The phrase I seemed to hear most often was “Take Lots of Pictures…I wish I did”…and I listened.   I don’t have a 800.00 camera, with
fangled buttons, multiple lenses, and dozens of knobs and switches.  I tried that route and it seemed every time there was a
photo opportunity, I was rifling through a bag to get the correct lens and by the time I pieced it all together…everyone was gone.

So, I did my research and found you can get a fantastic camera for about $200.00…and most of the high end pictures were
processed with programs like Picasa on the free line,  PhotoshopLE, and my favorite, Adobe Lightroom.  You see, in these programs
I learned to edit the photos…bring up the black, add filtering, etc…and an addiction was born.

People often tell me “You should take pictures as a second income” but, I will never do that…for I have a history of turning things
I love into jobs…and once you’ve done that more than a few times, you learn nothing sucks the fun out of a project like taking
someone’s money and in doing so, surrendering your own vision for someone who essentially wants to be ‘the hands’ of an operation
rather than buying what you make as it is….of course, I am not slighting photographers that make a living taking photographs…
but unless people wanted to buy pictures of my kids, I would stink at doing it as a job! 

So a coupla weeks back I took the kids to the Rec Center….kids like to explore and normally this is a pain…
However, when I chased them down with their pals, there they were amongst the trees like something out
of the old story of Peter Pan in Neverland.  Luckily, I had my camera with me and this is what transpired.

When I got home and went to bed after dinner, movies, and a quick game of flashlight theater (look…a bunny!)….
I loaded my card in to the Imac and WOW…

So thanks for all that advice on “remembering to take pictures”….and I advise any new parent to do the same.
Sure, sometimes it drives my kids nuts but, hey, it’s my house…and in it…there is always a fully charged set of
batteries with a camera ready to go!

–Chuck

Well…on the Morning Point, we figured we’d call him and find out.

Happy Harvest Time from The Douds!

Autumn in the great Hampton Roads, and my favorite time of year has come ’round again for us all.   It’s the annual chance to take a couple of week ‘breather’ before we ready for the coming Holiday Season.  It’s a chance we get to really take a look around and see how much has changed over the past year.  The influx of visitors are back in their homes, and we ‘got the place to ourselves’; like a kid after the relatives leave…the place is quiet.

The kids are getting bigger.  Charlie looks more like a teenager at 7 than a little boy anymore.  Theresa is now five and full of that flowering fire of a young lady who’s figuring out boys and girls are different; and she’s ready to show the world just ‘how’.

I can feel that soon, the days of going to Chuck E Cheese will fade and we will have to find “bigger adventures”, and I like this…

However, I’m not ready to move on from the annual trip to the ‘Punkin Patch’….and neither were they, thankfully.   So, yesterday I grabbed the camera and we headed towards London Bridge road to get a Pumpkin and let Dad do the ‘picture thing’.

We got a small pumpkin to get things going and I promised we would come back and get larger ones in the next week or so.   Last year, we carved Pumpkins the first week of October which looked like “spooky slime” by the time Halloween was still weeks away.  LOL!

So I wish you a Happy Harvest Time in the 7 Cities….get out there and enjoy the changes before the holidays hit…there will be plenty to do once November arrives with all it’s wonders.  See you out there!

Hugs,

–C

PS…if you have any good Pumpkin Pie Recipes using real pumpkin, can you hook me up?  Charlie noted he wants to make REAL pumpkin pie.  I have done it before but the kind I make is not that sweet.   I see lots of online recipes, but, I would like one “tested and true” recipe from a local I can talk to…and that qualifies YOU.   Thanks!      send me a message on Facebook

You will not like it…but if you give it a chance, you will LOVE how easy it is….everything is NOW sorted according to how many people love you and what you said first…and there’s more room for pictures of everyone’s favorite thing….YOU!

So, is there really that much to fear with the new FACEBOOK?
Watch my video and get a first glance at the changes and judge for yourself.

CLICK THIS —> WATCH CHUCKS FIRST LOOK AT THE NEW FACEBOOK HERE

]]> http://blogs.pointradio.com/cdoud/2011/09/28/chuck-takes-a-look-at-the-new-facebook/feed/ 0 http://blogs.pointradio.com/cdoud/2011/09/26/5123/ http://blogs.pointradio.com/cdoud/2011/09/26/5123/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:58:03 -0700 Chuck Doud http://blogs.pointradio.com/?p=5123 Facebook Alert: The Facebook “download facebook data” button reveals every private message, every post, every picture, deleted or not available to be downloaded from your account. Try it! Click the HOME tab and go to ACCOUNT SETTINGS

NOW at the bottom of the list in small blue letters it says “download facebook data”…click it,

Depending whether or not you browse securely, you may be asked to enter your password.  Once activated, and  ENTIRE history of your account is generated and can be downloaded to one folder…its ALL THERE.

This one is going to make “oh, they’re just a friend” and “I never said that/posted that” a thing of the past.

Remember, though, if it comes to a point where you are sitting down with ’someone special’ and challenging them to do this…it’s safe to say there were problems already…and though I would never challenge someone to do this, I will say “be safe kids”…before you POST on your wall…before you send that private message you wouldn’t in front of your significant other/boss/friend…remember….FACEBOOK KEEPS IT ALL.

Yours in Social Media Drama,

–Chuck

As a Dad, this was a pretty huge moment…
The fact that I have been fishing 33 years and never caught
a largemouth bass of this size is pretty awesome for him…and I let
him know how special this was….

Fish On!
Chuck

One shelter will open Friday, August 26 at 7 p.m. Pets will be accepted.

• Bethel High School
  1067 Big Bethel Road
  *Residents should bring any medications or special needs equipment, air mattresses, blankets and pillows, diapers, toys, games and books for children, food, and water (recommended 1 gallon per person per day). Pets will be accepted; owners should bring a cage or crate, food and water, and medications.
   

Virginia Beach

Two city shelters will open Friday, August 26 at 6 p.m. Pets are not allowed.

• Landstown High School
  2001 Concert Drive
• Salem High School (medically-friendly facility)
  1993 SunDevil Drive

Two shelters will open Saturday, August 27 at 8 a.m. Pets are not allowed.

• Cox High School
  2425 Shorehaven Drive
• Birdneck Elementary School
  957 S. Birdneck Road

Chesapeake

The city will open four shelters Friday, August 26 at 7 p.m. No pets allowed.

• Oscar Smith High School
  1994 Tiger Drive
• Hickory Middle School
  1996 Hawk Blvd.
• Western Branch High School
  1968 Bruin Place
• Thurgood Marshall Elementary School
  2706 Border Road

The city is opening a pet shelter on Friday, August 26 at 7 p.m.

• River Crest Community Center
  1001 River Walk Parkway (Pet owners will be housed at Oscar Smith)

Norfolk

The city will open five shelters Friday, August 26 at 6 p.m. Pets are not allowed.

• Granby High School
  7101 Granby Street
• Norview High School
  6501 Chesapeake Blvd.
• Lake Taylor Middle School
  1380 Kempsville Road
• Maury High School
  322 Shirley Avenue
• Campostella Elementary School
  1106 Campostella Road

Suffolk  

The city will open three shelters on Friday, August 26 at 8 p.m.

• Nansemond River High School                                                                                                                           3301 Nansemond Pkwy.
• Lakeland High School                                                                                                                                           214 Kenyon Rd.
• Kings Fork High School                                                                                                                                      351 Kings Fork Rd.                                                                                                              

North Carolina

• TJ Davis Recreation Center
  400 E. Sixth St.
  Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870

  Pets will not be co-located at this shelter, but accommodations will be available and information will be provided upon arrival.

• Northampton Cultural & Wellness Center
  9536 Hwy 305 N.
  Jackson, NC 27845

  Pets will be co-located at this site.

• Dare County residents without a means of transportation to a state managed shelter outside of Dare County may call 252-475-5640 to make travel arrangements.
• Nash County – Opens Aug. 25                                                                                                                     Englewood Baptist Church                                                                                                                                   1350 South Winstead Ave.                                                                                                                                
• Wilson County    - Opens Aug. 25                                                                                                              Raleigh Road Baptist Church                                                                                                                                4150 Raleigh Road Parkway

So there I was…4 days in a remote cabin atop of a mountainside in Page County, VA…not a neighbor for 2 miles…nature all around me…and it was exactly what I needed.   Here is the cabin I rented stayed in.

I slept about 12 hours a day and didn’t do ‘much’ aside from slide in to the day like a sloth.  I was in my Pajamas until about noon most days…I stayed up until 2:20am playing cards one night, and went in to the town of Luray for some local flavor and picture taking.

The Town of Luray is one of those great little towns driven on tourism and a solid local hardworking crowd.  It sits at the base of the mountains and is also home to the Globally Acclaimed “Luray Caverns”, an underground tourist attraction designed by Mother Nature over the past several million years.   It’s definitely a must see.

Go ahead and click on the image to see a larger rendition of this gorgeous cavern.  It was worth the 23 bucks for the tour, which, takes you on about a mile walk through the caverns.  I felt like I was in “The Lord of The Rings” in here…good stuff.

After the caverns, I stopped by the Luray “Rain Garden” and Towne Park just outside the town on my way back to the cabin.  There was a nice stream full of little trout and this guy was getting some fresh sushi.  I watched him for a few minutes.  He would sit still and then SNAP…grab himself another trout.  Pretty awesome.

At first I thought he was not ‘real’…he just sat and waited…patient…and then he’d just pop his long neck out and enjoy more of the days fresh catch.  It was fantastic to watch as he would gulp down a trout and then go back ‘mannequin style’.  He’s my hero.

After I got back from my 4 day sojourn to be one with nature, I picked the kids up for the remaining 5 days of my time off and we had our usual “BLAST’ of a time.

A good friend of mine is the best blueberry pie maker in the state and she had been suggesting I take the kids to Pungo Blueberries (a seasonal pick your own blueberry farm) and collect blueberries.  The deal was if we helped pick, she would do her magic on the pies.  So we there we were…about 8 pounds of blueberries later, it was pie time and true to form…her Blueberry Pie is unbeatable and Theresa got to help make it with her while Charlie and I caught up on iCarly on Nickelodeon.

In case you have ever wondered what 8lbs of blueberries looks like….here ya go.  …it takes 4 people working like mad about 90 minutes to get this many blueberries.  I can see now why they cost so much at the store.   Here, they only charged about a $1.80 a pound.  Not bad!  8lbs from the store would have been upwards of 25 – 30 bucks for two pies.  This produced 2 very large blueberry pies with about a ziplock bag filled to the brim left over for pancakes, etc.

The grand finally to several activities and excursions with the kids was our first ever fishing trip by flat bottom jon-boat.   Here is the visual candy from that trip which produced 7lbs of fish and a trip to last a lifetime.

Here are some pics