A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

challenges

30 Days of Writing: It could have been worse (30/30)

It could have been worse — this could have been the soda you have been waiting 30 days to drink!

This post is written in conjunction with the 30 Days of Writing, a blog challenge devised by Nicky and Mike at “We Work For Cheese.” I’ll be participating throughout the month of June. If interested, you can see my post with the details of the challenge. 

Please note that some of these posts will be serious, some will be normal, and some will be an attempt at humor.

Yes, it could have been worse.

Too, it could have been better. But take it as it is.

With this being Day 30 of the writing challenge set up by Nicky and Mike at We Work for Cheese, I figured it would be good to look back at it.

It could have been worse — I could have been told that this was the last Guinness I would ever be able to drink!

After all, when one can sit down and write 30 straight days of a blog with pre-determined themes, I figure that’s a total win. There were times when I had a very hard time with the themes. Sometimes I pressed, but I always seemed to find something. It challenged me as a writer and I appreciate that.

The one thing I thought was great about this was challenging writers. Some of the themes were really out there and one had to think about things a bit. Sometimes I went for humor. Other times it was serious. But I always tried to find a way to do something.

It was also a hoot reading the posts from everyone else taking part in the challenge. Unfortunately, not everybody posted each day, but many did. And because of that, I found several new bloggers who I plan on visiting on a regular basis.

In reality, I’m not sure I’ll re-visit everyone. Maybe. Who can tell. I guess it all depends on where the Internet takes me, no?

Not everything was great.

One reason I got into this challenge was to find new cachers. Another reason was I hoped that also meant there would be more new people seeing my work and, hopefully, a few new readers. Though I didn’t succeed in doing so every day of the challenge, I always made an effort to comment on other people’s blogs. There was a pretty good group of bloggers who did the same, but there were some who didn’t. Looking back, I know there are several people I rarely saw comment anywhere else, let alone here.

It could have been worse — I could have been told hot dogs had become illegal!

To me, that’s disappointing.

Not because I just wanted more comments, but because I don’t think one gets the full feel of the challenge if they just post on their blog and let it run. One thing about not visiting and commenting on other people’s blogs is that those people might not visit yours.

I didn’t skip many blog posts. But I didn’t always comment for various reasons. And, I’m sure, there are people who stopped my blog and thought the same thing. I’m fine with that, too.

Such is the life of a blog challenge.

In the end, I hope others got out of it as much as I did. I had the chance to see many different bloggers and styles.

In the end, I’m glad I stumbled upon Nicky and Mike’s blog and discovered this challenge. And, I’m happy I dived in and decided to go for it and do it. I can’t say I’m disappointed it’s coming to an end though!

I look forward to reading several of the bloggers beyond this challenge to see how they shape their blogs beyond this challenge and I hope I’ve made some new blogging pals along the way.

After all, it could have been worse. Much worse.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday/30 DOW: Breaking the rules (29/30)

This post is written in conjunction with the 30 Days of Writing, a blog challenge devised by Nicky and Mike at “We Work For Cheese.” I’ll be participating throughout the month of June. If interested, you can see my post with the details of the challenge. 

Please note that some of these posts will be serious, some will be normal, and some will be an attempt at humor.

In photography, there are normal rules that many shutterbugs follow.

Such as the rule of thirds. Or depth of field. I guess they aren’t true “rules,” rather guidelines that many photographers follow. And I am a fan of these rules — when starting. But the beauty of photography, or any art for that matter, is that rules are meant to be broken.

The biggest rule is the rule of thirds. Basically, that means you should take your image and imagine it in nine equal squares. You should position the biggest and most important element along one of the lines that breaks the photo up — or where they cross. The idea is that there’s interest and balance in your shot.

In this shot, I basically stuck to the rule of thirds. What it does is gives the viewer a chance to absorb the shot and it gives the player the “space” where the ball is being thrown.

I do like the rule, but I probably break it more times than following it. I know some photographers who almost live by this rule. And there are times when it’s something that is better because of the look.

However, this is when I point out that they are more guidelines.

Or, so I thought.

As I perused my Flickr stream for this post, I realize I follow this rule more than I thought I did. Maybe it’s an instinct in certain situations. Maybe it’s the post-processing where I think it looks better. That being said, I don’t always follow it and will break the rule.

Take, for example, the shot below.

I don’t think this shot would be improved by the rule of thirds.

What improvements would be made if the above shot was in the rule of thirds? None. See, the moon is basically centered, so it would be in the middle of the center square. In this shot, with everything surrounding it, it works without the rule of thirds.

This is why breaking photo rules is important — it gives you a chance to mess around some.

Alas, this falls into another photography rule — framing. It’s where you use other elements (the tree) to frame the shot (the moon) you are taken. So although I snapped the rule of thirds, I got into the framing rule.

There’s always rules. As much as you try and break ’em, there are more to get you!

Some of the other big “rules” in photography include (these aren’t all, just ones I like to utilize — or, at times, break):

Balancing elements — when you utilize the rule of thirds and attempt to balance it with another object on the opposite side of the photo. Basically, something to weigh the photo and even it out.

Leading lines — think a photo of a curvy road or river where your eyes naturally seem to follow the lines to the end of the photo. That’s basically a way for you to see the whole photo and you travel through the image.

Viewpoint — above, below, side etc. Changing the way you look at something can make photos extremely different.

Background — you might have the best image in the world, but if you have a busy background, it could ruin the shot. Or, at times, it could improve it.

Depth of field — whether blurry or crisp, that depth of an image can make or break a shot.

Cropping — How close or far away from the shot you are can be a big thing with photos. With digital as it is now, it’s a little easier to fix this one after.

But, as I’ve noted, not all rules are full and direct. Sometimes you can break every rule in the photography books and think you messed up, only to get one hell of a wild photo.

I botched many things with this shot, but in the end, I got something I thought was artistic and very cool.

And, like many things in life, this shows that interesting or good things can come out of breaking rules. Though many rules in society are a must and should, obviously, be followed, there are times when rules can be broken.

With photography, it’s a definite chance to break the rules and see what you can come up with.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

30 Days of Writing: Turning point (28/30)

This post is written in conjunction with the 30 Days of Writing, a blog challenge devised by Nicky and Mike at “We Work For Cheese.” I’ll be participating throughout the month of June. If interested, you can see my post with the details of the challenge. 

Please note that some of these posts will be serious, some will be normal, and some will be an attempt at humor.

I have no idea why, but this prompt is really doing me in.

Nothing.

I’ve thought about it since the beginning and I can’t think of anything. Seriously. I’m sure there have been turning points in my life, but they aren’t anything I can get into right now. Mainly because I don’t want to figure things out until the next big turning point happens.

And then there was an attempt at some fiction and to try and be funny, but it didn’t work out so well.

So, I’ll leave you this this photo, which I took in Ireland in 2010.

A lot of turning points right here!

I think of turning points and I realize many happen in life. Maybe as many as on this sign post.

Hopefully most of the turns end up being the right ones.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

30 Days of Writing: Going solo (20/30)

Geocaching is a great hobby, but I have a hard time going solo.

This post is written in conjunction with the 30 Days of Writing, a blog challenge devised by Nicky and Mike at “We Work For Cheese.” I’ll be participating throughout the month of June. If interested, you can see my post with the details of the challenge. 

Please note that some of these posts will be serious, some will be normal, and some will be an attempt at humor. 

As many of you — both regular blog readers and those in this challenge — likely already know, I’m a geocacher.

Geocaching is a great little game that can take you to many different spots. But it’s not just out in the woods. It can be to small parks. Urban settings. And all sorts of things in between.

Cachers play the game in many ways — by themselves, with one or two others or with a group.

As for me — I can’t stand going solo.

Many people cache solo and it’s a fun hobby. Well worth trying.

I don’t know what it is. Mainly, it’s doing caches where people can or might see you in a spot. Such as a park or near a cemetery or near houses. I just feel awkward going out there with my GPS unit and snooping around for something. Some people will watch you. Others won’t. Sometimes people will come over and ask you what’s up.

I actually don’t mind it when people ask me about the game. It makes it easier for me to continue looking.

Still, it’s a weird feeling. Especially when the hide is basically designed to make you feel that way or made to be harder then necessary.

Personally, I have a few “urban” hides. Only one of them is one where I could see someone truly getting an uneasy feeling. And even with that, if looked for right, it shouldn’t be too bad.

In the past year or two, many caches have seemed to go in this direction. Who knows what the reason is, but it makes it more of a situation where I’ll wait on doing many caches until others are looking to go caching. It’s not a bad thing as I like the social aspect of the game.

I don’t particularly mind going solo if it’s in the woods or on a trail somewhere. Then, it’s a nice stroll and then finding the cache at the end. I can deal with that.

A first to find awaited me after a solo stroll to a new cache!

For example, a week or two ago, I was in a neighboring town getting a few things done. I finished up and it was only about 7 p.m. I knew a new cache had been placed, so I headed over to it. I wasn’t racing or expecting an FTF (first to find) as there are several in our area who go out pretty quickly to snag them when first published.

Instead, my goal was to go for a nice stroll and this was at a Nature Concervancy. I went the main trail at first and soon backtracked and went down a secondary trail. I got to the area and quickly made the find. Once I opened the cache and saw the blank log and was stoked to nab a FTF that had been out there for the full day!

The end result, too, was a nice walk to the cache and back.

And, I went solo. It’s rare for me to do it and I do look around, waiting for people, even in the woods. But this was a fun little trek to snag a cache and get out and walk for a little bit.

Going solo isn’t always a bad thing. But I’ll stick with going friends when I can as I find it more fun!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Foto Friday/30 Days of Writing: Cheese (1/30)

Mmmm... cheese!

Cheese.

It’s a milk-based product to die for.

It also happens to be the first day of the 30 Days of Writing Challenge. So I needed to find a way to mix this glorious food into my normal weekly edition of Foto Friday.

So, I’m going to share some cheese photos to go with both posts and mix them into one.

I love me some cheese.

First, some cheese stuff.

Cheese is one of the few foods I would have a hard time living without. There are not many cheeses that I don’t like, at least in one form or another. With things such a bleu cheese, I don’t like it by itself, but mixed with some garlic and melted as a steak topping? Awesome.

Cheddar, of course, is the bomb.

Gouda. Swiss. Irish cheese. Smoked. Brie. So many types of cheese, so little time. I even think there’s a place for sandwich cheese (ie: pasteurized and individually packaged…) and spreads.

I try and check out cheese sections wherever I go. And I like to try new stuff whenever I can. In fact, I think I am willing to try cheeses more than I am certain other things.

One thing that’s outstanding about cheese is all the wonderful foods you can eat cheese with, and all the drinks you can enjoy with cheese.

For example, I realize many people love wine with cheese.

Not me.

I love trying new cheeses, like this smoked bacon. Awesome.

See, I’m not a wine guy. I couldn’t tell you the difference between a red and a white (besides color) or between a Chardonnay, a Merlot or a pinot noir.

Beer goes well with cheese, especially a good beer, such as a Guinness or a strong ale. Drinking something like Coors Light wouldn’t work well with cheese, I don’t think.

For me, I enjoy water with cheese as I feel like the water won’t take away from the taste of the cheese. I’m sure wine and such accent the cheese, but I’m more of a naturalist with the cheese.

Then there’s what you eat with cheese.

Pretzels and cheddar... awesome!

Personally, eating cheese by itself works for me. Yet, I still find myself trying other things.

Pretzels, for example, go well with cheddar cheese. Triscuits and Wheat Thins seem to go well with anything. Ritz crackers? The same. There are so many varieties of crackers out there, that I’m sure you’ll be able to easily find something to go with the cheese you’ve chosen.

I’m a fan of spreads, too. Anything from things like swiss almond to something like Laughing Cow, which is a wedged cheese with seven different varieties, go well with normal crackers.

Nothing like a little spread for Triscuits!

Cheese is also something that is very photographic. This is, after all, a Foto Friday post. Getting zoomed in and playing with the focal points is a nice way to do things. Also, mixing in different things — such as crackers, pretzels, knives etc. — will make things a bit better, too.

There’s a cheese factory near me and I am hoping to stop there sometime this summer. I think it would make for some pretty wild photos. Especially if I could shoot the process of the cheese being made.

But even if I can just see full cheese wheels and other cheese things — still good photos.

In the end, if you are taking photos of cheese… what’s the best part?

Eating all the cheese you use as props!

Yum!

Cheese!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!