What are your goals?

I try to be a better person each day of my life. Not saying that I'm always successful but at least it's on my mind.  Each year at this time people talk about New Year's resolutions, but few follow through.  Why?  Maybe it's because there was no road map, no strategic plan. 

We set goals such as "I will lose weight" but that's too general, we need to be more specific.  I will lose 10 pounds in the next 10 months and I will do that by not snacking while sitting on the couch.  Now that's a plan.


I like to associate life with the game of football.  There's a goal at the end of the field and you get there with a game plan.  On each down the quarterback calls a play and that play has a specific plan.  No plan, no goal!  You can do anything in this world, the only thing that will stop you will be you! 

I found a web site that is chocked full of good stuff to help us travel down the highway of life in the happy lane.  Lots of good articles such as "7 questions to find passion" or "A better person in 7 days."  This is a site where you could spend all day reading and getting motivated!

It’s that time of year!

Snow seems to be capturing the headlines this week, in Europe and the U.S.  I spent most of my life living in the Midwest and it was usually a white Christmas.  There is something special about the snow flakes falling outside the window as you sip some hot chocolate and enjoy the fireplace.

Now that we live in Phoenix we don’t see the white stuff unless we drive a couple of hours north which we will do this weekend just to take pictures.

I took this photo with my iPhone yesterday at Westgate which is right next to the University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the 2008 Super Bowl.  That is certainly a different scene than most of the country right now.

I kind of miss the snow at Christmas time, but I don’t miss the shoveling and bitter cold temperatures.  After blue skies, warm temps, and sunshine for the past 16 years it would be hard for me to endure the harshness of a cold winter.

Wherever you are and whatever the weather, I hope you have a very Merry Christmas, and that 2011 will be the best year of your life!

Have you heard of “Wordle?”

I recently found a site on the Internet where you can use your imagination to create some cool graphics.

I created this one to use as the opening page in Power Point for my Photo Seminars. 

First thing to do is to open Word or Word Pad and type in some words that go along with the theme you want to use.  If you repeat words they will have stronger emphasis.  Copy those words that you created and paste them into the space provided in Wordle.  The reason for creating your words externally is so you have a back-up and don’t have to start all over again if you make a mistake in Wordle.

Click the “Randomize Button” until you find an arrangement that you like.  You will find provisions to change the font, layout, and color, at the top of the page.  When finished I do a “Print Screen” and paste it into my photo editor for any further enhancement such as adding the camera in the corner.

This is a free service and the site is  http://www.wordle.net/

The iPad

This person is Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers.  The object that he is holding is an iPad that was released in April, 2010.  Since then the company has sold over 1.5 million a month!  This man, in my opinion, is a marketing genius. 

People stood in line at stores for days to be one of the first to purchase the iPhone, and the same thing happened with the iPad.

I was a hold off on the iPhone but soon joined the ranks of proud owners.  It is just a marvelous piece of technology and I have really enjoyed all it has to offer.  I will upgrade soon to the iPhone 4G.

I have been holding off on the iPad, but finally gave into the temptation today.  This too is a wonderful invention and I will use it, among other things, to enhance my passion for photography.

I’m still a PC man, and probably will always be, but never say never….