Photo Contest at ‘Are WE There Yet Mom’

There is a photo contest going on at are we there yet mom and it looks like she will hold more contests in the future. This particular contest has no theme, simply submit what you like. As a prize she is offering the book, Closeup Shooting: A Guide to Closeup, Tabletop and Macro Photography written by Cyrill Harnischmacher. The contest is going on until April 28th so hurry.

I thought I'd try this one which was taken this Easter.

and sorry
you may have seen this recently in a March post,
but I felt compelled to use it again here.
^

Affect or Effect

Hey, my previous post gave me pause. I almost didn't hit the submit button. You will notice I had the word 'affect' in the title and the word 'effect' in the actual post. These two words have given me a great deal of trouble. Does any one know the correct usage for these two words. I sure don't. Perhaps one of you great writers out there know the proper use of these words. I sure would like to hear from someone with knowledge in this area.

I'm Back!

Well, I'm finally back.

First, let me apologize. In my hurry to get out the door to my annual hunting retreat, I neglected to place a post announcing the same. It was a very, harried evening when I took off to the hunting shack and I was in great fear of leaving an essential piece of equipment behind (I know - excuses, excuses). I am sorry for not posting that I would be away for a while. Anyway, all is well now and I shall resume my blogging habits, for better or worse.

I have noticed that, well I was gone, Sunni Kay has tagged me with a meme. Sorry Sunni, as much time has elapsed since you tagged me. I do not know what kind of time restrictions there are on such things, as I HAVE NEVER BEEN TAGGED BEFORE. I will check your site and see what this is about. If it is not too late I will possibly play this meme, otherwise thanks for the tag anyhow.

I must check out Sunni's site now and see what's up. I must, also, check out the other typical blog reads that I have not read in my absence. I must, also, check out a ton of email that didn't seem to mind that I was gone hunting. Then it's back to posting here, as time allows (my work schedule is getting real hectic) and the mood strikes. Wow, what a thing to come back to after vacation - things at work are getting extremely chaotic. I think I need another vacation!

^

Computing Vacation

Anyone missed me?

Aim better!

New Blog Directory

A new slant on directories is being offered by the same gent who brought us The Bestest Blog of All-Time. If your a blogger you may want to check this out. I'll let him explain it -

Directory with a Twist: Instead of just having the anchor text for your link be your blog's name, all links will be of the form "The _____est Blog." For example, "The Most Frequently Updated Blog" or "The Best Philadelphia Eagles Football Blog" or "The Yummiest Blog."

I had a few reasons for setting it up like this. First of all, I wanted this directory to be different from all the cookie cutter directories out there. More importantly was a closer look at the value of anchor text.

The anchor text of external links to your site is very important for determining your search engine results. For example one of my favorite blogs, "Flip This Body," a weight loss blog, already appears at #1 for Google searches of the term flip this body. This is because the majority of links pointing to Julie's site have this anchor text. But in my directory Julie's link could look something like this: The Thinnest Blog. Notice how the name of her blog still appears when you highlight the link. Also, having an important weight-loss word like "thinnest" in the anchor text, could help out future searches with that term.

So, if this appeals to you head over to The Bankest Blank Blog Directory and get registered.

Blogger Problem

Wow, there seems to be a new error in Blogger! It's, suddenly, not letting me add titles to my posts. Oh hell, after about 15 attempts, it's now working. Ah, got my title in and tried again to check for consistency. It's not allowing me to enter anything into the title field again.

Thought You'd Never Ask: Why I'll never vote for Hillary (part 2)

Zabrina did it again! Another great post. If she keeps this up I'm adding her to my favorites list.

I feel so inadequate. I wanted to do a post on Hillary and she's outdone me again. I'll still take my shot later but, I could never do it as good as she. You must check out this great post -

Thought You'd Never Ask: Why I'll never vote for Hillary (part 2)

Argh, Not Again

Sorry again !

As, you may have noticed, my recent posting has been scarce. I have been having a lot of computer problems. I managed to make a few posts here and there, including this one. It is difficult, as I usually get booted off in the middle of my entries. So, for the most part I haven't posted anything but, rather worked extensively on diagnostics. I thought it was cured one time only to find out I still had problems.

A while back I got very tired of Internet Explorer and finally switched to Firefox. I am now seriously considering a switch to the Macintosh system. Does anyone have any extensive experience with Apple. I would sure like to hear some pros and cons, esp. as it compares to the pc.

In the mean time my posts will be limited, as I continue to work on my technical difficulties. I hope to be up to full swing soon.

I'm Back

I am back from the deer shack and ready to start blogging again.

My time at the shack has been wonderful, to say the least. Out of six hunters we got five deer, so far. We still have until sundown Sunday to continue hunting. I will be working until Saturday afternoon but, will then be back out there, for a final hunt.

Enough of that. I don't want to bore everyone. Suffice it to say I'm back to blogging.

Belated Announcement

Some of you may have noticed that I have not posted for a while. I have been gone from my computer and up at my hunting lodge lately. Deer Hunting is in full swing in this neck of the woods and I have taken time to participate, as I do every year. Last week, in my haste to get out the door and head north I thought I had announced this on my blog. I came into town today to vote and decided to check this site. To my dismay I never made the post. At any rate here is the belated version.

I will be at the hunting lodge until the middle of next week and you can expect no posts from me until my return. I am sorry I didn't make this announcement sooner and apologize profusely. I hope everyone returns later when the blog is back in full swing.

Wish me luck!

I've Been Discovered

My heartfelt thanks go to Bobby Griffin for posting of this site as the 'Bestest Blog of the Day' at the innovative Bestest Blog. It is quite an honor and having used his famous site myself I know I'm in good company.

A special thanks, also, goes to Miss Mimi of Mimi Writes ( a wonderful Blog in it's own right) for penning (is that still applicable) the generous review, shamelessly duplicated below -

...by Mimi from "Mimi Writes"

A smorgasbord of non-classic art, sports, quirky statistics and rambling Biblical prose, WebGamin –today’s Bestest Blog of the Day pick – is not all about games. “I aimlessly roam the streets of the World Wild Web. Perhaps here is a chance to rest my head.” Virtual world or real world, the author (dubbed The Gamin) is a self-proclaimed Minnesota Vikings fan, photography buff and blues lover. Among other things.

But perhaps he’s best known for the Sandstone County series written and prefaced as Sandstone County Sheriffs Department - To Serve, To Protect, To Get Rid of All Dirtbag Criminals by 2026. Doled out in short and witty episodes, The Gamin just posted number forty-two. Here’s a hilarious snippet.

WebGamin is a bit of old-school philosophy with overtones of The Godfather where mafia members mysteriously morph into cowboys; at least that’s what it feels like. Don’t mind me. I’m just wandering aimlessly through the streets of The Wild Wild West......er....I mean Sandstone County waiting for the next criminal to make me laugh.

You'll find a large slice of life in this blog, ranging from political news commentary to Amazing Paper Art to Dust Art. The pictures are truly unique. You won't believe what this guy can do with a bunch of dirt. Dust art? Of course! What else would you expect in Sandstone County?

WebGamin is worth a look and a read. Hop on over there and tell the sheriff that Miss Mimi and Bestest Blog sent you! There are some interesting characters just waiting to welcome you to their wild virtual world. posted by Bobby Griffin @ 12:10 AM

Again, thanks for showcasing The Gamin, as I work very hard at trying to entertain anyone who peeks around the corner into my world. I must, however, explain my blog title a little better. Miss Mimi writes, "–today’s Bestest Blog of the Day pick – is not all about games." I think she (and probably many others) have misunderstood, as The Web Gamin is not about games. The meaning of Gamin is "an often homeless boy who roams about the streets; an urchin." I chose this moniker because, like others, I meander around the web and this blog originated as a showcase for the interesting discoveries I find in these journies as well as the interesting things I come upon in the real world. With that being said, this site has morfed into something somewhat different over time. I am sure it will continue to evolve.

Welcome to any new visitors sent my way. Please stay with me on my travels as I have some interesting improvements planned for the future.

If anyone feels the need to pat me on my virtual back please use the comment section.

Excuses

Well, I haven't blogged in a while. Did anyone even notice? I am even way behind in responding to my email, as well. I'm usually doing this at least daily, unless I'm out of town. I've been quite busy. I've had several ideas for some great posts and no time to do them. Of course, I always get these ideas at work or other places when I am nowhere near a computer. When I finally get to my computer I draw a blank and can't remember the great ideas which came to mind earlier. For example I had some wonderful thoughts on Bush's speech yesterday and now they're not coming back to me. At least not as coherently as I envisioned them initially. Anyone else have this problem?

I was in the middle of editing some birthday photos (of my granddaughter) the other day, also, and was interrupted by a friend who needed computer help. I was then interrupted again. And yet again (not complaining, just explaining). Then came work. Arghh. I'll get these photos up soon though (I hope). Between all this my wife and I are trying to get 40 or 50 cedars in the ground. We are putting in a privacy hedge. That's what I'm supposed to be doing now. In fact I'm heading out to do this in just a couple of minutes, before it gets too hot. I just wanted to get this quick post in, first, to let everyone know what's not going on. In fact, please excuse the grammatical and other errors, as I'm trying to get this off very, quickly.

In the middle of all these things comes the real reason. For you see, I could have squeezed in some posts lately anyway but . . . what really kept me from posting was my damn labeling problem. I refused to post anything until this problem was cured. I spent a good deal of time on this between my daily interruptions and am happy to report it seems fixed and I can go back to posting again.

Planting today. Work tonight and tomorrow. Then finish planting if I'm not yet done. Then, maybe then . . . answer emails, edit photos, post photos, post other info, etc.

New Beta Blogger Advice

If anyone is planning on using the Beta Blogger with it's new templates, here is one piece of advice. Do not publish your labels with capitols. Use small case when creating your labels. At some point if you used capitalization the template will revert to small caps for all your labels. You will then have two (2) of each label listed in your sidebar. Argh.

Note the labels in my sidebar. I created a new label for this post (blogging) using small case and it occurs only once. I, also, used an old label for this post (computing) and it occurs twice. Once with capitalization and once without. Each instance shows it's own number of occurrences, also. My label list is long enough already. Imagine the mess this will create in the sidebar with dual labels for everything. And each with it's own count.

I wish I would have known about this issue before I started labeling everything. I think I must go back and manually change all my labels. Damn. I hope this helps others before they get in too deep.

Check Out All the New T-Ball Photos

Although I started the new photoblog on the 17th of this month
I decided to put previous T-Ball photos on the site dated to the actual event.

NEW Photoblog

I have started a new photoblog for my photography called Augphoto . I will be presenting only my personal photos at the new photoblog.

At this site (the one you are currently reading) I will continue to showcase everything else. Photos and artwork by others will still be shown here. All written work will remain here, as will the ever popular 'Sandstone County' episodes.

The only change is that my personal photographs will be posted on the new photoblog, from here on in. Everything else will remain as is.

New Look

OK, here is a new three (3) column template I am trying out.

There will be less wasted screen space using this new format and room for more features.

If anyone has any troubles viewing this site, with these new changes, please let me know.

Blog Troubles

This Blog has been acting up the last couple of days. I don't even know if this post will work. Formatting has gone wild, too. Let's see what happens.