A photo apology.... I am sorry.

         Dear reader,
          I am having system issues.
          I am having issues transferring entries from Microsoft Word to this blog. When I first attempted to transfer it, all the text was backward.
          That is why yesterdays entry was so short and why it just stopped the way it did. 
           Sorry...
           Currently trying to get this corrected.
           Thanks,
            -Mark
Please accept these photos taken over the last few months as a form of apology.

Listen to this song as you review these photos. Having heard this song the first time last weekend, falling for its beauty, I thought of my photography as I listened to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UQPlwVxiRs

Taken 11-15-2012

 

Taken 10-22-2012 Cleveland Ohio, USA from Edgewater park

 

Taken 10-22-2012 Bear cub resting on it's mom. Cleveland Zoo.

 

10-18-2012

 

9-15-2012 Edgewater park.

 

08-17-2012 Edgewater

 

                                                         The two shots above taken 02-09-2013. Cleveland Botanical Gardens.

01-26-2012 Conneaut Lake Park, PA, USA.

 

09-24-2012 Taken from my backyard with a Fujifilm S4200.

 

                                              09-21-2012: Cleveland MetroParks.

08-17-2012

09-21-2012

10-28-2012 Edgewater Park.

9-17-2012 Riverside Cemetary, Cleveland Ohio, USA.

 

9-11-2012. Cleveland Metroparks.

 

                                                        09092012

9-06-2012 First time I caught lightening.

 

                                                      09-01-2012

8-13-2012

 

                                                9-3-2012 Zoar Ohio, USA.

7-13-2012. One of the first digital shots I took. Taken in my cubicle from a former life gladly not missed.

 

08-27-2012. Mr. Squirrel says: WTF?!?!?!

 

08-27-2012

 

09-5-2012

 

9-26-2012

 

09-04-2012

 

9-1-2012 Mittal Steel: Cleveland Ohio. Made me think of the intro to Blade Runner.

9-1-2012. taken from Clark Field, Cleveland. Cleveland Airshow: Blue Angels.

9-1-2012. Clark Field: Cleveland Ohio. This little bugger was growing from a crack in the asphalt. How cool is that?

 

9-1-2012. Garbage Can Colours. Clark Field.

 

9-1-2012

 

9-1-2012. Clark Field. This guy was amazing to watch!

 

8-30-2012

 

8-29-2012 That's right, the Moon is Private Property. As if! lol

 

8-29-2012. On the wasted lands of a polluted steel plant, tell me how this isn't beautiful. Sure, it's a weed, but no different than the rest of us, does it not wish to live and reach the warmth of sunlight?

 

9-9-2012 Aurora Premium Outlet; Aurora Ohio.

The above and several below were from a clambake: Fall 2012. I find it odd how I didn't make a Facebook album of these people shots.

The host: Dave P. I know about 7 Daves very well and all of them are great men.

 

 

 

Smiles, laughter, hope for humanity.

The two men in the center are father and son. Nice.

 

 

The Captain (host in yellow and the DJ in grey: Rockin' the outdoor kitchen and doin' it grand!

 

I think this the luckiest shot I got that night. There is something about this one that I felt so lucky to have captured of this man.

 

 

Such a great woman. So full of energy and life. I'm blessed to know her and her eager hugs when she sees me.

 

 

 

Totally out of focus, yes, yet this childs smile beams so innocently and sincere.

 

OH MY GOD! MY FACE IS MELTING LIKE A RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK VILLIAN!!! :)

 

 

Night time Corh Hole Tourney wind-down. Ass's to the camera idiot! lol

 

 

 

 

10-3-2012

 

10-3-2012

 

9-30-2012 My bestest friend and his wife: 25 years of marriage renewing thier vows. They are execeptional. First time married's and renewing.

The next shots came from this event.

Their daughter. Double Major in college, currently a senior with honors. My friend and his good lady gave me the chance to watch their children grow over the years.

Their son. Fearless, enthusiastic and a roller coaster fanatic.

 

                                                            My bestest friend, David R.  I have no clue why you put up with me and my bizare ways. Yet you do and I am profoundly grateful for this.

                                           Cleveland Zoo and several below this.

Baby and mom Rhino's snuggling.  Loving this endangered animal, I am glad the Cleveland Zoo keeps having these babes born here.

 

Mentor Headlands Ohio.

Mentor Headlands Ohio.

Akron Zoo, Akron Ohio, USA.

Taken 9-28-2012. I consider this to be one of the best shots I have taken to date. A friend of my eldest daughter. She calls me dad after knowing her for some 16 plus years.

 

 

The lyrics to Stars. <the song link I posted at the beginning of the photos.

 

It's funny when you find
What you want was by your side
The whole time

I couldn't quite believe it
But suddenly I see it
And you saw me

I saw stars
I saw sky
I saw everything inside
You saw me

Now I am not afraid
You can't make me turn away
This time
I couldn't quite believe it
But suddenly I see it
And you saw me

I saw stars
I saw sky
I saw everything inside
You saw me
Light from dark
Shine on night
Solar-systems open wide
You saw me

And you're opening my eyes
And you're leading me on
And I'm following the light
That you shone on me

I saw stars
I saw sky
I saw everything inside
You saw me
Light from dark
Shine on night
Solar-systems open wide
You saw me

 

As I write this, rain is turning to snowflakes.

The song Stars fits me. Something causes me to write and photograph what I do. My higher power, perhaps. I have no complaints.

 

Mark William Darus 02192012

 

 

 

                                                  

 

                                                   

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                            
                                                     
                                                

                                                

                                         

 

                                                  

 

 

                                                         

 

 

                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                         

 

 

 

 

                                                        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                         

 

                                                      

 

Prostitution: Part one.

                   Prostitution: Many Forms Bringing Varied Results.
                                     By Mark William Darus.

　

　

“Hey, baby, want a date?” she asked as I walked toward her by the corner of West 25 street and Clark avenue. She was wearing tattered jeans and pink tank top, braless underneath it. The street lights occasionally flicker about as traffic roars by. This night is a warm July event, humid and stifling. Night sounds being a mixture of ambulance siren song and an occasional wailing baby from open over head windows. As we met I could smell her failing perfume as it was being over taken by sweat.

　

“Would you care for some company, sir?” a tall lanky well dressed brunette asked me as I sipped my Stone Ruination IPA while leaning against a magnificent mahogany bar at a 4-star hotel lounge in downtown Cleveland Ohio. Madonna’s Tale to Tell was playing over the Peavey Amp as a few couples strolled toward the dance floor arm in arm.

　

“Okay, cunt, why’d you wanna meet me with?” a very large black man dressed in more gold than clothes said as two of his guards shield him as I reached to shake his hand and introduce myself. “This better be good or you’ll be hurt.”

“Sit my son, please. How can I help you?” the man in black with a white collar asked me. His face was calm and reassuring. His office was filled with huge oak bookshelves and the scents of fresh roses, carnations and orchids. Indirect lighting so incredibly done all things seen cast no shadows.

In the park one brilliant sunset by Lake Erie: “Nice camera ya have there,” a short woman with one of the prettiest smiles I have ever seen said.

“thanks, it’s a Fuji. Love it!”

“My name’s Jennifer.” She extended her hand and I took it into mine.

“I’m Mark. Can I take your picture?”

“Sure! And for a few bucks, I’ll let you do more than that.”

　



Prostitution, to me, has to be the simplest way of making money for those that can do it. It is not a job for everyone, but for those that can, the possibilities are limitless.

Let’s face facts: If there was no need for it, it would not exist. Period. It would die a economic death similar to most of the manufacturing jobs in the United States.

What exactly is prostitution? Is it merely the difference between consensual adults having sex after a few drinks in a bar after meeting or the fact that money simply exchanged hands before or after it?

Is it that it is considered morally wrong because payment was involved for services rendered? That being the biggest issue I encountered I had to ask: So when we go to work every day, aren’t we charging for services rendered in exchange for our talents?

The first Pro I talked to seemed very open with her thoughts.

Chloe: I became sex-for-hire after a few bad relationships. I thought, why should I give it out for nothing. Granted, my start was all that good. I got hit a few times, but I learned. >laughing, she added< after a while, they would ask me to hit them. I always see to it they wear protection or I don’t do anything. Zilch.”

“Okay, but what if they get funny.”

She then pulled out a .38 handgun, saying, “this makes them understand. I’d also tell them I have a friend that watches out. Most times that last was a bluff.”

“so even with oral sex you made them strap-on?”

“Absolutely! More people catch sick from oral than anything else."

Mixed bag: A sorry, Obituary and a song given from a reader.

                 Sorry for the delay in uploading the Prostitution entry.
           
                 This last week has been physically busy. The shortest work daynitemorn (yep, that's my word for the shift I work, When you start your work day 4PM and have it end between 3-4:30 AM , doing the life things after it, laying your head down at sunrise,) was getting out at 3AM after a my partner chopped off a hunk of a knuckle on a key way.

                I got sidetracked by the death of a former coworker whose obituary never appeared in a any newspaper I checked. I did get a call from a former coworker telling me the funeral was near Akron Ohio (city about twenty miles south of me) and that it was the next morning (which was Thursday 14.) He did not give an address nor a funeral parlor name. He said he couldn't go because of work. Considering he'd worked with Tommy for over ten years, hearing the sound in his voice which was not good, I had to wonder...

              Amongst other things, i received a nice Comment in regards to the Closing of Last Year entry from a reader named Kate in Iceland. She shared with me a band from her Country she thought I might like. Like? I haven't heard music like of Monsters and Men since the Cranberries. Instant liking, just add dancing and jumping about like a kid in a candy store. As she shared with me, I wish to do the same with you. Thanks Kate, full hugs on!

             But I'd first like to say to a fallen Comrade: Tommy, you were 4 years younger than me, you didn't drink nor smoke. I never saw you in a foul mood and were always willing to help others without regard to how your STATS would be affected. I know where you worked most well and how it was once an almost magical place to spend a third of your life and enjoy it. It changed profoundly in the last two years,  which must have been hell for a good man like you.
            
              I didn't know you well enough to call you 'friend' as we had different likes and dislikes, but I respected you whole heartedly, which is high above what I can say about most of the people I worked with there.

              Sad that you left so soon, I cannot find it in myself to call it totally tragic and dismal.

               You are now playing with Thomas the Tank Engine trains with your kid that left a few years back. You, no doubt, taking all the time in whatever here-after there is with your kid unhindered by leaving for work or having to figure out bills and such.

                Many miss you, Tommy, but that's okay. We will all meet again, somewhere/someday and won't it be great without needing a job and simply liking the things we can do for free for others!

                 Til we meet again, Tommy...

           
                 A song from Kate in Iceland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB2dMGux5Fc
                  Mountain Sound:

I heard them calling in the distance
So I packed my things and ran
Far away from all the trouble
I had caused with my two hands

Alone we traveled
Armed with nothing but a shadow
We fled far away

[Chorus]
Hold your horses now
(We sleep until the sun goes down)
Through the woods we ran
(Deep into the mountain sound)
Hold your horses now
(Sleep until the sun goes down)
Through the woods we ran

Some had scars and some had scratches
It made me wonder about their past
And as I looked around I began to notice
That we were nothing like the rest

[Chorus]
Hold your horses now
(We sleep until the sun goes down)
Through the woods we ran
(Deep into the mountain sound)
Hold your horses now
(Sleep until the sun goes down)
Through the woods we ran

Whoa-oh-oh-oh-OH
We sleep until the sun goes down
Whoa-oh, whoa-oh
We sleep until the sun goes down

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh
We sleep until the sun goes down

[Chorus]
Hold your horses now
(We sleep until the sun goes down)
Through the woods we ran
(Deep into the mountain sound)
Hold your horses now
(Sleep until the sun goes down)
Through the woods we ran

La la la, whoa-oh-oh-oh-OH
La la la, we sleep until the sun goes down
La la la, whoa-oh, whoa-oh
La la la, we sleep until the sun goes

 by Of Monsters and Men

Kate: You nailed me on this song.... Thanks!!!

Authors Note: the Prostitution entry WILL be placed here no later than this coming Sunday.

Mark William Darus 02152013

               

Progressive takes another life.

                                    Progressive takes another life.
                                          By Mark William Darus.
                 >>> as this entry may requirer scrolling, i am sorry.<<<

　

In my time working for the company known as Progressive Insurance I’d seen a near never ending flow (cough-cough, I said Flo,) of EMS units stream down its driveways, enter its hallowed art and glass walls and sweep many away for medical rescue as hearts failed, kidneys faltered and brains exploded via strokes.

So easily labeled as life-choices for these outcomes, passing the buck of work pressures during a failing economy and a corporations desire to stretch their stock as far as it can.
A coworker I had the pleasure of working with for ten years is now dead.
I received several Facebook emails about his passing and one voicemail after work Saturday morning at about 4AM.

His passing made me angry as I had heard of several instances he’d experienced in the last 2-3 months. His work record was immaculate in every respect. He had an attention to detail that so surpassed most.

In the last several months after I was shit-canned unjustly by them, He found himself after a meeting with his manager on a Final Written Warning. Well, he took this up with Human Resources (yeah, like any non-union corporate entity will fight for any employee..)

Not long after going to HR, he was given other final warnings without prior infractions.

We all living in the USA that have work experience means less than nothing in a bad economy. Most know full well that an employee of 10 plus years is easily covered by part timers after a few weeks training at a FRACTION of the cost.

Most companies that share this so positive Share-holder friendly attitude will cut and chop any way they can.

In the American Corporate world, the longer you stay with a company, the more expendable you are with every raise in pay.

Isn’t that comfortating? Doesn’t that breed loyalty in your hearts and make you warm and fuzzy all over?

Whether he died of a massive heart attack, stroke or suicide, one thing I think is true, and this goes back to an old saying: You are the company you keep.

He worked for the same company that fired me and many others, Progressive Insurance. Unlike him, most of us didn’t trust HR and didn’t go there. He held such a trust...

Looking back and my life now, I guess I am not anywhere near the Nonviolent Psychopathic managers that place and fosters and grants bonuses for the benefit of 1/2500 of a percent in stock rising.
Thom, know this: You had a child die years ago. You are with them now. Be at peace.

Mark William Darus 02102013