New Jacksonville Artist

STEVE ATNIP - Pop rock musician of Jacksonville, FL. These photos were shot on Saturday November 22, 2008. You can listen to Atnip's Myspace music showcase by visiting this link here http://www.myspace.com/steveatnip. Check it out and see for yourself how talented this artist is.

Photography supplied by Steve Beger of Beger.com Productions. Your premier Ocala photographer.

View the entire set by clicking Here or visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beger/sets/72157609804923929/ or Beger.com/photos

Lucky

Here is a poem I wrote a little bit back. See if you can identify what this is a reference of.

Recalling the fortuitous five,
overwhelming graphite and trees,
yeilding millions atrabilious,
Gregariously defraying unintended tariff,
Before long-- pot full of greens,
inferno burns with antagonism, brewing--
vermin like sweet Vermouth.

All criticism is definitely welcome.

Here is a response from one of my college composition/literature professors:

SuZi: Nice language usage here. My suggestion would be to alternate sibilance with imagery in a lower diction, firstly and generally; you might consider patterns of chosen sounds rather than changing with each line: remember, you don't want your reader to stop at a word--people will not continue reading unless whipped, and some resist the whip.

March 22, The Water We Drink

Water has been around for centuries, outdating any living particle in our world today. It is the foundation of why our world operates the way it does. Through the functions of what water serves, evolving in a continuous hydrogen cycle, we have daily weather patterns and spectacular mountain ranges and canyons; much like, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, US, which was carved by the Colorado River.

With the basis of how important of a role water plays in our living environment today, there are several factors that have made water un-pure for our consumption. This leaves us with contaminated water for consumption, bathing, and recreational use. Most of our water consumed has many harmful minerals, bacteria, and other single-celled organisms-- what we believe to find may be safe drinking water (statistically), may in fact be quite toxic for our bodies, our pets, and the life we see roaming around us.

March 22, marks the most globally recognized day for Water. This day not only employes the recognition of Water in general by what it does; moreover, it emphasizes how us as individuals can make our water safer to drink and cleaner for today’s drinking, as well as the future ahead of us. What this entitles you as a reader, is to make better choices of how you dispose your waste materials, such as, but not limited to, expired batteries, used motor oil, and even the use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Unsafely disposing used batteries, even if expired, contain battery acids that seep into our water tables through the permeable ground material. These acids (lead, lithium, mercury, and sulfuric acid) end up in our water tables, which can even alter pH levels.

Used engine oils, cooking oils, and other oils end up floating to the tops of our aquifers, suspending its form making the water table purification process less effective-- also ending up at the tops of streams and other water systems that end up requiring treatment over time.

Fertilizers and other pesticides create many unsafe conditions to our water tables. Not only do these two serve the purpose for developing better looking lawns and marketable vegetation, these excessive fertilizers and pesticides end up in runoffs that lead directly to open streams, storm sewers, and drainages. The excessive fertilizers compliment the growth of algae/amoebas which end up covering our lakes and other water systems that are exposed to sunlight. This ends up killing the vegetation near the ground level of these bodies of water, due to the inability to receive sunlight and photosynthesize the sunlight into energy-- merely suffocating and killing these plants, thus releases nitrogen into the water. This effects the animal life within the water bodies, such as fish, mostly because those same forms of vegetation release oxygen into the water for water dwelling life to breathe when existing in healthy conditions. While pesticides have a similar effect of killing vegetation of our water bodies, this directly effects vegetation itself-- revoking the growth of vegetation and killing living animals in our water, which increases the nitrogen levels in our waters.

With the helping minds and hands we have available in the world today (which at times may not seem like many) our world could truly become a much more peaceful and comfortable place. This help must start with YOU, as we all have to make a change in our lives to help our communities. Begin by making a change today and angle your minds into thinking of the future environment you want to live in for your life (and those you love) to come.

This article is written to help others gain a better understanding of the world we live in, while water to some individuals plays a minor role in their lives-- this is a problem. Water is everything to our society, the cleaner we keep it, the healthier we will live. Hopefully this has made a difference in your feelings of our water, and how it should be treated-- with love.

Opportunities

Some of us are granted opportunities, some take 'em, some overlook, then the wise use them, and the successful learn and create more of them.

Photo was taken at Busch Gardens during an ample time!

The Demise of our Society

The Triumph of Death
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1562
Source

Ever pondered why the confidence level of our US currency is rapidly falling? As an insightful opening, take note of the above painting produced by Bruegel back in the 16th century. What a startling photo this is! At a glance you can see there is quite an abundance of action taking place in this piece, skies are pouring ashes from the burning city and ships that are wrecked at sea over the horizon, bloody corpses and skeletons are tossed on top like croutons on a salad. To me this implication reveals a catastrophic event occurring during the time of this work.

How might you feel this has any correlation to our society today?

One of the largest complaints uprising around our country is the cost to operate a motor vehicle. While many individuals are facing detrimental loss of employment due to the accrued expenses that remains a result of this, others are continuing on much-like nothing has ever happened.

To emphasize that gasoline is not the reason why costs are inclining, but consumer confidence has dropped through the floor. Our society may be on a fast lane highway to an epidemic recession. Our economy as consumers less than a decade ago allowed many individuals to make unstable decisions, such as purchasing homes that were affordable at the time upon closing-- which in reality balloon/adjustable interest rates are enticingly affordable to those initially-- within time once those interest rates begin to fluctuate, it starts to hit home faster when monthly mortgage payments are almost equal if not more than four to six times the amount of an economy size vehicle's monthly payment. This has the foreclosure market terribly screaming with horror these days. While indirectly this doesn't effect us; moreover, the banks who don't fully benefit from foreclosures. As there's only so much the government subsidizes to help us maintain comfortable interest rates.

While I don't entirely blame Greenspan's leave of office a while back, I merely blame the consumers for making unwise and instant gratifying decisions. While the rental property industry is reaping most of these benefits of picking up a large portion of the low hanging fruit, there still stands a chance this is going to come back and haunt us for the next decade when times begin to get tight and our pockets are shrinking.

Some words of note that I wish people would consider when they make their next purchase, is this necessary? Will I even be able to afford it in the years to come.? If you can't clearly answer yes, and if you don't own it, don't break it. As the Triumph of Death may not be so uncanny after all.

Interviewing 101

So here's the deal, you've been working and today you just found out that you have been laid off from your current job, or you are considering terminating your position. Like some of us, if not most have been laid off/fired at one time or another. Recently, I have been struck with this dilemma as well and I'm sharing my experience of why it pays to search, post, rinse and repeat.

So now you're stuck looking for a job from the pool of jobs located in classified ads and from online networks. Keep in mind that you're not the only one that hates seeking new employment.

Here’s a list of the top five most important elements to carry with you when you are looking to land that new position.

1. First Things First -- Ask Yourself, “Who Am I?”

The wonderful word, "RESUME" scares most people to crawl out of their skin and scream when they have to even consider utilizing this source as a method of seeking employment. Just remember, a resume doesn't only reveal your contact information and background experience, it speaks HIGHLY of YOU; moreover, this document inevitably gets your foot in the door.

There are endless amounts of resources located on the internet to help you build or refine your current resume. Two of the most recommended resources are detailed below which are free to use:

Monster - Not only will they help you build your very own resume, they will actively seek employment based on your credentials that you have provided.
CareerBuilder - Has a valuable resource of online resume building software, as well as being able to post your resume online and seek jobs in your local region immediately.

First time employment

Don’t stress out too much, as this does not exclude your abilities of being capable of the skills necessary for new employment opportunities. This obstacle does however leave many options out unless you have upper level education under your belt. This aim high target low type of strategy requires gathering as much details about your personal/professional behavior and skills that you have acquired during your education that will benefit you as a candidate for a new position.

• Seek someone who has past resume skills to help build a proper resume that is fit for a position you are seeking.
• Speak to individuals you would consider of mentor status (local business leaders, guidance counselors, and even instructors) to review some skills you may have omitted from your resume.
• Discuss with family or friends using a topical piece of conversation and ask them to review some communication skills you are strong in.
• Include any accomplishments (Self achievements that have benefited someone else). Be sure to include awards/certificates from your past that you believe are job worthy to your next employer.
• Volunteering IS considered work, just because you did not receive financial compensation from it, rather look at the beneficial factor of being able to offer your services for a good cause in your community. Employers are always looking for team players as well as independent individuals who can effectively implement cost reducing strategies. With this in mind, be sure to include any past efforts that you have contributed to maximize performance of a project as an individual and/or as a team.

I’ve previously been employed

One thing to consider when applying for a position is to make observations about your past skills and experience that can benefit the new position you are seeking. While some of us have had summer jobs to earn a little extra income to jubilantly carry us through to the next semester, there are others who have not worked a day in their lives-- lucky them right? Wrong. Statistically speaking, individuals that have prior working experience find it much easier to compile a resume based off of past employment. While those that have not worked, must compile their resume from past resources and assess their skills, behaviors, attitudes, as well as being able to answer why they have no job experience come interview time. People who have no job or little job experience are considered a higher risk to the company; likewise, those who fall into the category of having too many jobs for short periods of times.

• Focus on core abilities that you have offered as a beneficial role in your previous work.
• Build your resume with an angle to be directed towards your target employment position. Try to only include skills that are relevant to the position you are trying to obtain. For example, if you are looking for a financial assistance position and one of your past positions was trimming hedges for a lawn service company, try to exclude items such as what type of equipment you have operated with-- since it is irrelevant. A better example would be to include an innovative fertilizing technique which involved combining a fertilizer with a pesticide to maximize the amount of time spent on each lawn.

To be continued...

Is Google impeding our knowledge?

An amazing search engine company based out of California, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, has been on the rise of success these days. Could their main Web Searching abilities actually prohibit our function of thinking? Take a look at it from this angle for a moment. When you are discussing your new and innovative ideas to your colleagues at a lunch meeting at Outback Steakhouse, you stumble into a memory block of the name of this process you were talking about last week to your Boss. Well right now you're caught on the spot; however, your first instinct would be to explain, "I'll have to Google it to find that name I was mentioning." Now only if you had purchased internet access on your cellphone, you wouldn't be cornered into a dark alley when your colleagues have no idea what you're talking about after inquisition.

Our ability to actually encode the information we receive and store it in a long term memory has depleted, only because we have Google to fall back on in our desired information needs. Perhaps a better more blunt way of saying it, we're becoming LAZY and Google isn't helping. In no way am I bashing Google of their wonderful products; however, I'm basically ranting of our society becoming more and more lazy as days go on. Once the Baby Boomers era is old and decrepit (if many aren't already), our need for libraries will soon fade away-- why? Because the costs of publishing are expensive, and the demand for non digital media will slightly decrease as more and more digital media will become available, most likely in a form that is very attractive to us rationally frugal consumers, FREE!!

Basically, could Google be taking part in a pseudo brain for our database of knowledge? If we don't have to be challenged to store things in our long term memory of our noggin (mostly on behalf of if we forget something), we'll always have google right next to us. Sounds like a copasetic drug to me. Yikes!

Some food for thought

Google, has practically become the Microsoft of the web; moreover, with their recent purchase, such as YouTube. Internet domination seems to be their ploy, as they already pretty much cover (and do a good job of providing easy and fast access to their products) Mapping, Blogs, Videos, Message Forum (Groups), Email, and much more. The only thing that they don't seem to provide is Web Hosting services, or even their own auctioning site. It's fairly humorous that they choose which companies they want to compete with. Various Bill Gates projects are one of their endeavors-- which brings us to a Google OS.

Anyway, whatever their market strategy is, they are stepping on the toes of all these smaller online businesses trying to differentiate their products.

Traffic, what is..

Today traffic is unbelievably busier than it was yesterday and tomorrow will be much more busier as well. Think of it this way, everything there is a naive wide-eyed youngster obtaining their license in the state of Florida, at the adolescent age of 16, that adds another vehicle, and not just "another vehicle" though, a driver of a dangerous vehicle who thinks they're invincible. Silly kids, automobiles are for adults. With our recent medical studies we are overcoming the age barriers by a long-haul with keeping the elderly around longer. Red-Flag, this just means our roadway systems will become overly populated with more and more traffic, not to mention seeing these old folks driving with their blinding cataract glasses, they'd be equally dangerous driving blindfolded.
With gas exponentially increasing in price, perhaps one would think that this would allow more road vacancy, ABSOLUTELY NOT! This only means people are required to reach deeper into their pockets till they are bone dry, leaving them having to work more hours-- or even apply for another job or other work to churn an extra buck from the money trees we all have growing in our yards. All that I know, is that this construction better hurry itself up, otherwise I'm going to be one mean boar.