We had a bad problem downtown, but the city did something about it. Before that, I had 3 hanging around, always kind of spooked me out, but I wanted to get along with them, started feeding them along with the carnivore woodpeckers, dry cat food and meat scraps cut up and no bones to drop on a roof. That went on awhile, watched one eat a piece of apple one day, interesting birds. But then a sick one showed up on my front porch at the water dish I set out, and I found 2 dead in the gutter a half block down, laid there for 2 or more weeks weeks, ick. We have a problem with West Nile, they had already done their sampling, confirmed its presence in the area, so wouldn't come pick them up. I thought they were a health hazard and if it had been in front of my house, would have disposed of them. So West Nile took its toll on them, now we have a fair amount of owls, that may help keep them away. Haven't been bothered by them for a couple years now, same with the larger brown woodpeckers, large flock of them. So nature has its ways, but you don't want West Nile in your area if you don't have it already. People in the two-state area have died from it (mosquitoes the carrier), usually elderly or with compromised immune systems.

CORRECTION: The 'Have' list shows Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Variegata'. It is a mistake; it should read Alocasia 'Hilo Beauty'. I do not have an Alocasia macrorrhizos 'Variegata' to trade. Steve

When I lived in San Antonio one of the high schools offered a continuing education class in welding. It was taught by a shop teacher and all the classes were in the evening. We used the equipment to several types of welding, and we were able to pick our own personal project if we wanted something done at home. We didn't develop any real skill, but we learned how to use the equipment. Bruce

"I'm all ears/eyes" is a great start. There is a book by Bryan Peterson called Understanding Exposure which is great to get your feet wet in, well....understanding exposure! :) Its a great book to begin your understanding of the relationship between aperture and shutter speed. There are many books available to read at your local bookstore or library. READ READ READ!!! Next is be all mouth. You will have questions that you feel dumb as a stump asking...ASK THEM! If you don't understand, ask again til you do. This is key...most people are more than willing to point you in the right direction. Find out if your local community college offers a beginners course or advanced course in photography. Hands on learning is great for this art. The one I took was $55 for five days and very well worth the money. I assume the D60 has an "Auto" mode. Don't become to reliant on that because at that point you only have a very expensive point and shoot camera that will limit your creativity. It will take some discipline to not let the camera do the work for you, but it will pay off ten fold when you can break out of it and let creativity take over. Learn some of the "rules" (a term used loosely) of photography. Google "rule of thirds" and "rules of photography" to get started. After learning the rules you will learn when to break them to get your desired result. Post pictures and ask for constructive criticism. This also helps, but sometimes you have to be thick skinned as some of the veteran 'togs can be harsh. Some are being goobs while most are simply trying to help. Most important advice ever is to have fun with your photography. After all it is YOUR photography. As long as you're not in it for money you only have one person to please and that's yourself! The more you learn and understand, the more you will be pleased with your results. This ended up being longer that I planned, so sorry! :) I really look forward to seeing some of your images posted, so get out and get to shootin! :) A