Sometimes life is a bumpy ride. I know it can't all be smooth sailing [or surfing]. Sometimes the bumps are the best or at least most memorable times in life. One thing you have to remember while on the bumpy road is that you can't really appreciate the ride until you look back on the experience.

I've been surfing rough waves lately....

I'm not sure what the draw is for me to great images on the web. I think most people don't consider 'Internet images' anything more than porn. I appreciate the times when I have been in the grind of life and been momentarily transported to a different place by a really great picture. I admit this is escapism in its purest form but these moments of respite are sometimes what get me through the day. I had this experience when I visited the 'National Wildlife magazine's 35th annual photography competition'.


This photo was the winner.


I'm not sure what it is about this photo but I like it.


This is one of the only landscapes but I like it none the less.
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Occasionally I have posted images from Image generators. This really started with some sets of alphabets but I will post some that I come across. Today I have two examples:


At first when I saw this I thought the writing in the snow would have been yellow but I guess the penguin is cool too.


This may be my most favorite image generator I have seen. Uncle Sam Wants YOU!!!!
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I came across a video that someone with a lot of time put together. It is very clever, especially when you listen to it instead of watching it. So here is  the Seinfeld Lost Episode - 'Kramer At The Laugh Factory'.


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Anyone who knows me can tell you that I am not a gear-head. I really don't know a lot about cars. But there is something about cars that keep catching my eye.



This is the new Ford Mustang Giugiaro designed by Italian Fabrizio Giugiaro. I was surprised to find out that this was not the first Mustang Giugiaro has designed.


This is the 1965 Bertone Mustang.

The linked article says, "The senior Giugiaro's portfolio includes concept and production designs for nearly every car maker in the world – from Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Volkswagen to Mazda, Lotus and Bugatti.... He designed the Chevrolet Corvette Moray, unveiled in early 2003, and was eager to expand the collection of Giugiaro-interpreted American metal."
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Last year one of my closest college friends sent me an email about a Christmas tree that he helped a friend put up in her house. [As a side note this email is what really got me looking into blogging.]

Here is the text of the email he sent with most of the images that were attached. Please enjoy....

Eric and Satan's Christmas Tree

So I somehow got volunteered to go tromping through the woods in search of a tree to cut down for Christmas.  The tree in question was for Penny's neighbor, Nancy.

The following pictures document this rustic, romantic Christmas notion of cutting down one's own tree.

I should have known when I was told we'd need the trailer to bring it home.....

We used a tractor with a cherry picker to load the tree; 


come-alongs to winch it off the trailer and into the front yard.


The task of getting a 12-foot wide tree through a 3-foot door fell to brute force. 


Don't ask.  It's in, dammit.  Are we having a merry freakin' Christmas YET ????


AFTER the tree was loaded, unloaded, drug, and muscled through the door, the top third of the tree was cut off so that we could standing it up.  For the record - blue spruces are prickly.  After the tree was stood up, it was then decided that the back (non-showing) sides should be pruned so that the tree could be pushed against the corner, allowing a small space for people to enter the room.


So there's my merry Christmas story.
Bah freakin' humbug to all!!!!

Thanks Eric, I will cherish this story forever.

The moral to this story is, if you think you'll be all sappy and rustic by cutting your own Christmas tree, you're only half right.
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That's all for today!