A few thoughts for today by Joe Farace
Three little words
Oh what I’d give for that wonderful phrase
To hear those three little words—Nat “King” Cole
Social media? You probably already know how I feel about it….
As some of you may know, I’m not on Facebook or Twitter. If you’re interested in what I’m up to beyond what you read on this blog, you can follow me on Instagram. Anyway, my wife Mary is on Facebook and she once showed me a word jumble of apparently random letters with the concept being that the first three words you see in that jumble are what a person can expect from the next year. Since this Magic Eight-Ball test was on Facebook, you know it has to be the truth, right?
What Are My Words?
When I took this test, here were the first three words that I saw: coffee, blessed and strength. What’s my take on this? Here goes:
Coffee: This one is funny because I don’t even drink coffee. Because on my mom’s English heritage, growing up everyone in my family drank tea so I never acquired a taste for coffee and to this day, I don’t drink it. Back to the subject at hand: Here’s what I think it means: During 2025 I will be attending more Cars & Coffee events during the new year. This will let me to write more car-related posts and add more photographs to my car photography blog/website (and #wheelswednesday) as well as giving me an opportunity to meet owners of interesting cars that can be featured on that blog’s “Our Cars” series.
I also hope that this means that sometime during 2025 I can restart my series of Coffee and Cameras meet-ups. At least I hope so.
Blessed: I am not a deeply religious person but do believe in a higher power and think that I have been blessed with the career, if you want to call it that, that I’ve had writing books, magazine articles, and even these blog posts. I am also blessed by having a few sponsors who help keep this blog and my car photography website, afloat. A big thank you goes out especially to LensPen for all of their support over many years.
Strength: Mary has all of the muscles in the family but I think (and hope) that this word refers to my inner strength. In the past I have been challenged by several life threatening health problems starting when I was a young man and diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I think my survival was due to some kind of inner strength along with more than a little luck and maybe a few blessings. During other health challenges I’ve faced since then I’ve been blessed with having Mary’s strength and encouragement that helped me get me through those difficult times. I am blessed to have Mary by my side.
So are coffee, blessed and strength just some buzzwords that might have come from social media? Do they mean anything or as Humphrey Bogart said in Casablanca, “the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” I dunno. Do you?
How I Made this Shot: Put me inside any old building, like this one in the Hidden Mesa Open Space, and I go all John Ford (e.g, The Searchers.) This image was shot with a Panasonic Lumix GX1, an old (2011) camera that I dearly love, with a Tamron 14-150mm Di III lens at its 14mm setting with an exposure of 1/160 sec at f/7.1 and ISO 160. I used the camera’s built-in flash to somewhat illuminate the building’s interior but not overpower the outside exposure.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to buy Joe a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), click here. And if you do, thank so very much.
Along with photographer Barry Staver, Joe is co-author of Better Available Light Digital Photography that’s available from Amazon for $21.50 with used copies starting at giveaway prices—starting around five bucks