Details

As we rush around tending to the details of our daily lives, we often miss the details that bring beauty and richness to our lives. I took these photos while exploring the woods recently. I really love the subdued colors of winter.

I have an old Sony digital camera and I never really know where it's going to focus. It makes for some interesting shots:

This is one of my favorites:

Another favorite:

Elmwood Cemetery

I was looking through some old photos and found a bunch that I took at Elmwood Cemetery a few years ago. I love cemeteries and Elmwood is one of the most beautiful I've seen. Here are a few shots:

Modern cemeteries don't have these amazing sculptural monuments. This is one of many at Elmwood. Here's a closer look:

Another:

"Our Son John" has seen better days:

I think it's sad, creepy and kinda cool how the lambs erode into these weird, alien-looking things:

This door is on a mausoleum:

I loved the look of the fake roses and the dead leaves:

This is just a small sampling of the photos I have taken in cemeteries. I'll probably post more later on. I am working on a post about utility belts that I will post soon. Thanks for looking!

Brad





Not a Real Job

I first want to apologize to anyone who's reading for my sporadic and infrequent posting. I let everyday concerns get in the way of what I want to do which is explore my world and share it with you. Part of what holds me back is that I often want to write about things that are off the topic of fashion. I want that to be the main focus, but I am also giving myself the freedom to write about whatever moves me. So, from now on, everything is considered "on-topic".

All that said, I want to talk about blogging itself. There are people who believe that blogging is not a "real job". Maybe at some level, I believe that myself. I certainly haven't treated it like one. I've let it drift in and out of my focus just like I do everything. But what is a "real job" anyway? I know I've had plenty and most of them sucked. They entail going somewhere I don't want to be, doing something I don't want to do and receiving compensation well below what I feel I deserve. And that's considered "normal". We suffer through a miserable commute to spend a significant portion of our day in an occupation that (most days) is unfulfilling at best and crushingly stressful at worst. I know that this isn't how it is for everybody, but it has been my general experience.

We do this so that we can meet our survival needs, which seems to make sense, but we continue to grind on, day after day and year after year, clinging to the vain hope that maybe "someday" we can finally break free and do what we want. The problem is that it never happens. Someday never comes. Retirement is an illusion. It's a lie that keeps us believing that we can't be happy now. By the time we retirement age, (which keeps getting pushed back), we are too sick and broken down to enjoy it. Then we spend the next few, short remaining years in pain and misery. Then we die. I've watched it happen. Some of us don't even make it that far. My friend and former boss, Ted Wilson, was going to "retire" in June of this year. He died in his sleep on February 19.

I've sworn that that's never going to happen to me. I am not going to let someone else's idea of what's right or wrong or "normal" dictate how I spend my life. So, also on February 19, I left my job. I had no idea what I was going to do or how I was going to support myself, but I did it anyway. Maybe it was crazy and foolish (or was it?), but I couldn't go on like that one day longer. Every day I face fear and uncertainty, but I have something I could never get at any job - my Freedom. I am free to do what ever I want, any time I want. And that's worth more than any dollar amount.

On a side note, it's amazing how many chronic pains have gone away since I removed the stress of a regular job. Pain that I have had for years has just disappeared. Coincidence? I think not. I believe that there are no coincidents and no accidents. Everything that happens to us happens because we intended it, consciously or unconsciously.

So what about this blogging thing? How is it not a real job? It's all in your perception. Many bloggers work from home and choose their own hours. As far as I can tell, that's the only real apparent difference. The difference that's not apparent is that we enjoy it and get something out of it.

The last few weeks I've been consumed with monetary concerns, while sitting on my ass wondering what the f I should be doing with my life. It's been here in front of me the whole time. This is the best way for me to share what I find and what I've learned. Unfortunately, I have not treated it with the respect and dedication that it deserves. You only get out of it what you put into it. I have not applied myself and I apologize.

With all THAT said, I want to promise that this will be the best blog I know how to make. Over the last 50-some years, I have learned and made and collected a lot of stuff and I want to share it in an interesting way. Thank you to everyone who reads. Enjoy!

Brad