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12/30/2007 06:49:18 PM · #351 |
More words, Lea (at a time when words can never be enough), but I am so sorry for your loss.
Rob
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12/30/2007 08:14:31 PM · #352 |
Okay.....I really didn't want to go into this in this detail, and Juli, I mean nothing by this other than it is what it is. You can't have any concept of what that world is like if you don't come from it. My family goes back a couple of hundred years, and the elitism, entitlement, bigotry, condescension, and more bad attitudes and behaviors than you have any idea go with all of that. If you're even more unlucky, you'll get one of those "My child will learn what it's like in the real world." parents, who then refuses to give the child the benefits of coming from old blood and money, but yet the same child MUST bear the burdens and responsibilities that come with the family name.
That is a Hell that you cannot imagine.....to have to basically understand as early as twelve that you're free to go about taking the initiative to get a part time job for your walking around money, yet you are NOT to fraternize with the same people you work beside every day because they are, and I quote:"Beneath our station."
So for some idiotic, backwards, clueless standard, you end up working beside someone who is feeding his family, when you are working for play money, and yet you're too good for the man you're taking earning potential FROM????? That is about as twisted as it gets, yet it somehow makes sense to those people. And it never occurs to them that it's WRONG!!
Trust me, there are roots for the DESERVED disdain and resentment I have for the "Aristocracy" in a society where there is not supposed to be one in the first place.
I have long seen been disowned, and I learned enough about the real world along the way even before that to be ashamed of the people who supposedly are "somebody" when they act entitled. I am no better than you are, and vice-versa; we are to each other how we treat and regard each other, nothing more, nothing less.
And I'm sorry, but Paris Hilton is the epitome of what I hate about "Her type of people"......the very same type I was born onto, expected to be like, and refused to become because along the way I met people who had no money, had no name or bloodline, and were of different races and religions who were people who would go to the wall for me because they were men, and women, of heart and character.
So excuse me if I think Paris Hilton is a disgraceful piece of sh*t.
And trust me, she doesn't rent much space in my head over it.
I *do* have my wife and daughter, I do have a life I've forged on my own, people know me for who *I* am, not from where I came, and I try to be a good and decent human being.....not something, or somebody, any better than the next guy. And believe me, my pleasures and significant events in life come from the real world. I struggle like the next guy wondering if I'm doing okay, and some days I fall short. But I do my best, and will keep at it. Funny, I meet good people all the time, too, since I've discovered that an open heart and mind attracts good people. I fall short there sometimes, too, but I keep plugging away.
If anything, I'm all too moderate in my assuming the best about the next fellow 'til he shafts me......I'll always extend the hand of help and friendship, refuse it, fine, I'll go away if that's your choice.
ETA: I am doing my best to raise my child in an environment that does not tolerate racism, elitism, or any other kind of "isms" that would prevent her from looking at the world of people as all potentially being a friend. That doesn't mean I don't try and help her understand that there are bad people out there, and that common sense is good to have and use, but I hope and pray that the world's prejudices that we all grew up with will be a little less in our children's eyes.
Message edited by author 2007-12-30 20:19:00.
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12/30/2007 08:54:08 PM · #353 |
| Lea i am very very sorry to hear of your loss. I wish there was something i could do to ease the pain you are feeling.Hang in there i know its rough, but with time it does start to ease up. |
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12/30/2007 09:07:33 PM · #354 |
| Resentments, grudges, and hatred are poisons. It makes no difference where they came from, letting them go is therapeutic. |
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12/30/2007 09:25:34 PM · #355 |
Jeb I nearly fell of my chair laughing over some of what you wrote in your story..I know it's not funny and I hear your pain but it brought back so many bizarre memories for me. Here's the thing, I too apparently come from "good breeding" that always made me feel like a horse. My ancestors were some kind of English aristocracy that came out here to the colonies in the early days and were very much the aristocracy here but, the bit that makes me cry laughing is that my great Grandfather went senile and lost the family fortune. So I was raised in a working class family but they still put on the airs and graces. I was taught to be a lady, you know the drill, the right stores to shop in , the best China, the importance of designer clothes ect ect. All my friends were "peasants" Peasants! who the hell knew Australia had peasants?! Thankfully my mother had a little more common sense than my Aunts, they were shocking (picture Paris Hilton without her fortune)But still breeding was everything and I was expected to become a private secretary and land me a millionaire to live in the "manner to which I was raised". I wanted to be a carpenter or an artist..ohhh the shame. I never understood it, I always preffered instant coffee in a huge $1 mug to Twinings and Royal Doulton. I think I'm a throw back to some illegitamete peasant in the family tree.
What really cracks me up is that old Barron Hilton has decided to leave most of his fortune to charity. Hehe. |
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12/30/2007 09:44:41 PM · #356 |
Lea - I am so sorry to hear about your mother. Big hugs
Message edited by author 2007-12-30 21:44:54.
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12/30/2007 09:47:49 PM · #357 |
Jeb you reminded me also of our own Michael Abney-Hastings. Michael dropped his title when he moved to Australia and no one in the tiny coastal town where he lives knew that their forklift driver neighbour was the legitimate heir to the English throne. He's just a normal bloke that left all that behind him and he's happy with his life. But when I get annoyed with the English royals, usually around the time they grace us with their presence, I get a perverse pleasure in knowing our true king is a Forkie by trade. Hehehe I'm sorry but I have a weirdish sense of humour and I love this stuff. People are such funny animals.
I should shut up now and go and ummm take some photos or something.
Message edited by author 2007-12-30 21:50:34. |
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12/30/2007 10:12:28 PM · #358 |
| Lea, let me add my condolences. I know how much you hurt right now, and if you need someone to vent to, just send me a PM. |
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12/30/2007 10:29:35 PM · #359 |
Originally posted by Wildcard:
Jeb you reminded me also of our own Michael Abney-Hastings. Michael dropped his title when he moved to Australia and no one in the tiny coastal town where he lives knew that their forklift driver neighbour was the legitimate heir to the English throne. He's just a normal bloke that left all that behind him and he's happy with his life. But when I get annoyed with the English royals, usually around the time they grace us with their presence, I get a perverse pleasure in knowing our true king is a Forkie by trade. Hehehe I'm sorry but I have a weirdish sense of humour and I love this stuff. People are such funny animals.
I should shut up now and go and ummm take some photos or something. |
I'm a mechanic.....or rather, I'm a husband and daddy who made his living for the better part of three decades working on cars.....the occasional tractor, this and that here and there......I've put in a couple hot water heaters on Christmas Eve before, too.
The silly thing is, I have friends all over the world from what I've done with cars and people I've met along the way have exposed me to more of life than I could ever have been had I remained in the scary, insular world of my birth. The car thing is also something that I not only did myself, in theory, it was something that was according to plan.....that I get the opportunity to be exposed to real life in the real world......except that my family couldn't have cared less what I did. Their loss, really, because I actually turned out to be more of a real person, warts and all, than they could have imagined. And this was predominantly my father.....my mom was a wonderful woman, but she died when I was 20.
My collar is blue, not my blood, and I roll up my sleeves next to any man, or woman, who wants/needs my help. I enjoy what I understand to be a way of life that was meant for me to be, and that is as a decent and giving person.
I've met some really incredible people in my life, and they're very humble by nature.
This is Adrienne, my very dear friend. She's just an ordinary hero, who showed me the utmost in humility three years ago Christmas day when, with tears pouring down her cheeks, she told a crowd of strangers and friends that she had just gotten her breast cancer diagnosis and was waiting to hear whther or not it was operable. Yet she was there to tell us that with faith, and good people around her, she would confront her fear, and accept what God had in store for her, and whatever, she would accept it. Three years later, she is doing fine, is the December calendar girl, and thanked ME for the honor!
[thumb]614060[/thumb]
I adore her, and I hope I would have 1/10 the strength that she has in the face of that kinmd of adversity! And to offer her own pain and fear, to let others know that life is worth living for every minute? Wow! Kinda makes all the chicken-sh*t problems pale in comparison, doesn't it.
She and I have virtually nothing of our lives in common except a common life tragedy, and yet she is someone who I will love 'til the day I die for showing me that strength that she has vulnerably and selflessly, so that people could be inspired by her example. There are countless others to whom I'm indebted to that have shown me love, strength, knowledge, laughter, and just their little slice of life and asked nothing in return. I am a rich man in ways that some people would never understand. Sitting here beside me is a small Mexican oil lamp from a man who worked at the hotel where we stayed in Cozumel when our daughter was conceived. He made such an impression on us as a wonderful man that we spent time with him whenever we were at the hotel, and he became our friend and gave us a gift that we may remember him by forever. It's not the lamp, it's that HE gave it to us, and our journey was much enriched by him becoming a part of our life.
It's just hard to explain the incredible perception of how amazing the ordinary can be, and how ordinary the amazing can be if you learn to look at the world as grace.
I have been truly graced.
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12/30/2007 10:32:49 PM · #360 |
Originally posted by kashi:
A final update.
I got to the hospital about 11:30 or so, and had an hour or so with mom, my step-dad and my uncles before mom passed. |
Lea, my thoughts go out to you. I'm so sorry for your loss.
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12/30/2007 10:46:17 PM · #361 |
Originally posted by JuliBoc:
Resentments, grudges, and hatred are poisons. It makes no difference where they came from, letting them go is therapeutic. |
Juli, PLEASE....you have no idea what I've been through to establish my attitudes and feelings towards various segments of society.
Trust me, I don't lay awake at night stewing about it, either.
I feel that generic platitudes are somewhat misguided and in this case, not particularly appreciated.
One thing I learned an awful long time ago is the quickest way to really alienate someone is to tell them how to be.
I trust that you mean to be helpful, but I have no intention of going into what I do, or don't do, that's therapeutic in dealing with life.
I wish that you would respect that, and in turn, let it go.
Man, I gotta take a break here, people......this is really rude with what Lea, Rosemary, and some others have to deal with that are actual issues.
You guys all have my apologies.
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12/31/2007 12:05:16 AM · #362 |
A perspective on scoring is up in the results thread. Congrats to  Bear_Music for leading the scoring, and to those with new top 5's! |
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12/31/2007 12:56:59 AM · #363 |
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12/31/2007 01:09:00 AM · #364 |
That's true HDR with multiple images.
As for the time lapse, I'm gonna bet that's hard to do without a tripod. :-) |
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12/31/2007 01:55:28 AM · #365 |
Noted with glee :-)
But am i the only one who thinks it's ironic that now we have new advanced rules that allow true HDR imaging, and the very first challenge is specifically time-lapse photography, which pretty much by definition excludes HDRI?
jejeje�
R.
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12/31/2007 05:58:36 AM · #366 |
Originally posted by Bear_Music:
But am i the only one who thinks it's ironic that now we have new advanced rules that allow true HDR imaging, and the very first challenge is specifically time-lapse photography, which pretty much by definition excludes HDRI?
jejeje�
R. |
The challenge then is to create a high-range lapsed image. With 10 shots to make use of ;) |
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12/31/2007 08:43:23 AM · #367 |
| Lea, I am so very sorry to hear about your mom. My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. |
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12/31/2007 10:37:17 AM · #368 |
| Lea, I'm sad to hear about your mom. My thoughts are with you and yours. |
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12/31/2007 03:51:51 PM · #369 |
Hey Bear ... don't complain ... I am doing backflips. I can live with one challenge that straight HDR doesn't work for. I am sure you will come up with something. Personally, I think this challenge would be super for fireworks. Too bad I am NOT gonna be near any this evening ... (New Year's Eve)
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12/31/2007 04:31:12 PM · #370 |
| Best wishes to everyone for the new year, may it bring you solace/improvements/happiness/contentment and more. |
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12/31/2007 06:59:48 PM · #371 |
| Happy New Year everybody. See you next year! |
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12/31/2007 07:06:09 PM · #372 |
| Happy New Year all, May 2008 bring you want you are looking for. |
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12/31/2007 09:34:38 PM · #373 |
I'd like to wish everybody a Happy New Year, and thank all of you for one of the most exciting, educational, and interesting years I've had. I've learned a lot here, and I have quite a few of you to thank for many tips, techniques, help and support. It's been awesome. You guys are really something.
It is with a heavy heart that I say that I will be wandering into the new year as a free agent. I have felt uncomfortable here of late, antagonistic and irritable, and I don't feel that is in the spirit of the Team Suck atmosphere. There is just something not quite right in the way that I've been able to communicate.......like I've lost something, and I just don't know what it is. Looking back over those last posts of mine just kind of clarified the angst I'm feeling and I just don't want to drag that kind of thing around the room here and become a pariah.
I do hope to stop by and say hello, as long as that's okay, but I really think I should just go wander off and concentrate on some photography......I'm starting to think I seem to get in trouble here at DPC when my camera's not involved.
So I want to get back to that. I said something a little while back about having five images in the queue at the same time and being happy about both having that many entries and that I liked them all. One of them has been getting some of the best comments ever, the shot I entered tongue-in-cheek got a 6+, and I agonized for about a week over TWO shots for my Free Study which I hope to break my DPC career long dearth of a 6+.
There's a lot I want to do, and I plan to pick up a lens or two, get a new computer, probably spring for CS3, and am thinking about taking a couple of PS courses at the local community college. So I've got some dreams to chase.
So best of luck to you all, thanks again, especially to some of you who have been exceptionally patient and understanding with me, you know who you are, and have the best new year ever!
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12/31/2007 09:52:26 PM · #374 |
| Jeb, are you sure? I haven't been around much lately, going through some angst of my own, but it seems to me that team suck can handle a bit of angst at times and can even be helpful, the thing I like most about TS is that both photographically and personally it's a warts and all kind of group. I admire so very much the TS'rs that are always encouraging and positive and hopefully this year I'll become more like that. I have also watched and admired your journey this year, you have inspired me to try and shoot what I like and care less about what others think. That's still my struggle but I'm getting there. I've seen you being so encouraging and caring to TS'rs as we all go through "stuff". If you decide to go it alone please take care and drop by but I for one would like to see you stay. |
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12/31/2007 09:56:39 PM · #375 |
Originally posted by NikonJeb:
There's a lot I want to do, and I plan to pick up a lens or two, get a new computer, probably spring for CS3, and am thinking about taking a couple of PS courses at the local community college. So I've got some dreams to chase.
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Jeb, I hope you do not leave, you would take a little bit of team Suck with you. Perhaps its time to just shoot for yourself, follow you dreams, but still stop by for a bit of a chat. I know that I would miss you terribly if you go.
If you decide that is what you must do, I wish you happiness and health, for you and for those you love. Take care.....
Barbara |
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