A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

30 days of writing

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: Side of the road (27/30)

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 my last job, I had about a 20-minute commute each way. So that gave time for peeking around and enjoying scenery.

During the fall, there were splendid colors.

The winter usually included a gray feeling, or snow, and sometimes a glorious blue sky over sparkling snow.

When the spring comes, things start to bloom and the rolling hills and mountains in our area come to life.

The summer soon comes with warmer weather and the bliss of driving 20 minutes each way with air conditioning.

See, I worked odd hours though. Hence the life of the newspaper. That meant, I would be coming home after midnight, usually. So the scenery stops. A lot of times, the only things I’d see on my ride home would be homes with lights on, the occasional car, or deer. And, sometimes, those deer can be pretty stupid.

There were a few times where I saw cars on the side of the road. Sometimes, if I saw people out of their car, I would stop and bring the window down slightly to see if there was anything I can do. I am one of those people who is still skeptical and like to try and stay as safe as possible, and with it being after midnight, sometimes I feel it’s safer to move along etc.

It was a cold winter night a few years ago when I was coming home. I was still in my last car and, I will note, it was a mess. So I’m bee-bopping along and just outside of town when I crest a small hill and see a car on the side of the road. I see a man outside waving, so I slow down.

He’s slightly sweaty and in a panic mode.

Needless to say, I only cracked the window briefly.

In an out-of-breath way, he asks me if I can take him and his wife to the hospital. It’s an emergency and he ran out of gas. I told him my car was a mess and it might be better if I just call 911 for him.

He said he was ready to do that when he saw my car and he doesn’t think he has the time to do it.

At that point, I’m still a little worried but I say, “What’s the issue?”

He said “My wife is in labor!”

Pardon my use of language, but my reply was “Holy shit!”

I told him the car was a mess, but to cram into the car. He helps his wife in and he climbs in and as I take off, he calls the hospital, warning them we’re coming. I flew through the village (it’s a 30 mph zone and I am quite sure I didn’t go 30).

As I reached the hospital, I went right into the emergency room entrance and somebody was waiting outside with a wheelchair. The husband got out to help and shouted a thank you as they rushed into the hospital. They didn’t even shut the door! I got out and shut the door and scratched my head wondering if that just happened.

Crazy.

I never caught their name or anything, but as I drove by that spot on the side of the road the next day, their car was gone. I hope the husband came back with gas and drove it to the hospital to spend time with his wife and newborn.

I still try and be as safe as possible, but I do like to try and help if I can. Hopefully it won’t bite me in the ass one day, but I’m still under the belief that there are good people in this world and hopefully I won’t become a victim of a bad one!

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: Intervention (26/30)

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.

For more than a decade, I was a dipper.

For those who may not know the terminology, it means I chewed (dipped) smokeless tobacco. And not (usually) the stuff you wad into your cheek — I refer to that as chewing tobacco.

Rather, smokeless tobacco or dip, to me, is stuff like Skoal, Copenhagen etc. It’s the tobacco that comes in the small circular tins/cans.

This, for many years, was part of my daily routine.

I started in my teens. I have no idea why, but I did. When I was much younger, my older brother did it and I remember once snagging some of his Kodiak. Man did my tummy turn when I tried that. It didn’t stay in my mouth long.

You would think I would have learned my lesson. Nope.

When I was maybe 15 or 16, a buddy of mine gave me a dip. I left it in for a bit. It was absolutely tiny, too. I spit like I was cool. All of a sudden, I thought I was cool as could be. Dipping along.

I tried it a few more times and somehow, I liked it.

As I grew older and into my later teens, I started dipping more. Skoal had come out with its flavors — things like Spearmint and Cherry — and I dabbled in those. The cherry tasted and smelled so good.

Seriously, I loved the stuff.

I wasn’t what you would call a “chain” dipper. By that I mean somebody who has a dip in his or her (yes, I knew and still know several girls who dip) mouth most of the waking day. I was more of a simple dipper. I’d have one or two a day and it usually was in a certain situation — driving, playing a sport, with a friend — something along those lines. I rarely dipped just sitting back and watching TV or something.

Couple that with the fact that I didn’t take overly large dips, and a tin could last me a while. Unless, of course, somebody decided to bum one off me and took big dips.

I remember several people who I banned from bumming dips off me because they took big dips. My whole thought was this — if you are going to bum one, take a small one or go buy your own. Simple as that.

But I dipped and dipped.

And I didn’t mind it all that much. But as time wore on, it started to get old. I jumped from flavor to flavor to try and keep it going. But it got old. It didn’t taste as good. It didn’t smell good. And, truthfully, having spitters around was downright disgusting.

I knew it was only a matter of time before I was going to quit this habit. I wasn’t physically addicted as I went weeks without it at times. It was more of a social addiction. Many friends dipped, so it was easy to have one and join in. And it was a good way to ease up on snacking and such. It was also nice on long rides as it would keep you awake.

But it needed to stop. I just needed something to help me along.

Thank New York State for an intervention.

It was mid-December in 2005 or 2006 (I think ’06) when I went into a local tobacco shop to snag a tin. The intervention came soon after going in. Here’s my conversation — and intervention.

Me: Can I get a tin of Skoal cherry?

(The worker grabs a tin of it, puts it on the counter and rings it up). 

Worker: That will be $5.48. 

Me: Say what?

Worker: $5.48. 

Me: Since when is it so expensive?

Worker: New York just upped its taxes, so everything is more expensive.

Me: Well, I don’t want it then.

Worker: I just rang it up!

Me: I just quit!

With that, I walked out.

I had one more dip since then — with a friend on New Year’s Eve. That was only a couple weeks after I had this conversation. I had the dip in for maybe 10 minutes and felt dizzy and sick.

That was it.

I’ve been clean from dip ever since. Every once in a while, I’ll want one if I get a whiff of somebody with it. Or on a long drive. But then I think of everything else — the health risks, the spitting, the nastiness — and that small craving goes away.

I am glad this stuff is no longer a part of my life.

I don’t regret quitting, that’s for sure. I don’t need it in my life at all.

I’ve seen prices recently, too, and they are way higher. Financially, quitting habits like this is something smart. Forget about the health ramifications and put it into cold, hard cash. I have friends who I know dip a lot. Or I know people who smoke upwards of two packs of cigarettes per day.

Put it into monetary terms and start thinking about it. If a tin costs 7 bucks and one goes through three per week, that’s $21. Multiply that by a full year and you have $1,092. How many other things do you think you could do with 1,000 bucks?

And what about smoking? Say a name brand costs $7 per pack (which in New York, it’s higher I think). And for the people who smoke just a pack a day (which is way too much anyway). That’s $49 per week. That comes to more than $2,500 per year! If you smoke two packs per day? Double it! I realize some “cheaper brands” might be cheaper, but still.

How many things could you do with $2,500-$5,000 per year? A vacation? More?

The health ramifications alone should get people to quit. But they didn’t work for me. Heck, I remember dipping during health class in high school. But when I put it into monetary terms, it was a lot easier to say hell with it.

Call it a money intervention. Call it whatever you want. But it’s one intervention I’m glad I got!

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