Operation Earnest Will

These days WHO remembers the reflagging of Kuwaiti oil tankers, allowing the United States to provide protection by the US military from attacks upon oil tankers in the Persian Gulf? Later US Navy minesweepers were deployed to the Persian Gulf to sweep those waters for mines. I saw a lot of "mines", later determined to be actually dead livestock in the Persian Gulf with their legs straight up in the waters! Really!

I am shocked to discover that online sources do not mention the many US Navy minesweepers that participated in Earnest Will, along with other minesweepers from other countries. 

Farewell, my trusty Wacom tablet

I discovered the world of amazing drawing tablets made by Wacom back many decades ago. I could never afford a decently-sized tablet, and always purchased their smallest tablet, overall about 5x7 inches but the true working area was even less. I've had three of them through these decades, starting with the ArtPad that had a cabled serial port, but worked great. I cannot remember my second Wacom tablet model, but it was powered by a USB cord (much better), and enjoyed it. One day it went bad....  it just got caught on a pixel and didn't move too well. I then purchased some tablet that was huge (at that time), but it never worked correctly. I think that's still in Rota, sitting unused and collecting dust. My present one I've had at least a decade: the Wacom Bamboo and is a wonderful extension of my mind and hand. 

While in the Navy, I had drawn a few sketches while off-duty, aboard my first aircraft carrier. In fact, till its last year of active duty, the Forrestal still had an annual art show! The very first art show was organized and coordinated by me, a lowly airman who then worked in the Photo Lab! I went around the ship searching for people who were artists in their own right, and got them committed to creating artwork to display in the show. They could use any medium they wanted. We were deployed at the time, and I picked our last portcall in Palma de Mallorca as the location of the very first Art Show, giving these artists of the USS Forrestal about three months to decide what, how and time to get it done! We had a good amount of sailors participating in the art display, and later I contacted and coordinated with the Palma USO to find me a place to show the show during our brief inport period. I practically did everything and the strange part about all that? 

I don't and cannot remember a thing about the actual show or anything!!

However, it was a big success, and the following year I departed the Forrestal, heading from the East Coast of the USA, to the West Coast where I joined the ship's company of the USS Constellation. In the next century, I was surprised to discover by chance while reading an article of the Forrestal's last year in active service, of their final art show to be held! I had NO idea the ship was still continuing the art show after all these years!

From then on the Constellation and other ships, I had no time at all, and stopped sketching. I never had any formal training in art, same as I have NO training or instruction in photography, but I liked seeing things and scenes then, and sketched them when I could. Heck, I remember drawing jets, tanks, and aircraft carriers while in grammar school in cold foggy San Francisco as a very young teen! 

Well, today I got a new and early birthday gift to myself: A Huion drawing tablet with a wireless battery-less pen, and with a working area measuring 10x6.25"!! 

With so many decades using Wacom and now this tablet, it was an easy conversion, but as I knew: Though the features of Wacom cannot be beat, this newest tablet is making me very happy and I haven't even had it a whole 24 hours! Granted it's not as flexible as my older three usable tablets, but I love the broad landscape this tablet has, and that is what I really needed and deserved! Granted, now I do not edit images as I once did decades ago, but I love using a pen and NOT a mouse!

I've already done two sketches, one just a quick sketch of a plane to include in my Amazon review of the tablet. I just finished another of a portrait of someone who is very near and dear to my heart, and I plan to try another sketch tomorrow once I have any ideas of WHAT to draw. 

Who knows? Perhaps this will be my incentive to QUiT cameras! I had done a pen and ink drawing before I joined the Navy, and that scene was that of the backside of Ghirardelli Square and the Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from the long and steep Hyde Street! I found that original sketch partially folded and rolled in San Francisco in a very dusty spot, and now have it (meThinks) in the Falls!

So farewell, my trusty Wacom tablets. I salute you, and am very grateful for your service. I am hoping this new Huion H1060P tablet will keep me happy and occupied in sketching as I expect it to serve me just as well in photography, during my remaining years on this Earth!

Sketched Dec of 1972 while the Forrestal was inport in Athens, Greece 

UPDATE: Sunday 9 December: After 24 hours of switching from my laptop's touchpad and the new Huion tablet, I've given up!! Granted, it is a huge working area for a pen as compared to my old Wacom which is soooo tiny, but in not even being able to do some quite basic and simple functions that is easy with my Wacom pen since day one, but nearly impossible with this newest tablet, I've decided to send it back! As I type this, my older Wacom (CTL-460) of over a decade is connected as usual!!

I DO have my eye on a Wacom Intuos though.....

UPDATE: I have already ordered and received the Wacom Intuos Medium Size Pen Tablet (PTH660). I tried it for two days before I contacted the company it was shipped from, regarding its return. My older wacom tablet works better and simply, and has more functions built-in, unlike both newer bigger tablets received and returned. It also works better as a "mouse" all day, doing many things taken for granted with a mouse, without the need to be "programmed"  :( 

Day 1 ~ Fleet Week in San Francisco

...will be a very busy time for me. I'll be offline for a few days while I am a Fleet Week volunteer at the Marina Green greeting people paying to see the Blue Angels and the Canadian Snowbirds flying.... plus two days of personal time to get some ~ hopefully ~ great snaps of flying birds of metal. I've always been fascinated by aircraft of all types even before I entered the military and that passion grows each and every year.

Tomorrow is the unofficial practice day for the flight teams to familiarize themselves with the area. Flight charts and briefs aren't enough; one must get into their element in order to see what is there, and these pilots are no exception to that rule. I'll be out early to get snaps with my brother, then Friday is my first day volunteering, continuing Saturday and the final day being Monday - a holiday - but will assist as I can with cleanup. Sunday I join my brother again to get some snaps of the aircraft again on their last official day of this very popular aerial dance in the skies above San Francisco and the Bay Area in general.

If you've never seen the Blue Angels in flight, then you're really missing out. It's a marvel when you consider they're flying at 100s of miles per hour so close together ~ sort of a ballet of metal and guts. This will be my third performance seen since I started living in the states again, but have seen this team perform at least five other previous occasions. This will be my first complete Fleet Week I've ever experienced, as I've lived outside of the City since I was young and this event started being celebrated during my absence. I've read about it, heard about it, and been very envious when my younger brother showed me his glorious pictures of the Blue Angels flying around town.... last year I was in attendance for a single day but I did get some pics..... now I'm here for everything, including the major traffic jams as crowds of people come to the City to watch and participate, and get out into the Streets of San Francisco while areas are blocked off due to flight safety issues.

Until Tuesday I won't be blogging at all, but I will post pixs here and at my flickr site of a few images from each day's shoot(s) Thursday and Sunday. Though I am taking my camera with me during my working at Fleet Week, photography is not my main goal as I'll be working for this organization and that comes first of course. If given the chance to snap some shots and not interfere with my duties, I'll do so.

If you're in the Bay Area, take care ~ don't forget ear plugs! The jets are noisy and loud; if you're close to the wharf you'll hear the jets all too well! Also think of your children and cover their ears ~ noise can damage young ears and once hearing loss is part of your life, it's pretty depressing. Otherwise: enjoy the show! If you're reading this from far and unable to make it here, enjoy the soon-to-be-posted imagery!

Each time I update this post about my participation in Fleet Week, I'll slightly change the main title of this post... so please visit each day looking for a revised title, meaning there's new content here! :-) Those who know me well realize that I try to display different images when I do post online at all. So just because a few pixs of this or that is at one site, doesn't mean at another site there will be the same. I'll post completely different images ~ I want each site to be unique, so remember this: visit both sites (here and at my flickr) to see the pixs and you won't be disappointed!

Day 1: I was freezing cold in the stiff strong breeze coming off the bay as we waited for the practice runs to begin. They were late over an hour but once they began, the crowd at my Fort Mason pier started to grow. It's amazing when one gets a pic of a jet seemingly slamming into the unfocused head of a bystander!! hahahahaa

I was amazed I could see, with my new eyes and NO eye drops to keep them moist. I'd blink a few times and everything was so pinpoint sharp till my eyes dried again, and that was quick. Still I was soooo amazed by how those jets appeared and I could even SEE them!! Amazing!!!!

Thinking the "show" was over, we all departed about 3:30pm, and I was so cold I even had a tea inside my most hated coffeehouse, a place whose name starts with a S and I think their rude service and gawd-awful lattes and "coffee" {at least they call it that} should be thrown to the lions. 45mins later on the road and passing through the downtown area, I could hear them flying around again, and it's unnerving and crazy trying to drive and not able to see the jets in flight. I was driving south on Van Ness as a formation of four jets fly straight up the street toward me, then over and leaving a screeching loud sonic boom behind them. I laughed as I looked around at the other drivers around me, all with windows down to watch the jets as they passed overhead, then covering their ears as the jets has passed! I wish I had the camera in hand. A few minutes later as I neared City Hall, I missed a fantastic sight to be captured as the same formation returned and flew overhead, with the dome in the foreground!

sigh!!

The pelicans were flying as usual and though I got some great snaps of them flying and gliding, I thought this pix was most appropriate for this first day, and how I felt....