The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[NotWise]

There was an article in the local newspaper today about my taekwondo sensei, who I lost contact with around the turn of the century. He was a professor in planetary science and an expert on Mars in addition to being a 6th degree blackbelt. I don't know if he ever became a Master, which would have been the next step. In that school, a standing as Master requires that you have a pyramid of successful dojos, and I'd be surprised if he ever had time for that.

He died in a car accident last year. Now an organization of his peers has named a landmark on Mars in his memory.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Okay, I'll put milk on my shopping list. You will need to supply the Cheerios

 

[GrantBricksly]

Guys...I'm having a day...a good one...but a very emotional one...

It's Father's Day. So already a good day.
Last October, my father died from Cancer, and the many complications that came from it. So emotional day for sure...

But here's where my emotions really got pulled...
My father planted a bunch of flowers all over the RV park where he and Mom stayed most of the year. He was very proud of them.
So, after he died, Mom got some of the bulbs from those flowers and offered them to me. I took them, and planted them, along with Dad's ashes.
They've been thriving and growing.
About a month ago, a bud appeared...big bud...but it has just sat there...doing nothing...
Until today... Father's Day... When it suddenly opened into a beautiful flower.

Guys.... I cried.. no lie. I felt like my Dad had come back to hang out with me on Father's Day... To let me know everything was ok.

The flower

 

[NotWise]

Guys...I'm having a day...a good one...but a very emotional one...

It's Father's Day. So already a good day.
Last October, my father died from Cancer, and the many complications that came from it. So emotional day for sure...

But here's where my emotions really got pulled...
My father planted a bunch of flowers all over the RV park where he and Mom stayed most of the year. He was very proud of them.
So, after he died, Mom got some of the bulbs from those flowers and offered them to me. I took them, and planted them, along with Dad's ashes.
They've been thriving and growing.
About a month ago, a bud appeared...big bud...but it has just sat there...doing nothing...
Until today... Father's Day... When it suddenly opened into a beautiful flower.

Guys.... I cried.. no lie. I felt like my Dad had come back to hang out with me on Father's Day... To let me know everything was ok.

The flower

I glad you had that experience.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Guys...I'm having a day...a good one...but a very emotional one...

It's Father's Day. So already a good day.
Last October, my father died from Cancer, and the many complications that came from it. So emotional day for sure...

But here's where my emotions really got pulled...
My father planted a bunch of flowers all over the RV park where he and Mom stayed most of the year. He was very proud of them.
So, after he died, Mom got some of the bulbs from those flowers and offered them to me. I took them, and planted them, along with Dad's ashes.
They've been thriving and growing.
About a month ago, a bud appeared...big bud...but it has just sat there...doing nothing...
Until today... Father's Day... When it suddenly opened into a beautiful flower.

Guys.... I cried.. no lie. I felt like my Dad had come back to hang out with me on Father's Day... To let me know everything was ok.

The flower

That's a beautiful Asiatic Lily.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I think I better cut back on the coffee about now. Been studying all weekend for an exam for a new job I'm applying for - fisrt step is an online typing test and I just did that - my keyboarding is fast but my spelling is um awful - I peck, I don't touch type, I use auto correct myself, and they only allow 10% error rate, so I was whacking away and managed to get myself to 55wpm with 2% errors, which is what I think I hit for the test, but now my brain is fried and if I pass that, there's all sorts of other crap to study for the REAL test. And now I have to crash study touch typing all next week. Eeeeeeeek

Ah well, time to relax with some frozen yogurt and going back to writing something relaxing, like, you know, wild sex. LOL. That and some relaxing music to zombie out too....

 

[NuclearFairy]

The rain has knocked the power out, but it does not seem to be knocking the heat out.

However thanks to the power of technology, and the only upside to our internet, I can still tool around on the internet and write despite that.

 

[NotWise]

It's after 9PM here, and the temperatures still over 90F.

It was a cozy day in the NW household.

 

[filthytrancendence]

Feeling pretty sad, inspired to post cat picture by @NotWise

Not my cat, but she was adorable yesterday.

 

[NotWise]

She looks like a fluffball cat.

 

[filthytrancendence]

She looks like a fluffball cat.

She is. She had the poofiest tail I've ever seen on a tabby. Very sweet. Caught her on the hunt as well.

 

[NotWise]

Nice photo.

It was her tail in the background of the first picture that made me think she was a fluffball.

 

[ishtat]

I think I better cut back on the coffee about now. Been studying all weekend for an exam for a new job I'm applying for - fisrt step is an online typing test and I just did that - my keyboarding is fast but my spelling is um awful - I peck, I don't touch type, I use auto correct myself, and they only allow 10% error rate, so I was whacking away and managed to get myself to 55wpm with 2% errors, which is what I think I hit for the test, but now my brain is fried and if I pass that, there's all sorts of other crap to study for the REAL test. And now I have to crash study touch typing all next week. Eeeeeeeek

Ah well, time to relax with some frozen yogurt and going back to writing something relaxing, like, you know, wild sex. LOL. That and some relaxing music to zombie out too....

View attachment 2548633

 

[TarnishedPenny]

A belated welcome to @Helen_Highwater! We're not big here, but we're small. (Apologies to the late Stuart.) It's a good place to learn, equally a good place ro relax.

I spent the weekend in deliberate semi-isolation, hoping that being away from normal stimuli might jump-start my writing. Sigh - about as productive as a stone hen-egg.

 

[NotWise]

A belated welcome to @Helen_Highwater! We're not big here, but we're small. (Apologies to the late Stuart.) It's a good place to learn, equally a good place ro relax.

I spent the weekend in deliberate semi-isolation, hoping that being away from normal stimuli might jump-start my writing. Sigh - about as productive as a stone hen-egg.

Maybe I'm doing better than you. I've managed a few lines a day.

The sexual climax of the story is the next scene. Everything in the story was constructed to build to the next ~500 words, including an image that's burned indelibly in my mind. I've sketched out how the scene has to unfold, but I might be afraid to write it.

Oh, but the cats don't want me to write it now. They want me to get up and feed them.

 

[MrPixel]

G'morning, all! @Candy_Kane54 , I'm giving you a break this morning and starting the pot. A box of donuts is next to the coffeemaker so help yourself. Use the napkins, please - somebody's been leaving sticky fingerprints on the pot handle. Cappuccino folks... you're on your own.

Another morning, another nightmare. This one again about my ex, but this time we sort of reconciled into friends, and I was helping her clean a rental house, a second job for her (in the dream). I don't mind so much traveling back in time to be in my 20s again, but this is ridiculous. Neurologist appointment this morning, so I am going to ask him about the medication I suspect is causing the problem.

EDIT - A pause of sorts in my writing. Don't like where I'm at in the next installment of the big story; I need to backtrack about a page or so, but am stuck on where to go instead. To stay fresh, I'm building a playbill of the entire series with a possible shot at indexing the characters. Holy cow, now that is a helluva project.

 

[filthytrancendence]

*Looks at the coffee pot handle and quietly wipes it off with a napkin*

Felt like I was too depressed/angry to write on my actual project yesterday. I find I don't generally like what I write when I try in that frame of mind anyway.

Think I'm off to an actual coffee shop to give it a whirl this morning. Need a change of scenery.

Speaking of scenery, these guys were kind enough to pose in a nice spiral formation for me yesterday.

 

[NotWise]

*Looks at the coffee pot handle and quietly wipes it off with a napkin*

Felt like I was too depressed/angry to write on my actual project yesterday. I find I don't generally like what I write when I try in that frame of mind anyway.

Think I'm off to an actual coffee shop to give it a whirl this morning. Need a change of scenery.

Speaking of scenery, these guys were kind enough to pose in a nice spiral formation for me yesterday.

View attachment 2548747

I'll ask this for HP, since he's not here. What are you taking your pictures with?

 

[filthytrancendence]

I'll ask this for HP, since he's not here. What are you taking your pictures with?

The body is a Cannon R5ii

That lens is the RF 70-200mm f4.0

 

[NotWise]

The body is a Cannon R5ii

That lens is the RF 70-200mm f4.0

Expensive equipment, but the two cat photos aren't photos you could capture with a cellphone.

 

[filthytrancendence]

Expensive equipment, but the two cat photos aren't photos you could capture with a cellphone.

You're not wrong. I started with a Rebel T6 and decided to go to the far end of that spectrum with the second... lol.

I think I'm done buying lenses for my lifetime *he says forcefully to himself*

 

[Candy_Kane54]

We are entering the third day where the weather(wo)man threatened rain but nothing happened except sun. I'm starting to think that the science of weather forecasting is not much of a science ... As for my knee, it's been a week that I haven;t had to use Voltarin on it and the third day without taking Meloxicam and my knee is still pain free. The muscles and ligaments tighten up if I sit for too long but after a couple of steps, it goes away.

Thanks to @MrPixel for starting the coffee and the donuts. The teapot is steaming and for those who can't have caffeine, there's milk, bottled water, wine coolers, and sodas in the 'fridge.

I'll be over in the corner working on my story. It's coming along quite well and I've only got three more sex scenes to flesh out before I start the editing process.

 

[NotWise]

You're not wrong. I started with a Rebel T6 and decided to to the far end of that spectrum with the second... lol.

I think I'm done buying lenses for my lifetime *he says forcefully to himself*

Every now and then I get a yen for more capable equipment then kick myself back to reality. I'm not going to put enough time or effort into photography to justify the cost. My cellphone works pretty well, and I only occasionally hit a wall were I put effort into a photo and can't get what I want. The photos are usually still good, but not as good as I wanted.

 

[filthytrancendence]

Every now and then I get a yen for more capable equipment then kick myself back to reality. I'm not going to put enough time or effort into photography to justify the cost. My cellphone works pretty well, and I only occasionally hit a wall were I put effort into a photo and can't get what I want. The photos are usually still good, but not as good as I wanted.

Yeah. I like the adage, 'The best camera is the one you have with you'

There's definitely things you need the heavier equipment for to do properly. But even that is often just increasing your margin of error in one direction or another. Mostly a larger sensor is useful because you can crop an 8th of the frame and still have a solid output. Longer focal length is similar, to a point anyway.

Composition usually trumps gear, period. The main thing that irks me about cell phone photos after staring at 'real' photos so often is how they just annihilate depth of field. Most of why that first cat photo is so good is her face is isolated with DoF and the details both literally and figuratively blur nicely into the background.

 

[NotWise]

Yeah. I like the adage, 'The best camera is the one you have with you'

There's definitely things you need the heavier equipment for to do properly. But even that is often just increasing your margin of error in one direction or another. Mostly a larger sensor is useful because you can crop an 8th of the frame and still have a solid output. Longer focal length is similar, to a point anyway.

Composition usually trumps gear, period. The main thing that irks me about cell phone photos after staring at 'real' photos so often is how they just annihilate depth of field. Most of why that first cat photo is so good is her face is isolated with DoF and the details both literally and figuratively blur nicely into the background.

Depth of field is the main problem I've had with cellphones. I've not found an effective way to manipulate it.