Today Lingua Franca is Three Years Old

Today is January 1, 2011.  For the Western World, this day is known as a New Year when thousands and thousands of persons make special plans for the future.  These future goals are called New Year’s Resolutions. Some of these resolutions will be remembered for only a few days and then swept under the rug until the next year.  The goal most people write down is weight reduction.  Diets are popular New Years Resolutions.  Fat bellies are not attractive.

I’m no exception.  I have selected three New Year’s Resolutions which I have every intention of following by the book.  Here there are in order of relevance:

1. Purchase a DSLR Canon EOS Digital Rebal T1i 12.2 MP by December 2011.
2. Study formal photography through digital books downloaded through PC Kindle.
3. Improve my English communication skills.

All of the above are essential if I want to keep enhancing Lingua Franca.  Today I starting making cosmetic changes, like inserting a new heading image.  The peaks of the mountains represent the new heights I want to escalate as far as blogging is concerned.  We accomplished reaching the landmark of half a million hits during 2010.  The goal is to reach one million hits by the year 2012 or sooner if possible.

Any assistance you can give me by promoting Lingua Franca through your friends, coworkers and/or relatives will be greatly appreciated.  Word of mouth has proved to be highly effective as a marketing strategy.  The main subjects of my posts will be about life in Panama City, photography, climate change, and technology.  All of these topics are very dynamic and many of you will probably will be interested in searching for information on these topics to make your daily life easier.  A good example is using an Amazon Kindle to read your preferred books while going to the beach on vacation.  You don’t need a Mac truck to carry your favorite books.  At only 8.5 ounces and 1/3 of an inch thin, this reading gadget is lighter than a paperback and thinner than a magazine.

Today we are celebrating our third year writing almost daily posts in Lingua Franca. The same consistency is expected for year 2011.  If health permits, there will be at least one post per day.  Most of these posts will include  images related to the topics discussed.  For the time being, the pictures are not really photographs per se; I would say they are snapshots.  However down the road, I intend to start posting real photographs based on formal photographic technical rules.  That is not an easy job.  It’s more easily said than done.  But you already know the famous quote of Lao Tseu, “A  thousand miles journey starts with a single step.”

Happy Birthday Lingua Franca, I wish you the best in 2011.  Let’s reach those shining peaks which represent the reading needs and expectations of millions of readers in every corner of the globe.  Good Day and Happy New Year as well. 

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Lingua Franca Reached the Landmark of Half a Million All-Time Views

Lingua Franca was released into the wild on January 1, 2008–almost three years ago.  The goal of the blog was to share information about technology, environment, photography, humor and other social issues.  Global warming, performance of major web browsers, development of Apple products, photography and general aspects of life in Panama City covered most of this year’s posts.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever thought of reaching half a million views.  Well, that really happened yesterday December 21, 2010 at 10:11 a.m.  At that time, the all-time views were 500,088.  This morning the number had escalated to 500,678 views.  Now our goal is to go for the one million watershed within the year 2011.

Thanks to the pictures shot by my buddies Don Ray in David and Abraham Lincoln in Ohio, I plunged into the hobby of photography.  I purchased a P&S Canon PowerShot A720 IS camera and started taking pictures without further knowledge.  Then Michael of Dallas, Texas led me by the hand into the world of photography.

I learned new words such as, exposure, shutter speed, composition, framing, panning, cropping, macros, ISO speed and whole lot of other photographic jargon.  It has been an extraordinary journey and more will come during 2011.  One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to purchase a Canon EOS Digital Rebel T1i 12.2 DSLR camera.  This puppy has a price tag of $739.95 in Panama.  That means, I will have to so some savings before I can open the box.  That’s o.k., I can wait.  Meanwhile my ole A720 will do the work.

Recently I read excerpts of a book called “Within the Frame” written by David duChemin which caught my attention.  He wrote:

“Vision is the beginning and end of photography.  It’s the thing that moves you to pick up the camera, and it determines what you look at and what you see when you do.  It determines how you shoot and why.  Without vision, the photographer perishes.

Finding and expressing your vision is a journey, not a destination.

As long as we’re alive and interact with life, the world, and the people around us, we’ll have something to say.

The photographic life is one of discovering your vision and expressing it in purely visually terms.  Sometimes our vision finds us, sometimes we need to chase it down.

A photograph is only as good as the spirit of the person who took it.  The best photographers are the ones who do not take photographs, but have learned how to let the photographs take them.  They allow themselves to be moved and that movement writes the visual poem that is their photograph.

Practice does not make perfect; you first have to practice at practicing.”

I liked his words and certainly will take heed.  Maybe my pictures will transform from snapshots into photographs.  To do that I’ll have to learn “to practice at practicing” as David duChemin said.

Another project that I have, is to start learning how to make videos using my current camera. I’ve seen videos made by Richard and Don and they look great.  YouTube is an excellent site to make them public and the price is free.

Before I close this post, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the readers of Lingua Franca for their support.  A blog without readers will have a short life.  The following persons has contributed to the success of Lingua Franca through their continued comments during these three last years.  Their names are:

• Hilda Pittí
• Don Ray
• Jaime González
• Abraham Lincoln
• Michael Moore
• Jim & Nena
• Richard Staigg
• Nancy and Bob Vallianatos

I apologize if I left someone out.  I don’t handle information as I used to.  “I get bored, my mind drifts, and I retain nothing.  I have to write everything down manually in a notebook to aid my memory later on.  It’s a weird dialogue between the past and the future coexisting side by side.”

As the year comes to a close and we head into the exciting sojourn of obtaining the one million all-time views landmark, let me wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.  Thank you for reading Lingua Franca. Good Day.

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Promoting Family Values

If you look around, you’ll notice how fast our traditional values are being lost.  At least, this is my perception in Panama.  We are always late to our meetings.  If somebody promises to follow up on something, he or she won’t keep his or her word.  If somebody finds a missing wallet with money in it, it’s most probable that the money won’t be returned to its owner.  Divorces are on the rise as well as violent crimes and drugs.    Why is this?  There are many social theories which you might agree or disagree with.

I strongly believe, one of the theories of this loss of values is the split of the family.  The core of our social tissue has been crushed by capitalist societies.  Both parents leave their homes early morning to bring food to the table.  Meanwhile, their children are alone with their grandparents, a nanny, a child care center or a close relative.  There is a growing vacuum of parental love.  Children miss this love.

My wife and I are desperately clinging to traditional family values with our grandnephews.  Their parents are divorced and they feel that something is not right.  We are trying very hard to balance  out the emotional distress felt by both children.  We pray at the table with them and we  go out and share games and other  family activities.  We play together and they love it.  The only problem is that they are not here most of the time.

One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to keep on posting pictures about children and their families at Lingua Franca to convey the message of the importance of family values.  I hope it helps to spread the word.

Below is an example of family sharing with our grandnephews.  My wife Aura shares a couple of hamburgers with Carol and Abdiel.  This picture was taken without their knowledge.  I wanted to capture the innocence of the scene.    Here we go.

Aura shares a couple of hamburgers with her grandnephews, Carol and Abdiel. (Credit: ©Omar Upegui R.)

If we strenghten our family ties, our societies will be upgraded.  Healthy societies constitute health countries; and healthy countries make up a better world.  This is one of my main priorities for next year.  Good Day.

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New Year’s Resolutions

It’s a tradition in many parts of the world to set goals to be accomplished during the year.  These goals are usually called New Year’s Resolutions. I’m no exception, and I have two goals to keep during 2009.  If my will power is strong enough, I should be able to accomplish them thoroughly.  Both are related to my health.

My first New Year’s Resolution is to walk at least half an hour each day around my neighborhood.  This is to keep my stress level down and consequently, control my high blood pressure.  This is a must I can’t say no to.  My doctor was very straight forward when he told me to walk, so walk I will during 2009.

My Second New Year’s Resolution is the reduce my weight by at least nine pounds.  My weight right now is 169 pounds and I have to trim it down to 160.  That is my adequate weight according to my height.  This goal is to control my stomach reflux.  I had a bad case of esophagus reflux two weeks ago that scared me.  I changed my diet and in one month I lost three pounds, which means that I should reach my goal without much effort.  Avoid fat and stay away from MacDonald’s!

That’s it.  Should be a piece of cake.  Good Day.

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