When I wrote my last entry on Jan. 31, 2008 I really had no clue I was about to encounter some of the worst days I have ever experienced in my life. My father "graduated" from this life and went to be with the Lord a few days into this new year. Although I knew the day would eventually come, and everyone faces the passing of relatives at some point, I was not expecting this to happen for at least another five years or so.
At first, I was very close to pulling the plug on this hobby project. Although my father had little to do with it, he was a very big inspiration to it since he introduced me to so many of these areas I have gone to and talked about on here. It was always fun to show him areas we used to fish or drive by when I was kid from the perspective of the top of a mountain peak. The other part of this is he was the photographer in that he would spend hours and hours working on his pictures. When things became digital he became very good at using photoshop.
I am pretty much a point and click guy when it comes to pictures. My approach is really different due to the amount of time I have on my hikes and locations. There are certain things I look for and am usually not out for the "perfect picture." My father still tried to give me advice on things he wanted me to do while taking pictures.
I always hate it on the internet when someone says, "This is my last message." Then they end up coming back a few days later as if nothing ever happened. I suspect that is a plea for sympathy, but for me if I were ever to do that I would mean it, and it would be over with no turning back. There have been things in the past that I did just that. I decided to let some time go by and see how I felt.
When certain types of tragedies take place in life when tries to regroup and think of what is ultimately important. I had to ask myself whether what I do here is really important to me or not. I know with certainty my father wanted me to continue to do what I was doing. I am still thinking all of this through because there are other important things in life I still want to accomplish. There is only so much time in this world.
One thing I was going to say, regardless of everything I have just written, is that I do believe at least one thing I have done will probably come to an end eventually. This has to do with the way I use youtube. I have always been somewhat skeptical of youtube. It went through its anarchy phase where almost anything went. Now, due to lawsuits over copyrights, a lot more restrictions have taken place. No doubt this will continue in the future in such a way that may stop what I do on there.
A lot of this, for right now, has to do with the music industry which does not affect me too much. I know this is not going to fly with people in the business, but I have always seen youtube as more like commercials for music or movies if content is being used. I have always tried to "plug" the dvd's, if they are available, for the content I have used. In fact, I do know that I have helped out the music, movie, and town industries economically speaking because I have a bunch of you that have told me so because you saw something I did on here you liked and went out and used your money! This is one area that I am not sure some of the big companies may understand. They may end up shooting themselves in the foot if they become hostile to fan creations. I have not really had any major issues here regarding this, but I know of one situation where a distributor tried to pull a "stunt" which may have damaged their sales. All I know is they will not be promoted here at all, and I know many fans and friends will not purchase their products because of this.
So, keep in mind I see things like this blog and youtube as fun things I do with no intention of money making. Although if someone really wanted to make it worth my while I would listen, but I doubt seriously I could make the money back I have put into the time and trips I have taken. For the time being I will continue what I have been doing in the past, but there maybe times where nothing takes place for weeks or months. We will see.
Finally, in the U.S. we have a new President. Congrats to President Obama. I wish him well for the sake of the country even when the media decides the parade is over. ;) For me, I just hope some changes are not too radical right now. I have encountered a little too much change this month. Peace!
