A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

geowoodstock

GeoWoodstock: A wrap!

What a weekend GeoWoodstock was!

This will be the final in my series about the event and the weekend full of geocaching. I’m going to do a wrap of sorts here to talk about some numbers and such. I’m still looking back and enjoying the weekend that we had down there and can’t wait for the Geocaching Block Party in Seattle in August.

The log at this year's GeoWoodstock!

The log at this year’s GeoWoodstock!

But, I wanted to do a tally of some things we did this weekend:

  • 5 states (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia)
  • 150 caches found
  • 11 events (including one mega)
  • 3 Earthcaches
  • 3 Mystery caches
  • 2 Virtuals
  • 2 Lab caches
  • 1 Letterbox
  • Of all those found caches, a combined 9,445 favorite points!

I also reached the 4,000 finds mark, and set a new record by finding 85 caches in one day!

In the end, it was one heck of a great time. Two of us are tentatively planning a weeklong road trip to GeoWoodstock XIV next year in Denver. It will include many states, lots of caching fun and a trip to remember.

It's always fun to meet up with old caching friends at big events!

It’s always fun to meet up with old caching friends at big events!

I haven’t done many road trips like the one I’ll eventually start to plan, but I’m hoping for an epic week full of fun and crazy geocaching, maybe a baseball game or three, and maybe even a disc golf round or two.

This GeoWoodstock was great in that I got to catch up with some people I met at my first GW, as well as others I’ve met through the years. Geocaching is a cool community full of people from different backgrounds and lives. It makes for a diverse and fun crowd. My hope is to make GeoWoodstock an annual trip to catch up with friends and utilize it as an event that becomes one I can’t miss.

This year was a fantastic event. Maybe the 2016 event can be find No. 5,000!

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

GeoWoodstock: A stellar weekend all around

My first GeoWoodstock was in Warren, Pa., in 2011.

What an experience it was. I had known about GeoWoodstock since I started geocaching, but I had never been because it had been in places not too close to me.

So with it being in western Pennsylvania, I knew I had to go to it.

Several years passed and it was coming back closer to the Northeast in Boonsboro, Maryland. I made reservations early and waited. When pre-registration opened, I signed up and ordered the items I wanted. Then I waited some more.

This year's GeoWoodstock was an amazing event!

This year’s GeoWoodstock was an amazing event!

Memorial Day weekend was the culmination of that wait.

One thing I found out and realized with this one is how into it the whole community seemed to be. Businesses welcomed people with no issues. People seemed to know about and embrace the thousands of people coming into the area for this event.

That’s a positive thing.

More than that, the committee behind this GeoWoodstock was stellar.

From the early arrival event on Friday to the main event on Saturday, things ran smooth. There were so many solid vendors. The food offerings were really good. I didn’t see many seminars, but the ones I peeked in on seemed to be solid and well-done. There were also a bunch of people at each one.

The weather didn’t hurt, either.

With sunny skies, it was a fine weekend to be outside. People chatted and swapped stories. Pathtag trading was being done all over. For my little group, we spent some time at the event, went and cached some, then came back for the end of the event. We then cached more before coming back for the Midnight Madness event (more on that in a future post).

This truly was one of the best geocaching experiences I’ve ever had.

The whole weekend was awesome. There were many satellite events, loads of geocaches to be found, and friendly people everywhere you went.

I also loved the amount of vendors and, as noted earlier, they were all solid. There were different geocaching items for sale, which was nice to see.

This event also got me back into the geocaching mood. From December to about early April, I kind of wasn’t into it. Part of it was the weather, but another part was I was a little stale with things. I needed a small break. A weekend like this was perfect because I got to remember all the good things about geocaching.

It also made me realize I want to start making plans for the next one, which is during July 4 weekend next year just outside of Denver. I’ve never been to Colorado, so this seems like a good reason. The cool part is two of us got talking about it and are thinking about making it a road trip – driving out and back – to get a bunch of states and great caches. So we’ll see how it goes. It doesn’t hurt to plan. The worst-case scenario is I don’t go and have to cancel any reservations I make. In a perfect world, I’ll make this a yearly trip.

It was a fantastic time though and if you are a geocacher and have never been to GeoWoodstock, I’d highly encourage you to attend one at some point!

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

GeoWoodstock: The creative geocaches of WVTim

When heading to GeoWoodstock, I did some serious research to make the caching routes as efficient as possible. Sometimes, it’s harder than others to do that.

While doing a “way down” list, I came across one cache created by WVTim and it had hundreds of favorite points. More digging showed even more caches with hundreds of favorite points.

Creativity made WVTim's caches amazingly fun.

Creativity made WVTim’s caches amazingly fun.

Gadget caches seemed to be his specialty – in other words, you needed to use a gadget of some sort to get the cache out.

These caches – or at least many of them – had to be done.

The plan was on the Friday of the long weekend to go hit many of these caches and see all about them. Needless to say, we weren’t disappointed. The sad part is, we should have taken down codes and such as I think we might have been able to land the free geocoin offered for a couple of the trails that Tim has caches on. Oh well, the caches by themselves were way worth it.

I also had a chance to speak a little with Tim at GeoWoodstock and am going to talk to him at some point for a story on the blog I really want to dig in and see where he comes up with all of these amazing ideas.

Without giving everything away (though there are YouTube videos out about many of his caches), check out a few of these caches and what was needed/used:

  • Jumper cables
  • Batteries
  • Motion sensors
  • Solar panels
  • Electricity
  • Magnets
  • Sense of smell
  • An Etch-a-Sketch (it was in the cache’s first part)

And how they are all used is pretty amazing all by itself. It seemed like every one that we went to made us smile or look at it in amazement. The caches were all well-done, all locked so they couldn’t be stolen, and all had permission to be placed. That’s something in this day and age.

Bring you sense of smell to be able to get to the log in this cache!

Bring you sense of smell to be able to get to the log in this cache!

The best part, though, was it was rare for us to have to worry about being around others. For the most part, we had the opportunity to go cache to cache without lines of people, which is often the case when you are at mega events. The ones where we did see people, we made sure to wait from a distance so we had the chance to do it ourselves.

Now, the cool part is caches like this give me inspiration to come up with some clever and fun hides. The issue, though, is being able to pull them off. I’m not the handiest person in the world, so I’ll have to think about things a bit to see what I can come up with.

Not all of his caches required gadgets, though. Some were just plain creative or fun. Such as the human-sized mouse trap with an ammo can painted as a block of cheese. The reality is he is just one creative hider and the caches were fun to do.

Either way, it made the weekend that much  better with these caches. It’s good to know people put a lot of thought and such into their ideas. In the few minutes I got to speak with him, I got some pretty good insight about the process and hopefully, when I get the chance to talk with him more in-depth, I’ll get a bit more.

I always wonder when I see caches with a lot of favorites if it’s totally well-earned, or if it’s just cool and people click that favorite box. But when you are talking hundreds of favorites, you know something has to be good and these caches weren’t just good—they were great. I hope to make a trip back down there to do the ones I didn’t finish as I am highly curious to see what they have to offer!

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

Geocaching: The state of the game from my view

As the warmer months approach, I’m going to be more apt to head out and geocache on free weekends and maybe even a few nights after work, if some local caches start popping up.

The winter was harsh.

It was so tough, in fact, that I didn’t even consider geocaching most of the time. It was either too cold or there was too much snow – or for several months – both. Back in the day, I’d have gone anyway. But as I’ve grown older, I’m more a fair-weather cacher. I love the game, but I also want to have fun doing it and not worry about how much longer I am doing it, which is often the case when out in frigid winter weather.

Between December and March, I found one cache – and that was an event in December. Work and weather and other items made it so I didn’t get out or think about caching much. As it’s gotten better out, I’ve tried to go more often. That will continuethis month as I attended the ASP Geobash this past Saturday and head off to GeoWoodstock this week (and using some vacation time, finally, for it).

It's still fun to get out and find those caches!

It’s still fun to get out and find those caches!

I actually had grand plans of making GeoWoodstock my 4,000th find, but I don’t see that happening. I need 118 and the event is Saturday.For the ASP Geobash weekend, I ended with 20 finds. There were grandeur thoughts of a 40 or 50 cache day, but with a slightly late start and things taking longer than expected… as well as some humidity and such, well, just didn’t happen. There will be plans to do a lot of geocaches on Thursday and Friday this week, but I’m not sure I’ll get that 118 before the big event. I’ll make a push, but we’ll see.

If I had been even somewhat active with caching this past winter, I probably would have no issues making this my 4,000th find. So it’s my fault if it doesn’t happen, but we will see how it all goes.

As the weather has started to bloom, however, I figured it was a good time to look at how the game seems to be overall. I’ve had a few odd logs on my caches recently that made me think about the game. I’ve also listened to a few geocaching podcasts that have touched on some interesting topics, so I wanted to chime in as well.

With that in mind, here’s my look at the Geocaching State of the Game Address

GROWING

Geocaching, whether you call it a game or a hobby or something else (I refuse to call it a sport as some others do – it’s not. There’s no competition and no winners… it’s purely a recreational thing), is still growing. With technology constantly changing, more and more people sign up to play.

Heck, just take a look at other geocaching listing sites. Though geocaching.com is still the main one, others are popping up and giving people options. And that’s a good thing. No business should be able to monopolize the market. I will admit I haven’t really checked the others much, but I will likely look into it a bit more.

That being said, geocaching.com is the biggest and more active listing site. The site boasts more than 2.6 million active caches worldwide and more than 6 million geocachers worldwide.

The game is healthy, or so it seems.

I’d be more interested to find out some information about those 6 million geocachers though. I’d be willing to bet that at least half of them haven’t found 25 geocaches. I’d say at least half probably aren’t all that active, either.

That can sometimes hurt.

With the growth of the game, there come some pains – for example, the geocaching app for smartphones. When I first started caching, I needed to get a GPS unit (for the record, I still own and use said unit and I started in 2008) to play the game. Now, somebody just has to download an app and they are off and running.

When I started, at the end of your day (or whenever soon after), you sat down at the computer and logged your caches (I still do it this way) and usually put some thought into your logs. Now, you can do it on the fly via the app and you can even just do a “log it” without writing any comment (that should be fixed. Force people to type something).

To say the game has changed would be an understatement.

Don’t get me wrong, I like this growth. In fact, when I travel, I’ll often pull out the phone and find a nearby cache to try and find. It makes it a lot easier to cache on the fly, which is nice. That being said, the app can also be a bad thing. Why? Well, people join, find a few caches and disappear. Worse than that, they’ll sometimes place a cache or two (usually nothing great), leave the game and then the cache becomes trash.

So it’s much easier to play, that’s for sure. But sometimes, I wonder if that’s a good thing.

The growth has seemed to go backward in my area. New caches don’t pop up too often. I have a boat load of containers ready to go, but I need to find spots to put them all out.  I have a couple of ideas and hopeful plans once I can get out and do it.

WHAT TO LOG

Speaking of all the new people and such (and even some veteran cachers), it seems like it’s becoming the thing to post needs maintenance or needs archived when you can’t find a cache, instead of the old fashioned DNF.

I realize there’s no actual “rule” as to certain logs, but I have my own way of looking at things.

If I don’t find a cache, I DNF it. Simple as that.

If I look for a cache that has a bunch of DNFs and I can’t find it, I might log a “needs maintenance” because it might be gone. I also use this selection if I find the cache and it’s in bad shape.

In the rare instances I use the “needs archived” selection, it’s usually because the cache is in awful shape and the owner hasn’t been seen in a long time, or if there are many other DNFs or needs maintenance logs and nobody seems to be doing something about it.

But goodness knows I don’t use those last two options if the cache has been being found and I just can’t find it.

It seems like that’s the new thing as I’ve received a few of these logs from people with fewer than 10 finds. I’ve also seen it on caches I am looking to search for and it makes me shake my head.

The simple fact? Just because you can’t find it doesn’t mean it needs maintenance or should be archived.

If you are newer, keep that in mind when logging. Reach out to the owner. Reach out to others. Geocachers, for the most part, are friendly and helpful. Become part of our community and learn from people who have been doing it for a long time.

Another tip – when placing your first few caches, test those coordinates. Phones aren’t always that accurate, so make sure you have the coords you need.

ATTITUDES

One thing that still seems to be good, for the most part, is the attitude of those playing the game. It’s not like I haven’t seen some petty stuff (and heck, in the past, I’ve been involved with it – haven’t we all?), but for the most part it seems OK.

I’ve made an attempt to wash slates clean over the past year or two and take the game for what it’s worth and it’s made it much better. I don’t worry about some of the things I’ve heard in my area and beyond – whether it’s not liking somebody for the way they cache, or ignoring somebody hides because of what you’ve heard, or simply avoiding things because people are there – I’ve decided it’s not worth it.

Pennsylvania's first -- placed in September 2000.

Pennsylvania’s first — placed in September 2000.

Life’s too short.

I’ve made a lot of friends through this game. I enjoy talking to other people. I love traveling to different places, many of which I may have never seen were it not for geocaching. I’ve made contact with people when traveling to different parts of the country and the world to meet up and cache with somebody (it’s always more fun to cache with somebody than by myself, I think anyway).

But, the attitude isn’t always positive. I’ve also met grumpy people who find everything to be wrong with the hobby. And, I’m sure, I have been grumpy in the past. But in the present, I take it all for what it’s worth. I have fun. I talk to people. I smile. And why? Because it’s not worth getting upset over.

At this point of my geocaching life, when something feels like it’s going to irk me, I walk away from it. Easy as can be!

As I look back at my seven years of geocaching (which, to me, is a long time … but the hobby is in its 15th year!), I’ve seen a lot of things that have helped me come to some conclusions about the game.

  1. Some take it really seriously

And when I say seriously, I mean seriously. I’ve met people who get visibly angry over, say, not being FTF. Some will get really competitive about the numbers. Personally, I like numbers and such, but it’s because I’m a baseball nut and love statistics and the programs. But I don’t care where I’m ranked or where I’m stacked up against other cachers. Why?

And this next thought isn’t something that’s across the board, but something I’m curious about. I’ve talked to several people who are extremely competitive or call this game a “sport.” I grew up playing sports and still play competitive softball. So, to me, geocaching is relaxing. I’ve talked to many on the opposite end and the majority of them didn’t compete in sports growing up or in high school etc. I wonder if there’s a connection there as to who pushes and who doesn’t when it comes to competitiveness?

  1. Change happens

The reality is, the game is controlled by the listing sites. Though they may all listen to the community, in the end, they make the decisions. So when they make changes, it’s what they might think is best for the game and/or their business. Often, the changes are met with outrage.

As for me? I try and go with the flow. I can’t say I’ve always agreed with changes at geocaching.com, but I also realize they are a business and they have to do what they feel is best for them as well as the community. As the game continues to grow, more changes will happen. May as well deal with it, right?

  1. What’s a 3 to me is a 1 to somebody else is a 5 to another person

Though I often look at terrain and difficulty, I realize people think of ratings in a much different light. Though there’s a tool to use to be able to help with it, not everybody uses it or agrees with it. So it’s a good starting point, but sometimes it might be a different thought process, so keep that in mind.

  1. All types are fun

Though I’d rather not have a day full of lamp post caches and guardrail finds, I have no issues overall with them. I’ve gotten to the point where I enjoy all of the geocaches I find (besides those that are in bad shape and not being taken care of), and they all have their place. So, sign the log and move on.

Too often, I’ll see negative posts that call people out and things like that and it makes me shake my head. That is why it’s better to contact people privately, so utilize it. There’s no need to be negative and make somebody feel or look bad.

Positive energy is a good thing.

Now, I will say one thing, though. The only time I feel all types aren’t fun is when there’s an opportunity to place something bigger and a small container is placed instead. I don’t even care if it’s a soda preform (to be honest, they are some of my favorite containers, so I have no issue with them anywhere), but  go up a size from a nano or a small bison, or a small plastic tube. Sometimes, you just can’t, and I get that. But when there are many other places to hide something, try and come up with something a bit more.

Either way, I’ll sign and smile!

  1. I like what it does for me

Geocaching gets me out and about. I’ve met friends that I never would have known, if not for this hobby. I have a few podcasts I listen to about the game and never would have found those if not foe being involved. I enjoy events, creative hides, and easy grabs. I like a good hike, or taking me to an interesting place I never knew about. I like the people or the solitude this game can give.

It’s been a great thing for me and I hope it continues.

THE STATE OF THE GAME

Geocaching is strong right now. More and more people seem to know about the game, and that’s a good thing. I plan on caching as much as I can this summer and hopefully be able to meet more people, swap stories and cache with friends as much as possible.

I’m planning at least 4-5 weekends around geocaching, with two (GeoWoodstock and the Block Party in August) being longer and more in-depth. I look forward to seeing new places this summer, finding some great caches and enjoying being outside.

I’m excited for future milestones and trading pathtags and being involved as much as I can. Maybe I’ll make some old connections or find some new ones.

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

Looking back at 2012: Finding the good in an awful year

No matter how bad things are, sometimes you have to sit back, realize it’s a blessing to be alive and smile.

This post definitely will have its ups and downs.

Last year when I did a look back at the year, I was in the same situation I am now — unemployed. But I still was optimistic. I had taken advantage of the year by being able to see things as I did my job search.

But as those months continued into 2012, it got worse.

I didn’t go see things as much. I canceled — understandably so — a trip to GeoWoodstock X (to be fair, it sounds like canning the trip wasn’t the worst thing. I hope to get back to GeoWoodstock some time in the future). I also didn’t do several things I had hoped to do, such as do a repeat trip to my Aunt’s house on the Jersey Shore.

Still, I’ve tried to remain as upbeat and as positive as I can. Despite knowing the end is near (or done if nothing has happened) to unemployment benefits, I realize I’m not even close to many others. I have a roof over my head, food to eat and family and friends who care enough about me to try and help or get my mind off things, if even just getting together for a slice of pizza or a beer.

That doesn’t take away from the negative thoughts I have in my head. I look at others who are successful and happy in life and wonder if I’ll reach that. I realize I chose a bad career path — or at least it seems — and I need to figure out something to do.

Hopefully, 2013 will be that year.

That being said, 2012 wasn’t a total wash. The reality is, I try and do whatever I can to try keep an upbeat attitude, if even just for a day or two. The lack of finances has made me look for more affordable things to do, especially in the local area. From photography to community events, I’ve seen a lot more of the area, which is a positive thing.

****

One of the biggest — and brightest spots of my year was Rattling Chains, a blog I created to cover the sport of disc golf. This was done as a hobby during my spare time as I wanted to see if a niche blog like that could work. Disc golf is an extremely fast growing sport, so maybe something like this could take off.

And, compared to my hopes, it did.

I had a fun year in disc golf, but would have liked to played more!

Since launching the blog in early March, the site has received more than 115,000 views. That’s not shabby for a small crew (there are 3-5 of us who write on a regular basis) and with no financial backing or gain. We’ve put out some quality content and that’s been something I’ve really been proud of.

At times, it’s been hard to continue. And there’s no guarantee we’ll make it. Who knows what life brings. But for now, we’re doing well and have a loyal group following us.

In other parts of disc golf, I didn’t play as much as I would have liked this year. Unfortunately the drive to get a local course failed, so that made it harder for me to play. Driving 1 1/2 hours to play a round isn’t smart in regard to time or finances.

That meant I also only played in five tournaments this year — two PDGA-sanctioned tournaments (I reached my goal of hitting 700 as a rating), two doubles tournaments (we cashed in one!) and one Ace Race.

I’ve also played a bunch of casual rounds — including one with 2010 world champion Eric McCabe. So, in the end, I think I improved quite a bit, which is something I wanted to do.

****

During this year, besides seeking a job, I was also seeking something else — peace.

The reality is, I have a lot of hate when it comes to some things in my life. I’m coming to terms with much of it and, I think, by the end of this job hunt, I’ll have come to total peace.

In fact, I really think I’ll face it head-to-head when I know my life is taking a better turn.

In the meantime, as I tried to shake it — I wanted to find some sort of peace. Kind of finding that place where I knew I could get away and just relax and not worry about anything else.

For those of you who know one of my closest friends Darren, you know he’s got his hands into so many things. That usually means when I get the chance to hang out with him, there’s going to be something different.

Finding kayaking was an important part of my year.

Kayaking was one of them.

Though I had always wanted to learn to kayak, I had never done it until this year. The first couple of times I went was with Darren. I used one of his kayaks and we paddled the local river. However, the kayak wasn’t truly good for me.

The next several times I went, I rented at a local kayak place. The owner was extremely helpful every time I went, helping me find the right kayak and showing me what I needed to do. The first time or two I went, I had to get the feel of it. From then on out, I got the “feel” of it within the first five minutes and I was all over it.

I still can’t do like others — have the legs out while chilling — but I’m sure that will come in time. I also need to figure out how to kayak for a couple of hours without back pain!

The one thing I truly found with kayaking?

Peace.

There is something to be said about being on the water with not many around and just coast, soak up some sun and listen to nature. It’s peaceful. You can get into a great place when out there.

I also held our area’s first water-based geocaching event. We had more than 30 people come out on a warm fall day, paddle a mile and a half to the event and enjoy everything.

Way too cool.

I don’t set resolutions or anything like that, but I’m really hoping to be able to afford a kayak and a roof rack this year. I can definitely see me going kayaking a whole heap more, especially if I don’t have to rent every time I go.

****

Speaking of geocaching, I had a decent year with that hobby.

According to my statistics, I found 539 caches this year, which is my highest total since finding 1,030 in 2009. Since then, I’ve founf 491 (2010) and 396 (2011).

I finished a monumental challenge in completing the New York State DeLorme Challenge, which is something I’ve worked on for several years. Two big one-day road trips helped me get to the final point, which was awesome. I was excited to share the moment with some friends and it was nice to know I completed the challenge.

It’s been fun finding caches and doing some DeLorme road trips this year.

The challenge final was also my 3,000th find.

I’ve also completed the New York County Challenge, but I have yet to go find the final.

During the year, I had the chance to hit up 13 events, including the first New England mega event, which was held in Massachusetts  We made it a one-day trip (it was only a few hours from me) and had a good time, despite the crazy heat.

Including the seven events I hosted this year, I have launched 16 new caches in 2012. One of those was also my 50th hide (I now have 59). I think I’m most proudest of that, because it’s always nice to put out new caches.

It hasn’t been all great, though. We had a geocache attack this year, stealing upward of 10 ammo cans. A good bulk of them were mine or one other persons. I wondered if it was somebody local or somebody coming through the area and stealing them. The worst part was when my golden ammo can was replaced (it was done by someone else), it was stolen a second time — and one of her caches that was nearby was also close. I don’t know if it’s somebody local, but I won’t lie when I say I think it has to be someone with some sort of a vendetta. Since then, however, it seems to have ceased. So we can hope, anyway.

In the end, it was a good year for caching. I had the chance to go on some really fun caching days and got to meet new people. Though I had to cancel two trips to mega events I wanted to hit for financial reasons, I still enjoyed the year of caching. In the end, it did what it normally does — gave me an out to forget things for a while and took me to some places I likely never would have found without the game.

****

This has been an interesting year when it comes to photography, which is why I’ll be breaking that down into more than one category.

First, professional wrestling. I’ve blogged about this before, but when it comes to photography, I’ve really found a lot of fun in shooting wrestling. Especially independent federations. First, it’s cheap entertainment (usually, tickets are $10-$15 for about three hours of action). Second, you can get some great images, be it action, close-ups or even the fans.

One of my favorite images this year in regard to wrestling — Brodie Lee. He’s since been signed by WWE and is wrestling under the name Luke Harper.

I have to say, I’m kind of shocked at how many events I went to this year. I took photos at 16 wrestling events and attended at least one other where I didn’t take any images. That’s quite a few. But I’ve loved the images I’ve taken. I also had the chance to tag along with a couple of indy wrestlers to a training seminar.

You get quite the variety of quality, too. Some is bad, some is good, some is awesome.

Either way, it’s a slice of variety that makes it fun to take photos.

I’ve also had the chance to get to know some of the personalities and am working on some writing projects with a few of them. In the end, I hope to talk to several others and make this one massive project — possibly a book.

After all, the photos only tell half the stories.

Though many people look own upon this sport, these guys (and gals) who do this really have some interesting stories to tell. Some are wild, some are good and some are bad. Some are downright tragic.

I am happy I’ve been able to shoot this sport. I’ve grown up a wrestling fan, so being able to capture these images has been awesome. That being said, one thing the training session taught me is being able to take photos at ringside is way better than being back in the crowd. Maybe in 2013, I’ll get that chance to get up close and personal to shoot the sport in a different light. I’ll look to rent a lens beforehand if that opportunity comes.

I didn’t use my favorite wrestling shot of the year in this post because it’s graphic and I want people to make their own choice if they want to see it. Note it’s bloody. If you want to see it, click here.

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This year hasn’t always been the best for photography.

I started out the year with a bang being involved in the second year of the HooHaa 52 and taking part in the 366 Project.

Some of you may remember I completed the 365 Project in 2010. The project is where you take a photo every day for a full year. I finished in in 2010 and swore I’d never do it again.

My Feb. 28 shot for the failed 366 Project.

However, 2012 was a leap year, so …

Needless to say, I didn’t make it. I sputtered throughout the summer and forced myself to keep going. Once the fall hit, I really hit a wall. No job equaled fewer opportunities to travel around and taking photos in my immediate area was becoming a bore.

So, after about 250 days, I called it quits.

I realize I only had three months or so remaining, but I knew I wasn’t going to make it. So I had two decisions — push as long as I could, or end it there. I decided to end it there, knowing I’d really get mad if I made it to December or something and then slipped.

Also, I think knowing I had completed this project in 2010 made it easier for me to call it quite.

The HooHaa 52 was also a failure. I was about 10 weeks shy of finishing. The reason there is the majority of people who joined this challenge had faltered. And others were using older photos or logging too many in a row. So I got frustrated and gave up.

That being said, Year 3 of the HooHaa 52 is starting this week and I’m more excited than I have been in the past for this challenge. I think we have a good group of people and have tweaked the rules to make it easier. Hopefully by this time next year, I’ll be telling you all about how I finished the project and how proud I am of the group and everything that got done.

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Travel this year was limited. I hit up the Lancaster area early in the year for a couple days of disc golf. Same with a short weekend trip to Philly in November, where I also got to stay with relatives and see some relatives I hadn’t seen in a while.

The Cooperstown Winter Festival was one of the local events I checked out this year.

There were also the two days of 22-plus hours of travel and caching to fill the DeLorme squares. And I ventured a few places to play disc golf, usually day trips.

But things I had hoped to do this year — a couple of geocaching trips, a trip to the Vibram Open — it just wasn’t in the cards this year.

And I’m OK with that. I realize my time needed to be spent (and still does) applying and searching for employment. It’s part of this crazy part of my life I’m in. Throwing money out for big trips just isn’t justifiable, when I’m trying to keep my head above water with bills.

That being said…

What this year taught me was to find more things locally. Things such as area fairs or festivals that are low cost (or free) and things put on for the community. I had the chance to see different things in a different light.

I also explored more of the local area, through geocaching and photography, to try and get out and visit local parks and such. There are a few I missed and I look forward to checking in 2013. There are also many awesome state parks within a couple hours from here. They offer many things and after receiving an Empire Pass for Christmas this year, I plan on trying to visit as many as possible this year.

I got involved with helping people looking for photos of headstones via Find A Grave and did some personal photography challenges. I worked on geocaching things in the local area. There really are so many things in people’s local areas they don’t know about. It’s unfortunate it took me this long to realize it. I look forward to looking at things like this in the future though.

It truly is amazing how you look at things differently when you have to find more cheap and inexpensive means of entertainment.

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In the end, the year featured more than I can put in this post.

It definitely had its ups and downs. Though a lot of the downs outweighed some things, the reality is I still am here on Earth, have good family and friends and am better off than so many others.

I also do believe things happen for a reason.

What the reason is that I’m going through all of this right now? No idea. But hopefully it will show its face in 2013.

Thanks to everyone who has visited the site through this year and I hope to have many more things to post about in the upcoming year!

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