Friday, February 26, 2010

Insight Of The Day ~ Keep Dancing!


I have been receiving Bob Proctor's Insight of the Day emails for years now. You can sign up and receive an inspirational quote Mon. - Thurs. and a short story on Friday. Today's is a good one. Here's a quote from it. "If you are feeling stuck, and afraid to take the next step, or any step for that matter, you will never achieve the life of your dreams. Life is not always about being comfortable. It is about moving forward, out of your comfort zone." Worth the read here: Keep On Dancing by Veronica Hay

Friday, February 19, 2010

Meet Baby Hope


"Baby Hope, as she came to be called, was put in a cardboard box that someone sealed with duct tape and left on a Philadelphia curb for trash. She was all alone, sealed in a box with no food or water for at least two days before being discovered by a Good Samaritan who noticed a slight movement to the box. 

Baby Hope was lucky because when she was bought to PSPCA, a volunteer from Burlington County Animal Alliance (BCAA), a local rescue group from my county with a long history of helping homeless pets in the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey area, came to her rescue."

Yes folks, Baby Hope's story does have a happy ending! She's one of the LUCKY ONES.

See Baby Hope's full story and more about her on the Art For The Animals post for today.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

America's Wild Horses


More Links about Wild Horse Preservation and the BLM Roundups:

From their web site: "In 1971, an unprecedented public outcry moved Congress to unanimously pass the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, granting federal protection to America's wild horses and burros as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, that contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.”


Wednesday, February 3, 2010

BLM WILD MUSTANG ROUNDUP

The BLM, Bureau of Land Management, (also known as the Bureau of Livestock Management), is currently rounding up wild horses in Nevada. They are removing these animals from public lands because they say there is not enough forage to sustain them. However, the BLM then turns around and leases this same acreage, our own public land, (which was specificly set aside in the 70's by Congress for the protection of the wild horses and a unique ecosystem), to cattle ranchers at outragously cheap rates! It's all for the benefit of the ranchers and the government, not at all for the good of these beautiful wild animals and not for the American People! Somehow I feel that it's not only these magnificant wild creatures, it's also  our heritage that they are destroying.



This all happened a month ago. I just found out about it tonight. I will post links as I find them. 

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Secret of Personal Magnetism

An excerpt from Owen Waters' NEW BOOK ~ "Love, Light, Laughter: The New Spirituality"


"When people open their hearts to unselfish, unconditional love, a whole new world of possibilities opens. Rather than spending effort avoiding the selfishness of others, they spend time making sure that the way they choose to serve society is done in the best way possible. When people can trust others to treat each other with love and respect rather than as competitors, then everyone gains.

As heart-centered awareness grows and blooms within society, people’s primary focus will shift away from service to self and towards service to others. When it does, the world will transform out of all recognition.

But you don’t have to wait for all of society to catch up. In both your personal and professional dealings with people, you have a reputation, and it is fed by word-of-mouth recommendation. Build your reputation as someone who tends to give more than is expected of them, and you will find yourself becoming increasingly popular in both your business and personal lives. People respond to heartfelt action and, as they say, what goes around comes around.

Action and reaction are opposite and equal in all types of thought and action. Your heartfelt action, by automatic reaction, will create a heartfelt reality among you and the people who are attracted to your energy. When you operate mainly out of a heart-centered frequency, you will notice that people are attracted to you in all aspects of your life. Friends, lovers, professional associates; everyone will be attracted to your magnetic personality.

Personal magnetism has been one of the great mysteries of life simply because, in the past, so few people have operated from that heart-centered frequency of awareness on a routine basis. However, it’s really no secret. It’s just one of those common-sense facts of life.

The secret of personal magnetism is that the more you unconditionally love people, the more they love you.

You don’t have to make a big deal out of it. You don’t have to stand there like some transmitter beacon, radiating huge amounts of heart energy. Top stage performers do, but you don’t. You can be very quiet about it and everyone will be quietly drawn to you. Everyone of a similar nature, that is. Everyone who appreciates kindness and a truly warm, genuine smile.
In other words, you’ll attract the very best of friends.

There’s nothing more attractive than a warm smile from a person who quietly radiates a sense of unconditional love for themselves and all others."

This was an excerpt from "Love, Light, Laughter: The New Spirituality" by Owen Waters, which is available exclusively at Amazon.com.
www.amazon.com/dp/1932336281

"Posted Courtesy of www.InfiniteBeing.com"

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Support Haiti Earthquake Response


Your gift to Doctors Without Borders will support emergency medical care for the men, women, and children affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Please give as generously as you can. Haiti Earthquake Response will help save lives. Read more about Doctors Without Borders here.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Photographing At The Zoo


I just found a helpful article on Nikon's "Learn & Explore" section by Julie Larsen Maher. See great shots and learn many tips for making the most of your visit to the zoo from this accomplished animal photographer.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Freelance Illustration Spots

I had some good fortune on New Years Day. That's when I learned that the deal was sealed on a freelance illustration project with German / Australian award winning web designer, Kai Brach of www.brizk.com. I finished them yesterday and will shoot them in high resolution today. I am happy with the job and really anxious to see the finished results when Kai puts my paintings together with his fantastic sense of design on his impressive website! I'll post a link to the page when Kai launches it.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Photography


"The artist may never feel the urge to grip a camera, but the photograph - black and white, sepia-tinted, in blazing color - is part of her secret cache of loved things." ~ Eric Maisel

"A photograph is a secret about a secret." ~ Diane Arbus

"Sometimes I get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter." ~ Ansel Adams

~ These quotations on photography are from "Affirmations For Artists"

Friday, December 25, 2009

I Love Wikipedia!

My donation today celebrates everything Wikipedia stands for: the power of information, freedom, sharing, learning and discovery. My contribution will help keep Wikipedia freely available for its 330 million readers around the world!

Many people love Wikipedia, but surprisingly few know it's run by a non-profit. Please help Wikipedia and donate today!

To learn more about the Wikimedia Foundation, visit their blog at http://blog.wikimedia.org/ or website at http://wikimediafoundation.org/.

Wikipedia Affiliate Button

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Be Careful What You Wish For! :-D

A New Jersey Winter Wonderland



We got dumped on last Friday into Sunday. What with all the shoveling, extra work with the animals and Christmas stuff, I haven't gotten a chance to post here since then. I didn't dare take my big Nikon camera out in the mess, but I did get quite a few shots with my trusty little Canon point and shoot tucked into my pocket.




Rudy, my soon to be 30 year old Paint, loves the snow. I call him my big Nordic Pony. He was out in the storm every chance he got and was happy as a clam just trucking around his paddock, plowing through the snow like he was a four wheel drive Snow Cat.


Rita, on the other hand, is just like a cat. She doesn't want to touch the stuff, let alone walk in it.


I had to shovel a loop for her just to get her out of her stall. (A potentially dangerous venture to be caught in the trenches with nowhere to go when she decided to bolt. Once I did end up in a snow pile with just my hand with my camera sticking out.) Later that day she got brave and ventured off on her own. She has a nice sense of design, don't you think?


Compare her trail to Rudy's well worn network of pathways here.

You can see my entire "After The Storm" slide show here.

Friday, December 18, 2009

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas!


Our probability of a white Christmas just increased from 10% yesterday to 50 - 75% today. We are expected to get dumped on tonight, all day tomorrow and into Sunday morning. Woo Hoo! Can't wait! Here's a shot from this past March taken here on our property. Will you be waking up to a winter wonderland this Christmas too?

Winter came down to our home one night
Quietly pirouetting in on silvery-toed slippers of snow,
And we, we were children once again.
~Bill Morgan, Jr.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Christmas in the Head, Na, Na, Na, Naa . . .

I have to put Christmas music on these days just to drown out the carols in my head! Yes, the music is nonstop, 24/7, even in my dreams. I was just wondering if it was just me or if any others out there are experiencing this phenomenon. In my large collection of holiday tunes, of course I've got my favorites. For the past 24 hrs. it's been: SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, ANOTHER YEAR OVER, A NEW ONE YET BEGUN, NA NA NA NAA, and repeat. Then, A MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR, NA NA NA NA NA NAA, NA NA NA NA, NAA. :-D ! !

This snowman image (without the copy of course) is available for licensing here.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Resurfacing GOOGLE "WORK FROM HOME SCAM" !

I am embarrassed to report that I got hooked into an old, yet initally very convincing scam this morning. I have gotten hundreds of similar "offers" like this one from "Google" before, however this one peaked my curiosity and somehow suckered me in. The offer was to send $1.95 for more information on how to make money with Google. It was only after signing on for "the kit" that among other things, I get a link to "Disclosures". "Disclosures" stated that you have to cancel within three days or you will be charged a $129. intitial enrollment fee and $40. p. month thereafter to remain in their "program". Yikes, what did I do! ?! I tried three different numbers they provided to "speak to a representative" only to get caught up in a long list of phone recordings and prompts. Finally after waiting for 5 or 10 minutes, I would get abruptly disconnected. On my forth or fifth try, I finally did speak to a real person who said their company had nothing to do with the company I had signed up with. That's funny, because the confirmation email from "support" listed their phone number. Then I called the credit card co. They said it happens all the time and that the scammers could "legally bill my cc if I didn't cancel in 3 days because of a loophole". They assured me that I had "protection" against such fraudulant charges and not to worry. I was worried. The whole thing was and still is extremely bothersome. After calling the credit card company for a second time, I was put on hold for 5 minutes and when the CC company phone clerk came back, she had another phone # for http://incomemembership.com alias http://creativesearchtraining.com for me to call. I called it and shortly got through to a real person! About an hour later, I had a cancellation email from support! ALL this seems very fishy to me! Are the credit card companies in on this? Do they have a quota of fraudulant charges to meet? Insights would be appreciated. Even though I feel like a complete and utter idiot, I'm posting this senerio to hopefully help expose these swindlers and save somebody else out there in cyberspace from these vultures, these leaches of society. Wouldn't it be nice if people worked this hard at coming up with a legitimate way to build a web based business, like Google did!? Be careful my lambs, the wolves are more than ever at your door. Check out what Snopes has to say about this here.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Thought For The Day


This is one of my new holiday backgrounds that is now available for licensing as royalty-free stock.