My goals for today are:
1) do something good, no, wonderful for myself.
2) Do something marvelous and kind for my wife.
3) Do something that's good for my house
4) Do at least one thing that's Godly for my Church
5) Do something good for my neighborhood
That's as far as I think I can get today.
I will write an entry as to what I have accomplished at the end of the day, and post it here. So come back if you'd care to see how I did with my goals, and what precisely my actions were.
Tomorrow, I'll explain why I've chosen the “order of business” for my daily activities. The underlying reason for my ordering and choices.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
3 year-old in South St. Louis dies of gunshot.
I live in a very racially diverse area of St. Louis. My neighborhood is one of the top 15 (I have read) places in the USA where people from other countries are re-located to get a good start.
My neighborhood is a mix of African America, Serbian, Bosnian, Russian, Vietnamese, and more recently, Sudanese refugees who have the enormous good fortune to be allowed into a country with as much wealth and opportunity for a better life. People around the world know this. That's WHY we have so many who want to become Americans.
I love my neighborhood, and the diversity it contains.
Today, though, a particularly gruesome and in fact deadly event occurred. You can read the details for yourself by following the link, if you wish.
A three-year old shot himself to death. Here's how close he was to our home, 1/5 of a mile according to Google maps.
Why did this horrible thing happen? Well, let's work backwards and see:
1) Brandon Tate pulled the trigger.
2) Brandon got the gun
3) His mother left the gun within reach of a 3-year old
4) His mother bought the gun because she lives in a dangerous, drug-infested neighborhood.
5) We live in a dangerous, drug-infested neighborhood because people use drugs.
6) People use drugs to escape the horrible, depressing reality of their lives.
7) People sell drugs because they can make a TON of money more than they can working at a fast food restaurant.
8) People want to make more money than they can at a fast food restaurant in order to survive and feed their families.
9) People in my neighborhood often can't get a job because they don't have a decent education, which means they either have to work at menial, low paying jobs, starve, work the welfare system, or constantly look for work and be told they don't have enough education - or whatever excuse companies can use.
9a) alternately they can sell drugs, without much education, with no resume or hiring process, and drive around in great cars.
10) African Americans and others in poor South St. Louis areas don't get a decent education for many reasons, but one of them in my mind is the lack of equality.
We pay lip service to Equality in this country all the time. "All men are created equal" "Equal Rights Amendment", and many more examples too numerous for you to care to read.
In reality, people in poor neighborhoods don't have anything resembling equal opportunity.
Tune in tomorrow or the next visit to read about the lack of equality, it's roots, how embedded it is, and some thoughts about how to at least move in the direction of fulfilling our true values as Americans.
My neighborhood is a mix of African America, Serbian, Bosnian, Russian, Vietnamese, and more recently, Sudanese refugees who have the enormous good fortune to be allowed into a country with as much wealth and opportunity for a better life. People around the world know this. That's WHY we have so many who want to become Americans.
I love my neighborhood, and the diversity it contains.
Today, though, a particularly gruesome and in fact deadly event occurred. You can read the details for yourself by following the link, if you wish.
A three-year old shot himself to death. Here's how close he was to our home, 1/5 of a mile according to Google maps.
Why did this horrible thing happen? Well, let's work backwards and see:
1) Brandon Tate pulled the trigger.
2) Brandon got the gun
3) His mother left the gun within reach of a 3-year old
4) His mother bought the gun because she lives in a dangerous, drug-infested neighborhood.
5) We live in a dangerous, drug-infested neighborhood because people use drugs.
6) People use drugs to escape the horrible, depressing reality of their lives.
7) People sell drugs because they can make a TON of money more than they can working at a fast food restaurant.
8) People want to make more money than they can at a fast food restaurant in order to survive and feed their families.
9) People in my neighborhood often can't get a job because they don't have a decent education, which means they either have to work at menial, low paying jobs, starve, work the welfare system, or constantly look for work and be told they don't have enough education - or whatever excuse companies can use.
9a) alternately they can sell drugs, without much education, with no resume or hiring process, and drive around in great cars.
10) African Americans and others in poor South St. Louis areas don't get a decent education for many reasons, but one of them in my mind is the lack of equality.
We pay lip service to Equality in this country all the time. "All men are created equal" "Equal Rights Amendment", and many more examples too numerous for you to care to read.
In reality, people in poor neighborhoods don't have anything resembling equal opportunity.
Tune in tomorrow or the next visit to read about the lack of equality, it's roots, how embedded it is, and some thoughts about how to at least move in the direction of fulfilling our true values as Americans.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Antique Very Green Ford Model A
I'm hoping to get back to making this more than just a photo blog. But so many other things beckon.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Teton Fire
James Neely is one of the premier landscape and nature photographers on flickr, the photo sharing site. Visit his photostream to see some amazing photos, best seen as a slide show !! A real treat
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Strike!!!
I haven't posted in awhile, but I'm trying to get myself back in gear.
Wayne is one of the most amazing photographers at flickr, and this is such an awesome shot that I was inspired to blog it.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
One Tree Hill
It is important to remember that photography is an image, period. The only rules I know of is that it is two-dimensional. Other than that, it can be black & white or have exagertated colors. A photo can be distored by the use of a wide-angle lens or in software. This image is no more "fake" because it is a composite than an image straight out of a digital camera.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Colored Snow
Well, it took a lot of time to put the food coloring on this snow, but I liked the effect.
Just kidding, all manipulation, of course.
Just kidding, all manipulation, of course.
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