I must have needed to get my praise and worship on, because I know I listened to this about 10 times in a row. Sometimes I’ll hear something that on a particular day just ministers to me and stays in my spirit – sometimes for days. I’m here at home by myself listening to this and watching the video, and it’s all I can do to keep from hopping up out of this chair and dancing like David danced all around my house singing this at the top of my lungs. But, err, uh, it’s 4:30 in the morning, so I don’t think my neighbors would appreciate that.

The song is called Highest Praise (aka The Lord is High Above the Heavens), and I don’t know who wrote it or popularized it. The YouTube video below isn’t the best quality, but it’s the only one I could find that I could embed on the blog. You can watch the original at this link for news station KTVU, which streamed the service from its website.

The performance was at the memorial service for Bishop Walter Hawkins. The choir is the choir for Bishop Hawkins’ Love Center Church, and the gentleman leading the song is the Minister of Music for the Love Center Church. There are other versions out there in videoland, but I like this one. This man SANG this song, y’all hear me!?

Update: The lens isn’t really a “fail”. It’s just quirky. I decided to keep it, but I just won’t try to use it in full manual mode without first adjusting the exposure compensation on my camera. As I said below, when I put my camera in Aperture Priority mode, the photos are fine (aka properly exposed). So, I’ll probably just only use this lens in that mode.

…..
So, I finally got the lens Saturday. But, I had to head out of town at the last minute on Sunday, so I didn’t get to take any test shots until I got back and recovered from the trip. From looking at the lens, it looks fine. No oil on the aperture blades, no fungus on the glass, no scratches or chips in the glass, and the body was okay, etc.

However, when I put the lens on my K10D and started taking test shots, I noticed that the photos taken with the lens wide open at f2.8 were DARKER than the photos taken stopped down to f5.6. In fact, the f5.6 aperture setting seemed to be this lens’ “sweet spot”, as it got the exposure right. The photos taken at f8 through f22 were all supposed to gradually get darker as the aperture got smaller. Looking at the photos in the order taken (from largest to smallest aperture: f2.8, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22), the darkening of the photos should have followed an easily detectible progression from brightest/lightest to darkest. That didn’t happen.

The weird thing is that when I took the camera out of full manual mode and put it in Av mode (aperture priority), the exposure in the shots was balanced correctly. But, if I want to grow my technical skills, I can’t get into the habit of shooting in Av mode all the time. But, if I only shoot in Av, without understanding how to use manual mode, how would I know what to do if I needed to use full manual mode in a difficult lighting situation? Exactly. I’ve contacted the seller to arrange a return and refund.

So, yeah… that’s where I’m headed. I’ve been without health coverage since Dec 1, 2009 when my COBRA premium went back up to full price. The politicians – who all have GREAT health insurance – took their time extending the subsidy, and by the time everything was signed off on, it was too late. Some might say I should’ve paid the high premium, and after the subsidy extension passed let the overage be applied to future months. That could’ve worked… had I had the almost $500 premium. Sorry, I don’t have a money tree growing in my proverbial (and fictional) back yard.

So, in order to get into the federal pre-existing health conditions insurance pools, a person has to have not had health insurance for at least 6 months, and must have an insurance denial letter dated within the 6 months prior to the application date. I met the first condition but not the second, so I had to apply for a policy and be rejected. No problem; I have Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (among other things it caused). That makes me an auto-reject.

So, I surfed myself on over to Aetna’s website and spent several HOURS completely, and truthfully, filling out the application. I gave my payment information (unlike UnitedHealthcare, they don’t actually take your money until you are approved for a policy), and awaited a decision.

It didn’t even take 48 hours. The next day, I logged in to check my application status, and there it was as plain as day…

Ironically, while my greenbacks were no good to Aetna for a health insurance policy, they’re good enough for the discount drug, vision, and dental card program they tried to sell me. I wouldn’t sign up for that program, even if it was the best one on the market, just on general principle (GP). If I’m not good enough for them one way, I’m not good enough for them another way. Aetna can kiss my grits.

So… how do you think that’s going to work out for you on Judgment Day? I’m just sayin…

If health care isn’t a right, then whatever laws that say emergency care must be provided in the ER need to be repealed. Let’s just go all the way with it, then. Let’s have everyone fend for themselves, and to hell with compassion or helping those less fortunate. If you can’t afford health care then you have the RIGHT to die and be cremated on the cheap, instead of buried, with the cost of cremation coming out of an Indigent Cremation Fund that everyone pays a nominal flat fee into every year. Your relatives can dig a hole in the backyard and bury your urn there, right next to beloved Fido, if they want.

After all, God didn’t bless any of us with anything, or make it possible for us to have what we have. We did it ALL on our own and by ourselves. God who? Let’s just all stop pretending. Why even FAKE anymore? I mean, really, it’s time to end the charade. We have become our own Gods (yes, with the capital G), and there is not enough room for us and him, so he has to go. Oh, wait, he’s already gone. We just need to stop pretending he’s still here, still relevant, and still matters.

I mean, since he didn’t, and never has, done anything for us anyway, why keep him around? After all, we worked for our money and why should we have to give it away in tithes and offering for a building we only use once a week, if that? If our hurting and sick neighbor who we CAN see doesn’t deserve any of our largesse, then why should we give anything to some “being” – a perfect, and perfectly healthy one at that – we’ve never seen? Like, what kind of sense does that make?

So, let’s just cut the crap and get real. Anything that’s not a right needs to be eliminated right now, so we all can keep as much of our hard earned money in our pockets as possible. Poor, sick people? Eh well. They’ll die off sooner or later, and just could be better off for it. Right?

/sarcasm

My latest acquisition is a low budget, wide-angle manual focus prime lens. The Pentax Takumar Bayonet 28mm f2.8 lens is a member of Pentax’s low budget Takumar Bayonet line of lenses, and debuted in 1984. Optically it’s identical to it’s older, and more expensive, brothers in the Pentax M and A lines, and it’s even built to the same high mechanical standards.

But, yet, it’s very much an underdog because, as a low budget lens, it lacks the Super-Multi-Coating (SMC) that is found in Pentax’s higher end lenses. The lens is coated, but the lack of SMC makes it prone to flaring, among other things. But, used within its limitations, this lens can turn out some great results.

Example 1. This photo is straight out of the photographer’s camera. Not bad. All I did was crop out a cloud and some tree leaves on the sides.

Example 2. The same photo after a super quick edit in Photoshop. I decreased the exposure and increased the contrast both a smidgen, just enough to make the colors pop a little.

Not bad at all for a 26 year old underdog “budget” lens, huh? To see more pictures taken with this lens, check out this PBase photo gallery that I found.

Time is winding down, and I only have about a month to go before my lease ends. As much as I like my apartment and the area it’s in, I decided not to renew my lease here. Long story short, I haven’t had a car in over a year, so I depend on public transportation. The public transit system here, called MARTA, had to take some drastic measures to stay within budget for their next fiscal year, which starts in the fall. They eliminated 40 bus routes, and made a lot of changes to almost all of the remaining routes.

There are two buses that come where I live. One was eliminated. The other was spared, but it’s only a M-F peak hour route, anyway. It doesn’t run from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the last bus leaves its bay at the MARTA station at 6:40 p.m. Not very useful. I thought about staying put and taking more cabs, but the county has set the minimum fare at $6. That could get expensive fast. So, once again, I’m moving. And, I am not happy about it.

Dealing with public transportation is becoming too much of a hassle. I can’t, and won’t, move every time MARTA decides to cut a route. The best thing for me to do is to get another car, but in order to make that work, I need to find a cheaper apartment. When I say cheaper, I mean a lot cheaper. As in paying no more than $475 a month for rent. There are complexes in the Atlanta metro with rent that cheap, but they’re in very bad areas.

So, I’m thinking about moving to one of the small towns, or smaller cities, in North/Northwest/Northeast Georgia or upstate South Carolina where decent apartments in safe areas can be rented for what I need to pay. I’d live there for the 18-24 months it would take to pay off the used car I’d buy. These smaller towns and cities may not be very happening places but, truthfully, besides my photography hobby and going to an occasional movie, I don’t do much of anything anyway. Once the car is paid off, I’ll be free to move back to the big city and go back to paying big city rent.

My first serious attempt at shooting fireworks, during a pre-4th celebration on June 26th, are in a post called SummerFest on the Green Fireworks. Comparing this set to the last set, I think I show definite improvement. Things didn’t go according to plan, but I was able to improvise and get decent results. So, what didn’t go according to plan?

Well, this time I had my complete tripod… but I forgot to bring the remote control for my camera. I put the camera on the tripod anyway, because I figured that even if I did have to manually press the shutter-release button, there would still be less camera shake than if I hand-held the camera to take the shots.

All things considered, I think the results are okay. My goal for this set of pics was to improve over the last set, and I did. So, I guess I can say mission accomplished. Here are my favorite five pics from the 4th of July. Don’t forget that you have to click on the pics to see them full-sized.

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful lady who liked to take pictures. One day, when the weather was almost perfect, the beautiful lady decided to go to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area to see what interesting things she could find to photograph. When she got there, the beautiful lady had several trails to follow. Loving to be near water, she decided to take the trail that followed the course of the river…

Down the stone steps…

Past the hidden creek…

Through the shady woods…

To the open area on the riverbank…

Where someone built a pier…

And a house…

And their very own island…

At the end of her visit, the beautiful lady was tired but very happy. She went home, and after her aging body recovered from the miles she’d walked, she edited her pictures and found that they were good. The beautiful lady shared her pictures and lived happily ever after.

The End.

This past Saturday my boyfriend and I attended the city of Morrow’s annual SummerFest on the Green. Starting in the early evening around 6pm, it’s a family/community day kind of thing. There were rides and games for the kids, an open hydrant for anybody who wanted to get wet, food vendors for the hungry, and a pretty good band that played a variety of music. A good time was had by all, and at 10pm, the fireworks show started.

I was really excited about the fireworks, because it’s challenging to get good fireworks photos. I went online before we left, and got a few pointers for photographing fireworks and made a crib sheet from an index card, LOL. Things didn’t go as planned, as I couldn’t use my tripod, which is the best way to take some types of photos like fireworks. I left the tripod’s quick-release plate, that attaches to the bottom of the camera, at home, so I had to hand-hold the camera and do my best to keep as steady as possible and catch the fireworks. I think I did a pretty good job, but you be the judge.

Camera: Pentax K10D, ISO: 100, Shooting Mode: Bulb (B), Lenses: Pentax Takumar (Bayonet) 135mm f2.5 & SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.7

Wow, time really flies! I just looked at my last post and it’s dated May 26th. I didn’t think I’d been off the blog that long. So, gosh, what’s been going on with me?

Well, I started dating someone, and we’re about 4 months in, now. Things are going very well, and I’m very happy. At the same time, I hadn’t been feeling very well and dreaded going to the doctor, especially now that I don’t have health insurance, anymore. I kept putting off going to the doctor hoping I would get better. I never did, so I broke down and made an appointment.

As far as I know, the lupus is still in remission. But, I also have Fibromyalgia, which is the culprit this time. It’s weird in that most people with lupus also have “fibro”, but most people with fibro don’t have lupus. I don’t know how that works, but it turns out that I was feeling bad because I was having a pretty bad fibro flare. My muscles were really tight all over, and as if that wasn’t enough, all the tendons and soft tissues around my joints (both shoulders, both elbows, both knees, both hands, both ankles, both hips, and my neck) were inflamed, which made them super sore and stiff. And, I had been like that since about March, getting progressively worse, before I finally couldn’t take it anymore.

I was put back on prednisone for a month long high dosage taper, and prescribed a muscle relaxant and a pain reliever. I felt a lot better within 24 hours, and dramatically better within 48 hours. At 72 hours in (3 days), I literally felt like I had a new lease on life. I felt so good! Then I had a very sobering thought… I realized that I had forgotten what it felt like to feel good. Isn’t that a shame? Then, I had another sobering thought: I might be one of the people who can never fully come off of their meds. What made me think of that was when I told my primary care doctor that my (former) rheumatologists had taken me off all meds related to lupus or fibro, he dead-panned that that might be the reason why I was feeling so bad.

And, y’all, when I say I was feeling bad, I mean I was feeling bad. I scared the poor medical assistant so badly when she put the rubber tourniquet around my arm to draw blood! I hollered, and I couldn’t help it. One of the places I was having severe pain and soreness was in both my elbows. The med assistant tied the tourniquet right around the most tender part of my upper arm, and I was hollering before I could catch myself. End result? A nervous med assistant and the doctor taking the blood samples, himself. He had to put the tourniquet farther up my arm, and it was somewhat of an ordeal to get any blood out of me.

I still feel a lot better than I did, but my body has now adjusted to the prednisone and other meds, so my activity rate is slowing back down to normal. But, I tell ya, those first few days were AWESOME!! So, that’s pretty much been what’s going on with me, and why I haven’t been blogging much. I wasn’t feeling well, and so wasn’t doing anything, and so had nothing to talk about.

Yeah, I got some camera lenses during this time, but I couldn’t really use them since I really wasn’t up to doing too much, physically. But, since I knew there was going to come a time when I would be using them, I bought them anyway. Before I go any further, I just have to say that my boyfriend has been wonderful with all of this. I know he’s nervous about the lupus, fibro, and other issues, but he’s not letting “what if’s” scare him away. He’s the real deal, and I’m glad I met him, and I’m glad he’s a part of my life.

Well, that’s it for the update. Stay tuned for some fireworks pics I took this weekend at the city of Morrow’s annual SummerFest on the Green.