December 2002
December 29 part II
Things are going quite nicely. I think my room is more organized
than it has ever been. I'm getting stuff sorted and reduced. Combining some
partial boxes of stuff into full boxes of stuff I want, but not right now.
It makes for a much nicer environment for this Goldfish!
For me, history and memory are interesting. Most things that I've experienced
from around the time I hit 16 do not seem that far removed. That makes it
a bit shocking when I find out that things clear in my memory might have happened
almost 30 years ago! It was a loooooong time ago that I read Lord of the
Rings the first time and I am only now reading it a second. It was Christmas
in 1977! I'm re-reading that same set of books my Sister bought me for Christmas.
Maybe I'm getting too domestic.
This Christmas I got a travelling steam iron, a set of metal mixing bowels,
and a folding wooden TV Table. In actuality they are all things that were
on my Christmas list. I did get a little Christmas Money too from Mom, Dad,
and my Aunt Karen and I'm going to be using that to buy a CD Burner! That
is something I've wanted for a while, but Really wanted just recently! I
know I could use the money for bills and for food and perhaps a pair of shoes
I need, but I haven't really gotten myself anything majour specially for
myself since perhaps 2 Christmases ago. I might even be able to use it to
get a bit of work backing up people's data from their computers. I also would
like to create some CDs to use for helping teach people to use the internet.
It was great getting together with friends last night. New friends old friends,
friends from near and far. Having dinner together before seeing "The Two
Towers" and then socializing afterwards made for a great time.
I'm not sure if I'll be making another entry before New Years! If not,
Happy New Years!
Darrell
The next Journal entry may be on a new page.
There should be links from the
Journal
Index Page.
December 29 part I
Another quick note, just to be a bit current. I spent Christmas
at my Parents' home. I took the bus and Skytrain their Christmas Eve around
6:30 PM. There was a threat of snow and of course possible traffic snarls
so rather than have Dad come out here to Port Moody to pick me up I took
public transit to Surrey and got picked up at the King George Skytrain station.
Somehow it added to the festivities for me as I always find taking the Skytrain
into Surrey somewhat like having flown in. Being picked up at the station
feels like being picked up at the airport.
More about Christmas to follow! (I am sleepy)
Just got back from a get-together after watching "The Two Towers". It was
Great! More about that to follow too.
I'll make an actual entry in a short while!
Take Care
Darrell
December 18
A quick note. I have a
Christmas Present for people! It is
a do-it-yourself sort of thing. Take a look at the
project!
December 17
Hi!
My Christmas Party December 14th was a big success!
(Christmas Party!)
I had a dozen or so people show up and everyone had a good time.
Who showed up: Mom, Dad, Deb, and Don; Mimi, John, Oliver, and Mel; Jim
and Brenda; and Penny.
We visited and nibbled on snacks both healthy and... not so healthy.
Mel's caramel popcorn was a big hit, as was Penny's shrimp cocktail,
not to mention the other great contributions.
I had JR Country FM on the stereo for Christmas music (I figured a country
station most likely to break with their normal programming for Christmas
music.) until someone pointed out that KISS FM was playing
100% Christmas music! Neat!
We've actually had some snow on the mountain tops! It took a while to
see with all the grey swirling around the mountains.
For once my bedroom isn't looking so much like a disaster area! It's
nice. The bedroom was actually in good enough shape that I could invite
party guests to put their coats on my bed.
I'm deciding if I should perhaps consider this the Fall 2002 journal
and start a new one for Winter 2002 - 2003? Perhaps I'll wait to do a Winter
2003 one starting January 1st? Time will tell!
Bye for now!
Darrell
December 9
We got some well needed rain today, It almost looked like the
mountain tops were going to get a dusting of snow. Perhaps some of the
taller ones did, but not before darkness fell. As I type, the Mount Seymour
Sky Slopes disappeared into the dark. It's about 12am and a cloud must
have passed between us. Now the cloud has passed. I heard that a winter
storm is brewing. Wind warnings for 70- 90 K per hour are expected. Perhaps
that is why the sloud slipped past the lights on the mountian so quickly.
I guess the reason I'm working on my journal tonight is that I've spent
time working on my SCA web pages. I wanted to add a disclaimer to the pages
indicating that they are not official publications of the SCA. I'm not
sure how necessary that is, but everyone seems to include the disclaimer.
You'd think that Disney had something to do with it.
Actually I spent quite a while trying for a certain effect. I wanted
to have a window appear with the disclaimer. I could get that to happen,
but the window would be the size of the original window in the browser.
Ie. if the page with the link was full screen, the new window would also
be full screen. I wanted the disclaimer window to be perhaps 33% of the
size of the originating window. I couldn't find any simple way to do it
other than using Java scripting or such and I didn't want to go there. Oh
well, I did it the old fashioned way and added a box with the text in it
to the bottom of the page with a link to it at the top of the page.
My French Canadian Muscian Friend, Toby (MFCMFT?) is anxious
about getting the CD cover completed for the collection of Russian folk
songs he collected a year ago. Toby recorded the music travelling from city
to city on the Trans Siberian Railway. He is doing it for the Bahai' in Russia
to raise money. He was billitted in the various cities by the muscians and
so did it on a shoestring budget. Anyhow the CD is ready to be shipped to
Russia and is just waiting for the CD Jacket and Liner. The graphic artist
who did the outside jacket for the CD case did a great job on it, but has
had some time problems with his regular work and Toby would like it to go
to the printer soon so I'm working on it now as a contingency in case the
artist can't complete it in time. Toby already had me doing the graphic design
for the CD jacket liner and the lable for the CD itself. I can't wait to
see the final printed product. I think it is pretty amazing that my own artwork
will be on the CD to be distributed across Russia! Unfortunatly for the
cover I only have a hard copy of the artwork and have had to scan it into
the computer to work on. It would not be much problem since I can scan things
at up to 2400 dots per inch. We were working with graphics at 300 dpi so
that should be just fine. Unfortunatly the hard copy has a few distortions,
almost folds. The create a very slight shadow which is noticeable. I'm trying
to flatten the paper by leaving it in my scanner over night. I hope that
the graphic artist can actually email me the original artwork. One thing
I have to do is apply the song title page to the graphic. Toby wants me
now to make the liner an acordian fold out sort of thing to add a page or
maybe two, one of which will have the song titles on it. It is extra work,
but he said he'd be able to pay me for my time on it.
I find I really enjoy this sort of work. Possibly one reason why I go
a little overboard with my web page designs. I'm always trying something
new, if not technologically, then with the appearance. I also like the
idea of doing the most with the least. I like to get some simple tools
and work with them to get a result that most would use more sophisticated
programming techniques on. Personally I think it is my niche using my programming
skills and artistic skills at once.
CD Artwork for Toby Beaulieu's Collection of
Russian Folk Songs called "With the Eyes of the Heart"
CD Label (by Darrell Penner)
|
CD Cover (by Quentin Harris text added by Darrell Penner)
|
CD Liner (by Darrell Penner)
|
I guess I did have something to say today.
I hope you like the artwork. I think it turned out rather well.
TTFN
Darrell
December 8
I've done a fair amount of work on my web site of which this is just
one page. Most of it has been in the SCA section of my site branching
off from "Wade's Realm". There is still lots to do on the SCA side of
things as well as other parts. I still want to do the "Darrell Wade Penner
Campus" site and tie it in here. It's a virtual campus with buildings devoted
to different aspects of my life including my art, poetry, stories, and
articles.
I'm really looking forward to the Party next Saturday. (14th of December)
I'm not sure what sort of turn out I'll have, but I know some people will
be coming.
More and more people are putting up their Christmas lights! So
many people just seem to grumble about Christmas coming.
Of course you can tell I'm not one of them.
I'm still reading "The Fellowship of the Ring". I sometimes am surprised
by how relevant alot of the stuff in the book is.
I moved my old chair into the Livingroom the other day. It looks nice
there. The chair is one that was given to my Mom before I was born by my
Great Aunt Alma. It has nice burgundy upolstry and sort of a tombstone back.
The legs and arms are part of a tubular chrome pattern not unlike that
of those cane rocking chairs, except this isn't intended to rock. The top
surface of the arms are wood with interesting details carved in. Abstract,
but so familiar to me. I wasn't using it in my room, so I hope I will use
it more now that it is in the living room. It is more comfortable than
I remembered.
I wanted to have some candles burning tonight, but the tea candles
I'm using just won't stay lit. The wick keeps burning down until the melted
wax puts out the flame. If anyone knows a solution to this
please
write me.
I'm considering changing my desk layout. At the moment I have three
monitors, a computer tower, and a flatbed scanner on it. (oh, and this keyboard
a couple of small speakers and a mouse.
) (One monitor is my main one for the computer, another is what I use
to watch TV on and the third will be a second monitor to extend my Desktop
onto for some of my projects where I want a full screen for something
and another for tools to work with. The Monitor I use for TV is a colour
composite one that plugs into the Converter I am using as a TV tuner.
I can't use my second monitor for TV since it is SVGA and can't be connected
to my converter or vcr.
What I'd like to do is take two bookshelves I'm not using and put them
on a few brinks on top of my desk. I'll put the monitors on that and have
a space under for storing my keyboard, and mouse when I'm not using them.
Perhaps also my scanner. The two shelves will be one in front of the other
to support the monitors and I want them to only be 4 - 8 inches off the
surface of the desk. Anyone got some "clean" spare bricks? (or something
else that would do to support the shelves? I'm considering using my larger
stereo speakers on their sides for supports. They're more like 10 inches
wide though. It would also give me a place for the speakers.
I think that's all for tonight!
Take Care, and keeps those cards and letters coming!
Darrell
December 5
Hey, another regular update!
I put up the Christmas Tree last night! It sure looked nice with
the lights and all. I'm sure glad I bought it... was it really 5 years
ago, or perhaps 4. I already had a neighbor complement it.
That was sorta neat.
A friend brought me an early gift! Mimi found me a 15" Samsung monitor.
I want to hook it up as a second display for my PC desktop. Well, at least
fool around a bit with it. It's a better monitor than what my Parents
have so I'm considering swapping it for their 14", possibly only VGA monitor.
It would improve their system so much and the 14" one would probably be
fine for y using it as a secondary display. Anyone got a spare 56K
modem hanging around? I only had a 14.4K one to put in the computer for
them.
Not sure if anyone knows, but I grew a beard for halloween. Just
for a lark. Anyhow, I've had it for a month and I'm finding it itchy.
It looks nice, but the hair of my beard is very curly and the ends dig
into my chin. It's still red though.
BBFN!
Darrell
December 1
Another quick note to keep things current. (will I begin every entry
something like this?)
I've put some finishing touches on my Christmas Card List and am
now trying to figure out just how to pay for the postage and cards. I've
got addresses now for most everyone on my list. I also sent out the inventations
to my
Christmas
Party! Well at least the ones that can be sent by email. I
decided finally to hold it Saturday December 14th. I figure it's fare enough
away to give advance notice, yet it doesn't conflict with any other parties
yet to come that I know of happening.
I still have to get some things in order before I go to Deb and
Don's combined Birthday Celebration. While a few months and days off
the combined birthdays of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins from "Lord of the Rings"
and that the actual birthdays are not the same, our family celbrates them
on the same day. It's about a week later than normal for their November
birthdays, but circumstance was that it was better this weekend than the
last.
It's about 7:00 am and looking out I see that it will be another
glorius day like the string of them we've had for the past I don't know
how many weeks. As usual it is starting with a quiet, light gray, but thick
foggy start. The mountains are invisible as if they never were there. The
inlet is completely shrouded and the trees vanish into the fog a degree
of gray at a time until they are like ghosts. If I look up, I can see a
hint that the sky above is clear blue and just waiting for the brighter
morning sun to burn the fog and mist off and leave us with that great golden
glow and clear blue sky of a late fall morning.
Anyhow, off to other projects that still need doing today. (Like
flipping the calendar from November to December)
Darrell
November 2002
November 28
Just a quick note to keep things current.
I'm working on my new personal web site. Of course this page will
be a part of it. It will likely use material from my previous web sites
and be a bit better organized.
I'm working on Christmassy things: Christmas Card Lists, Gift Lists,
Party, and that sort of thing. I hope to be putting up my Christmas
tree either on November 30 or Soon after December 1st. December 1st is
reserved for celebrating my Sister and Brother's-in-law Birthdays!
Perhaps I might be going to the Lions Gate Baronial Banquet after
all. There might be an opportunity to get a Banquet seat in exchange for
kitchen work during the day. That would be neat.
Healthwise, I was to a throat specialist and found out what one
of the causes of some problems like chest pains, other pains, problems
swallowing and with my stomach probably is. My esophogus muscles aren't
coordinating properly. They spasm and fight with each other when I swallow.
There might not be much they can do about it, but it is a relief to know
that it isn't along the lines of heart problems or some sort of tumor or
growth. (sometimes it is like swallowing something sharp around a golfball
stuck in my throat) Hopefully the Doctor will be able to get my medicine
for my thyroid and diabetes at a proper level to deal with the unnatural
fatigue I've been dealing with. I'd really like to get back to doing things
like walking and cycling again.
I'm trying to figure out new strategies for advertising my services
in Computer and Internet Instruction. I've put out posters and business
cards and mentioned it to most everyone I know to talk with, but no bites
for new pupils. Perhaps I can find more people who want to give the gift
of the Internet to their parents and such this Christmas.
TTFN!
November 24
I decided to start writing a web journal again after a break.
I might put the archive of the past journal here as well. Perhaps I'll
keep up with this journal without the months long breaks. Perhaps I just
have to put reminders that it even exists.
I have much to talk about, in part because it's been a while
since I last made any journal entry.
Now what have I been up to.
Transportation
Well, it's been almost 2 years since I took the insurance
and plates off my car. I'm managing between walking more and taking public
transit with the help also of friends and family for times when I really
need a ride or a car for some thing or another. The savings in money has
been crucial to me for the last little while.
SCA
I haven't done much in the SCA this past year. I made it to Sergeants
and to the Baronial Transition Event, but didn't make it to Clinton.
I decided to concentrate for a while on Heraldry rather than dabbling a
bit in many areas. More about that when I talk about my writing projects.
I am finishing my banner at long last. It's displayable, but I still have
some needlework left to do in the applique of the Dolphin. Perhaps this
year I will put a lining in my coat?
Movies
I haven't seen many movies this past year. I saw StarWars Episode
2: The Clone Wars in May, and just recently saw The Fellowship of the
Ring on DVD. I liked them both.
Reading
Currently I have just finished re-reading JRR Tolkien's "The
Hobbit" and am in the process of reading "The Fellowship of the Ring",
the first of the three books that are collectively known as "The Lord
of the Rings". I was given the boxed set by my sister Deb for Christmas
1977. I read it from cover to cover over the Christmas Break. I'm rather
fond of the set. Later I bought the two reference books The Tolkein Companion
and A Guide to Middle Earth some time after with my growing interest in
the game D&D. When it came out in Canada in 1979 I just had to have
a copy of the Silmarillion which was published after JRRTolkien's death.
Perhaps after reading the first 4 books over again, I shall tackle The
Silmarillion once more. It is rather more dry than the others and I really
never read the whole thing. I also have a few calendars based on the series
and the animated movie which for some reason covered only maybe 2/3rds
of the three books of The Lord of the Rings. If it had covered only the
first book, perhaps they would have made the rest as well. At the time,
they really could not do justice to the series in a live action movie. I
found the recent live action version of The Fellowship of the Ring to be
excellent and am glad they waited for today's cinematographic techniques
to attempt it. I'm looking foward to The Two Towers and The Return of the
King to come out.
Recently I re-read the Helliconia Trilogy by Brian Aldiss: Helliconia
Spring ©1982, Helliconia Summer ©1983, and Helliconia Winter
©1985 It is a very interesting series about a world orbiting two
suns where the orbit around one of the suns is a fairly normal (for us)
year of about 1.4 Earth years and where that sun orbits another very hot
blue sun approximately every 1400 Earth years. The long year about the
blue sun brings the seasons, ice age cold when furthest away from the blue
sun, roasting hot when closest. About 700 years apart. Something like 350
years of ice age. The series considers the world through a great year. Each
generation only sees a fraction of a season. Each great year civilization
climbs up from frozen stone age to a renaissance sort of age before crashing
back to the stone age. On top of that in addition to a very human race and
fairly earth like creatures which thrive through the warm centuries, there
are a different intelligent race which thrive through the times of ice along
with an ecology of other non-earthlike creatures. Well, not exactly another
ecology, but one rather interestingly woven through the changing centuries.
Painting
I have been doing a bit of painting. I have a nice place set
up in my bedroom for painting. I have a small writing desk that my Grandfather-Wiigs
built and have had since I was in Elementary School. The desk is like
a bookshelf where the top third of it has a shelf that swings down to provide
a writing surface with a full width shelf behind it and three cubby-holes
taking up the top 5 or so inches. The writing surface is just large enough
for my tabletop easel and room to rest my pallet, a jar with my brushes
and a plastic sherbet container I fill with water to clean my brushes
in. I use acrylic polymer pains so it is important to have lots of cool
fresh water to keep the brushes pliable. Behind there is room for a small
wooden box with my paints and such. The cubby-holes have things like a
box of my pencil crayons, oil pastels, and water colour pencils; a store
of napkins and paper towels and a few other odds and sods. I can thank
my Uncle Owen for the simple wooden box I keep my paints in. A couple
of years ago he gave me the box filled with goodies from Norway. Mom, Dad,
Deb, and Don all got one as well.
Anyhow, the painting is a nice diversion. More about my painting
projects in the near future.
Writing
I have over the past couple of years started a few writing projects.
Due to a few health problems and such I haven't finished very many
of them, but have made enough progress with some of them to know they
"Will" be completed some day. Hopefully some in months while others
may take years to actually be completed.
SCA Heraldry Project
At one time while I was editor for "The Northern Sentinel" the
newsletter for the Crown Principality that once was known as The Northern
Region. (The new name is still in the process of being registered either
The Principality of the North or The Principality of Tir Rioga.) It
represents SCA members over most of BC. During this time I did a short
article to give a bit of help for people who were designing their heraldic
device for use in the SCA. It wasn't a nuts and bolts instruction guide
on heraldry, rather a brainstorming sort of thing to spur someone's creative
juices to come up with a design. For example what colours they like and
what interests they have.
I wrote this up and designed it as a brochure that could be given
out to anyone interested. Since then, starting in August 2002, I guess,
I started to write some other brochures intended to be references to
people starting out to learn Heraldry as it is done in the SCA. This project
has since grown to become a book on SCA Heraldry. Again it started out
to be about the design of the heraldic device, but has grown to include
sections on Voice Heraldry including Court Heraldry, Field Heraldry, and
Town Crier type work. It also will touch on Registerable Names and SCA
Persona creation and development. Of course it's not written in stone that
it will be a single book, a couple of books, a series of booklets, a series
of brochures, or even a series of articles to be published in some Newsletter
or other periodical.
The Heraldry Project is well under way, though I stopped working
on it while taking a little break with Bronchial Pneumonia. I had hoped
to have it finished by Christmas. Perhaps I shall, perhaps other projects
will take precedence.
The Fantasy World of Verden
This writing project is a fantasy world like Tolkien's Middle
Earth. I am designing it for use as a setting for my Fantasy Fiction
projects including novels and short stories. It's also the setting for
my own fantasy role playing games. It is currently complete enough for
me to run games using it. It is an ongoing project that I might publish
on its own in entirety, or in sections as I complete them. I have a few
ideas and germs of ideas for some novels and short stories set on Verden
already in the works. While I contemplate writing stories based on the
two games I am running, I think I'll end up writing first a story tentatively
titled, "All I Know About Dragons."
Port Moody Ghost Stories
This collection of fictional ghost stories that take place in
the setting of Port Moody, BC has been sitting partly done for a year
or so. I started writing them a year ago last August intending to use
the stories as the source material for ghost story evenings in the Port
Moody Station Museum in the week before Halloween. While I have stories
enough for that project, I have others to write still and some to rewrite
and one larger one to complete.
Sometimes the Sun Rises Twice
This non-fiction work is to be my personal observation on what
living life with long term depression is like. This project is still
in the thinking out stages with little if anything written out.
Projects with Toby
Last July I started working for/with a local Port Moody musician,
Toby Beaulieu. In the beginning I was creating some graphic art for a
CD of Russian Folk music he collected on a trip across Russia on the Trans
Siberian railway. Later I did some work on his web site and now am currently
working on a major Multimedia project incorporating live music, stage
magic, computer graphics and effects and such. I'm working in transcribing
his ideas onto a story board like script taking his words written with
English as his second language, Quebecois as his first. I am trying to
keep the flavour and meaning of his words while putting them into more
proper English. He also wants me to do some work at translating some of
his lyrics into English. It is a challenge, but I think I can manage it.
Eventually he wants me to run the lighting and sound for the show when it
is performed.
Computer and Internet Instruction
I still want to go ahead with teaching computer and internet
skills to seniors. I've put out some posters and given out many business
cards, but no takers yet other than my first student and in the coming
months, my parents. I still have to figure out a way to get some students.
I know I can do a good job and if I can just keep a handful of students
going at any one time I could support myself financially.
I am also considering doing a videotape on the basics of getting
a computer turned on and starting programs as well as exiting from
them and turning the computer back off. It will use connecting to the
internet and sending and receiving email as the example software to practice
with. The goal, to be there with a person very new to computers when the
person is starting out. I would like to follow it with a CD that will
have various things on it like how to surf the internet, how to install
programs, how to protect a computer from viruses both using and not using
virus protection software, how to keep a computer healthy and ways to
organize things so that the computer is easier to use. I'd also like to
include software like Netscape and some other useful things.
I also want to look into what might be involved and what resources
there are that would allow me to start up my own actual business in
Computer instruction and tutoring. Perhaps even with help for ESL students.
I'm interested in eventually having a shop with a few classrooms,
and an internet cafe.
Web Design Projects
I have many partly done web projects out there. Some are rather
ambitious project that require alot of work, others that I just never
got around to finishing like this very journal.
Port Moody Station Virtual Museum
This project is to take the displays of the Port Moody Station
Museum and convert them to a web accessible virtual museum on the web.
After getting the virtual museum going with the existing displays of
the museum I want to start creating displays that there simply is not
enough room for. Museum displays are like the visible portion of an iceberg.
Most of it lies unseen underneath the water. The Port Moody Station Museum
has many artefacts that would remain unseen by the public and students
of history alike. I want to start taking the stored artefacts and create
displays temporarily. I'd create web pages like the ones for the actual
displays and add them to the virtual museum. Then I'd dismantle the display
and put together another one continuing the process. Eventually as many
artefacts as possible will be a part of the virtual museum.
The Virtual Museum would be set up so that a person connected
to the World Wide Web on the Internet could tour the museum as if they
were actually there. They could explore and look at items taking more
time on some and less on others. Unlike the real display they would be
able to look at all views of an item as if they could hold it in their
hand and turn it around and if I can get enough space to do it even look
at the artefact as if under a microscope.
In parallel to this virtual museum environment would be a research
environment. It would have access to all the same artefacts and displays
except through database search features and cross referenced indexes.
Something perhaps of more use to a student or researcher than the Virtual
tour.
I'd like this to be an example site that other museums can use
for I am fairly certain there are more artefacts in most museums than
they can ever hope to display.
I'd like to get funding for this project so that I could hire
people to do the work and research needed and while setting up the Port
Moody Station Virtual Museum be creating templates to do the same more
easily with other museums. I'd like to be the director of such a project.
The Darrell Wade Penner Campus
This slightly narcissistic web site will be a test bed for my
Port Moody Station Virtual Museum. I'll create displays and such using
my own projects and creations as subject materials. It will also showcase
my interests. I've started work on a version of it, and actually have
it on the web, but I think rather than continue its development I will
start from scratch building it again, but using what I have since learned.
With such a project I have come to believe that organization
is even more important than techniques and tricks. It is a large project,
far too large to organize in one's head. There will be hundreds of individual
web pages. I'd like to have templates for the pages so that things can
be upgraded and freshened up simply.
World of Verden Gaming Reference
This is going to be a web site of references to my Fictional
Fantasy World of Verden. I am not sure just what will be available
to the general public as I want to keep control of the copyrights and
not spoil the chances of publishing my work.
Computer Graphic Work
I still am playing with photo manipulation, creating interesting
images that never really happened as portrayed. An example is the group
photo I did of my friends and our Gaming Group. I put together a group
photo even though all the members have never been photographed together.
I have also done a photo of the core members of that Gaming Group done
up as characters from Gilligan's Island and a few done as if from The
Flintstones. I've learned alot of techniques since I first started with
access to a hand scanner so I could start collecting images of friends
and such. I have even had at one point a commision to do a collection of
20 such faked images for someone at some $40 US apiece. Unfortunatly the
fellow cancelled, for the most part because of possible difficulties due
to sending money across the border.
I guess with that almost commission and with the graphics I actually
have done for Toby and others I could call myself a professional graphic
artist and web page designer.
I just have to find a way to actually make an income doing the
photo manipulations. I enjoy the work and feel that I'm actually talented
at it.
That's it for now!
I think that is more than enough for this first installment.
I can always add more later!
