“The RoseBouquet”

Have you noticed how many websites now show little boxes with videos? What do you think of them?

It looks like a trend that is here to stay, although many of us still have to learn how to get along with it. Sometimes if we have older computers or a lowly dial-up even the smallest and shortest video is a challenge to watch.

You need a lot of extra RAM memory so that the video can load before it starts, or it will be jerky while it stops to buffer or load the next little segment. You also need the right kind of codecs and software on your computer to see and hear them well.

I’ve asked Jondalar to start teaching me how to create videos this week, so I can add some to my sites, but just to make sure I didn’t have to start at ground zero, I took time yesterday to research a bit and see what it takes.

It seems a good camera, and then good software for editing the film, and more software to compress the files so they aren’t so huge - these are the main ingredients. It turns out that some of the software is free and ready to install.

I’m not sure I want to start with movies of people. I was thinking more in the line of animated how-to lessons, but it will be interesting to see how this develops. I may have more to tell you next week.

There is an end in sight for my series of articles on friendships in the Bible and what we can learn from them. Today’s is about a young king who sought the advice of his rebel friends. There will be only 6 or 7 more and then that will be finished.

I’m planning to start a Bible study on Giving next, but that will generate articles for another site. So I got to thinking yesterday about the Ruthe’s Roses section in the RoseBouquet.

Well, I’ve daydreamed sometimes about having a special weekend retreat to which I would invite my dearest friends and I would ask them to help me analyze and critique my novel and how I can improve it, or the website to market it better. I cannot yet afford to fly in my friends or to reserve a resort for such a retreat, so I’m thinking I’m going to use that spot for a virtual retreat. I’ll try to make it fun, and do it in short bites, and even offer prizes to those who participate. Tangible prizes that I put in the mail to you, not just downloads.

That will allow me to get back to the main purpose of this RoseBouquet, and my site, Ruthes-SecretRoses.com and maybe I’ll really start selling copies of my novel!

You haven’t a clue what my book is about? - Well, the first 14 chapters are available on the site, Ready to Read You have a few weeks to get a head start.