I'm currently signing up for a Pixoto account where you can enter your photos into a competition for prize money. Essentially people compare your photo with one other one and if they vote on yours your points go up. For each person the photo your photo is compared with is different. This is a weekly competition and the photo with the highest points at the end of the week will win a prize. Photos in the top 20% will receive an honorable mention. I've entered six photos to this website now. 

Flickr Account

I created a Flickr account tonight. I had one when I lived in Jordan and I thought it was a very interesting way to share one's photography and even receive comments from other, more professional photographers. I've uploaded around 10 of my photos at the moment and I've joined two groups. One is called Sunsets and Silhouettes and the other is called Young Photographers. I want to join the Photography Club as well and I hope this will be a good step towards actually doing something with the photos I take. 

I finished the scarf today!

I've written a few poems over this summer and below are two of the ones I liked more: 

Good girl 

Good girl

 Where art thou? 

Impeded existence 

Sprouts into shouts. 

Defiance is executed 

 As thy blood is shocked

 Losing the illusion 

Of their baby girl. 

 Fifteen years in 

And thy brain is now whirring 

Decisions are influenced

 By a new found learning.

 No longer the ‘good girl’ 

Thy image hath been tarnished. 

 Thy crimes cannot be 

Examined and varnished. 

 But this is what thou wanted, nay? 

To break free through sin. 

Expectations hath faltered 

Disbelief from thy kin. 

 Good girl 

Thou art gone 

Banished from this place 

Thou hath failed to stay strong 

And art losing face. 

 She who was thou

 Hath taken away 

 The perfection thine kin 

 Believe thou maintain. 

In losing her charm 

 And her girlish grace 

 Thou hath grown 

And may now

 Seize the day.

I call myself to attention

Stand up stout and straight.

Assuming control of this inferno,

I promote myself to Colonel.

Wary of my choices

Heeding words of caution

I realize that to prosper

Power must be tangible.

Separated from the actions

Of those in command.

Free to create my own army

Free to take a stand.

I’ve been given a role of authority,

Instrumental in my fate.

No longer physically tied

To the barracks

In which I was reared.

Through with complacency,

I’ll no longer shed such tears.

Fighting, fighting, fighting.

I bear these battle scars,

Assuring my existence.

Cleansing me of the tar,

That tarnished my mediocre life

And impeded any movement.

The road has now been paved,

They’re calling this my ‘moment’.

The war is over.

The battle’s been won.

I’ve not been defeated,

It’s time to become someone. 

Knitting

I left the scarf I started last time in Kenya so I went to Michael's the other day here in Florida and I bought some yarn and circular needles. I've never used circular needles before hence I am obtaining a new skill, as I will be able to make a different design this way. I'm using to colors, gray and white, and I'm making VERTICAL stripes with these two colors. I've never made vertical stripes, only horizontal. On these knitting needles each 'row' is the length of the scarf rather than the width. Hence I had to add over 150 stitches to my needles and many of the stitches are on the circular part of the needles. I have come across a number of difficulties while knitting this scarf and I only started yesterday. For example the yarn was extremely tight as I started the scarf and I found it almost impossible to push the stitches up the needle so that I could knit them. Last night I accidentally switched needles and I started knitting a second row when I hadn't completed the first row. I had to overcome obstacles like these and face new challenges. I've included a picture of the scarf as it is now and I will post another one when it has been completed. 

Bethlehem Creche

The kids dancing. The one in the striped shirt is only three years old :) 

I went back to Sri Lanka a few weeks ago to visit my friends and while I was there I was able to visit Sister Florella at Bethlehem Creche. It was great to go back and see how they were doing, I was able to bring cookies for all the kids and watched them dance again. I'm so glad that I worked with the Creche so much while in Sri Lanka because it was a wonderful feeling to visit again and having my presence really appreciated there.

A group photo of the group of kids, Sister Florella and I

SECRETARY:)

So I won secretary for Operation Smile by default in our meeting last week. Though I didn't run against anybody I'm really excited to contribute more to this service project. I'm also happy that I now hold a leadership position in something, I'll be able to contribute  more and show my organizational skills as well as my skills as a leader. I'm not entirely sure what this position entails exactly, I only know that I need to record the names of those who've shown up to the meeting but I will find out more about the position when we come back next year.