The Meaning of Memorial Day as written on heraldonline.com

Memorial Day has come to represent many things, from the unofficial beginning of summer to a day for a trip to the mall in search of sales. But we, as a nation, never should forget the true meaning of Memorial Day and why we observe it as a holiday each year.

The three-day weekend is an occasion for cookouts, trips to visit friends and relatives, time at the beach and an extra day off from work. With gas prices dropping, hundreds of thousands of Americans are on the move.

That’s fitting in a way. We, as a nation, are enjoying the fruits of democracy and freedom, the uniquely American way of life.

But as we celebrate, we also need to reflect on the sacrifice required to preserve those values. We need to remember those who died to keep us free and to allow successive generations to live and prosper in a land of plenty.

The Memorial Day observance began humbly in 1868 as a day for the families of Civil War dead to take flowers to their graves. The holiday first was known as Decoration Day.

But after World War I, Memorial Day was expanded to honor not only those who died in the Civil War but also in every conflict that claimed the lives of Americans. In 1971, it was made an official national holiday to be held each year on the last Monday in May.

Sadly, Americans still are dying in a war on the other side of the world. While we now can see the beginning of the end of the decade-long war in Afghanistan, our troops are committed to remain for nearly two more years, to continue to remain in harm’s way in the name of national security.

We look forward to the day when we can celebrate a Memorial Day on which no American troops are involved in combat.

But Memorial Day, as its name implies, comprises a long roster of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation. Today, in particular, we honor those who died in World War II, whose comrades now are nearing the end of their lives.

We also honor the thousands of Americans who died in the Iraq War, now officially ended but still fresh in the nation’s memory. For so many, the grief of losing loved ones in these recent wars still is raw and ever-present.

So, as we enjoy this three-day weekend and the fun of being with family and friends, let us stop at least for a moment to remember the sacrifice of so many over the course of our history and the debt we owe them. Let us also reach out to those who are grieving over the loss of a loved one.

Let’s enjoy the holiday but not forget why we are privileged to do so.

Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/05/27/4003047/the-meaning-of-memorial-day.html#storylink=cpy

When is a Photo No Longer a Photo?

Today's world is so advanced in the technology department especially when compared to when I was a kid!  I remember having my little 110 mm camera, shooting all the photos in just a few minutes. Sometimes I would use that weird 4 x 2 rectangle block of flash bulbs that snapped into the top of the camera. Then I would beg and plead to drop the film off at the corner "drug store".  Waiting, waiting for mom to fill out the envelope and rip off the stubs. Those stubs were like winning lottery tickets.  I would check on them constantly to make sure I still had them.

The week it took to develop the film was agony; pure agony!  Once the stubs were handed over to the clerk, crinkled from being gripped with deadly force, the package was picked up, and the photos... the photos were like gold.  Going through them over and over, I remember thinking that no one else in the whole wide world had photos like these. The anticipation of seeing the photos, back then, was the most thrilling thing to me.

Now, if it doesn't turn out, push a button or sequence of buttons and it is gone; like it never existed.  Sometimes you can just "fix it later". There are programs out there for your computer that can change a picture of an ordinary object into a photograph of the Sistine Chapel in a matter of a few hours (maybe even minutes, depending on how much of a perfectionist you are).

Found this on my tumblr feed... kind of relevant?  Photo by Mat Baker 

 

 

 

Are they still photographs?  They started out that way, but are they?  Some call it "digital art" or "digital painting" which is fine by me, at least the editing is being acknowledged.  People aren't wondering "how" that was done, but wondering "which program" was used. It is the new standard.  It would be strange NOT to edit digitally in some way!

Don't get me wrong... the only reason I am not using an elaborate program as that is because I am broke.  If I had the money, I would be all over it! Instead, I use a little cropping and chopping provided by Microsoft (it came with the computer I have) and call them "original photographs".  No film is involved in my photography.  Just a little digital camera taking digital photographs, altered digitally then sent digitally to my digital marketplaces.  Then, with any luck, you like one or two and send me a little money, digitally.  It is the world we live in!

What do you think? Keeping up with the times or cheating?

To see photo credits and corresponding article for the above baby picture use this link...
http://www.americanphotomag.com/photo-gallery/2012/04/master-manipulators-mat-baker)