Photography class

Finally, I am taking a real live photography class. My friend, Joyce, and I are in week five of this ten week commitment together. I have a great camera although a few years old now. I am always amazed how fast the technology moves. My phone has more mega pixels than my Nikon SLR! But my phone camera has no control at all, no lenses, nothing, nada. So my Nikon is still much, much better on many levels.

My goal was to learn how to use my camera. I am always embarrassed to admit that everything I take is with an automatic setting. My reasoning was that I was trying to capture the 'unusual' shot, and the specific settings were irrelevant, and would take care of themselves in auto mode....Wrong!

This class is teaching me that my thinking is not so brilliant after all. And if I want to take really good photographs, and not just pictures, as one of the teachers calls it, I need to learn a whole lot more! Our first class was on composition, and now all those pictures I thought were so cool?? Well, not so much anymore. (If you got one of my calendars, I am really embarrased now!)

Our class went on a field trip (kinda), across the rives to learn how to take some night shots, and that was fun. The photo ops are great there, and we were lucky to have a very clear night. If I weren't such a chicken walking across that bridge I am sure I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Our next field trip is an all day affair, and we will end up in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, where yes, it is true...they have a dog for a mayor. That will be fun. I am looking forward to it....if I don't have to walk across a bridge!

We are now HD!

I can’t believe that is really happened! After our last celebration service on Sunday, around 1:15, we started the infamous “HD Upgrade.”

The entire video booth’s equipment and racks and wires had to be torn out. Four screens and projectors in the balcony came down. Cameras in the front row were dis-assembled and removed, screens in the front of the room were also taken down.

New cable had to be run from the video booth, down a level, and the complete length of the auditorium under the floor to the back of the stage, with connections along the way for cameras. Platforms were built to accommodate the new cameras that needed to be set up. New 10 foot by 18 foot screens installed in the front of the room and the projectors for them relocated. The entire video room had to be completely built up from the floor, literally. Going as far as drilling through the concrete floor, installing new racks, countertops, and all brand new equipment. Our very own network switch even had to be installed.
And that isn’t event the amazing part!! The amazing part is it was up and operational by the next Saturday night’s celebration service!! Six days, all that (and more I probably don't even know about) in just six days!


We were all under the direction of CSG, who were the most phenomenal guys to work with, and were helped by the best volunteers in the world. It was one of the most unbelievable things I have been privileged to watch and take part in ever! This was another fantastic God moment in the life of Vineyard Cincinnati!

Look out world we have now entered into the world of HD!! I can't wait to see what God has in store for us next!!

HD upgrade

We are finally taking a leap into the 21st century with our video equipment at church. We started stripping the video booth completely, taking everything out of the room in preparation for the new equipment to be installed. The picture you see is just some of the wiring that what was behind the existing equipment. Needless to say this is a super huge project, and it all has to be up and running by Saturday!

To reminisce about some of our fun, and so we don't forget how lucky we are....our robotic cameras have recently taken on a life of their own and would decide to just not work when they wanted to. Whether they were live on the screens or not didn't seem to matter to them. We have had to change the inputs for cameras 1&2 to input 3&4, then to input2&3, and have had to reboot them in the middle of a celebration. There have been a lot of stories about these little gems, more than you probably want to read about here. Yes robos, we will miss all that fun together.

For months now we have had to have a fan running constantly on the floor to keep the switcher cool so it wouldn't decide to shut down. Most of us have had to endure frozen toes just to keep the switcher switching. Ah the sacrifices! ;-)

We have lived with wavy monitors that made people look contorted and folded over at the top. One camera that would show a red shirt, another that would say it was pink, and yet another that might decide was purple instead. We would record in three different medias (yes all three were different formats too) to ensure we had a 'keeper' for the archives, and the web.

It has been fun doing a weekly juggling act wondering what surprise was in store for us this weekend. Needless to say we were in desperate need of a change. I mean how many people are using camera that were purchased 12 years ago, and some of ours were already used!

So this week we officially say good-bye to analog and hello high definition! We will miss all all the old stuff. We had even started giving them names, that is how close we were to them. As luck would have it this is my weekend to direct, so my team and I get to officially break in the new equipment.

So out with 1999 (and prior) and in with 2011!!

Finally!

It took over a year, but we are here now. When you are working full time, in school, limited budget resources, and neither one of being considered even close to a 'handyman', these things take time. But it is so worth it, we just love the result. The kitchen and dining room are unrecognizable rooms from their former selves. I only with I had taken 'before' videos to capture the extent of the transformation.

It is amazing what a little paint, new floors, new doors, new lights, new furniture, new stove, taking out a drop celing and rearranging a cabinet can do for a kitchen! Just look at the two videos I have posted, and if you ever saw these rooms before, you will be amazed....as I still am!

Comparisons

Last weekend I traveled and spent 24/4 with family, this weekend I traveled and spent 24/4 with friends that I have known for many years (aka our small group). The differences were phenomenal between the two experiences. This is not to say everyone was this way every moment of the time, and this was just MY take on the situations, others in each party may have their own interruption.

Some of the things I noticed were: family was on edge and snippy; friends were respectful, and accommodating.

Filters that could enter into this equation include: family was too close to each other (we were sharing a huge house), and it was an emotionally charged (we were going to my grandma’s funeral); in the friends scenario each had own space/room (a retreat to without interruption), and there were no kids in the mix.

Another scenario that was proposed is the one about you can’t lose your family, so you are more honest and open about feelings (is that a possible cause behind snippiness? - which isn't even a real word!). I am sure that in both cases if push came to shove, we would be there and fully support each other without hesitation for whatever the situation called for.

While I can’t explain why, I am just observing the differences between MY experiences on these back to back weekends, and it leaves me somewhat puzzled. Is it Christianity in the works, or family ties, or what?

Remember the Alamo and grandma

Kinda makes you sad to hear about all the bloodshed that happened at the Alamo. Yea, what is left of the whole compound is not much to see, but wow, the stories of the things that went on there. I guess it didn’t help that we had a dreary, part mist and rainy day while we were there. I think that added to the sadness I felt. Maybe some sadness is just because there has not been any time yet to grieve for my grandma too.

Yea, grandma was old (over 100 years old!), and these things are to be expected, and I know she is in a much better place now. It just seems like I haven’t taken the time to properly think about her and be alone with these thoughts.

Last weekend was a whirlwind with driving 13 hours one way to attend her funeral, and coming back and working a couple of days and preparing for this trip with our friends that has been planned for three months. Sometimes life just comes at you!

So even though I have great sadness, there is great joy. I am with some of my dearest friends, and we are doing life together. That is what the bible tells us to do and gosh darn, I’m doing it!! Man, my life is good~~~~ I love these guys!

Grandma is gone

This is how I will remember my grandma, going for a walk with her little dog. At her memorial last Saturday I got really brave and decided I wanted to tell some stories. My three siblngs also decided they wanted to speak and we were all there for each other. This was I had written.

My name is Vicki. I am the oldest grandchild. I am sure if grandma had her way she would tell me that I really should get up here and say something. Grandma was big on ceremony and recognition, and would be proud of the turnout here to honor her today.
I can’t speak for anyone except myself, so here is my side of the story.

Let me start by saying she had a major influence on my life. One thing I remember as a very young child, was going to her house on every Christmas Eve, it was our family tradition. There was always a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and of course, presents. It was the biggest occasion of the year for us.

I remember one time, on the way home one time dad telling us kids not to look in the sky for fear we would see Santa. And everyone knows if you see Santa he won’t visit you. Of course I looked and looked for him. I never did see him and he did visit us that night. So it must be true, right?

Another memory is that one of us four kids always spent the weekend at her house. We rotated turns. One big draw for me was that she would give me coffee in the morning, our parents never would do that. Bobby, Mark and Angie, did she do that for you too? Never mind that is was half coffee and half milk, probably loaded with sugar. I was drinking coffee!

As I got older, about 15 years old or so, I would spend Friday night at her place, sleep with the orange juice cans in my hair, and I would go to work with her Saturday morning. That was my first job, I worked from 8:00am to 1:00pm, and I got a check for $7.50. You can see how impressed I was with my new position in life. She taught me how to use an adding machine, balance the cash register, count the money in nice, neat stacks, fill out the bank deposit slip and then we would take the money to the bank. She was very instrumental in helping me securing my first full time job after graduation from high school. Life was much simpler then. I learned professionalism and work ethics under her tutelage.

As more years passed and she moved to Tennessee our family tradition changed from the big Christmas dinner to the big Thanksgiving dinner. My whole family, and I would drive down to Paris on Thanksgiving day then we would have that big dinner that Friday. The turkey was still there and the homemade pies. We slept on the floor in sleeping bags and where ever there was space. And there wasn’t much space because she had a very tiny two bedroom house. I truly believe those were the happiest days of her life.

When she moved to Emerald Isle that was also a big treat for the family. Heck yea, we could visit the ocean whenever we wanted! I never missed a year coming down to see her, sometimes more than once. There are a lot of memories here also. But I feel you are probably done hearing about my memories of her.

Needless to say, she has had a profound effect on many lives, not just mine. Everyone in this room has been touched by her, or you wouldn’t be here. She is leaving behind so many people who love her. My dad who watched over her until the end, and Terry who faithfully kept in touch calling her every Sunday, even when he couldn’t visit. She has left her best friend, Bernice, who knows what stories she could tell! Will, who truly loved her. Also grandkids, great, great-great, grandkids who all loved her. There were also lots of in-laws, steps, ex’s and friends. The list goes on. Yes, grandma let our family experience five generations with a centurion! Not many families can claim that one!

So I end, yes finally, just saying that she will not be forgotten and her wonderful love and legacy will live on. Thanks for listening.