The Basilica of St. Mary

Some time ago, I received an email from the Editor of a Minneapolis travel guide called Schmap. I was pleasantly surprised and a little pleased to learn that they had discovered one of my pictures of the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis in pictures I had posted to Flicker. The purpose of the email was to inform me that my picture had been short listed for inclusion in the guide and to ask my permission to use the picture if they decided to publish it.

I was happy to give my permission, and I have just received another email to inform me that the picture has made the final selection and has been published in the current edition of the guide.

Perhaps it is no big deal because the guide apparantly publishes a lot of pictures from other sources as well. In fact, I think there may be about six pictures in there of the Basilica of St. Mary from other photographers. Still, even if I have to be numbered amongst others, it’s nice to get the recognition.

Please click here to follow the link to the pictures. When you enter the site you will see the Basilica of St. Mary at the top of a series pictures which are listed under Churches and Temples. Select the picture of the Basilica and cycle through the screen on the right using the right and left arrows until you find the picture credited to joemw39. That is mine.

Also If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this link will take you directly to the photo in the iPhone version of the guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see exactly how the photo is displayed and credited in the iPhone version of the guide.


This is the picture of the Basilica of St. Mary that has been featured in Schmap. I think it's not a bad picture considering I just pointed the camera and snapped it from the passenger seat of Judy's car as we drove by at nightfall.

Eureka Moment

Most of you will be aware by now of Judy’s new venture on cafepress.com. This is a great site where Judy has used her natural creative talents, combining her wealth of photographs, to create some great items that you can see for yourself if you get a chance to visit her site.

I wonder would you believe me if I said that this post is not about promoting my friend Judy’s site? Well, I suppose, I can be honest and say that it gives me the opportunity to kill two birds with the one stone, but in truth, my main purpose is to tell you that through Judy’s site I have managed to solve a problem that has been dogging me for some time.

Some of my new mugs from Judy's site

Displaying Minnehaha Creek and the American Flag

I guess to a normal person, what follows would not be a problem but, to a single person living alone with a fixation for acquiring things that helps to improve the decor of my surroundings and create a nice atmosphere for myself and any of my friends, that all-too-seldom-visit me, I found the ideal product on Judy’s site. And what is this thing that gave me this eureka moment the first time I visited the site? Mugs!!

New set of mugs on display

Yes mugs!! I am the proud owner of many mugs in all shapes and sizes and designs. Some I have been given as presents, others I have acquired in a haphazard fashion by seeing a particular mug that catches my fancy when I go shopping and it generally winds up in the shopping cart and thence to my already crowded mug rack in the kitchen. Also I’m a sucker for special offers from various tea and coffee companies, where, if you buy a packet of 100 tea bags or a large jar of coffee, there is a free mug attached. I get through the coffee quickly enough, but I now have enough tea bags to last me into the next millennium.


For some time now, I have been promising myself that I would kick this habit and buy myself a set of regular sized mugs that would, not only look better, but would also eliminate the problem of trying to decide what mug to use whenever I need a tea or coffee.

Well, at last, Judy’s site provided the perfect solution. Here, not only could I buy a set of very nice mugs displaying some of her pictures, but I discovered I could get a set of personalised mugs that would display some of my own favourite pictures from my visits to Minnesota.

I took the plunge and sent off some pictures to Judy that she displayed on a set of mugs for me. I was delighted with the result, and I ordered a set which quickly arrived and I couldn’t be more pleased. I now have a beautiful set of personalised mugs that proudly display my own pictures. They look great and add their own special personal touch to my kitchen.

The mugshot picture of myself was judy's idea

I think it is also an added bonus that, instead of leaving pictures of special events dormant on the computer or buying frames to display them in which are seldom noticed anyway by visitors to your home, you can now hold a favourite picture in your hand, while at the same time enjoy your mug of tea or coffee.

One of my favourite pictures - the Baptism of Jackson Toby