Apparently Mother Nature has a sick sense of humor?

After dousing our area with nice to hot weather for a week or two, she showed her teeth once again. On Mother’s Day, it was extremely cold and windy. That made any attempt at the annual golf outing that day tough. Nine holes was all that was accomplished. The sun was starting to pop out at the end and it was warming up, but still way too windy.

Monday comes and it’s quite cold again. I went out for a few things and saw a few flurries. I laughed it off.

Flurries on Monday may have not looked like this, but it sure felt like it!

Driving back a couple of hours later, I went through stronger flurries. Boy, that was fun.

A couple of people in the neighborhood covered plants last night.

Why, you may ask?

A freeze warning! Seriously. Something in the 20s was possible. Oh joy. I saw frost on my car last night before turning in for the night. That’s always nice.

Especially in May.

Apparently, according to the local news last night, our area set a record because we got a trace of snow. That hadn’t been done on May 13 before.

The latest we’ve (well, Binghamton area) has seen snow?

May 18.

Hopefully that record won’t be broken this year.

Today is slightly blue skies with some clouds spread out. The sun is shining. But it’s only supposed to reach the mid-50s.

That’s a start.

Maybe Mother Nature will get off the bottle yet. It’s obviously clouding her seasons.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Hey, hey — two months in the bag! Sweet!

I’m really digging everybody’s interpretation of themes and hopefully we can keep it up and have a lot more fun with this challenge. It sounds like those who are participating are having a fun time, so keep it going!

A few quick notes before I get to this month’s stuff –

• I have an e-mail reminder list set up. Basically, I’ll e-mail the group with about 10 days left in the month to remind you. When I remember, I’ll also shoot one out the day before the end of the month, as a reminder to post the following day. I can’t always guarantee that one though! If you are not on the list, let me know in the comments below that you would like to be on it.
• Second, I set up a Facebook group for those who are interested. Reminders and maybe some discussions or other things can be done there.
• If you haven’t already, attempt to check out everybody’s posts and consider commenting. These challenges are great for personal growth, but it’s also nice to be interactive with all the others in the challenge!

Anyway, April is in the books and now it’s on with May. We’re growing slowly and it’s my hope that will continue as there are some talented people out there and I love seeing all the photos.

For those of you who are a little late, the link for April’s challenge is still open for another day or two, so link up!

Before we hit up this month’s theme, for new people, allow me to refresh the rules a bit.

Here’s how it will work.

• On the first of each month, I’ll have a blog post here with the theme for the month.
• Over the course of the month, participants will take photos with their interpretation of the theme. On the last day of the month, participants should  publish their blog post, which will include five photos from the month. (please don’t recycle photos from the past … the idea is to hopefully challenge you to go out and take new photos to interpret the theme).
• I’ll have a link-up thing at the end of my post so people can come and post the links to their posts so, hopefully, everybody can go go check out and comment on other posts.

There is no rule on equipment or anything. Use a cell phone. Use film. Use a point-and-shoot. Use a DSLR. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you publish your blog post on the last day of each month, come here and link up.

It’s simple!

Your blog posts can be as simple or as in-depth as you want. I’ll likely talk a little about each photo. But if all you want to do is post photos, feel free. The idea of this is to give a small challenge and give everybody a chance to express themselves with photography, participate in a challenge and have something to blog about.

That’s it. Easy, right? So join in! Help us continue to grow this challenge by telling fellow bloggers/photographers about the challenge and hopefully it can become a great monthly thing!

For those still with me, this month’s theme is: Night.

There are so many ways to look at and think about this theme. It doesn’t always mean a long-exposure shot. Test things out, think outside the box, but most of all, have fun with it!

Please make sure your blog post publishes Friday, May 31.

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

My calendar still shows March.

Despite it now being April (it doesn’t feel like it, for the record), I haven’t switched my calendar.

I know that doesn’t seem like anything major. People do it all the time, right? My issue is it’s another month without a job. Recently, I’ve been sending more and more applications out to part-time jobs. Anything. I just don’t want to have to keep yanking money from a retirement account to live. But, I do what I have to do.

The reality is my skill set fits a certain thing. Though I can learn fast, I wonder if, sometimes, my applications show up on a desk and they don’t feel I can match up. Or if I have too many experiences or education.

Yeah — you know — the whole “overqualified.”

As I keep trying to stay positive, the reality of this continues to set in. For the first bulk of this, I had unemployment. Now, I don’t. So it’s a little more stressful.

I find myself, at times, tapping away at a cover letter or application and just stop. I’ll stare for a while and walk away. It’s not that I can’t finish it’s that my mind wanders. I wonder what I did to end up in this spot. I wonder what I have to do to get out of it. I’d love to go back to college, but is it worth getting deeper into student debt?

For what?

To start this search all over and go through the same thing?

People have looked at my resume and cover letters and tell me they are fine. Apparently not so much. If they were, how am I still out of work?

I don’t know anymore. I really don’t. Some days are better than others. But this is getting old. And as the spring slowly comes, with better weather and the ability to do more things, it’s going to get harder?

Why?

Because it does still cost money to do things, even if it’s just gas. Or grabbing a sandwich when out for a day.

I know this post may seem like it’s out of left field or blabbing, but more than anything, it was just a way for me to throw some thoughts down on the screen. Maybe this will help me as I continue to push forward and attempt to stay positive. At this moment, it’s all I can do.

Well, and change the calendar.

Fundraiser: I am, again, trying to raise money for the Relay For Life. If you donate to me — a minimum of $5– you will be entered to win a super-sweet quilted lap quilt or pillow. Click here for all the information!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

One month down. Infinity to go?

We’ll see about that.

Alas, the March version of the monthly Photo Blogging Challenge is in the books and as I look, we had four people take part. Well, three who knew about it. Then one who wasn’t told by Ziva. And, it was Ziva’s job to market.

Can we all just blame the Fins?

Still, four is better than just me. Hopefully we can grow. The link on the last post is still open for another 10-12 hours, so maybe some forgetful people will join along.

I think with a month-long challenge such as this, we either need to set up a reminder system or people need to utilize and online or phone calendar system that will send them alerts. Having 30 or so days in between finding out the theme and posting might lend to some people forgetting.

So, until I figure something better out, I have one idea. If you are participating and want a reminder, say, 10 days before the challenge is up, leave a note in the comments below. On that day, I’ll send an e-mail to everybody who might one. I’ll leave myself a calendar reminder, too — so I don’t forget!

Anyway, I really enjoyed those who participated this month and hopefully we can grow.

Before we hit up this month’s theme, for new people, allow me to refresh the rules a bit.

Here’s how it will work.

• On the first of each month, I’ll have a blog post here with the theme for the month.
• Over the course of the month, participants will take photos with their interpretation of the theme. On the last day of the month, participants should  publish their blog post, which will include five photos from the month. (please don’t recycle photos from the past … the idea is to hopefully challenge you to go out and take new photos to interpret the theme).
• I’ll have a link-up thing at the end of my post so people can come and post the links to their posts so, hopefully, everybody can go go check out and comment on other posts.

There is no rule on equipment or anything. Use a cell phone. Use film. Use a point-and-shoot. Use a DSLR. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you publish your blog post on the last day of each month, come here and link up.

It’s simple!

Your blog posts can be as simple or as in-depth as you want. I’ll likely talk a little about each photo. But if all you want to do is post photos, feel free. The idea of this is to give a small challenge and give everybody a chance to express themselves with photography, participate in a challenge and have something to blog about.

And that’s all there is to it!

I hope we see more people next month and this challenge continues to grow and grow.

For those still with me, this month’s theme is: Transportation.

This theme can definitely be interpreted in many ways. I look forward to seeing what everybody comes up with! Please make sure your blog post publishes April 30!

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

Fundraiser: I am, again, trying to raise money for the Relay For Life. If you donate to me — a minimum of $5– you will be entered to win a super-sweet quilted lap quilt or pillow. Click here for all the information!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

I think people who read my blog know I like to take part in challenges.

I’ve hosted some through Flickr (and currently have one going), but I would like to do a blog challenge, too. But I think I’d want to mix it up.

In discussing photography with Ziva recently, I threw out the idea of a monthly challenge. This way, it wouldn’t require somebody to blog each day, rather once a month.

Here’s how it will work.

• On the first of each month, I’ll have a blog post here with the theme for the month.
• Over the course of the month, participants will take photos with their interpretation of the theme. On the last day of the month, participants should  publish their blog post, which will include five photos from the month. (please don’t recycle photos from the past … the idea is to hopefully challenge you to go out and take new photos to interpret the theme).
• I’ll have a link-up thing at the end of my post so people can come and post the links to their posts so, hopefully, everybody can go go check out and comment on other posts.
• I’m also working to set up a “newsletter” sort of thing so participants can subscribe and get a notification whenever something in regard to the challenge is posted here.

There is no rule on equipment or anything. Use a cell phone. Use film. Use a point-and-shoot. Use a DSLR. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure you publish your blog post on the last day of each month, come here and link up.

It’s simple!

Your blog posts can be as simple or as in-depth as you want. I’ll likely talk a little about each photo. But if all you want to do is post photos, feel free. The idea of this is to give a small challenge and give everybody a chance to express themselves with photography, participate in a challenge and have something to blog about.

If you are going to participate, please drop a note in the comments below. I’d like to subscribe to people’s blogs. Hopefully, I won’t be doing this challenge by myself!

Most of all, have fun with it.

Oh, I guess I should post the first theme, eh?

March’s theme will be simple and pretty easy for you to interpret — “My World.”

Take us through your world, in five shots. Maybe it’s the area in which you live. Maybe it’s you. A hobby. Family. Friends. Other things. Whatever. But as we get this challenge going — and hopefully keep it going for many months — let’s learn about the people who might take part!

Have fun with it!

If you think you are going to take part in this, drop a comment below so we can see who all might be trying to tackle this challenge!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!