Staying Upright

Wires from pole to pole moving signals forward...

Recovery takes time. Only you know your body, mind and soul and have free will to be in charge of it.

These past nine months for me have been a medical confrontation of rather mundane problems that by themselves would be readily recovered from. When they occurred simultaneously in me the interior body collision detonated a multitude of primary, secondary and tertiary responses of unexpected varieties. A sudden turn of events with the body can affect the mind if you are not careful. One sure empathizes with what a person who regularly lives with medical issues goes through daily. Gratefully my problems are resolvable but recovery takes time and a toll on both body and mind and is ongoing.

Nowadays I'm putting one foot in front of the other literally and figuratively to keep on moving. It's a matter of daily regaining physical strength and reconnecting the synapses again. A doctor can help restore my body but only I can do the physical and mental work. It is something you have to want and a component is recognizing that combating the feeling of not wanting to do what is required is its own separate work. On occasion it requires operating in a functional utilitarian fashion to keep on walking for the later reward of operating smoothly again. If you stop doing the work the risk is too high you will not start back moving again.

It is best to take your own time for recovery because it is your body, mind and soul. Likewise know yourself enough to take charge of what is best for your health and well being to keep moving.

Letters

Give me an I...

Prose was once play

putty on my fingers

molded thought clay...

In some mad game

now I scrabble for letters

to words that once came...

Verse however does flow

posing as poetry

however in reality I know...

I need full sentences

complete paragraphs

to reflect musing behind my lenses.

We Didn't Earn it

Why we didn't get here the old fashioned way...

Where I live at least we are becoming a society divided somewhat simply. It's not a complex demarcation nor is it the old "have and have nots" or the classic "rich and poor" although it may seem that way. Those factors do come into play but I think it's far deeper than that. We've come a long way since the sixties and seventies when racial, ethnic and economic lines were departmentalized with absolute clarity. Rather I think we are divided by a significant segment of society that had come to believe that everyone was entitled to anything they wanted without real effort to achieve it.

Now we are almost five years into an economic downturn that doesn't seem to be turning around we are sorted out by resentments. There are indeed people who have fallen through the cracks and that cannot help their situation. Far more so we are in disunion due to so many losing much of which was not truly earned and they resent it not really understanding why. The stratification of society that once was along racial and poverty lines had become leveled out by providing too much money for consumer goods that gave the wrong sense of equality. It was not an equitable distribution of wealth by raising standards of those capable of doing so regardless of racial, ethnic or economic background through true education and hard work. Rather it was a good old American quick fix of throwing money at a problem to instantly make people happy.

There are those who will argue with this point stating that it wasn't the people's fault but the leaders who foisted it upon our society. There is no responsibility in blaming "The Man" for our current condition of contrasting classes that is merely another shifting of and avoidance of facing facts. No advancement in society in history has been achieved without raising the standards and education of those capable of doing so and hard work. It takes effort, time and generational change and cannot be bought, given to someone or bestowed by wishful thinking.

Communication and Power Lines

Which connections to make and which to break?...

Lately I've been reminded of the power of communication and doing it well and the price of not paying attention to presentation of what you're intending to convey. I'm well trained by upbringing, personal experience and professional education and for many years earned a living as an instructor, writer and speaker in various situations. The power of words both spoken and written, how they're connected into phrases and sentences along with expression is one thing I'm highly developed at doing. As everyone knows about anything they do well it can be easy to take the skills for granted and also let them fall into disuse. It demands being constantly aware to not fall into bad habits and become lax and lazy with a key competency I am well equipped with.

We live in a world that is connected as it never has before and whether we are exchanging ideas, thoughts, instructions, feelings, with the tools of the digital age or in person, how we conduct the interchange is more important than ever. It is no longer acceptable to be an excellent programmer, engineer, shop mechanic, carpenter without also being able to communicate well. The ability to transmit information succinctly and articulately with simplicity and tact is no longer in the province of customer service, sales people, leaders or any of the traditional roles that required it. Everyone now needs the ability to interact with other people on multiple levels; it is no longer a choice in this new economic and technological world. To be able to engage others in a meaningful way is a requirement to stay employed in any occupation, run a business of any kind, be an entrepreneur, sole proprietor or free agent.

For many years I was able to communicate well in the sphere of instructing classes, writing non-fiction policies and procedures, white papers or historical articles and dealing with difficult customers over the phone, through email and instant messaging. My face to face interactions were largely in group settings or training people one on one who were sent to me as a last chance to learn something they needed to know to stay employed. I am now challenged to learn how to deal for the first time with clients in a face to face, very often public setting and am quickly discovering it requires a nuance of the skills I possess. A nuance yet a very different one that requires rethinking how I approach a situation, respond to one to resolve differences and the subtle power of how it is conducted. The task is not daunting but nonetheless requires paying attention and working at refining the existing knowledge I had become too casual with.

The Sun Rises

Bringing a new day to paint our own way...

Life is more art than science although knowing facts in life are part of the science of living. These facts are realities that help us understand how to interpret what is happening around us. If we have spent time building firm foundations to structure strong qualities in our character we are able to create a world we call our own rather than the world owning us. This gives us control over our sense of self so when a tough day comes along we have the sensibility to call things as they are to move beyond them and look forward. Rather than dwell on where we are now we make an assessment of what we would like to happen next. The choice is to recognize what is destructive and turn it into something finer and superior with an act of behavior. For many of us that action is bringing into existence a change in our outlook through some form of artistry of our choosing.

We allow ourselves the freedom to create art that expresses what we have thought and felt, what we are thinking and feeling and further what we would like to think and feel. The parallel to life with art and science is we learn some techniques that are factual and scientific, for example the technicalities of photography and post processing, using those as a basis for our art. If we construct art that articulates our interpretation of life we have an opportunity to compose artwork that speaks to both the tough moments of life and the great ones. For me it is writing and visual art that documents and expresses the stark moments of life alongside crafting works of elegance and symmetry to make things right in my world. It is an act of healing that is beautiful and meaningful not only to me but also to those who view and appreciate it.

With a nod to Mike the writer, artist, blogger Rock and Confusion. 

The Artistic Supermoon

Bright lights, big city, little debate...

Have you seen those incredibly detailed photographs of Supermoon 2012 displayed all over the web by photographers who normally shoot street scenes, flowers, landscapes, buildings at odd angles and what have you? The ones that look like a perfect white or yellow orb suspended on a black background taken with an incredibly expensive lens? The ones that look like they belong in a textbook? They're marvelous photographs that are technically perfect but many of us find them mechanical and uninteresting...how many have you seen already? What about those that the Supermoon is perfectly juxtaposed right behind a bridge with a bicyclist crossing in just the right spot and it is a seemingly natural scene but is too good to be true? They are quite pretty, eye-catching, fascinating and some are inspirational but not very unique.

With all due respect to those photographers that have the knowledge and equipment to take such a clear shot of the moon I see those photographs as technical and scientific records. They are beautiful representations but not artistic to me personally or to many other viewers who these photos seeming to be the same picture over and over again. First before I wade into the raging debate that is the current vogue among digital DSLR "purist" photographers versus "post processors" let me state something. I admire those that have the technical skill and equipment to know exactly which lens to use for a certain type of light and what the aperture setting ought to be. It is a must if you are going to be a wedding photographer, a chronicler of news and social events, do portraiture, advertising, architecture and aerial landscape photography. It is the same as a cartographer must now know GIS to record things as close as possible to how they really are and there is also a beauty in that.

Photography can never replicate exactly what is naturally present but is able to recreate a very close reasonable facsimile. This is done by changing lens, using filters and adjusting settings which by very definition means that the photographer has already edited and processed the end product before it comes "straight out of camera." When anyone who takes pictures in this manner mocks those of us who do a lot of post processing and take a basically solid composition with good color (or lack of color), tone and lighting and significantly alter it by "post processing" editing I secretly mock back. That is due to that I think there is plenty of room for all kinds of photography and visual art.

Why? Because we are doing two completely different types of things and the highly technical photographer is creating one kind of photographic art and the others are creating visual art that is artwork not meant to resemble anything exactly as it appeared. To be snobbish and elitist about one set of technical skills or artistry over another newer set of technical skills that creates a different artistry is as if Van Dyck were to mock Van Gogh. To bring this post full circle I have been over the SOOC ("straight out of camera") or slightly modified editing versus the PP ("post processing") debate prior to it becoming hot and heavy. It's a non sequitur, a dead issue, a futile argument, pick your choice of words.

Having said all that I went out with my most humble little cameras, a Canon Powershot "point and shoot," a Sony hard drive Handycam that takes very good photographs and my Droid X 1 with its little collection of apps and took pictures of the Supermoon. A few days later than when it was at its peak but still impressive and its interesting what happened. I knew the Canon and Sony wouldn't take much of anything I could even work with but I did manage to get some interesting photos with my Droid X 1 and the Pro HDR app worthy of playing around with some post processing in Photoshop Elements 10. I'll let the viewer be the judge of how interesting the visual art that was created from those pictures are to them.

Tree Canopy

Oasis from the desert sun...

In the desert the sun bears down sparing no one its relentless beam of parallel rays and now unforgiving as we quickly pass into our summer. Spring is a fleeting moment of mildly hot days with cool evenings and nights soon to transition into round the clock just plain hot. The heat of summer envelops us and when exposed directly it is a smothering blanket except underneath the canopy of trees becomes pleasant warmth for those of us who prefer high temperatures. The secret to living in the desert whether urban or rural is traveling between the shade of trees, stopping for respite and a moment of cool before moving on. They serve as mini-oasis on any journey outdoors but should be appreciated for more than a shady spot since they also serve as natural artistic beauty to be savored while pausing for respite.

High Wattage People

Who create negative low energy...

Some people are difficult to be around and we all have them somewhere in our lives whether they're family, friends, co-workers, a neighbor or the friend of a friend. It's not necessarily the needy people or the ones who go from one drama to another that are the hardest for me to take. It's the negative, high-strung, wire tight person who dissipates all the positive energy out of a room merely by their presence. They remind me of being just under low hanging high power lines that you can hear the singing of the static electricity that emanates from them. The swing of the wires, zinging in the air and hair standing on end is unnerving.

They are vampires of calm and emotion, positive thinking and good spirit who suck the atmosphere around them dry in a void. Worse, sometimes they can't be avoided and the best you can do is be prepared with healthy defenses mechanisms and placing an invisible shield of self protection around you. Somehow at times they manage to break the barrier and leave you exhausted. In my case I work with someone like that and most of the time I can roll my eyes and turn my back but there are days when she hits every nerve. I won't pretend that sometimes in those moments I want her to roll on the floor in twisted agony and writhe as if she was a snake run over by a truck. Usually my better nature regains control and I turn my attention to something else but occasionally she gets a tongue lashing that I rarely succumb to but people who know me are well aware of. It doesn't happen often and only strikes those that generally get on everyone else's nerves also. My co-workers I think secretly enjoy it and my manager knows that I won't apologize to her but that I do feel guilty about losing control and will apologize to him since it puts him in a difficult spot.

These people get the better of us I think mostly because it is human nature to be able to take only so much negative energy. Some people actually like being around this personality type for several reasons but usually to amplify their own anger and confusion. Those two inner fears, anger and confusion are what I believe drive these malignant spirited people and I still have difficulty understanding why they haven't figured themselves out yet and redirected their lives. Nonetheless they haven't and regretfully the rest of us somehow must tolerate it. As agitating as it can be to be around them the best way I have figured out to accept they exist is know that sooner or later they will implode on their own. The bottom line is I can do nothing about that and all any of us can do is the best we can to manage ourselves recognizing we may sometimes fail at it. Then we need to forgive ourselves for our own human nature and move on.

In The Raw

Or do you sleep in the nude?...

Desert Rose among thorns.

The image I posted prior to this post at midnight today was also posted on Google+ and I was asked by someone who viewed the photo on my Google+ stream if I would mind posting the original photo. I'm not sure why fiona munday is interested in seeing the original but I agreed to do so for several reasons.

My photography and this blog have evolved to where the images are no longer SOOC (straight out of camera) or slightly edited. Rather they've become something else, Visual Art that has been edited or "processed" to either retain the essence of the original image or alter it into something entirely different. The artwork produced is not pure photography and it is not a painting or drawing or some other visual medium since it was not created directly onto canvas, paper or something else. It is digital and resides in a file on a computer until reproduced through some printing process. I consider this no different than creating a painting, drawing or some other visual art by using a photograph as guide or by projection. It is taking an original photograph and turning it into something visually appealing whether it is an enhanced recognizable version of the original or artwork that is completely different.

This is a topic of controversy among some photographers who are purists and I choose not to wade into what is "real" photography and genuine photographs. It seems specious to me since every photograph has been altered in some way depending on what camera you're using and if you're using special lens somehow it's changing what is "real." In any case I haven't thought of myself as a photographer since I used a 35mm film Hanimax Praktika camera in the seventies and eighties. Along with being a writer I consider myself a visual artist that creates images. I also don't think any photographer, painter, sculptor or artist of any kind is under an obligation explain how they do what they do and how they arrived on a particular piece of artwork. If they choose to do so I find it interesting but I believe it is a matter of choice. Generally I don't share the originals or explain exactly how I processed a photo, very often because I don't write down step by step what I do and I don't have a standard process it is continual exploration. In a sense I think it also takes the mystery out of the piece and doesn't allow the viewer to make their own interpretation of it.

I share the original photo, taken on my Droid X 1 using the app ProHDR straight out of the camera, to show the progression from original photo to final artwork. I use primarily three editing programs and I'll leave which I used for this final piece as an enigma although an experienced pro I'm sure can figure it out. What I will say is I adjust, edit and upload on the smartphone camera as well as on a PC. A final word on the topic is that although I think every decent photograph has the opportunity to become something special through processing you still have to start with a basic decent composition. There are flaws in this one with that I can see but all anyone needs to do is read my post from May 9th of this year "Rules, There Are Rules?" to further understand my point of view about rules, flaws and creative endeavors.

Bridge Over Dry Wash

Fortified for overflowing downpour torrent...

Although simply supported

wooden bridge braced,

beams bolstered sturdy and

cantilevered with timber,

weathered but strong with age.

Spanning dry sandy wash

this day ready waiting,

traverse well assembled and

spanning each abutment,

acclimated to deluge of ages.

Journey As The Destination

I wonder as I wander...

Writing: Fact and Fiction

My anxiety...

An exercise in writing on a topic I rarely publicly discuss.

Like a low vague sound of some humming electrical device the feeling is omnipresent and hangs in my soul somewhere, haunting me without explanation. I'm not exactly sure when I really became aware there was a name for it except it was sometime in the late eighties. It's an unexplained disquiet which for me usually leads to a low level melancholy or depression if I don't resolve it. It occurs to a lot more people than is recognized since those of us who live with it don't like to talk about it. Men suffer from it as much as women but we're generally not very good at identifying intrinsic emotions and expressing them well. Many of us act out inexplicably due to it.

There are two themes underlying my faint angst. The first theme is some unfinished business or I did something I wish I hadn't that is bothering me and it has not been addressed. Very often I really don't know what it is or conversely, I do, but would rather push it down with some cement of the mind to keep it from surfacing. If I do nothing and don't dig within to figure out what is bugging me it turns to melancholy. The other theme is my anxiety is right out there, live wire on the surface, edging to be dealt with immediately. That can be the most dangerous since if I'm around people I'm likely to do and say things that result in something worse. Remorse. That is the tipping point depression sets in.

When I refer to melancholy or depression it is not of the clinical variety but rather a natural emotion that most people feel sometimes, some experience it more often than others. It is a flat or dead feeling and I am sluggish. The best solution is to sleep it off. I have experienced deep, dark, black depression a few times in my life but it was due to a specific tragic event, a normal and typical reaction. Death of a loved one, job loss and broken relationship come to mind. Thankfully I had a support system during those times who listened to me, although in each case the only real answer was time.

Over the years I have tried a lot of routes and taken advice on how to deal with my anxiety. Some of the roads and answers were good and others were very bad for me. With no humility I think I can truthfully say I've learned that I'm smarter than any psychologist or therapist I've ever seen professionally or known personally with the exception of one friend. She is atypical for her field and believes most therapists dish out pablum and balderdash. Her advice, like so many of my head-on-shoulders friends, has helped me make sense of how to deal with anxiety more than any psychologist ever has. The same can be said for doctors who want to feed you pills, there is a price for taking them and it's high and not worth the expense of the aftermath.

What does work is knowing yourself well enough to recognize what is happening when it happens. The discovery of how to cope with it and solve the puzzle before it escalates can be a painful process but well worth it. I know that for fact because I have done it and can follow my own advice of what works for me, however, actually implementing the solution is sometimes another matter. The same strong character traits that usually work for me can also work against me. Persistence becomes stubborn. I know in my intellect that what I should do is think, search and find what is nagging my soul and deal with it. Herein lies the rub, sometimes I am just stubborn and don't want to take the time to deal with it, even knowing full well what will be next.

Fortunately most of the time, especially these past few years, I deal with my anxiety effectively. Writing is integral to my methods of both clarifying and purging my vital essence. Once I mull over and reason out the core of the matter, I am then able to implement very old fashioned solutions to the problem.

Think positively.
Take action to fix what is broken.
Accept it as a learning experience and personal growth.
Things usually work themselves out the way they're supposed to.

You're granddad's or father's advice maybe? Probably. Modern psychology and psychiatry is great for other people if it works for them. All I know is if I take the bull by the horns and wrestle the beast to ground, I won't get gored.

[inspired by Maryann, who is braver and more courageous than she thinks]

Arizona Landscape

Muted sun waiting for haiku poet...

Writing: Fact and Fiction

One thing I've learned...

Taking a class in fiction wasn't a mistake for me but it has taught me that writing fiction is probably a mistake for me. The reasons why I've reached that conclusion have already been documented in previous blog posts. Writing nonfiction is much more appropriate for me, but one thing I've learned for certain in writing workshop, is that I've gotten lazy and need to tighten up my style. I've learned it in two ways. Proofreading my own material and also receiving criticism for errors in style. Another way I've learned is reading other people's material, although they have a college education and their fiction is pretty good, their style, grammar and punctuation is sometimes appalling. I can say without too much arrogance, that although I make errors, they are not on the level I see too often with some other writers.

It would be trite to go on about the failings of our educational system that people graduate from high school and college without knowing how to structure a sentence, paragraph and a piece of writing with a beginning, middle and end. This we already know. It's disappointing but I have been seeing it at work, online and in email, at school and in publications written by professional authors for enough years now that I am no longer surprised. What I've been doing recently, which has now been reinforced by a blog post written by Mike on rock and confusion, is brushing up on my own style or rather lack of it at times. I'm reviewing simple grammar books as a reminder to avoid common pitfalls we all land in. Also I'm going through different style manuals and the MLA Handbook. It's not so easy to be critical of others when you look at the correct etiquette of writing and realize where you fall short yourself.

Writing: Fact and Fiction

Stick with what your good at...

but still stick your neck out and try new things.

Fact: I'm not very good at writing fiction. I know this because I wrote a short story that went nowhere and my friends and writing workshop were at least somewhat kind about saying it. I also knew it as I was writing it.

Not Fiction: I'm a pretty good nonfiction writer and the next writing class I take and workshop I go to are going to be developing that skill. My ability to tell a true story is a lot better than making one up.

Writing fiction requires a rich fantasy life and enjoying escapism I think. That's not a criticism of people who are that way, but an observation from being around fiction and screen writers. Movie lovers are like this also. Perhaps they're trying to make sense of the real world by creating a world of make believe. Maybe I'm over-analyzing it or thinking too much about it, a fact that is probably why I'm better at writing nonfiction.

Too me it's much more interesting observing the real world, studying history, looking at factual information and making sense of it and commenting on it. That's just my preference. Thankfully there are people who can write fiction, screen plays, make movies and offer something to escape into for awhile. Real life can often need escaping, occasionally I enjoy doing that. The "a ha" moment in my recent revelation about my lack of fiction writing skills, came when I realized that the fiction I do read are historical novels. Especially ones well researched and grounded in fact.

In order to keep life from being boring, to stretch personal boundaries, requires a creative person to take risks. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. At least I can say I took up a challenge and did it, faced the results, learned from it. Who knows? I may end up writing a historical short story or novel someday.

Writing: Fact and Fiction

Much of life is like fiction...

If there is anything I can say about my somewhat routine life, it is not boring, rather it's quite interesting most days. Not always in a way I care for but most of the time at least one interesting thing happens, I learn something new or a connect-the-dots moment occurs and mostly it's enriching. Sometimes all of that happens, when it does it's usually at my humble job, which I'm just fine with because it is the most likely place for an engaging event to happen. Almost always it involves the carousal of people that cross over the threshold. Not the predictable ones but those that dare to live in the pale of what many consider "irregular."

I do think it's in the way you approach and perceive your daily life. It is what you make of it. I notice things and have a keen perception of what many people, even seemingly unpredictable ones, are likely to do. It's a highly honed sense developed from a lifetime of people watching and interaction with a variety of souls from all walks of life. I think it's important to absorb that and turn it into something useful. For me it manifests itself in two ways, the first is I learn how to understand and interact with a cornucopia of human behaviors. That enriches me and as well as other people if they have something that I can help them figure out. A two-way interaction.

The second is I jot a lot of it down in bits and pieces. I would hardly call this note-taking a journal or a diary, merely a memory jogger. It's because in order for me to wrap my head around the still-cryptic-to-me world around me, having never really been regular enough to resolve the perplexities of life, I make sense of it by creatively expressing myself. Out of the second thing I do, jotting down ideas that come from experiencing life, I turn into writing. When I was younger I turned these notes and sliced them into fiction stories. In the past few decades I would use them as examples in the non-fiction I was writing. Nowadays I've rediscovered fiction writing and these memory joggers are spliced into parts of short stories.

There is truth that much of life is like fiction and that fiction is a lot like life; which is not so strange as we think.

Geography of the Mind

More on writing fiction...

I'm writing a short story. Actually it would be better to write that I am attempting to write a short story. It is a class assignment for the Fiction Writing class I'm taking and it's going to be "workshopped" next week by 14 people I barely know. I've already written some flash fiction for this class that's been workshopped and also read some short stories and written reviews for them. The more I write fiction, not only do I realize I have no idea what I'm doing, I also realize that I'm not such a great non-fiction writer either. Not as good a one as I thought anyway...fairly decent but not a great one.

Taking this college freshman class in writing fiction has been very humbling and very good for me. I'm not the only person in the class who already has a bachelors degree with writing experience, returning to school, to learn to write fiction for the "fun" of it. All of us realize now that we know very little about writing, in fact it probably would be better if we knew nothing about writing. The class members, a mixed group of all ages, who haven't yet gone through writing the long essays and papers of upper division undergraduate classes and dissertations of postgraduate classes are far better off. They've also never had to write nonfiction for a living, the world of white papers, curriculum, policies and procedures, legal briefs, correspondence templates, technical documentation.

They have much brighter, clearer, fresher eyes. I remember looking through my eyes that way once, a long time ago, and am learning a lot by looking into their eyes about seeing things anew. Inside I squeal a little bit of happiness when one of them asks something that would be considered naive amongst a group of so-called educated people. It's teaching me to not be so jaded, to look at things with an unprocessed and open mind, an opportunity for replenishment and regeneration.

I'm going to finish writing that short story and then write another and maybe even more.

Geography of the Mind

Five Thoughts...

Sustaining is building character, physical and mental health and solid values and not obtaining material things of little intrinsic value. Do the right thing and what you need materially will follow.

Thinking creatively about solutions to negative situations is positively coping.

If you choose your friends and who you associate with carefully, they will be aware when you need them there for healing and when you don't, allow you to mend on your own.

We are not the sum of products we consume but our choices about products we consume do sum us up.

It is far better to have your voice heard by a small group of good people with character than a thundering herd.

Thinking Out Loud

Better to hold your tongue...

Lately I've been growing impatient with people and their interpretation of the world, mainly because it's my belief we're living in a period that history will look back on as an era of monumental change socially, economically and politically. I'm not sure anyone ever fully grasps, while entering an epoch of a new period, the tremendous significance of what they are passing through, understanding fully what is happening in that moment of time. That includes me, although I am aware we are in historical passage, how it will transpire is not in my capacity to view while living within it.

Since I am convicted we are moving through an age of unique characteristics that seems so obvious to me, my frustration is twofold. First, my natural curiosity is to know what I cannot possibly know and that is what the present will bring forward to the future. Secondly I am intolerant of the time it takes for other people to see what I do, and conversely I'm aware there are others who see more than I do. On the former I want to impetuously tell people that I consider them late at arriving to conclusions that seem obvious to me. This is not only arrogant but would be an exercise in futility if carried out. People arrive at their own awareness at their own time in their own way. It is not for me to determine when that it is.

I'm reminded of the advice my father used to give me, which he himself had to struggle to follow: "Son, sometimes the best time for you not to say anything at all, is when you feel as if you absolutely have to. It will wait and come out a whole lot better if you do."

Quote of the Day: William Somerset Maugham

Never settle for less...

"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."

William Somerset Maugham
Playwright, novelist and short story writer