Exciting, Mundane, You Take Your Pick

     It has been a week. Nothing exciting, and nothing mundane, just a week. Saki is back on the road and doing fine. Tomorrow I will go out and get those glamour shots of it. I think I'm going back to this graffiti place I know of. I did a shot with it there a little while ago, but it just wasn't right. I had the wrong angle. The shots still look pretty good, but I know they can be better. Here is the one I posted earlier this week from that shoot.

     I know that shot can be better with just a tweak of the angle on how I shoot it. Plus I will get shots with the new and improved look of Saki. I think I will do it early in the morning after I take care of my Medium stuff.

     I got a new follower on Medium, and I'm not sure what to think of it. It is a Sci-fi writer who has published for books of his own. I like the thought of a well published author checking out my work, but I do have concern about him possibly on the search for ideas. I also know that there is proof of copyright, not only here, but also on Medium, so he would be foolish to go that route. I think he is more than likely looking for more people to take interest in his own work. That is a thing that people do all the time on social media platforms. They will follow you in hopes that you will follow back, and then after a short period of time, they will clear who the follow and start all over again. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is annoying, and something that I don't do. I would rather gain my following how over large or small it is, by people taking an interest in what I do, and not because I followed them.

     Other than the Saki shoot, I do have another photoshoot scheduled for tomorrow. It is a model I have shot before, but this is going to be a shoot that I really want to do. I have a few ideas of shots that I want to get, and a couple of them may be tricky, and I possibly won't be able to pull them off, but I'm hoping that I do. It will be another one of those shots that looks photoshopped, but will be done all by the camera alone. If it works, it's going to be very cool. If it doesn't, then I will have plenty of other good pictures to show off on the CS Photos Instagram. Yes, I'm still keeping that one somewhat exclusive, even though I shared that picture above with you. I will share a few, but not all. You have to go there to see the rest of them.

     I'm also going to be shooting a video tomorrow, will I do the Saki shoot. I have a new mic in the helmet and I'm hoping for much better audio in it, so far so good, but I didn't get to test it while riding today and that is where I'm hoping this new mic will make a difference. I'm going to salvage the old mic and try to use it for the TPR, and maybe get better audio there. I just have to find a way to set it all up in the car. I need to do testing for that as well. I have no idea when we are doing our next review, so I may have a ton of time to try and set it up. I will more than likely try to figure it out tomorrow and test it on my way to the sunset shoot. I can get several things done at once now.

     We did do another review this week for TPR and we also posted a fresh review today. Here is the video so you can check it out. This is the one that I did exactly how I wanted to do it. I stayed within the boundaries of the normal idea, but I added some editing flare to it. I did that with the video that will be out in two weeks too. Anyway, here is the video for Pub Americana.



     Yes, I'm still trying to make this work even though people have stopped watching the videos or even looking at the blog. I'm hoping this is some weird seasonal thing or something like that, and people will start coming back, but I have taken a step away from what I normally do. With this post right here, and the one I do tomorrow on the Facebook page, my job will be done with this particular review. I will not try and get my partner to promote it in anyway. I will simply let him do what ever it is he is going to do. If he wants it to work, he is going to have to pick up the slack I am letting go of. I can't push this any further than I have, and I'm not going to put anymore effort then I absolutely have to in it. If he isn't going to be willing to doing the work that needs to be done, then why should I. It will be a fun project for me to do and nothing more.

     I will be putting more of my focus into my other projects like; writing, photography, and my own videos, and the TPR will be whatever it is going to be I have just lost the ability to really care all that much about it anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to try and sabotage it, I'm just going to make the videos that I make, and write the reviews that I write, and then let him do whatever promotion outside of the posts that I make on the day of release and the day after release entirely up to him. He has to work if he wants this to succeed anymore, because I'm no longer seeing it as a possible success.

     With all that being said, I will leave you on a much brighter note, and a picture of Morty, enjoying the nice cool air outside in the backyard.

     Now, I'm going to go get some sleep so I can get those early morning shots of Saki. Peace in and goodnight.

It's A Photo Revolution

     That right there, that is breakfast tomorrow. I made it back to Universal today. Not the way I had planned, but it was a fun day, and quite frankly, I needed it. I did have a plan to get doughnuts for tomorrow, and that plan came together. I'll try to get a picture of them when I open the box in the morning, but no promises.

     My Universal buddy, hit me up yesterday and asked if I wanted to go. That meant I couldn't bring the camera, because I didn't want to leave it in a locker. I did however break out the phone to get some shots, just for you. Before we get into that though, Saki is back and better than ever.

   
     I bolted everything back together and did a test ride to make sure everything looked good and felt good. The new mirrors work just fine out on the road. I did have to make a few adjustments to get them where I like them, but they are right where I want them now. I thought it would be a bigger adjustment for me to look to the bar ends for the mirrors instead of in front of me, but I had no problem what so ever. Saki looks a little more streamline and has more of that, "going fast while standing still" look to it. I can't wait to get out and take some nice glamour shots with it now.

     Now for a photo revolution. The first photo, might be the coolest one, but I'll let you be the judge of that. My Universal buddy was hungry when we got there, so we went to the Hard Rock for a bite to eat. Way over priced, but good. When you get there, they have a whole system laid out, so that they know what tables are taken and what tables are free at the front desk. They hand you a small slip of paper with some numbers and stuff on it, and you hand it in at the hostess station, they look up the corresponding number and then take you to your table. The woman that was our hostess (they have like 5 at one time) said, "Oh, this is an easy one, you are at the Prince and Madonna table. Now, you know me. I can respect Madonna, but I'm not a fan, but Prince? Yes, you know I was excited, I was a little disappointed that it was mostly Madonna items, but I sat right below Prince's purple shirt, and yes I took a picture of it before we left.

     Today was going to be a good day. After a nice meal with the company of Prince's shirt, we headed into the park. We hit Universal first, and rode the Minions ride. I had never ridden it, so since the crowd was small, we hit it up. It was fun, but nothing to write home about. The Mummy was next, and that is always favorite, but after that, we went to Diagon Alley, and since it was cold, my favorite thing there was available. Hot Butterbeer. Here is the thing. Butterbeer is good, but it is rather sweet. They have a frozen version that is like an icee, but it still retains that sweetness. The hot Butterbeer, is a whole other animal. It is like melted butterscotch with a marshmallow topping, and it is to die for. It was the best thing to have on a cold day.

     With hot Butterbeer in hand, it was time to roam around the Alley, and I've always failed to get a picture of the dragon that sits upon Gringott's so, today was the day that I took one.

     I wasn't lucky enough to get a shot of him breathing fire, but that shot will do. You have three angles to shot him from. There is where I was standing, then the opposite side of him, and then head on from the opening into Diagon Alley. When I take the Canon, I plan on sitting near that opening and getting a shot of him breathing fire head on. I think it will be rather remarkable.

     We hit the Gringott's ride before catching the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmead. Yes I'm sticking with all the wizarding lingo. While on the train, we were in cabin with a family of five. The mother and father with three girls varying in age from maybe 5 to 10. Not really sure. The train ride is unique in that it is a show as well as a transport to take you from one park to the other. During the trip you are faced with the Dementors, the evil beings that guard Azkaban Prison. When the littlest girl so those, I watched her, and she had a death grip on her father's arm, and then when it was over, she began to cry a little. I couldn't help but smile at that. No, not because I thought it was funny that she was scared, but that she really experienced what the creators of that ride wanted her to experience, She was fully in the moment of that ride, and experienced the highs and lows that come along with it. She cheered right back up when she saw Hagrid and a smile was back on her face. It is always fun to see how kids and even adults react on that train ride. I really enjoy watching them live the books for themselves.

     That brings us to Hogwarts castle, and they do a light show every night. I got a good spot for it tonight and took quite a few pictures. I won't bore you with all of them, but I'm going to share some of the better ones I got.

     Make sure you click on all those pictures so you can see a good version of them. They project the show right on the castle and it is spectacular. The trees around the area, all have lights in them that change colors and cascade to become part of the show as well. If you get a chance to visit Orlando and you love the Harry Potter books as much as I do, make it a point to visit Universal and see the light show. It changes for the season, and right now it is holiday themed. It is a pain to stand and wait in the crowd of people before the show starts, but a little hint. Go to the bridge between Hogsmead and Jurassic Park and take up residence there. It's where I got those pictures from and really is the best place to watch it from.

     That was basically my day, so now it is back to work on writing The Patchwork Knight tomorrow, and getting out on Saki for some photos. Peace in and good night.

Fun With Photography

     It's been a very up and down weekend. I went to my friends house on Thursday night and we had a lot of fun taking photos, and learning new things. Our goal was to get some good photos of the nighttime sky, but the clouds didn't do us any favors. We did get some good nightscape shots, I even posted one today on the CS Photos page. I am going to share a couple of photos here, because I really have no other place to put them, and also because on in particular is about my good friend Elie.

     You remember her right, the one that had the motorcycle accident and nearly lost her hand, well, we had some fun and I got some great pictures of her. The first one is one that we really wanted to get and as we were sitting there and discussing the potential shot, more ideas came into the picture and the is the result of it.

     The title is A Wolf Survives. The black and white photo is one of the last one I took of her before her accident and the color was on Thursday night. That is the helmet she was wearing the night of the accident. The helmet that more than likely saved her life. You may have noticed that the color image is a little transparent so that you can see the past and how important to her it is. That was done in Photoshop. The next picture I'm going to show you, was done completely with the camera, and it was my first time getting this kind of shot. I'll explain it all after.

     The only thing I did to that photo was crop it, and slightly change the perspective so that they lines were straight and not at angles. Here is how I got that shot. First I have to say, that we stumbled into before we got that one. I was using a flash to get a good amount of light in a dimly lit room, with a long exposure. The way we stumbled into it, was, she moved before the exposure was over. I saw the image pop up and instantly had her do it again, on purpose this time and had her move out of frame completely. The idea behind this is, that the flash lights up her completely, but when she moves away the ambient light that is being picked up from the long exposure brings the door that is now exposed to come forward in the image. She becomes a ghost because the background gets lit for a longer period of time. Fun stuff right?

     We went out to the location where she had her accident and did it again out there, and it worked like a charm.

     Once again, the only thing I did to this shot was crop it to get rid of some distractions on the edges. Cameras can do cool things if you take the time to experiment with what they can do naturally. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate now having the ability to manipulate phots in unique and artistic ways. Some things you just can't do with a camera alone, but those things that you can, well, they are super cool as you can see from the shots above.

     Below is an example of what you an do with photoshop the a camera just can't do alone.

     With this one, I overplayed two images. One with just the net and the wall, and the other with her behind the net, then I just removed small parts of her exposing the image of the wall underneath. It makes for a somewhat creepy and spooky photo, that works on so many levels, and I can't wait to do this type of thing again with a better grid pattern. and maybe a bit more light.

     That was the highs of the weekend. The lows filled up Friday and Saturday. Those days, I had no desire to leave the house, or even do anything at all. I was frozen by my own inadequacies. I was just thinking about how things aren't going quite as I would like them to be going. I dwelled in that for the past two days. I still worked on some photos and put that one up this morning, but I need more to do, and I have it, but couldn't bring myself to sit down and work on those things. those things being writing The Patchwork Knight of course. I'm not stuck, I know exactly what I have to write and have it running through my head even as I write this, but I think that since it is getting so close to the end, I don't want it too, and I keep putting it off. This should be a joyous time for me in this story, but it's a bit heartbreaking at the same time. I have spent a year writing this, from the time I started out just writing it one day a week to now when I will put out 3 and sometimes 5 chapters a week. Well, not put out, but you know what I mean. Oh, that reminds me, I keep forgetting to bring this up, but in December The Patchwork Knight will move to a once a week schedule on Medium. I have to do that, since I have basically caught up with what I'm putting out on here. I still put a new chapter out every Saturday, and very soon, I will be caught up to a point that the chapter that goes up on Medium will be the chapter that just came out on here. The new chapters will come out every Saturday on here, and then the new proofread and edited chapter will go up on Medium on Monday's.

     I am going to spend the time I need to and write this week. I won't finish the story this week, but it will continue getting closer and closer to that final chapter. The one that has been in my head since before I began writing it, and it is a little sad to see it coming to and end. I have lived Pitre's life to this point, and it will be tough to let it all go at the very final word. I hope that you have been enjoying reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

     I do have a Saki update. I am currently waiting on those block off plates to arrive, so that I can button everything up. Technically I could ride Saki as is, but that would mean that when they do come in, I have to take certain things apart to get them all on, so I'm keeping everything off until I can put it all back together. This is what Saki currently looks like.

     The windshield is off, but the new mirrors are on, and I had to do a work around to get those on there. It turns out, that those mirrors aren't supposed to go on my bike at all. There really is no way for them to go on properly, so I had to put them on improperly. It's risky but I found a way to make it work. The problem is on the throttle side. There are two ways to put those mirrors on a bike. They have a circle clamp that tightens down on the bars, or there is a insert that goes in the handle bar and the circle clamp goes on that. My bars aren't made for either one of those ways. I have a very small amount of room for the circle clamp, so I put them on that way, and then took my old small bar ends that look like carbon fiber and used the screw from the longer red bar ends. I used the old small bar ends as a stop. On the trottle side, that bar end, when tightened down, would push the mirror into the throttle cylinder and would stick it in place. I had to find the right place, and use thread lock to get everything in a good place so that they mirror would stay on, the bar end would not spin, and the bolt would not vibrate loose. It is all good now, but it is going to be a nightmare if I ever change the grips again.

     The block off plates should be here tomorrow, which means Saki can be back on the road on Tuesday at the latest. In other motorcycle news, I had a guy come up to me today when I was in Saki's Lounge and ask me if I wanted to sell my Harley. I had been holding on to it with the idea that I would make it a project bike, but let's face it, that isn't going to happen anytime soon. He is going to look into what it might be worth and then give me an offer for it. If it is anywhere near what I think it is worth, I'm going to take it and hand that project off to him. I'll even help him out from time to time if he wants.

     Like I said, an up and down weekend. Now it's time to watch some Walking Dead. It's the mid season finale and I don't want to miss that. Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 54)

     We gathered up our crew, minus Sir Constance, and began our journey towards ending the reign of the Mudwood in the Realm. Before we left, there was one introduction to be made.

     "Sir Pitre, I would like you to meet someone."

     "Gladly Sir Darius."

     "This is Sir Lionel. He will be riding with us."

     "Have we met before?"

     "Only briefly. I was one of the first recruits to train with you by the lake."

     "Ah, you were the one that we so full of questions. I hope I was able to answer most of them to your liking."

     "Oh yes sir. It is such a pleasure to ride with you and the other Knights."

     "This will be Sir Lionel's first assignment."

     "Stay close to one of your fellow Knights. We all have that one person that we trust with our lives, and that person trusts us in the same way."

     "Yes sir."

     "Now ready your horse lad, we will be riding out in a few minutes."

     "Yes sir, and it was a pleasure to finally officially meet you Sir Patchwork Knight."

     I looked sternly at Sir Darius.

     "Don't look at me, everyone of the new recruits and a great deal of the experienced men call you that name."

     That last part of what he said was muffled by a laugh, and I joined in. We walked together in silence to our horses and mounted up for the ride. Darius then signaled the men.

     "Ready men? For the Kingdom!"

     The men replied in force "FOR THE KINGDOM", and we rode from the palace grounds down the trail of the mountain and into our future.

***

     I stopped our band at the location where Sir Constance died, so that everyone could pay their respects to the place that he fell. It was a somber moment. Every man had a tear in his eye as they passed the spot I stood marking the spot. Tears clouded my vision as I remember how I failed to save him and return him from darkness. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I turned to see Rolf with a look of sympathy in his eyes.

     "We haven't talked about this, since it happened, but you have to know, that you did all that you could."

     "I'm beginning to learn that, but I still have a ways to go, before I will accept that there was no more I could do. If I had been quicker, or tried to pull more from the aether, or if I had stayed closer to where the two of you were."

     "Aether, what is that?"

     "What?"

     "You said you could have tried to pull more from the aether, what is that?"

     "Oh, it is long in explanation, but I will tell you about it."

      I had made a decision right after Sir Constance died, that I was going to teach Rolf everything that my father had taught me, and even how to reach out to the aether in my stone. I would have to see if I could make a stone like Arial had made for me, but that would take some trial and error on my part. She only briefly explained what she had done to create the stone. I lowered my voice to speak to Rolf again.

     "I want to train you in more advanced techniques. Things that I haven't taught the other Knights, things that must remain between you and me. When we have time alone, I will show you these things, and we will discuss the aether."

     "There are more fighting techniques? More than the Eight Movements?"

     "Yes, but you can not speak of this to anyone except myself. I swore an oath to my father about this, and I'm breaking it by telling you this now, but I want you to have this information. I want you to have all the knowledge that I hold, in order to keep you safe."

     "I will not speak of it Pitre, but I will want to talk to you about maybe teaching these things to a few others. Can you imagine the advantage we would have if more men could fight like you?"

     "I can, and I have. I even spoke to my father in the same way you are speaking to me, and he told me that the more men have power, the more they will abuse that power. He said he had seen it when he was learning all the movements, and that he feared for a world that was ruled by men with such power. That is why when the Blind War was over, he left the Kingdom and became a simple village blacksmith. He didn't want a life full of war and fighting. He wanted a world of peace. The King understood and thanked him for what he had done to help win the Blind War, but even he didn't know what my father knew."

     "I will keep my silence Pitre, but I can't say that I won't still try to talk you into teaching others."

     "I would have it no other way Rolf. Mount up, it is time for us to leave this behind us."

     I stood for a moment longer staring at the spot that Sir Constance died before mounting my horse and catching up with the rest of the men. I said one last apology to Constance for not saving him, and then let it go. It had to remain in the past and that is where it would stay. I would remember, but I couldn't hold on to it any longer.

     While riding along the trail, stories began being told of Sir Constance and his telling of stories.

     "Remember the time Sir Constant told the tale of him falling down the well?

     "Aye, what about the time he went fishing and caught the largest the Realm had ever seen."

     "Oh, I actually loved that one. He told it with such glee. Waving his hands around as if he were reliving the moment that he landed the beast from the deeps."

     The stories went on for miles, and it felt like Sir Constance was still along for the ride. They finally faded as the sun began to hang low in the sky, and we stopped for the day. Sir Darius and Sir Gorin set up the guard schedule. I was to take the last watch with Rolf and Sir Lionel.

     It was Sir Darius himself, who woke me for my turn at watch.

     "Pitre, I want you to wake Rolf and Lionel, but before you do, I want to make sure that you are doing well."

     "Of course I am. I just had a pleasant sleep."

     "That's not what I'm talking about. This is your first watch since Sir Constance was killed. I just want to make sure that you are in the proper mind."

     "I am. I made my peace with Sir Constance yesterday along the trail. I will not let anything get past me to harm anyone in this group."

     "I'm sure you will, but I worry that you will try to focus too much. Mistakes happen Pitre. That is all part of getting through this thing we call life. You do understand that right?"

     "Yes sir. I have to let that go, and move forward and do my best not to let it happen again."

     "Alright Pitre. If you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm sure it will be Rolf, but I want you to know that I am here for you as well. I know I don't always come across like that, but I am."

     "Thank you Sir Darius. I will keep to my word and follow your orders, and I will come to you if I feel a need. You should get some more rest now. There is still a lot of dark to get through this night before the morning comes. I will wake you at first light."

     "Fare well Pitre, now go wake the others, and replace the guard."

     Sir Darius placed his hand on my shoulder as I nodded a goodnight to him. I could see the care in his eyes, for me and the rest of these men. He was a hard man, but he was fair and cared a great deal about his men and the rest of those in the Realm. I would not let him down again.

Turning Negatives Into Positives

     It's Thanksgiving Day, and I won't be around to write tonight. Not early anyway. I'm going to visit a friend and do some photography. Out goal is to just have fun and try some neat things out. If all goes well, I may have picture or two for you. I'm still keeping the best as exclusives for the new Instagram though.

     Since this is going out early today, I really hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. After I finish writing this, I have to take a shower and then begin cooking. How did I get the role as chef for the family now. Doesn't matter, I enjoy cooking anyway, and they have had no complaints.

     A friend of mine gave me a flash drive full of photos of his for me to see what I could do with them in process. I'm helping out to try and become a better photographer and see things differently than he has in the past. I think he has an untrained eye for photography, and I'm trying to boost his level. I only choose a small number of photos that I could maybe do something with. I cleaned those up and as I was sitting back, I got an idea based on one of the photos that he took that I liked. The composition of it was ok, but there were issues with the background and things being out of order with angles and quite frankly the other objects in the room. Quick tip for you, if you are tying to shoot something sexy, take the time to straighten the pillows and the sheets on the bed. It may not seem like something all that important, but it distracts the eye away from what you want it to focus on. I took that photo, and added it to one of mine, and took away all that distraction, and I think it came out pretty good.

     Believe it or not, it took over two hours to get that photo to look like that. That doesn't include what I did to clean it up in the first place. It was fun playing around with it, and I learned a few new things in the process. Things that have given me ideas for future photos, and ways that I can manipulate the images to come up with something that should be really cool.

     Speaking of photography (like I haven't been talking about it the whole time so far). I went out to scout an area for shooting yesterday. I had originally planned on going to Universal, but then I got to thinking. It's a holiday, and people are in town visiting family, why not go to the theme park the day before. I don't like crowds, so I decided that I will put off my visit until next week. Instead I wanted to check out this area that isn't far from my house, but in order to get there. I have to go about 10 miles out of my way. It is literally about a mile from my house. The only way to get there is from the next town over. So I hoped on Saki and off we went. That was my first mistake. I knew it was on a dirt road, but I figured that wouldn't be that big of an idea.

     I had no trouble getting there, but when I arrived and tried to park so I could take some test photos of the area, Saki's kickstand sunk in the dirt. I thought it was hard pack, but it wasn't. I stopped it from sinking in, and began looking for a better area. My first thought was, "I should just go home and call it a day." but this is where my second mistake comes into play. I didn't. I tried another spot, and it sunk, that is when I was looking at the lip of grass land on the side of the road. If I could get up there the grass might make it more solid and stable. This is the third and fatal mistake of my day. I know that when you try to go up an incline you need to go directly up and not at and angle. I went up at an angle, so when I reached the top with the front tire, the tire immediately folded because of the instant change in angle and Saki and I toppled to the ground. Saki landed on top of my left leg, but I couldn't worry about that, I had to turn the engine off as soon as possible so as not to flood it or starve it for oil. I then lifted Saki a bit and slid my leg out. I did a quick assessment as I was on the ground and saw that the left mirror was broken off, and that my phone had popped free. I had no idea what the underneath looked like and I was dreading it. I tried to pick Saki up, but it was till on the incline and I was trying to lift against it. It wasn't working. I started lifting the front and back separately to drag it to more level ground but it wasn't moving much. I called a friend to come and help me out, but he had to take a shower, and I really didn't want to just sit around. I took off all my stuff; helmet, gloves, backpack, jacket, and began maneuvering Saki around. It took about 15 minutes, but I finally got it moved out far enough on level land to pick it up

     That photo is just before I got it the last bit of the way out so that I could lift it up. Once I had it up, I had a new problem. How do I get my stuff, and get out of there. I started Saki up and it fired right up, then I began riding to find a more solid piece of land. I rode and I rode and I rode. I ended up a half mile away from my stuff before I found that good land to park Saki. I pulled the keys and began the long walk back to my stuff. It gave me a chance to get the lay of the land and see that it was a perfect spot for some astrophotography or at least it should be. I won't know that until I get out there at night. It is an out in the middle of nowhere place and should be polluted by the light of the surrounding areas. I did get one picture with my phone as I got to my stuff. I took a little extra time to walk closer to the opening to the lake and snap it.

     It's going to be a great place to shoot at, but only if I take the car out there. Back to the fiasco now. I gathered up my things and took the long walk back to Saki. I beat myself up pretty good for my dumb mistake and started thinking about what damage could be under all the dirt, and what I was going to do to fix it all. The mirrors are going to be gone, and replace with bar end mirrors, which is something I've been thinking about for a while. That was given, but I couldn't see anything going on with the fairings because of the caked on dirt. I did know that there was nothing broke other than that mirror, and my mini disco ball ( I have a dozen more of them). The shift lever was good, the foot peg was good. The frame slider did it's job and protected those essential items on the bike.

     I rode home and began washing off the dirt to see what lay underneath, and it was mostly good. There was a little damage to the decals on the fairings, but that is nothing. The fairings weren't cracked and otherwise looked good. The frame slider was bent in a bit, but it was made to do that. It fully did it's job and protected the bike from the bulk of the damage that could have been done to it. I wouldn't have to buy new fairings or anything like that. it is all mirrors and block of plates for where the OEM mirrors go. Saki is going to come out looking more sleek and better when I get that all done, but until I get it down, Saki is garage bound. The lounge will be Saki's prison until I get the new mirrors on. It's not that I can't ride with only one mirror, it's just that I don't feel safe, because I can't see what's coming up from behind me. I can turn my head before changing lanes to see what is there, but when I'm at a light, I want to see how fast that car is coming up from behind me. I have had several times where I had to move forward because someone was screaming up behind me. If I hadn't moved, I would have been hit, and I don't want that to happen. I accept my own stupidity in what I did to put Saki in this state, but I won't risk it getting damaged anymore because I could't see some idiot cager coming up fast behind me.

     The new mirrors will probably be here by Saturday (thank you Amazon), but the block of plates won't be here until Tuesday, so I'm hoping that Saki will be back on the road by Wednesday. I will have pictures of the new and improved Saki for next Thursday's post. 

     I'm a little sore from lifting a 450 lbs. bike at the wrong angle over and over again, but that is a small price to pay, and I'm turning this negative into a positive by making some changes that I was thinking about anyway. This just forced me to do it now instead of just sitting back and thinking about it. This also has me going back to the old idea of painting Saki. I'm putting new thought into that, and maybe going a little more simple that I was thinking before. I don't need a bunch of air brushing elements to make it look good. I just have to develop a paint scheme that takes the separate fairings and creates a dynamic look with solid colors. I got ideas, I just need to fully think them through first.

     It's time to shower up and get to cooking. I'm going to have fun tonight taking pictures with a truly wonderful friend, and I hope you have almost as good a day as me. Peace in and Happy Thanksgiving.

I Couldn't Sleep At All Last Night

     I love the smell of Night Blooming Jasmine. I was just outside before walking in here to write this, and the air was full of it's scent. People always ask, "What would you like your last meal to be if you had a choice?", but no one ever asks, what would be the last scent you could experience before you died. Scent can create so many feelings and images in our minds. When you smell a food that you like, your mouth waters and you begin to taste the flavors that are from that item. When you smell a dusty old book, it takes you back to memories of walking around a library for the first time. When you smell a cologne or perfume, it can remind you of that special someone that was a big part of your life, but is no longer there for one reason or another. For me, that final scent, would be Night Blooming Jasmine. It reminds me of cool nights, with a light breeze. The sky is clear with ample stars twinkling in the field of black. The sounds of crickets chirping, and distant sounds of humanity waft through the air. The delicate scent of those tiny little flowers, that calm me, no matter what mood I'm in.

     I didn't sleep much last night, because I was deep in thought. So much so, that it kept me up well past 3 AM. It all stemmed from a movie that I watched, it was called Love, Simon. Before I get into the details of what the movie is about, I just wanted to mention how it was shot. It reminded me of the John Hughes movies from the 80's. You know the ones, Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, and so many more. There were scenes straight out of those movies, in this one, so if you are a fan of those old movies, give this one a try for that reason alone.

     Now, for the content of the movie. It is about a teenage boy that is coming of age in his sexual enlightenment. His name is of course, Simon. The school has this online kind of gossip page, where students can post things anonymously. One night someone posts about the fact that they are gay, and have not come out to anyone. Simon reads this and relates, because he is in the same boat. He is gay and has not come out to family or friends. He feels a sense of freedom communicating back and forth with the person that wrote the original post via email. To get to the point, he accidentally leaves his email open on a computer at school and another student sees it. The other student takes screen shots of the correspondence and blackmails Simon to help him get a date with one of his female friends, or he will post the images. Simon helps the guy at the expense of his own friends happiness to keep his secret, but then it all falls apart when the guy flames out in an enormous display of affection for the girl to try and finally win her over. The guy wants to take the spotlight off himself, and posts the images of the emails. Simon's life is turned upside down. His friends leave him because he was trying to avoid them from being together, for the sake of helping the blackmailer, and his oldest and best friend leaves him, because she was secretly in love with him and he couldn't see it.

     As in all John Hughes films, there is a happy ending. Simon finally meets the anonymous person and they have instant chemistry, but that really isn't what I want to talk about tonight. On the night of the big Halloween party, where Simon breaks lose of his uptight normal self to try and open up to the guy he things might be the anonymous writer, his best friend tells him something, in hopes that he will get the hint (see above for him not getting the hint). She asked him if he ever has the feeling that he just doesn't belong anywhere. That is the line that had me deep in thought. It got me thinking about  where I am, and who I am, and what I'm doing.

     It brought me to this resolution. I know who I am, but I have no idea, where I am, and what I'm doing. It also made me realize that I don't belong anywhere. Here's where this gets hard to write. I have always been attracted to women, and that hasn't changed, but I'm really bad at taking it from the getting to know you stage, to the going out stage. It has always been my problem, I'm a naturally shy person, regardless of if you know me well or not, that is a fact that has been a part of me my whole life. When it comes to women, and taking it to that next level, I'm shy. That is why I don't belong in the heterosexual community. I have never had a desire to be with a man, but I can't rule out the possibility, that maybe, there is a man out there that may truly appeal to me. That being said, the times I have felt most comfortable when I was hanging out in bars, was when I was in gay night clubs. I just felt free there, and maybe that was because I had no desires there. There was no need to impress anyone. For that reason I don't belong in the LGBTQ community. I have found recently, that I am attracted to some transgendered women. I can't really say why, but there is a definitive attraction there. I can't say for certain I wouldn't act on it if given the opportunity to date a transgender woman. I can't say that I would either, for that reason I don't belong, well I guess that still remains in the LGBTQ community, since the T does stand for transgender.

     The term for someone that is attracted to anyone regardless of gender, sexuality, or anything else is known as Pan Sexual. I don't feel that I belong there either. I don't truly know if I am, as I said, I can see the possibility of these things, but since I have no knowledge of whether of not I would act on any opportunities, I can't really call myself that either. I don't know where I belong, if anywhere. That thought had me awake for hours last night, and has been on my mind all day. That thought is why I will be deleting the account I created on that online dating site Sunday, tomorrow. I can't attempt to get into a relationship when I have no idea where I belong.

     This thought doesn't make me sad, or happy, or anything really. I just feel a little numb. Coming to grips with not belonging possibly being where I am supposed to be.

     The one thing I do know, is writing. This, what I'm writing about right now, is why I began writing this blog in the first place. The unanswerable questions, that plague my mind and keep me awake. These thoughts have had me thinking more about the YouTube channel as well. I had this big plan to create a montage style of video for Sunday, but I'm rethinking that whole idea. Another video popped into my head, and I may do that instead, but it won't be up on Sunday. I'm going to take a week off of video releases, so there won't be one up tomorrow, nor will there be one up Sunday. I really want to give some thought to this video idea, and see where it takes me. I'm not going to scrap all the footage I have, I'm just going to save it for another time. I can see aspects of this new video in my head, and I like where it is going, but I don't know what I'm going to talk about in it. Yes, it is going to be me doing a lot of talking to the camera. Well, not a lot of talking, I still plan on keeping the video under 5 minutes, or in that area. I have the concept, I just need the filler. It will come to me, maybe after another sleepless night.

     This is where I would put FSOTW, but I don't think it belongs in this tonight. I think my words will just have to speak for themselves tonight. Peace in and goodnight.

Photographs, Photographs Everywhere

     I wanted to start with that video, because of the beautiful message it sends about giving the gift of music to the young. I know, books are great too, but just watch the video and you will understand.

     I think I just made a giant mistake. I signed up for another online dating site. This one is Plenty of Fish, and I have gotten a lot of messages on it, but I don't think any of them are serious, and more likely are scam artists. They are already asking for email and phone numbers so that we can, "share pictures". I have no intention of handing out either of those for that reason, nor do I plan on handing either of those out to someone I don't know.

     I'll give you updates on all that during the week. I see myself cancelling this account real fast. Anyway, I have been in photographer and videographer mode this weekend. I have not looked at the footage I captured yet, but I will soon. I did take some quality phots and I have a plan for one in particular. I had to do a practice picture that is in the same vain as the one I want to do, which will in turn teach me how to do it better for another photo I have planned.

     That is one of the sunset picture I took a week or so ago, and the helicopter is from a stationary mounted chopper at the Veteran's Museum in Merritt Island. I think I did a half way decent job on this one. Here are the originals, so that you can see where they came from.

     I had to do a lot of elimination work on that chopper to get it in there looking decent. I changed the exposure and made it look more like it was shot in the late evening as opposed the middle of the day. I accidentally removed a portion of the struts and had a terrible time getting it to fill back in. It didn't work exactly the way it was supposed to work, and it was more than likely my fault and not the software, but I eventually got it corrected. It took a great deal of time to create that photo, but it was fun, and frustrating. I did take a few hours between the time I erased the portion of strut before I go back to it and then got it painted in there. I did get help from a friend of mine, and it was her idea that made it work. She has a great deal more knowledge than I do on Photoshop, so I will be relying heavily on her for a lot of my learning process. I'll get it, and get better at it though.

    I have a model for the train track shoot. Have I mentioned the train track shoot? Actually I have two models for it. There is my friend that has the PS skill, and I am really looking forward to her doing it. I think she knows exactly what I'm looking for in this shoot. The other one is a woman that I shot with previously. I had a good time shooting her, so I think she will bring something to the shoot as well, but I'm going to shoot her differently from what my true vision is. I'm going to design that shoot more around her and less around the vision, but I will still hold to the idea of the vision. I could potentially create a series out of these, but I want my friend to be the Prime. She will be what the true vision is, and I can't wait for you to see it. I will post them on my photography only Instagram, but if this shoot comes out the way I really hope it will. I will share the penultimate picture on here. I won't make you go the Instagram to see it. I should though. Got to build up those followers some way.

     I have plans for this week and one of them will be an idea for a shoot that I have. I just have to figure out how and when I'm going to do it. The idea is shooting night time streets. I have to go at a time when there is no traffic at all, because I want to set up in the middle of the road. I want stop lights lit up, and the loneliness of the empty streets late at night. It could be a very risky shoot, but if it comes out the way I think it will, it will be worth it.

     I also have to see the new Fantastic Beasts movie. That will be on $5 Tuesday, so Tuesday is covered. I'm planning on hitting Universal on Wednesday, since I didn't get to go this past week. Stupid meteorologists. I started paying attention them and they predicted thunderstorms most of the week. Guess what never happened all week? No thunderstorms. This week is a must do, so I'm going no matter what, and I still plan on taking the camera for some fun shots.

    Thursday is the guitar lesson, and we are working on You're My Best Friend by Queen, and boy is it hard. The chords aren't unusual, it is just how fast they switch around. That song is way more complicated than it sounds.

     I forgot about tomorrow. Tomorrow, is a filming day. I will take the camera with me again if I see any interesting building are cars, but the focus is filming as much ride footage as I can so I can just do a good ol' music video. This is the thing I like doing the most, and I'm going to have it ready this Sunday. I was hoping for Wednesday, but I don't think that is going to happen, so I will have to do a short video about something that I don't know yet.

     That brings me to something else. I watched a video from a guy I've followed for a while now. He took a year off, because he was in an accident and lost his bike. He still doesn't have one, but he has kind of changed the direction of his channel, and it made me think. I don't know where my channel is going right now, and I've been thinking about doing more in front of the camera instead of behind it, but what would that be like? I have to work it all out, but I do see some changes coming to my channel. I will still doing videos riding around, but I may focus on talking to the camera instead of behind it. I might make it more like this blog, but maybe focus on something distinct. Maybe give the channel a conscience. Talk about topics that maybe people don't want to talk about. I haven't fully thought it out yet, but those are the things that are on my mind. Let me know what you think, and if this sounds like something you would want to see.

     Ok, I have to take out the garbage, but before I go, I do have a video from today. It's a Remember When, and this takes be back to those childhood teenage party days.



     Peace in and goodnight.

The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 53)

     Everyone showed up for Sir Constance's funeral. The King himself presided over it. The King spoke of his bravery, and how he was a wonder with a tale. He spoke of a man who was loved by all that knew him. Someone in the crowd began a chant of "Sir Constant", and soon everyone rang in. After a few minutes it died down, and everyone dropped their heads in silence.

     I don't remember who was the first to walk away, I only remember brief moments as I stood there watching. The crowd slowly dispersed until it was just me and Sir Darius. Sir Darius slowly turned and saw me. He looked a bit startled by my presence, then he slowly walked towards me.

     "Sir Pitre, have you been standing there the entire time?"

     "Yes sir. I stayed after laying Sir Constance to rest."

     "Sir Paljin said you didn't have to do that. I, once I thought of what I said, I agree with him. I let my emotions get the better of me. Why did you stay?"

     "I felt like I needed to. You were right. I needed to reflect on what I had done. Constance was dead because of my actions."

     "Pitre, do you know why I remained after everyone had left?"

     "I thought you were paying your respect."

     "I was, but I was also reflecting on my own actions. I was the one that sent you three out there. I let my anger take charge of my actions and I sentenced Sir Constance to his death. I also forced you to watch him die. It was my fault."

     "That's not true Sir Darius. You were doing what was right. I disobeyed a direct order from you. It was the result of that, that caused the assassin to track me down. He had intended his arrow for me, but it found Constance instead. You hold no responsibility for his death. I take all of that. I will go back on the trail tomorrow and find the roaming war bands and report back their locations. I will not engage them in any way if I can avoid it. I will make this as right as I can."

     "You will do no such thing Pitre. There will be no more scout groups. We will only head out in groups of 15 or more. We have learned that it is far too dangerous for a small patrol to be out in the Realm. We will carry the burden of Sir Constance's death together. I will also be with you when you return to the trail, but we won't be alone. We will be a squad of fifteen men, and we will destroy anyone who gets in our way or tries to harm a citizen of the Realm."

     "I will stand beside you what ever you choose to do. Sir Constance's name will be a rally cry whenever we face Raiders. His name will be the last thing they hear as they meet there end."

     "That it will Pitre, that it will. I want to apologize to you. I pushed you too hard. I was worried that you would get yourself killed and we would have nothing to fight the Raiders with. You are our secret weapon Pitre. I know now, that I shouldn't have worried about you. I dare say, that you could take on the entirety of the Mudwood, and wouldn't see a cut on you. I will no longer put restraints on you. I only hope to keep up with you so that I can see your feats for myself."

     "No, you were right to restrain me Sir Darius. I am supposed to be a member of a group, and the group is what matters most. I will obey orders from this moment forward, and we will all see victory together."

     "I have no doubt of that last part, as for the first. I would have it no other way than as it has been. The only exception is, that I will be with you and Rolf when we scout ahead for the Mudwood."

     "I will gladly have your experience and knowledge by my side."

     "Go rest now Pitre. I will do the same. We will gather our men first thing in the morning and head out to defeat those who stand before us."

     "I will be ready."

Frustration On Top Of Frustration

     Today has been rather frustrating. I woke up extra early, which it itself is frustrating, but I had to do that so that I could get something done, that was supposed to be done days ago. I had to film a Facebook exclusive video for TPR. Since my partner never contacted me about his availability, I ended up filming the video by myself and making the best of a bad situation. It seems like those are happening more and more with TPR. The idea, was that we were to have a video up on Facebook for our followers there, explaining that we were taking a couple of weeks off, and then we would be back on our schedule of every other week. I mentioned that this video would be up today, so that we could get as much exposure, since no one would be checking us out on Thanksgiving day. Since I'm done babysitting, I took it upon myself to make the video alone. I set it in the woods, and acted as if I was lost. Just to give the whole video a fun twist.

     I've been noticing a slight problem with my camera, well the memory card to be exact. There was less and less space, despite me deleting everything on it after every time I uploaded it. When I got out there to film, I only had about a minute of time left on the SD card. I managed to get just about everything in that I wanted. I planned on keeping the video short anyway, but not necessarily that short. When I got home, I checked the SD card, and found nothing unusual, so I grabbed an old SD card from my other camera, and it gave me all the space I had once had. I had to reformat the new SD card, to get all the space back. It left some kind of ghost data on it, that was filling up all the space. It's fixed now, but I'm going to have to keep a close eye out for it happening again.

     That was frustration one and two. Three came when I uploaded the video on Facebook. They are trying to create their own video platform, that is why YouTube videos are no longer embedded on the site and you have to click on the link and leave the page to view them. Since they are trying their best to copy YouTube, they have also added a premier feature. I thought I would give it a try for this short little video, maybe engage with some of our followers. I set the video for a couple hours after the upload and waited around for it to happen. When it was time, I went on, waited through a countdown, and when it hit zero, I clicked on the thumbnail and it took me to a page that was supposed to be playing the video. There was one giant problem, the video wasn't there. Facebook didn't upload it. Their platform says that after the video plays in a livestream, that it will be posted to the wall, for others to see it that weren't' there for the premier. There was no video on the wall. I ended up waiting about an hour, and then just uploaded it again, and posted it instead of some asinine premier or schedule. The video finally made it on the site, but I was still fuming mad over what had happened.

     My partner actually shared the premier link, after I only shared it on his timeline. Otherwise it would have never been shared. He then shared the premier link which didn't work again, not paying attention and thinking that it was the newly uploaded video. I knew none of this, because I had other things I needed to do. When I finally got back home three hours later, I saw that he still hadn't shared the new video, and I was once again fuming mad. I texted him and asked why he hadn't shared it since I had told him about it three hours earlier. That is when he told me he had shared it twice. I looked again, he hadn't, he had shared the premier. I had to tell him to share the right one. This is the person who was supposed to be the Facebook guru, and have all of this stuff covered. I'm telling you, that I am losing my mind over all of this. I wasn't supposed to be doing all the work on this. I really need him to start taking more responsibility for how this venture of ours fares.

     He texted me later in the evening telling me that he had a plan for Thanksgiving week. He was going to share one of our reviews daily during that week, and asked me which ones I thought he should share. This of course got me going again, but I waited to respond to him. I had to cool down, since he neglected to share our blog post from last week at all.

     Here is our schedule for release. Thursday we post the video, and then share the link from the TPR Facebook page to our own pages. I also post that our latest review is out on Instagram with a different angle picture of that particular pizza, and I do the same on Twitter. As you know, I then share the video one last time on here for you to watch. On the Friday after a review goes live. I give it that last little push and share the link to the blog post on Facebook, then share it to my own page. We have been doing it this way for months now, and he should know. I shouldn't have to remind him every single time to share the link, but if I don't remind him, it doesn't get done. The last review we did for Lazy Moon Pizza only had 9 views up until tonight, which I suspect is from him looking at it, because we now have 10 views. That is pathetic, and an absolute failure in my eyes. We have never had a post with that few of views. It's absolutely ridiculous when between our Facebook followers, Instagram followers, and our friends that are supposed to see the links on our very own pages, we should reach 500 people at a minimum. Of those 500 we should at the very least expect 25% to actually look at it, that would be 125 views. That is not what we get, and I am saddened by that. Our last two posts have a grand total of 36 views, and I boosted one of those on Facebook. It was the video link that I posted, but I always put all our links in the description of the video. We should have more views.

     This goes back to either people are sick of us, or Facebook is throttling our posts, so that not as many people see them. I will never again boost a post on Facebook. The last boost resulted in 15 clicks. 15 Clicks out of over 800 people reached. That is far less, by the way, from what Facebook said that it could reach. They always tempt you with numbers like, "for $10 you can reach over 4000 people.". I have yet to see one of our posts that been boosted reach more that 1100 people. Facebook is down right stealing money from people that boost posts, and I won't take part in it anymore. They word it real slick though. "You can reach", as opposed to you will reach. That takes away any fault on their part. If there was another platform that was as successful as Facebook, I would be on it in a second if they were more honest about what they do, but I'm stuck with what's available.

     Now you see why this has been a day of frustration. I'm done with today, and going to look at tomorrow as a brand new day, that can be full of frustration. I'm going to try to avoid that frustration part though. I'm going to be filming most of the weekend for a video that will either come out this coming Wednesday, or next Sunday. It really all depends on when I'm able to get everything filmed and edited together. If I'm still working on it Tuesday, I will have to come up with a quick idea for a Wednesday video. I leave you in suspense on what will happen. Peace in and goodnight.

Legends

     The title is tonights discussion. Legends. I went and say the movie Bohemian Rhapsody today. If you don't know what that is about, then we really can't be friends. If you haven't been reading this since the inception of it, then you may not know of my love for Freddie Mercury. The greatest voice that has ever lived. That is a very high honor considering my deep-seeded love of Prince and Bowie.

     When I was growing up there were several artist that truly influenced me and who I am today, and Freddie Mercury and Queen were some of them. Freddie was cooler than cool, and didn't hide who he was, although the secret of his sexuality remains out of the public eye until his death. Yeah, there were rumors, but all great rock stars have those circling around them all the time.

     Where as Prince consoled my need for funk, and Bowie my need for the unusual. Queen quelled my need of pure unadulterated rock. Not just rock, but rock inside of rock. They were the ultimate in beating down the doors and doing what they wanted to do. Rock has always been the bad boys of music, but still to this day, rockers seem to follow unwritten rules. Rage hard, fight the power, but don't do anything other than heavy guitars, drums, and scorching lyrics. That wasn't Queen. Yes, they did that, but they did it with flare and panache. They broke the rules within the broken rules. They used experimental sound before that was even a thing. They dared to create operatic songs. Sure The Who had their rock opera Tommy, but it wasn't really opera. A Night at the Opera, the album that gave us the song Bohemian Rhapsody, was an actual opera with rock. It changed the dynamic of what you could do in music, and Freddie Mercury was a driving force behind that.

     I'm not giving the other members enough credit, because they saw the vision that Freddie had for that album and dove in without even thinking. They were all for it. They didn't want to be a formal band either. Brian May's love for his friend Freddie Mercury is still evident to this day. He was the force behind this movie being made. He is also the reason they have never replaced Freddie. They have had other artist tour with them and do shows, but they never wrote new songs, and the front man was never a true replacement. They did more of a respectful tribute to Queen when they did live shows. The band still is Brian May and Roger Taylor with John Deacon having retired from playing. Their love of Freddie is evident in this movie. The portrayed him in good and bad light, which is how Freddie lived. He wasn't perfect, but when it came to the music of Queen, he was a god.

     I can remember the first time I heard of Queen. I was too young in the seventies to have noticed them, but then in 1980 a little song by the name of Another Bites the Dust hit the airwaves, and I became a believer. It was that same year that one of my favorite campy movies came out, Flash Gordon. Guess who did the entire soundtrack for that movie? If you guessed Queen, you would be right, and I loved it. It was two of my favorite things. Sci fi and Queen. Flash's Theme was the greatest thing to ever pass through my ear holes at that time. I loved it. Flash, ahaaaaa, Savior  of the universe. Come on, is there anything better than that.

      Freddie's voice would tear through you and then heal the wound as it went. It was around after that album that I began looking for more music from Queen, and that is when I found Keep Yourself Alive, Brighton Rock, Killer Queen, Stone Cold Crazy, You're My Best Friend, and so many more, Including Bohemian Rhapsody. I became a rabid fan, whenever a new album would come out, I would have the cassette, just like I did with Prince.

     In 1982, two of my worlds collided, when Queen collaborated with David Bowie. It was smoothies and class, meets rock and rapture. Under Pressure was the song, and it meant the world to me. It remains to this day as one of my all time favorite songs. When I die, if I have my way, I would like nothing but Prince, Queen, and Bowie playing during my memorial service. If it were the last thing I could give people, is the joy of hearing the absolute very best, it would be a fitting end to me.

     In 1984, Queen once again broke those unwritten rules of rock, and made a discoesque album. As you may remember, disco is my thing, so I naturally loved this album, but it wasn't well received because of that risk that they took. The first song on the album, tells more about Freddies life than any song he had written. That is of course my opinion, but since it is going to be Favorite Song of the Week, I want you to really listen to the lyrics. It may seem like he is talking about radio, and he is, but he is talking a great deal about himself. It was around this time that he found out that he had contracted the AIDS virus. So listen to those words real good, and see what he is really talking about. He is facing his mortality and is telling everyone he knows about it.



     I read an article a couple of years ago, about Freddie's final days. He didn't waste time sulking in what was inevitable. He threw himself into writing music. He wrote and recorded daily. The result were the last three studio albums that Queen released: A Kind of Magic, The Miracle, and Innuendo. The songs from these albums were all full of hope and sadness. They were telling the story of how Freddie wanted to be remembered. It's a Kind of Magic's lust for life and hope of achieving greatness, to I Want It All's furious grasp of the unattainable, to the final cry of moving forward despite everything being gone in The Show Must Go On.

     I remember seeing Freddie release his statement about being stricken with AIDS. I was at a friends house and it was on TV. I was devastated by the news. I watched as a man resembling Freddie sat at a table wearing a thick white robe. He was frail but still commanded attention. He spoke with poise and grace despite the death sentence that was awaiting him. The boyfriend of my friend's sister, spoke up after the press conference, "I'm never going to listen to that fags music again." I went right up to him and asked him. "Why does it matter who he slept with? Did you like his music before this? Did you listen to it, before this?" He just looked at me and said, 'You must be a faggot too." I turned and walked away from him. His ignorance wouldn't darken how I felt about my hero.

     Two days after that press conference, came the announcement that Freddie had died. I listened to every Queen song I could get my hands on. I did that for weeks. It was all I would listen to. I still have those days when I put on some Queen in order to remember Freddie, and what he meant to me. Prince, Bowie and Queen were all the same to me. They were gender benders that broke rules, and then when those rules were turned into dust, they found more rules to break. The world will never see Legends such as these again. There will be artist that grab the attention of the masses, but not like them. Queen didn't even have to sing there songs when they played live. The simple fact that people were in the same building with them was enough. They would sing the songs. I have been a part of something like that on a smaller level, with Twenty One Pilots. I have been in the crowd singing with the entire crowd to their songs, and watched as Tyler Joseph would just stand there in awe of what was happening. It is an amazing thing to be a part of, but it was nothing like what would happen with Queen. I watched their performance at Wembley Stadium for Live Aid. I saw how the crowd reacted, I was singing in my living room watching it as it happened. It was the closest I ever got to seeing Freddie Mecury and Queen playing live, and I was a very tiny part of that crowd that day.

     As long as I live, I will never tire of hearing those songs from those artist. Peace in and goodnight.

I Am A Master. Not Really, But It's A Nice Thought

     I finally had a chance to sit down today and play with Photoshop. I have tried multiple times this week, and always managed to come up frustrated by my own ignorance, but perseverance paid off, and I think I have an understanding about a little of it. A very basic understanding, and a very little of it, but I did create this image today.

     I used two different images to create this, and here they are.

     Not bad for a first attempt. I know it's not perfect, and you can tell that the woman was placed in there, but she has a different light source than Saki does, and I'm sure there is way to manipulate that, but I don't have that knowledge yet. I did adjust the exposure, contrast and other things to equal things out. I have a lot to learn, and it's going to take time, but this is only going to make the pictures I post on @counterfeitsquirrelphotos, that much better. Which reminds me, I posted an image earlier today, did you see it? 

     With Morty doing well, and out of the cone. I feel like I can finally go out and spend some real time away from the house. I have been cooped up watching over him so much, that I now have cabin fever, and with the realization that the TPR is failing, despite my boosting the post. I need to get out of the house and do something that takes my mind off of things. So, Universal is calling my name. I will be going on Wednesday, and I think I may just take the camera with me. Let's call it a photo expedition for this visit. It might be a lot of fun to go there as a photographer rather than a rider. I will of course be spending most of my time in Diagon Alley as per usual, but this time I will be taking photos to share with you. That is, unless I get some exceptional looking photograph, in which case it will co on the Instagram. From now on, those photos I feel are exceptional will go there and no where else. 

     I need this day out. I know my time is running out, and soon I will be on the hunt for a job, so I have to make the best of it while I can. I have been working on so many projects to get them off the ground, and I have denied myself some real fun, and although this will be a photo expedition, it will be fun. I plan on getting a doughnut at Voodoo Doughnuts. Yes, that's right, Universal City Walk as a Voodoo Doughnut, and if you have never had one of their doughnuts, you are missing out. I'll get a good picture of it before I devour it. 

     The Patchwork Knight, although not getting the readers that I would hope for, it is going well. I have faith that when I get a job, I will still make the time to finish that and then maybe work on getting it published in a solid form; kindle, hardback, or whatever. I'm going to continue making videos for my own Counterfeit Squirrel channel. I love doing it, I just may not keep the same schedule I have now. Right now. I post a video every Sunday, and then one every other Wednesday. Although for the past couple of weeks, it has been both Sunday and Wednesday. I'm not posting a Wednesday video this week, so that I will get back on that scheduled. Now for the TPR. I can honestly say that I have no idea if I'm going to continue to do it. I just don't see the potential there that I once did. I still think it is a very unique thing, and it has an audience somewhere, I just don't know how to find it, and it is clear that my partner is not going to help to find it. I don't have the time to learn how to find that audience with all the other things I am currently teaching myself. That includes improving my skills at making and editing videos, getting better at writing, and now learning photoshop and photo editing. Let's not forget that I will always have things to learn about photography itself. If you think you are done learning, you clearly have stopped tying. I'm not done trying, but I am done trying to figure out how to get that audience for the TPR. 

     I even tried to create a post on Facebook promoting the TPR blog, shared it on my own page, and asked my friends and family to share it with their friend and family. A couple of people came through, and I really appreciate that, but that was it, only a couple. That means either a couple of things. Either they saw it and just don't see that it is anything worth sharing, or Facebook is hiding it from all my friends seeing it. It could be a combination of the two, who knows, but I'm not going to put as much effort into it anymore. I need some time to relax, and I'm not getting it by constantly worrying about whether or not people are seeing our videos or our blog posts. 

     Speaking of that video from earlier, I have to share that with you now. 

     I realized that I hadn't shot a video at night with the new Hero 7, so I got out and shot one. I know the views are very low on this, and I simply don't care. I make these videos because I love doing it. If I never get to a point where I make money from these videos, it will be fine with me. I look at them the same way I look at The Patchwork Knight. They are a passion project that I truly love doing. I love getting on the bike and talking to you about things, and then I love even more, sitting at the MacBook and editing it all together, and trying new cuts and new effects. I love seeing it all come together from several different cuts of film being put together to create one thing. I love adding in the music and trying to get the cuts to time perfectly with the music to make it more dynamic. I just love it.

     I still have that big chapter of The Patchwork Knight to write, but that is because I have been focusing all my time on the TPR and today the photography. I'm getting on it tomorrow, and then i'm going to write every day this week. This all comes back to that time running out thing. I want to get as much as I can done before I head back to work. I am hoping for back to work sooner than later, but I really don't know what the job market holds for me, so I have to start looking soon. Back to The Patchwork Knight. Photos also play into that as well. I don't attack pictures with The Patchwork Knight on here, but when it fits, I put them up on Medium, so photography has double duty when it comes to that. I can use the pictures I take to create a more appealing experience for those reading on Medium.

     Speaking of Pitre and the rest of the characters of The Patchwork Knight. I still haven't heard from anyone about something I have written into a character. I like having little hidden things within my writing, and I thought for sure someone would bring up something about Pitre, but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe I have hidden it too well, or maybe I have written him so relatable that readers are just taking it for granted. I'm really hoping its the last part. That would thrill me beyond measure.

     Well that is this weekend in a nutshell. I hope you had a great weekend, and have an equally wonderful week. Peace in and goodnight.