New photos of the Tennessee State Fair 2011

I just put some new photos of the Tennessee State Fair in Nashville, Tennessee on my Facebook page.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Danger! Carnivorous Plants!

Two great displays.

A Fairy diorama with plants.

You can see some more photos of the Tennessee State Fair on the Betsyanne Things to do in Bowling Green blog.

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People make such Stupid Decisions in Horror Movies

Photo from Ky_Olson on Flickr.

It's one of my pet peeves.

Just why do people make really really stupid decisions in horror movies?

I am sure you have noticed it too. It just boggles the mind and is so funny. Here are just a few situations and decisions I know you will recognize:

#1. Somebody is inside a haunted house. They are scared. There comes a knock on the door. THE PERSON OPENS THE DOOR.

#2. Somebody is inside a house. Somebody wants to kill them. The phone rings. THEY ANSWER IT.

#3. A monster is killing people left and right. Now they want to kill somebody else. They move towards the person. THE PERSON DOES NOT MOVE. So they die.

#4. Somebody is running away from somebody with a gun or a knife. They run UPSTAIRS, or UP A LADDER or UP INTO A DEAD END.

#5. A crazy murderer is looking for the last person alive in a house. This person HIDES IN A CLOSET or HIDES UNDER THE BED.

#6. A horrible monster is trying to get in a house. Somebody is still in the house. THAT PERSON STAYS IN THE HOUSE instead of running away out the back door.

#7. The heros stop at a deserted town. Nobody is around. There is a totally bad feeling about the whole place. They decide to get out of the car AND WALK AROUND.

And of course the best one:

#8. The terrible killing monster or murderer makes a noise. The person in danger WALKS TOWARDS THE NOISE.

I feel like shouting "No! No! Bad choice!" when I see these things happening. It does tickle my funnybone sometimes, and other times just makes me shake my head.

I loved this subject so much that I have made a NEW Squidoo lens page about it too. Here it is:
Horror Movies and Stupid Choices - (why do people make stupid choices in horror movies?)

I am sure you can think of another funny and very stupid decision in a horror movie. List it below!

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9/11 memories, the 10-year anniversary today, thoughts about it

9-11 Memories...

Photo by Idovermani on Flickr

I was visiting my Mom today in Nashville, and of course also have been thinking about the first 9-11 in 2001, like many others here in the U.S. today.

I did get to see part of what happened this day in 2001 on TV at my job I used to have here in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

A co-worker had brought a television from home and it was plugged in near his press.

I did really wonder about that for the first few seconds. Why did this guy have a TV on the chair near his work area? Then he said "Look at this!" and I did. The news reporter on the TV showed a film clip of a plane flying into a building in New York. I couldn't believe it. The announcer was so serious and said "We have been attacked..."  At the time, I did not really know what was happening or what it meant.

I watched in horror as the scene unfolded. Before the buildings fell - there were the fires, the smoke, the people at the windows, the helicopter I hoped would lower a rope and rescue somebody, the two people holding hands and standing at the window, the jumping, the falling. I lost track of time watching it, but actually I probably only watched for about ten minutes.

I remember telling my co-worker that this was "another Pearl Harbor," the only event coming close to what I was seeing. I thought a war was probably coming next.

At the time, most of the people at the company had left to go home and watch the events there. I and some others left soon after. I would still have been at my desk a lot longer, though, if that kind person hadn't come to tell me to come and watch what would turn out to be a pivotal event in the life of this country, and a disaster of the first magnitude. I want to thank him for thinking of me and coming to get me.

And later, over and over, I remember seeing the the video of the plane(s) flying into the buildings - - seemingly on continuous loop that evening after I came home. And I found out then about the other locations where planes flew with horrendous results.

Unlike me, some people were actually at or near the events happening that day. And many knew people that died or were hurt that day. Many saw a lot more than I did - whether in person or on television.

And some very brave people actually helped others that day even though it would kill them or hurt their health forever.

One person who helped at Ground Zero said today, "The real heroes are those who went in and never came out."

I have seen some news coverage today, and heard some first-person stories. And I know there are more stories out there that have not been told. Yet.

What do you want to share about that day? Leave a comment about your personal experience ten years ago on 9-11.

Thank you.

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See some Pots Place pottery photos from the Studio

I just published some Pots Place Studio and Gallery photos on the Pots Place Studio and Gallery Facebook page (See these photos there).

I can share a couple of them here too:

Bob and Laura at a Pots Place Studio class.

Laura sharing a laugh with her students.

You can see the rest of the Pots Place Working photos here:
Pots Place Studio and Gallery working photos. 

You can also join their Facebook Page here. And their webpage is here: The Pots Place Studio and Gallery Web Page.

The Pots Place Studio and Gallery is located on beautiful Fountain Square in downtown Bowling Green, Kentucky. Come visit! We have the work of seven different potters, and other artwork for sale too.

There are lots of other fun shops on the Square too, so it is definitely worth a trip. Oh - and of course there is the beautiful Park and statues there too.

Love ya! I hope you had a TERRIFIC holiday weekend. XOXOXOXOXO

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Betsyanne's Organization Day

Organization Day

Today I shorten down my postings... do my Twitters, and attach a suitable photo from the Microsoft Clipart site.

One of my favorite blog sites, the FlyLady site, has some great hints for me on cutting down clutter in my home. I will be doing some of these today.

I hope to repeat this at least one day a week, until I have made a major dent in my clutter at the house. I have boxes of papers that need organizing, many books to give away or sell, collectibles, clothing, and knick-knacks I must pare down or sell, and file cabinets that need purging.

Wish me luck! And write your tip or tips as a comment.

Later!

 Oh - and here is my latest Squidoo posting about being a clutterbug.

It's called From Clutterbug to Butterfly. 

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Posting Photos to Facebook - are you doing it?

Question #1: Are you on Facebook?

If so, you have probably looked at what seems like thousands of photos people are posting to there in albums or as part of their Facebook News Feed or Wall.

Jackie at Orange Beach.

To me, it's a great way of sharing with my relatives and friends. Plus, it is a great backup, along with Flickr, which I also like a lot, plus my online backup for the moment, MyotherDrive. I would not suggest MyOtherDrive to anyone because they don't get back to you right away if you have a problem. They used to, but just not right now. I would suggest Flickr, it is free up to a certain storage size, and you can look at LOTS of other people's photos there in an organized, fun way.

The new Facebook settings let you decide whether to share your photos with nobody, just a few people, only your friends, or everyone. I like this. But I still won't put anything on there I don't want the whole world looking at, since that is the way of the internet. What you put out there is out there forever, in some form or another.

Anyway, I have been posted a few photos a day this week, and I think it is generating some interest and makes my Facebook days more fun.

A little tech hint: I have noticed that photos I see on Facebook may not download like some I see on the 'net. The way around this for me (and I use a Mac) is hitting Control/Command-Shift-4, which lets me take a screen shot of whatever photo I like and customize the size too. I'm not sure of the commands for non-Mac folk. (If you know, please comment to let me know too - thanks.)

The photo here was just scanned and put on Facebook this week. It's one of my favorites.

Do you have photos out there, either on Facebook, Flickr, or another site you would like to share? Send your link over as a comment so I can go check it out.

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A beautiful Trumpet Vine with orange flowers

I have always loved these orange trumpet vines next door to the back entrance of the Pots Place.

The vines are in the alley across from Mariah's restaurant parking lot, draped beautifully on a building there. 

They climb all over the other building next to the neighbor's building, and I really like how these vines look.

Here are a couple photos I took of them yesterday.

Luxuriant tropical-looking vines.

So pretty!

There are also some of these in front of the back entrance to the Pots Place. They have been used as a bush there. I don't see the flowers as often, because they get trimmed so much. They grow really fast (I can attest to that!) - and they are pretty cut an in a vase too. I have not cut the neighbor's vines, but I have trimmed the Pots Place ones.

Anyway, these are so pretty, I thought I would share them today. I think having the same plants could point to a relationship between store owners long ago. Maybe there is a story behind them. Who knows? These vines and flowers are so jungle-like...

And here is a photo I found called "Kauai: Orange Trumpet Vine" on Flickr.

Photo by Eliduke on Flickr.

 All for now,

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What the Tech? About digital photography. A new WBKO series. #1 of 3

Pix from the MS Clipart Pages

Are you a photographer? 

If you are, or want to be, I know you will like this - I did.

I saw it on the local TV news, and really liked it. I looked for it online afterwards for quite some time and could not find it.

Then voila! This morning there it as on my Yahoo local news links. This short program by Corey Fryia was really good.

I enjoyed learning more about my digital camera and what those pesky camera terms mean!

I'll definitely be using these hints and doing more experiments with my camera.

Here is the video link via YouTube:

I love the ending, from the old Batman TV show. Yeah, "same Bat-time..." It sure brought me back. Let me know how you like it too.

I will be putting Part Two and Part Three here soon hopefully. And here is the WBKO link, which features the same video: What the Tech: The Ins and Outs of Digital Cameras, Part One. 
 

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Pinging your blog for free, 4 great sites

 Hi, all! Do you have a blog or website? Want to get the word out and get more readers?

I am doing my blogs today, and realized I have not posted ping sites here for my readers. In case you have a blog especially, pinging it can really help it get seen. I have four different pinging sites I use. They are all free. Many have fee options, where you can sign up and they will ping your blog for free too.

Pong Panda from the MS Clipart pages

Here are the pinging sites I use:

#1: Pingoat - this site has a funny cartoon goat as its logo, which is kind of strange, but it goes with their name. However, they do have some good sites they ping to. I have noticed all the pings they do for you don't always work. But many do.

#2. Ping-o-matic: I like this ping site because it is (a) fast and (b) all the pings alway go all the way through and actually contact the sites they are supposed to send to.

#3. The Feedburner Ping Page: I am on Feedburner anyway with my sites, so this just helps them get noticed sooner on the email of people who are signed up for my blogs.

#4. Pingler - I added this site most recently. It sends to a lot of mysterious places I have never heard of, but I like it because of the volume of pinging it does.

If you want your website pinged or sent to web search engines for free, try Self Promotion.com. You can also join here to have your websites auto-promoted too.

Do you have a blog? List it under here as a comment.

A photo from Fountain Square park recently.

All for now,

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Bowling Green, Kentucky's Second Saturdays! Pix and notes from yesterday, 8-13-11

Some Second Saturday Photos - I took these yesterday during the Bowling Green Second Saturday Street Fair event. They are photos of Fountain Square Park and the Pots Place Studio and Gallery downtown, plus other downtown photos.

There were booths at the Second Saturday Street Fair, plus food, a kid's inflatable section, and more. The shops were part of the event too, of course.

At the Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery, we had some classes by Laura Bain-Selbo, and also demonstrations by Bob Brigl. Both are potters who are part of the Co-op.

We had such a fun day. We had lots of visitors.

Here are just a few of the photos I took yesterday. I have more on the Pots Place Facebook Page.

The Fountain Square Fountain.

A park statue and some booths.

Bob Brigl demonstrating.

One of Laura Bain-Selbo's classes.

Of course, it was also fun at the Square, and all the other shops too. Maybe next time I will take some time off and explore.

Later!

You can see more pictures of the Second Saturday event at the Second Saturday Photo Album on the Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery page.

There are some recent Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery photos here too.

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Photos and talk about the Gallery Hop at the Pots Place, Bowling Green, Kentucky

Having fun at the Gallery Hop

Well... Helen brought 4 matching tumblers new work), and Laura displayed her new Tree of Life Table. Everyone was there - - at least for awhile.

We had lots of visitors. Many thanks go out to Mariah's for the great chip and dip, along with fruit salad.

Bob and two visitor

Laura is getting ready for a class tomorrow. Lucky kids who come to the Pots Place tomorrow can make a knee pot or monster at a special table all set up in the Gallery for $10.00 during Second Saturday tomorrow from 11-2. She will be personally helping as the instructor.

The entire Second Saturday event starts at 9, and goes until 5:30.

Today at the Gallery Hop, Laura, Norman, Helen and Bob were there, and Betsy came for awhile (that's me!)

 A Bowling Green Daily news reporter came and interviewed for a little bit. There should be a news story about the Gallery Hop in Wednesday's Daily News. I can't wait!

All in all, it was a great Gallery Hop.


If you didn't get to make it, the next one is on October 21st.

And remember, tomorrow is the Fountain Square Downtown Second Saturday Street Fair. I hope to see you there!





Find out more about the Bowling Green, Kentucky Gallery Hop
Visit the Pots Place website
"Like" The Pots Place Facebook page

Second Saturdays on Facebook

**click to see more Gallery Hop photos! (They are on the Pots Place Facebook Photo Album section...)

And thanks for visiting!

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Fun at the Pots Place today with Laura's class

The Pots Place had a class today...

It was taught by Laura Bain-Selbo. The time flew! It was fun to meet everyone, and I wound up going back to take some pictures too.

Here are a few of them from today:

Glazing a pot.

Working hard!

Stirring a glaze.

 See more photos at the Pots Place Studio and Gallery Facebook page.

And here is their website.

It really was fun. I got to make some ultra-mini pots, and did some mini-mini Fairy Doors too. They were a lot harder to make than the bigger ones, but they were still fun to experiment with.

Onward and upward! I hope to take some more class pictures at the Pots Place PLUS one of opening the kiln soon.

Neat, huh? Comment below. Are you an artist? Do you like art? Share about it.

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Photographic Experiments

Hi, all!

I posted an older photo I took in Nashville on another blog posting recently. I call it "Nashville Downtown: Phones." Here it is:

My photo: Nashville Downtown: Phones.

What is neat about this photo is that it resulted from a bumpy car ride and I was just lucky that all the lights turned out to be colorful and neat looking. It's one of my favorites.

If you are a budding photojournalist (think: blogger who has a camera...) then you want to find out all about your camera. If you can join a local photography club, that's great. They usually don't cost a lot to join; at least, usually they are cheaper than taking classes.

If you can't do this at the moment, you need to take LOTS of photos and try out all the different settings on your camera, at least.

That is what I am doing right now. The camera I have is a Kodak EasyShare DX7630. It is 6.1 megapixels, a big step up from my old 3.0 model. I like the EasyShare because the plug-in Kodak camera dock is easy to use and does the uploading to iPhoto automatically.

Back to the subject. About cameras: you don't necessarily need a really expensive camera. I saved money getting a new one, and NOT a state-of-the-art one. Any kind will do for learning with. I know a more expensive one would take better pictures. But you can still have a lot of fun with any kind of camera.


I bring my camera with me anywhere. Sometimes I see something I just HAVE to photograph, other times I'm just glad I have it with me.

Do you love to take photos? Share your photography or portfolio below with a link. I look forward to seeing your photos and your experiments too.

Thanks!

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Join us at the Pots Place August 12th!

Gallery Hopping!

We have another Gallery Hop coming up in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Mark your calendars!

It is on Friday, August 12th, from 5-8 p.m. Many artist's studios will be open that evening. It is a fun, free event.

Drop by the Pots Place Co-op Studio and Gallery in downtown Bowling Green, on Fountain Square.

We will also be open that night, with delicious goodies from Mariahs! We will have new ceramics on display from all the artists too.

The Pots Place website is here: The Pots Place. And come visit our page on Facebook too. See you there!

The EventCrazy Gallery Hop page
The Gallery Hop page on the Amplifier Online

PS I make Fairy Doors there and little monster faces and animals. I hope to be here for the start of the festivities. Later!






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The pottery studio image is from the Microsoft Word Clipart Pages.

My cattle neighbors relaxing across the street under the trees

Where my neighbors across the street like to hang out

Sometimes when it's pretty hot, my cattle friends hang out under the trees.

I keep saying I will put a photo of that here on my Moon and Willow Tree blog, so I am finally doing it.

Here they are. If you squint, you can see them OK. Just scroll down one for an even better view.

You can sort of see them from the porch.

You can see them a bit closer up here.

They do like it under there. I think there may still be a little mud left there sometimes after a pretty good rain. It must be pretty comfy there, comparatively.

All for now,

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