Oct 21stHow am I doing?
Well, the year is quickly drawing to a close. Fall color is quickly flying past, and it’s time to take look back at the “New Year’s resolution post” and check progress.
- Get Organized. Nope. Not an inch of progress. I did manage to give the site a face lift this summer, though. 
- Show Off. Currently working on selecting some pictures to make LARGE living room sized prints from. Contests? I’ve entered a few online that weren’t outright “rights grabs” where you have to give up all your rights to your photo whether you win the contest or not. Last night, though, I actually did win a place in my very first photo contest with this shot:
I guess the winning photos will be in the newspaper sometime in the near future, so I guess I get another 15 minutes of fame. Sharing online? Some sort of consistency would probably help. Still struggling there.
- Try something new. Well, just about the time the weather was getting nice enough for me to start getting out the Bender, we had to go and move. Now that the year is nearly over, I’m finally pretty much done with all that, so I hope to start playing with that again. I’ve been looking at large format printers since the summer. My husband may have just made it possible for me to actually acquire one of these, and I believe there is still a rebate going on for the one I want which will make the price much more appealing, so it’s possible that by the end of the year I’ll be delving into the other end of the photographic process – making prints worth putting up on the walls.
- New perspectives. While the technical skills continue to improve making it easier for me to reproduce in two dimensions what I see in three, I’m still fleshing out how I uniquely see the world.
- Do some good. It’s a pleasure to use my photography skills and equipment in service to Christ. It’s probably an odd thing to do, but I told a pastor here, “You know how some people dedicate their babies? I dedicate my cameras.” And I do. It’s God who has given both the equipment I have and the skill to use it, and when I get a new camera or lens, I take it to church with me and lay it on the altar and dedicate it to the Lord’s service first. Do I get a lot of pleasure from it that’s not at all related to serving the Lord? Absolutely! But if that ever begins to take first place in my heart, I have a tangible reminder of where my blessings come from and who really owns “my” stuff, and that’s a blessing too. I’d still like to explore this area in more depth, though. As far as teaching, since my daughter is the one who inherited my Rebel, I get the pleasure of throwing her a tip or new technique to try now and then, as well as watching her progress.
- Challenge myself. The photowalks have sort of come to an end during the moving process. Not to say that it will stay that way forever, but . . . . Taking pictures of people I don’t know. Is it only photographers who react badly to having their picture taken? Maybe just some photographers.
- Start a project. The only “project” currently in the works is trying to decorate the new place with some of my photographs. Mostly, it’s my own indecision holding that one up. I finally made some small prints of potential candidates while mom and dad were here, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten.
- Take my camera everywhere. Definitely. Good move.
Here’s another picture entered in last night’s contest that didn’t win. Enjoy.
Nov 10thWhat’s in a Nickname?
On the occasion of my new nickname, generously provided by Mr. Jonathan Quinn, it seemed appropriate to discuss the one nickname that has yet to be discussed on this blog – namely Bullwinkl. Yes, this is after the famous moose of Rocky and Bullwinkle fame. If I tell you that this cartoon was one of my favorites, you’ll have a good handle on how old I am.
I had always thought that Bullwinkle was the nickname my dad picked out for me, but when I asked him about it recently he said, no – I was the one who insisted that he call me Bullwinkle. When I first started using the name again for my Internet presence several years ago, I mistakenly left off the “e”, and it stuck. I’m now forever and always “Bullwinkl – no e.”
Of course, mooses (or is it meese?) have minds of their own, and Bullwinkl has seen several transformations. First there was the original Bullwinkl icon.
Then, there was Mrs. Moose, and Mrs. Moose was on the loose.
This past summer Mrs. Moose crossed over to the dark side and became Mrs. Outlaw Moose – complete with black coat and hat, and six-shooter rubber band gun. Even my next door neighbor kid had a tough time figuring out who Mrs. Outlaw Moose really was. Fun fun fun.
Now, I’m “the blog queen”, thanks to Jonathan. I think I like mooses better. Never did feel really comfortable in too much finery.
Now you know the story behind the longest lasting of all my nicknames and all the variations on the theme. Don’t you feel enlightened?
Jun 16th15 Minutes of Fame
Well, my little story made the cut. Look for me on June 4.
Dear One Year Life Verse Contributor:
Well it took a while, but the edited manuscript for The One Year Life Verse Devotional has gone to the typesetter. Phew!
Attached is a single month of the manuscript — the month that includes your contribution. I’m sending this to you to confirm that you’re in the book! And this note is also a final safety net to make sure we didn’t totally mess up your story. Unless there is a glaring error, please don’t find anything you want to change! The typesetters would not be happy with me.
A couple other thoughts:
The book is not yet on the Tyndale website. But other bookselling sites are pre-selling it. Check out amazon.com for a view of the cover:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/105-9066054-9530030?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Jay%20Payleitner
Thanks! It turns out I got way more stories than I needed, and so quite a few didn’t make the cut. Please pray with me that our devotional draws people to God and His Word.
With much appreciation,
Jay K. Payleitner
Sep 16thWhat’s Your Life Verse?
I’ve got a couple. First is Psalm 40:2-3 because that’s the story of what God through faith in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection has done for me.
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
My second is 1 John 3:2.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Here’s the story I submitted for the One Year Life Verse Devotional, which will be published next year. Check back to see if I’ll have my 15 minutes of fame.
During my last two years of high school, I attended church with one of my high school teachers, Mr. G., and his family. Mr. G. would listen to my teenage troubles, and say “Don’t worry. You’ll get there.” After graduation, I joined the Navy and lost contact with Mr. G. for many years. During that time, I became an atheist and spent the next 18 years totally apart from God. But no matter how bad things seemed, I would always hear Mr. G. saying, “Don’t worry. You’ll get there.” Sometimes that was the only hope I had.
Finally, in 1997, just when things couldn’t have been better, God stepped back into my life, and in January 1999, I placed my faith in Jesus Christ. Sometime later I began to understand how unlike Christ I was. It was then that I found 1 John 3:2 and realized that, even though I wasn’t as much like Jesus right now as I wanted to be, there is coming a day when I will be. Then I remembered how Mr. G. would always say, “Don’t worry. You’ll get there.” I didn’t know where “there” was then, but now I don’t worry about how slow my progress seems or how often I fail. God has promised that with one look I’ll finally be there.