I have recently (in the last couple of months), come across a new photography website called 1X. It is run as an art gallery with curators who control what is displayed on the site. The quality of work is not dissimilar to some of the extraordinary work seen on dA, but without the photography snapshots that are posted and it's just photography (not that I have a problem with the other wonderful art I have seen here). After having my first lot of submissions rejected, I was feeling a little demoralised and was going to abandon this pursuit, but unlike some groups on dA, which I have abandoned, that purport to only displaying quality work and then end up displaying photography that I deem questionable, mainly because the author is a contributor and can do so, this website really is of extreme high standard and I have decided to continue my pursuit and am determined to immerse myself in this wonderfully exquisite website and reach the standard that is required. I have submitted 11 photos that have been rejected so far and at present have 3 awaiting approval. Fingers crossed. Admittedly this site has photography on it that has been heavily manipulated, but the results are stunning and still can be viewed as photography. This has made me revisit a lot of my photos and rethink why I have taken them and what I am trying to portray and adjusting my editing accordingly and even to the point where I think, why did I take this shot at all. All I know is that when I get rejected again, I will nurse my wounds for a short time, then pick myself up, dust myself off and view more work and try harder. I feel I have a different view on my ability and just know that I want to be better than what I am now. Growth is a wonderful thing.

I have recently (in the last couple of months), come across a new photography website called 1X. It is run as an art gallery with curators who control what is displayed on the site. The quality of work is not dissimilar to some of the extraordinary work seen on dA, but without the photography snapshots that are posted and it's just photography (not that I have a problem with the other wonderful art I have seen here). After having my first lot of submissions rejected, I was feeling a little demoralised and was going to abandon this pursuit, but unlike some groups on dA, which I have abandoned, that purport to only displaying quality work and then end up displaying photography that I deem questionable, mainly because the author is a contributor and can do so, this website really is of extreme high standard and I have decided to continue my pursuit and am determined to immerse myself in this wonderfully exquisite website and reach the standard that is required. I have submitted 11 photos that have been rejected so far and at present have 3 awaiting approval. Fingers crossed. Admittedly this site has photography on it that has been heavily manipulated, but the results are stunning and still can be viewed as photography. This has made me revisit a lot of my photos and rethink why I have taken them and what I am trying to portray and adjusting my editing accordingly and even to the point where I think, why did I take this shot at all. All I know is that when I get rejected again, I will nurse my wounds for a short time, then pick myself up, dust myself off and view more work and try harder. I feel I have a different view on my ability and just know that I want to be better than what I am now. Growth is a wonderful thing.

Well finally get to put up a new journal. I can hear my sister saying 'It's about bloody time'. And what better topic for a new journal than a weekend getaway.

We were supposed to do this for our 25th Anniversary, but I hadn't lost enough weight and I didn't really feel like it. After receiving an email on local rates it was time to celebrate that anniversary. We drove to Airlie and spent Friday night there to catch the boat from Shute Harbour early Saturday morning. I ended up calling Greg a Hobbit as he tried to eat some left over pizza for breakfast before we caught the boat, only to find out we were able to have a full breakfast when we arrived on the island, not to mention the nibblies on the boat. Well he sat down to another breakfast and that's when I asked him if he was going to have elevensies as well. We had a little wait for our room and ended up doing a tour of their kitchen, all 3500 square metres of it (shared by the three restaurants). It's the second largest kitchen in the southern hemisphere and pretty much everything is made fresh on the island, from pastries to chocolate. With our room finally ready, we settled in. I must say it was strange to come back to the room after dinner and have the bed turned down and little chocolates on the bed. They even tidied up my messy make-up so I took a photo. The view was quite lovely too although it was overcast, but the wildlife certainly brightened things up. I swear I was so close to this cockatoo and the fact that he was closing his eyes and nodding off while I was clicking away, I could have scratched his head. Didn't trust his beak though and it was a lot bigger than Duckies.

The whole resort is just magical and Greg soon found out why I raved about the island after photographing a wedding on it. The greenery and quiet was very restful and the plush decor with marble and granite everywhere certainly made you feel you had a lot of money. You know they even have a state school there. With a fair chunk of the afternoon ahead of us we decided to investigate the surrounds and I decided I wanted to have a look at the Stella Maris Chapel, which had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that a wedding was being held. Also checked out a lookout on the spur of the moment which meant we were climbing this hill without any water. >< We survived. I got this last shot on Monday. Sadly the place was locked up.

The dining was unbelievable and I will never ever ever say that the prices charged for the amount of food served in posh restaurants is a waste of money ever again. My palette has never so tantalised before and Greg was even adventurous, well to a point. In La Fontene, the fancy restaurant, he was going to order what essentially was Wagyu Beef Burger. When he was told that he would get a certificate after ordering it, he wondered what the catch was. Then I looked at the price and discovered the catch. The meal was $150. I'm not sure if it would have been special as all the food was just exquisite. It was like a wonderful explosion in your mouth with every bite. We even tried Sake in the Oriental restaurant on Saturday night and quite liked it. I don't think it would be to everyone's palette though.

Sunday saw us off to the reef where we did an introductory scuba course. First time for both of us. Thoroughly enjoyed that once you got used to the breathing and I took a helicopter flight further out to see heart reef. It was lovely, but so tiny. Photos just don't give a great perception of size sometimes. They say it is about the size of two cars parked side by side. Greg has already flown over the reef when he had to do some work on a fishing boat.

Monday saw us waking later and having a leisurely breakfast, both not really wanting to have to leave that day. We took advantage of our room for as long as we could then just wandered around the resort taking in as much as we could. I must say, we both didn't really want to leave and it was a perfect celebration of our Anniversary


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Mature Content

Don't intend to scare anyone, just a line from a NIN song that I'm relating to at the moment

Have been seeing a remedial massager for the past six months.......recommended by my physio and at this point I feel I have reverted back to the beginning. Not sure what to do next. Have got an appointment to get an ultrasound on my shoulder, but I'm not hopeful. Sorry for feeling sorry for myself, just need to vent. Bad day today, but I'm sure tomorrow will be better. I had great intentions of only getting pissed tomorrow night at Tenny's party, but, well shit happens.

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Mature Content

Now that got your attention didn't it. I will translate. It's more like Twilight, Painkillers (& alcohol) and my life support - music. Actually you could probably classify rock 'n roll as the sex part too. Oops sorry, for all of you who got the yukky mental picture.

Just sitting at the computer when I should be in bed. Just the same ol', same ol'. A bit of discomfort that needs some mellowing, hence the medication. Actually it's not very good for our bank balance when I'm in this mood and having a minor disagreement with the hubby just adds to it. Thinking on that again, it may be considered a bit more than minor, like $2300 worth minor. You be the judge. My sister knows what I am like, so she can tell me whether it was a minor or major disagreement. Anyway, whichever it is, it's all Teneille's fault. She wouldn't stop laughing like a guinea pig and everytime I tried to muffle her with her pillow she would escape my grip. Actually it's partly my sisters fault too, as well as NAS (Nikon Acquisition Syndrome) and this bloody wedding I have to shoot on Hayman Island. Yes that's right, it's everybody else's fault, never my own. I bought another lens, but this one is worth every penny and my sister actually acquired this before I did. You go girl!!! It's about time you beat me to something cause you deserve it. Actually the wedding is mainly the reason for it. I think I'm just panicking again. Yeah I know, if you know your stuff you can take great shots with a point and shoot. Sometimes I'm my own worst enemy. I get paranoid about stuffing everything up and then I look at my work and think it's not good enough. It's probably not healthy, but I take consolation in the fact that I strive to improve......sometimes, when I'm not feeling lazy. >< Ha ha, maybe it's my midlife crisis. Fuck, I'm always late for everything. I'm way past midlife.

Hmm, what other news do I have, Tenny did really well in our local show with one of her photos. Blitzed  her mum she did. A first and Champion Colour Print. I'm so proud of her. Yeah, I know, shut up Mum. What else. Hmm, can't think of anything desperately important, but then that could be because the brain is shutting down. Damm!! I've over medicated. What a surprise. Sometimes I reckon I could give old Dr House a run for his money. Better stop there before I start typing jibberish. The more medicated I become, the more the words move around and then it's bloody well impossible to proof read. Oh well, please point out any spelling mistakes and grammatical errors and I will tell you how medicated I was as to where the mistakes were made. Actually truth be known, I probably will only have a vague recollection of typing this. I know, scary stuff.

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