Robin of Rockridge's Blog

Whenever I get the chance to travel, I always photograph local street art. The topics, colors, and scenes help me absorb the feel and atmosphere that makes each destination truly unique. Join me for a tour of some amazing street art from around the world, right from the comfort of your armchair.

Welcome to Berlin, Germany, our first stop on the tour, where we find Christine Estima‘s photo of street art by ElBocho. I love the bold lines and striking expressions:

#ElBocho Berlin Baby (Photo by Christine Estima)

And now, over to Cardiff, Wales, for something slightly more muted. DIFF GRAFF did a great job capturing Rmer‘s portrait of Marlon Brando as the Godfather. It’s quite striking, wouldn’t you agree?

Marlon Brando by the artist Rmer (Photo by DIFF GRAFF)

Heading to Dunedin, New Zealand, we stop off at Dunedin Wears the Pants. The site, run…

By Hal Collier

Ah, the computer age! Most people my age were dragged into the computer age kicking and screaming. We used telephones with wires attached to the wall and rotary dials, in some cases with a party line. We watched TV and got the signal from an antenna on the roof. TV was only in one room and you watched what your father watched. If the channel needed changing the youngest member of the household got up and turned the dial, which was me. Later you could listen to the radio on something called a transistor radio. Life was good.

 

I didn’t own anything close to a computer when I joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1970. I believe that computers back then were the size of a Volkswagen. I breezed through the 5 months of the police academy. 

 

Ha, some said that the Marine Corps boot camp was…

I admit it. Before I became an author, I had never read an indie-published book. I can list a few different reasons for this:
– There’s less risk with a traditionally published book…a publisher thought it was good, so it must be good (uh, right).
– Traditionally published books are more recognizable, thanks to deep marketing pockets.
– I know what to expect in a traditionally published book.

The truth is, most traditionally published books ARE good. Most of my favorite books are traditionally published1. However, I’ve become increasingly aware of how good some indie-published books can be, mostly for the things traditionally published books CAN’T be. Here are a few of the reasons why:

1. Indie books are cheap. This is good news for someone who reads a lot, like me. I am able to feed my habit and not go broke. For less than a cup of coffee…

Spring photography with HRCG is fun! No I have not run away from blogging…just slowed down a bit…running the office for our business keeps my nose to the grindstone except when I run out the door with my camera and happily snap away:)

Ok Ellie…lets go!

Climbing the hill behind the house, we climb into a different world…a peaceful world full of beauty.

Ellie is smiling at me trudging behind her…Ms. Smart Alec with the puppy energy:)

We often have crazy spring weather as…

Dark clouds roll in with a bit of wind and rain and

Two hours later a beautiful sunset appears!

Tucker relaxing, while wondering where that little black tornado Ellie is?

Melody doesn’t care…she is happy to be loosing her winter coat…she loves seeing green stuff:) She truly has a coat of many colors…during winter she is a dark brown bay…in early spring she begins to turn…

First bit of news: Forever Thirteen is 99 cents TODAY ONLY. Get it here —-> http://amzn.to/1o6hMwL

A Symphony of Cicadas is too. —-> http://amzn.to/1bM5s2u

You could totally download both of them today and be set for your weekend reading.

I’m also posting new chapters of A Symphony of Cicadas for free over at Wattpad. Today I posted Chapter 10. Here’s a link to the preview — > http://bit.ly/RcznHC

If you’re still not convinced, here’s a snippet of Chapter 10.

A Symphony of Cicadas – Chapter 10 excerpt

Sam never did come home that night. I left John alone in the apartment and found Sam huddled in the poor lighting of a pier a dozen blocks from the apartment. He sat at the edge, tossing tiny rocks one by one into the still water below. They lay gathered in a pile near his crossed legs, collected on his walk towards the…

We frequently introduce new and improved features to your blogs, and it’s now time for the first major update of 2014. What can you expect from this round of enhancements?

• A better-performing Visual Editor, with drag and drop file upload support, instant gallery previews, and better compatibility with text pasted from Microsoft Word and other applications.
• The ability to resize and replace images you’ve already inserted into your posts without having to make a detour to your Media Manager.
• New, sleek audio playlists for users with the Space Upgrade.

For a more detailed overview of these changes, read on!

A new and improved editor

Your Visual Editor has received a lot of love in this update for better overall performance. While most of these changes remain under the hood and won’t affect your everyday editing, there is a notable improvement for all users who regularly paste in text from…