Get Up!

(Thread photo is of a Kodak Pocket No. 1 – circa 1927. My youngest daughter, Julia, has her grandfather’s example hanging on her family room wall. It is non-functional, unfortunately.)

This is being written on Thursday morning, from the comfort of an office chair, but when you read this column, I will be out in the wild with my daughter on a photo expedition to the wilderness of Western Wichita. The best time for landscape photos – and most others – is early morning or late night when the shadows and light are softer.

I am looking forward to spending some time with Dee, pursuing our mutual love of fine photography. Taking a great picture is a pleasure, especially if the experience can be shared. We will be heading out about 6:30 AM, an hour before sunrise, to be able to set up and wait for the perfect light. Thanks to the technology of digital photography, our “mistakes” can easily be forgiven and we won’t have to worry about having enough film with us.

I began my fascination with photography in the old days, with a 35mm Minolta rangefinder. Soon after, I graduated to a SLR. It took a while, but I belatedly went digital. I still shoot like a film photographer, but I appreciate the flexibility of digital. Now, I carry a King’s ransom of photography gear with me – no excuses for poor work these days!

In the real old days, Ansel Adams shot with a huge view camera with 8 x 10 sheet film and massive lenses. Every shot was a pricey event and there was little room for error. Today, I real off six or eight shots of the same scene to get my pix. Adam’s most famous photo, “Monolith, the Face of Half Dome,”  was a three shot wonder, each shot with a different filter, when Ansel was just 25 years old. Today, I won’t be shooting a similar picture – no mountains in Kansas – but I can take as many shots as I want, with all the effects I could imagine, without taking my Canon DSLR off the tripod.

Photography is my passion. I can’t sing. I can’t play an instrument. I can’t draw. Photography is my creative outlet.

Fnord paints rocks. Wicked is a writer. Free is addicted to Southern Rock. We all need a place of our own to express ourselves to remain remotely (?) sane. What is your passion?

William Stephenson Clark

(Photos will be published Monday.)

Foreign Budweiser?….Try Jackie Beer!

Question from the editor; Dear PrariePops, I no longer drink and haven’t for a dozen years. I know, that’s damned unamerican. My question; Since I don’t drink, but I do own 2 guns, can I still be considered a patriotic American?

The Elephant in the Room



There is no doubt in my mind that both as Senator and as President, Barack Obama did the right this regarding TARP and the Stimulus Bill. These measures were required, in my view, to keep our economy, and conversely the global economy, from sliding in another Great Depression.

Understanding the complexities of the world’s economies is far from being my strong suit. Quite frankly, I am just too intellectually lazy to pursue a complete knowledge of Wall Street v. Main Street and all that lies in between.

I am capable, in my defense, to place my trust in those that know far more about the subject than I do. And, I trust Barack Obama. Republicans, not so much. They drove the bus into the ditch in the first place.

Regardless of the need for spending bills to prevent the crash of the economy, the National Debt is rising to levels heretofore unimaginable. Of course, much of that debt was incurred under Republican administrations, but you’ll never get a Tea Bagger to admit that.

It’s easy to say “cut spending!” Okay, where? Now the equation becomes a bit more tricky. It’s kind of like earmarks – everyone hates them, everyone wants to see money going to their home district.

Here’s a few ideas of mine to cut spending:

Eliminate  two third’s of our 700 foreign military bases.

Enact Secretary Robert Gates’ proposed cuts to the military.

Eliminate the Depart of Redundancy Department.

Freeze all new Federal hiring without specific Congressional approval.

End off-shore tax havens for American corporations.

Repeal and replace the Bush prescription drug bill.

Simplify the tax code to reduce loopholes.

Reduce salaries of all elected and appointed Federal employees by 10%.

Review and cut where necessary all tax subsidies and credits for business.

Those are my ideas, Pop Bloggers. What are yours?

William Stephenson Clark

Guilty Pleasures………….

Well, for the most part, we all try to act all grown up and sophisticated, trying not to expose our inner-child to an inquisitive and critical world. Deep beyond prying eyes, however, we all have our guilty pleasures.

As I have grown older, I am less inclined to hide my guilty pleasures, but sometimes (!) I am less than forthcoming about the extent of my secret habits.

For some, guilty pleasures amount to all things chocolate or bacon, and some even combine the two with chocolate covered bacon.  For others, a guilty pleasures amount to a secret love of mushy old love songs or movies that bring a tear to the eye.

Others, mostly men, try to deny their politically incorrect and environmentally insensitive love of hot rods and muscle cars.  For others, it may be action movies where the good guy kicks the ass of the bad guy in the end, pun intended.

Now, I have to say, this thread probably doesn’t apply  to any Pop Bloggers whatsoever, since most are totally innocent of any deceitfulness in that regard.

(Raise your hands!)

Anyway, tell us about someone you know (wink, wink!) that has a guilty pleasure that they indulge in, behind closed doors.

Feel free to begin your post with “I know a guy that……………………”

We will all understand.

William Stephenson Clark

Addiction: Disease or Choice?

Dr. Somov grapples with the question as to whether addiction is a disease or a choice.  He summarizes his position by saying:

“The key humanistic challenge of recovery from substance use and other compulsive spectrum disorders is the Recovery of one’s Sense of Freedom to Choose, to act freely, to determine one’s behavior, and to control the controllable aspects of one’s life.”

This discussion keeps recurring it seems to me.  I have always wondered what is wrong with the position that addiction is a disease AND a choice.  Is it not useful to arrive at the position of:  “If I continue this behavior it will become out of control (as it has many times before), thus the correct course is to choose not to use and to pursue what I need to recover from my illness.”

Dr. Somov later states: “Open your mind to the possibility that you are not sick with an incurable disease – but just stuck in ineffective coping.”

I think this argument is a false dichotomy, but I would enjoy hearing the views of others…  I would tend to speculate that with addictions that have not had a chronic course, Dr. Somov’s approach may have merit.  Data would be useful in clarifying this, though.

iggydonnelly