Self-Portrait of a Student Blogger

Having had an active website for almost 4 years (actually, two websites), I have posted hundreds of photos, primarily to document travels my wife and I have experienced. Naturally, my image is included in some of those photos. However, as far as I can recall, seeing myself on our instructor’s class blog is the first time that my image --- and a close-up at that --- has been posted by someone else. Famous folks experience this all the time and celebrities generally thrive on such free publicity. Being a private sort of person, though, this is a new experience for me and one which brings a twinge of discomfort. That’s because I am used to controlling the content and layout of my website after first deciding which photos will be posted and which will not. After due deliberation, I have concluded that my comfort zone lies behind the camera as well as behind the editor’s desk. Consequently, I have made a firm decision NOT to become a celebrity.

Travel planning is an activity I relish. Currently in the hopper is another wintertime escape, just a few weeks off, heading for someplace south. Biking is a favorite pastime we enjoy too infrequently during winter, so that is high on our agenda. Complementing it is research into dance possibilities, ideally in the same warm locale where we can find many paved, quiet, car-free bike paths. As often happens, where we actually go will be dictated by the weather.

The world would be a far better place if every home had a dance hall. Since my wife and I met on a dance floor, it may be understandable why having a place to dance at home is important to us. In fact, we have owned a dance floor throughout our 12 years of marriage. In anticipation of living overseas, the floor we chose was portable --- a good thing as it has already been installed in the five different homes we have occupied!

Our current abode provided us enough space to build a proper dance hall by partitioning off a section of its large, vacant basement. Over a two year span, that space underwent an amazing transformation, the result of a collaborative labor of love. Together, my wife and I selected and then installed the paper mural on the far wall, a testy process for two perfectionists. We found and purchased appropriate furnishings and decided together on many important details.

My solo efforts were more basic but essential: I framed the new wall that sectioned off the room; researched appropriate lights, purchased them, made the mechanical installations and tested them with power before electricians permanently wired the fixtures. The fake shutters and flower boxes were created in my workshop. Installing ducts for heating, A/C and ventilation was also my responsibility. One of the last improvements to appear was the suspended ceiling. Everyone should install just one suspended ceiling in their lifetime! I’ve done mine and I can attest it is not difficult. It is, however, exceptionally tedious and time-comsuming to get exactly right.

We had help with the room, too. Oh my, did we! After framing, a friend with experience helped install drywall. Carpet One did a masterful job with the flooring. However, what really makes the room the delight that it is are the superb wall murals painted by local artist Bob Baumbach. We were really fortunate to meet Bob and interest him in the project. His remarkable skills are on public display every time we have a dance party with friends. These monthly gatherings have become our preferred method of entertaining, offering more fun and far better exercise than having dinner together or watching a film in a home theater.


This photo’s message is simple: photo editing is another passion of mine. I especially take pleasure in creating humorous greeting cards --- usually for birthdays. Sometimes they are delivered by U.S. Mail and sometimes they appear on my website, complete with sound and animation --- and no advertisements! For the electronic version, I simply let the intended recipient know where to look.

Being very aware of ways that photos can be edited, it is a mystery to me why anyone would trust a photo to depict reality. I believe that altering a photo for purposes of deceiving someone in a significant way is morally questionable. However, to alter a photo by cropping or by the myriads of adjustments possible in a photo-editing program is so acceptable it is commonplace. More enjoyable to me, though, is altering a photo to provide a funny experience for the viewer, when he or she looks at a photo that has been obviously altered.

My greatest challenge at present is creating electronic greeting cards that work with all browsers. Unfortunately, Internet Explorer is the “500 pound gorilla”. This Microsoft product does things its own way and balks at code that other browsers consider legitimate. Until I have IE on my own computer to study its peculiar reactions, my basic solution is to urge viewers to use anything but THAT browser. Touche, Microsoft!