seagull

See Gull and a “V” stories voting reminder

The “V” stories voting is still stalled as people recover from their Christmas stuffing . . . and get ready for their New Year’s Eve drunken reverie. 

For them who take the time to read our stories and vote for their favorite, thank you in advance. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge V-Stories” are HERE(link) Votes will be accepted until  Noon (Central Time) on Tuesday, January 5, 2021.

So, I stopped my car not ten feet from this seagull, turned off the car’s engine, rolled down the window, and waited to capture a sequence of photos showing the gull launching into flight.

Below are the photos I shot as I waited for the gull to take flight. it never did, by the way, and I just got tired of waiting and left.

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Semi-quick update and monochrome seagull

For them not interested in reading, you can see the photos in THIS SmugMug Gallery.  

For a SmugMug slideshow click HERE. When you click the link, it will open in a new window and you have two options:
1) Manually scroll through the photos by clicking the “<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos.
2) There’s a PLAY/PAUSE button at the upper-left of the screen with the transition set at about 5 seconds. Note: clicking the PLAY arrow will run a full-screen slideshow. You can then still use the”<” and “>” symbols to the left or right of the photos as this will pause the slideshow.

You can also click on the individual photos and a larger (but not full-size) version will open in a new tab or window. The galleries also have the option to show the larger version.

If you want the full experience, keep reading.

So, twice now I mentioned seagull and I start out with ducks. Well, I liked how they swam away from me even though I was inside a car and about sixty yards away. But most of all, I like the wake patterns they formed. It reminded me of a flotilla of warship . . . well, feathery warships. Them beaks are deadly, don’t you know. 

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“R” stories voting reminder . . . and a few photos

The Alphabet Challenge “R” Stories voting round is off to a slow start, and that’s understandable . . . to everyone but us writers.

OK, that’s a joke. I shouldn’t have to explain that, but these days it’s best to make things perfectly clear; I’m kidding.

I know our regular readers likely will get around to reading and voting, and we writers want you to know we are thankful for each and every one of you. Oh, yeah . . . also the irregular readers who stop by and contribute to the voting.

If you are a reader of our stories and someone who votes, thank you in advance for casting a vote for your favorite of the three. Links to the stories and the poll for voting for “Alphabet Challenge R-Stories” are HERE.<<<Link Votes will be accepted until noon on October 20th.

Believe it or not, I’m using the Classic Block editor as opposed to the Classic Editor to compose this post.

Wanna know why? Because in the course of writing the guide to the Classic Block, I got used to it and it’s not functionally different from the Classic Editor (except for how I insert photos).

Speaking of photos . . .

Seagull walking along the beachYes, that’s a seagull out for a stroll on a Michigan beach (that’s Lake Michigan in the background).

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Just a quick reminder about “C” stories

I know, I know . . . the less-than-twenty-out-of-sixteen-hundred-plus-subscribers who were going to vote already did so. But, just in case a few more readers stagger in here . . .

. . . there’s only another week before the “C” stories voting closes. I suspect most people who had any intention of reading them have already done so, but just in case, you can vote for them HERE as well as find links to the stories so that — you know — you can read them before you vote.

Right, done with that.

I’ve mentioned before that sitting in a car with the engine running seems to play tricks on the Nikon Cameras VR feature. Pretty much every time I’ve attempted snapping photos with the engine running, even if I don’t lean on anything in the car (other than, you know, having my gluteus maximus planted on the seat) the photos come out blurry. I’ve done tests with the car running and the car not running, and it’s a real thing.

I mean the camera messing up is a real thing, not my ass . . . although, my ass is also a real thing but not relevant to this discussion.

Click for a larger version.
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Instructions for voting on the stories polls

In the last few days, a few people have told me they voted . . . but I didn’t see the vote counter change. At first, I thought the poll might have had a time limit but these polls aren’t time-limited. I went back to a poll from a 2013 post to test if it still registered votes and it does.

Click for larger view in new tab or window.

So, just in case, here are the details on how to vote. Also, I’d appreciate if readers let me know when they vote and if their votes are not being counted.

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