How to take Great Graduation Pictures

Taking pictures on Graduation Day is a big deal. If they don't turn out ok, you won't get a second chance at them. Here's a coupe of tips I found on About.com that you can follow --

Prepare properly
Here's a check list from Kodak Canada that you should go through:

• Fully charge batteries the day before
• Place a spare set of batteries with the camera
• Empty the picture card so you get the maximum number of pictures
• Put the picture card in the camera
• Bring a spare picture card if you're taking lots of pictures (Or if you're a fast shooter like me.)
• Bring an accessory telephoto lens
• Know how to turn on your camera flash for use in bright daylight
• Take a few pictures and make sure everything is working right

Make sure you check all this a day before at least so you know you have the stuff right.

I'm ready for my close up Mr. DeMille --
Ask the school or the person in charge where you would be able to take pictures. They might have a place for it. Use a telephoto lens or a camera with a good optical zoom lens.

Get Candid
Don't get all photos of people posing, staged or planned. Get into the action, get up close and personal -- you can click pics of graduates hugging family members, dressing in graduation gowns, talking to friends and teachers/professors after the graduation etc. Capture the emotions -- smiles, tears and laughs -- these will be the moments that last forever on film.


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Where's the light?
Remember you're shooting under the May-June sun. When you're shooting out doors, make sure the sun is not directly behind the photographer or the graduate -- you don't want the graduate squinting in pictures or having a black shadow. Have a flash and make sure you have the necessary charge/batteries for it. It'll help with the shadows.

Remember to be in the picture too!
If you're a graduate or family member of the graduate don't forget to be in some of the pictures. Sometimes we get carried away with taking pictures that we forget to be in them. Just remember to be in some of them!


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Commencement Speech - Jon Stewart

Sometimes colleges and universities get celebrities to give the commencement speeches -- that way, there's no need for public relations stuff. But sometimes they just give the celebrity an honorary degree so he or she could give the commencement speech as well as bring the media. That's exactly what the College of William & Mary did with Jon Stewart and here's the commencement speech he gave:

Thank you Mr. President, I had forgotten how crushingly dull these ceremonies are. Thank you.

My best to the choir. I have to say, that song never grows old for me. Whenever I hear that song, it reminds me of nothing.

I am honored to be here, I do have a confession to make before we get going that I should explain very quickly. When I am not on television, this is actually how I dress. I apologize, but there’s something very freeing about it. I congratulate the students for being able to walk even a half a mile in this non-breathable fabric in the Williamsburg heat. I am sure the environment that now exists under your robes, are the same conditions that primordial life began on this earth.

I know there were some parents that were concerned about my speech here tonight, and I want to assure you that you will not hear any language that is not common at, say, a dock workers union meeting, or Tourrett’s convention, or profanity seminar. Rest assured.

Read the rest of Jon Stewart's Commencement Address.

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Graduation Song - Seasons of Love by RENT

How do you measure a year? In fact how do you measure four years of high school or four to six years of college? Of course you can measure it in days and minutes but what about moments and what about Love? That's why I just love the song from RENT "Seasons of Love" I think it'll top the charts as a graduation song. I saw the musical on Broadway and it was fantastic. Here's the music video -- not as cool as a live performance but it'll make do.

For those of you interested in performing in your graduation or singing along here are the lyrics I got off from: Stl Lyrics

five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear
five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
how do you measure? measure a year

in daylights,
in sunsets,
in midnights,
in cups of coffee,
in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife

in five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
how do you measure a year in a life?

how about love?
how about love?
how about love?
measure in love...
seasons of love...
seasons of love...

(female soloist)
five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes
five hundred twenty five thousand journeys to plan
five hundred twenty five thousand suix hundred minutes
how do you measure a life of a woman or a man

(male soloist)
in truths that she learned
or in times that she cried
in bridges he burned
or the way that she died

(all)

its time now to sing out though
the story never ends
let's celebrate remember a year in a life
of friends

remember the love...

(oh you gotta remember the love)
remember the love...
(oh yeah, its a gift from up above)
remember the love...
(sing out, give out, measure your life
in looooooove...!!!)
seasons of love...
seasons of love...

Happy Mother's Day!

I don't know if you know but I have another blog - Love Poems and Love Quotes - that I post on a regular basis. So for Mother's Day I figured I'll just share a poem with you. I found it on Poems About. I really liked this poems because I know without our mothers we wouldn't be able to go to school or graduate. So here's to mothers who help us get to school, graduate and have secure futures!

Mother's Hands

Mother's hands took us to school
Mother's hands in the morning
Mother's hands rain, protecting us
Mother's hands act as awning
Mother's hands would hold our face
Mother's hands held the tears
Mother's hands brail our face
Mother's hands read our fears
Mother's hands held compassion
Mother's hands would bake
Mother's hands give us her ration
Mother's hands give not take
Mother's hands lined by caring
Mother's hands not smooth
Mother's hands map understanding
Mother's hands every groove

by Duncan Wyllie

	The One I Can Never Do Without... Send this beautiful poem to your mom or someone like her for always being there for you. [ Flash ]		You Are The Woman I Want To Be ! In a poetic way say a warm thank you to your mom for all her love 'n care. [ Animated ]
	I Am Lucky And Happy... On Mother's Day, send this beautiful poem to your mom and make her feel special. [ Postcard ]		Right From My Heart... A cute poem to say a warm 'I love you' to your mom on Mother's Day. [ Animated ]

Continuing Education for Moms

When you have a kid or have a child on the way, it's hard to concentrate on your studies. You also know that there are perks to having a degree under your belt. So what's the thing to do? Online degrees. There's a lot of good programs out there that you can enroll yourself into. Check out ELearners to know about the subjects that you might be interested in. There's an article on Main Street Mom that tells you about Don who took Associates Degree first and then a Bachelor's Degree. His advice is 'stick to a schedule like your life depended on it'.

	Happy Mother's Day ! An elegant egreeting to wish your near 'n dear ones on Mother's Day. [ Flash ]		Just For You... Wish someone special on Mother's Day with this beautiful rose. [ Postcard ]
	Wishing You A Day... With a beautiful bouquet of flowers send your loving wishes to your loved one. [ Flash ]		Wishing You Smiles And Happiness... Wish someone who has given you a reason to smile with this elegant ecard. [ Flash ]
	If Flowers Were Words... Send someone dear this beautiful bunch of virtual flowers to say how special she is to you. [ Flash ]		Like These Flowers In Bloom... Greet your mom/ aunt/ grandma/ friend a bright 'n beautiful Mother's Day. [ Flash ]
	I Have You ! Express to someone special how she fills your world with smiles with this beautiful ecard. [ Flash ]		Know Why Me's Here... Across the miles send your warm wishes to your mom on Mother's Day. [ Interactive ]

Graduating Mothers

Graduation and motherhood -- what has each to do with anything? Well apparently a lot! Did you know that only recently having a graduate degree is a plus point to getting married? As close as 1980, the more years you had in graduate school the American woman is less likely to be married and more likely to be childless. This trend had been disappearing only recently. If you have a graduate degree now, you are 14% more likely to be married. Did you hear that ladies?

And no, it's not me saying all this nonsense -- it's Elaina Rose, a University of Washington associate professor of economics who did all the study by looking at millions of US census bureau data. And she found that in 1980, a woman that age who had completed three years of graduate school was 14 percentage points less likely to be married than her counterpart with only a high school diploma. By 2000, that 14-point difference had melted to 5. What does that mean? It means if you're a woman and are afraid of not having a family because you're highly educated, don't be. Go to graduate school, even get a Ph.D. and still be successful -- you can have your cake and eat it too! Isn't that nice to know?

If you're interested to read the whole study here's are the links:
Does Education Really Disadvantage Women in the Marriage Market?
Education and Hypergamy in Marriage Markets

Happy Mother's Day! With a bouquet of flowers wish your working mom a 'Happy Mother's Day'. [ Flash ]

Doing Homework Comes Easily To You Mom! On Mother's Day, reach out to your great mom this smart ecard. [ Flash ]

	Priceless Feelings... A fun-n-funky mother's day card to bring a smile on your mom's face... [ Flash ]		Lost Without You... Raise your CQ [Cute Quotient] in your mom's eyes by sending her this really cute mother's day e-card... [ Flash ]

	Happy Mother's Day ! A beautiful ecard to wish all the amazing moms you know on Mother's Day. [ Animated ]		A Bright And Wonderful Day... Brighten up this special day for your loved ones by sending them an egreeting. [ Flash ]
	Just For You... An elegant ecard to wish someone special a 'Happy Mother's Day'. [ Animated ]		Perfect Mom Let your mom know how much you love & appreciate her with this e-card... [ Flash ]
	Warm Wishes And Happy Thoughts... Send this lovely ecard to your mom/ sis/ step mom/ dear ones on Mother's Day. [ Flash ]		Without You... Send this touching mother’s day card to your mom/ step mom/ wife/ single mom/ gf/ fiancée/ as a token of appreciation for their love & kindness. [ Flash ]
	Everlasting Love... Express your love & admiration for your mom/ grandma/ nanny/ aunt with this touching e-card on mother’s day... [ Flash ]		Today Is Mother's Day ! Express your love to your mom as you send her this warm 'n beautiful ecard. [ Flash ]

The Prom Queen - Drama and Suspense!

Who's going to the the Prom Queen and King is the biggest drama of the year in high school. That's why Prom Queen series developers have taken the theme and put it in episodes over the internet! Isn't that a clever idea? It's been running for a while now and probably becoming one of the hottest shows on the Internet right now.

Here's a teaser for it --

Online Videos by Veoh.com


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Prom Queen started back in April and it's going to have 80 episodes. That's my plan for the weekend -- to catch up with all the episodes. It's just great graduation entertainment! Happy Weekend.


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Graduation Humor

Did you like that cartoon? There's a whole bunch of graduation cartoons on Daryl Cagle's cartoon Index. Here's another dose from Breadnet.

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You Might Be A College Student

If you average 3 hours of sleep a night
If your trash is overflowing and your bank account isn't
If you go to Wal-Mart more than 3 times a week
If you are personally keeping the local pizza place from bankruptcy
If you wake up 10 minutes before class
If you wear the same jeans 13 days in a row -- without washing them
If your breakfast consists of a coke on the way to class
If your social life consists of a date with the library
If it takes a shovel to find the floor of your room
If you carry less than a dollar on your person
If you haven't done laundry in so long you are wearing your swim suit to class
If you celebrate when you find a quarter
If your room is so cold that your toilet freezes over
If you wear a sweat suit for so long that it stands up by itself
If your backpack is giving you Scoliosis
If you get more sleep in class than in your room
If your idea of feeding the poor is buying yourself some Ramen Noodles
If you can sleep through your roommate's blaring stereo
If you live in an area that is smaller than most mobile homes
If you get more e-mail than mail.....

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High School Graduation Rates in the US

Back in November 2001 Dr. Jay P. Greene who was a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institution for Policy Research prepared a report for the Black Alliance for Educational Options. Here are some interesting quick facts about the High School Graduation Rates in the US.

• The national graduation rate for the class of 1998 was 71%. For white students the rate was 78%, while it was 56% for African-American students and 54% for Latino students.
• Georgia had the lowest overall graduation rate in the nation with 54% of students graduating, followed by Nevada, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
• Iowa had the highest overall graduation rate with 93%, followed by North Dakota, Wisconsin, andNebraska.
• Wisconsin had the lowest graduation rate among African-American students with 40%, followed by Minnesota, Georgia, and Tennessee. Georgia had the lowest graduation rate among Latino students with 32%, followed by Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Less than 50% of African-American students graduated in seven states and less than 50% of Latino students graduated in eight states for which data were available.
• The highest rate of graduation among African-American students was 71% in West Virginia, followed by Massachusetts, Arkansas, and New Jersey. The highest rate of graduation among Latino students was 82% in Montana, followed by Louisiana, Maryland, and Hawaii.

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• Among the fifty largest school districts in the country, Cleveland City had the lowest overall graduation rate with 28%, followed by Memphis, Milwaukee, and Columbus.
• Fairfax County, VA had the highest overall graduation rate among the districts with 87%, followed by Montgomery County, MD, Albuquerque and Boston.
• Cleveland City had the lowest graduation rate among African-American students with 29%, followed by Milwaukee, Memphis, and Gwinett County, Georgia. Cleveland City also had the lowest graduation rate among Latino students, followed by Georgia’s Dekalb, Gwinnett, and Cobb counties. Less than 50% of African-American students graduated in fifteen of forty-five districts for which there was sufficient data, and less than 50% of Latino students graduated in twenty-one of thirty-six districts for which there was sufficient data.
• The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) finds a national high school completion rate of 86% for the class of 1998. The discrepancy between the NCES’ finding and this report’s finding of a 71% rate is largely caused by NCES’ counting of General Educational Development (GED) graduates and others with alternative credentials as high school graduates, and by its reliance on a methodology that is likely to undercount dropouts.

Read the full High School Graduation Rates in the United States report.

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Graduation Cap Hack!

How would you like a spinning graduation cap for your graduation? I found Reverend Timothy's Graduation Cap Hack site and it's really really cool. He had his graduation cap spinning while he went to take his diploma during the graduation ceremony!

What you'll need are:
A kid's costume graduation cap (or if you can get another cap of the original cap and gown, it's better.) An assembled motor setup with a metal support frame, CD-ROM motor, wiring, switch, and a battery pack. Check out the Graduation Cap Hack pics for details.

He also wrote about how he got past the administrators and security guys to pull it off. It's a pretty cool trick that you can do on your graduation too -- provided you don't get caught. Just remember not to blow up anything!

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Happy Graduation Flash Greetings

It's time for Graduation ! The sleepless nights are finally over for the young graduates ! Congratulate your son/ daughter/ friend/ dear one who is taking a bow this year with our Happy Graduation ecards. Send your best wishes for the days ahead with these fun-filled ecards and make his/ her Graduation a memorable one.

	Make Your Dreams Come True ! Reach out to your son/ daughter/ student/ who has graduated with this inspirational graduation ecard. [ Flash ]		Reach For The Stars ! Inspire all the new grads you know to reach out and soar high with this cool and cute flash graduation ecard. [ Flash ]
	Look With Pride ! Share a smile together with your dear one who has graduated with this fun-to-the-max new grad ecard. [ Interactive ]		Congratulations And Best Wishes ! Send this ecard with a funny twist to wish your friends/ son/ daughter/ loved one a great future ahead. [ Flash ]
	Reach Even Higher... Congratulate and encourage your son/ daughter/ student/ dear one who has graduated with this inspiring wish. [ Flash ]		Happy Graduation To You ! Send this cool and cute ecard to wish all the new grads you know. [ Flash ]
	Li'l Game For Ya Grad ! Pull a prank on your friends/ siblings/ loved ones who have graduated with this fun-to-the-max game. [ Interactive ]		To The Smartest Grad ! Certify your friends/ siblings/ cousins/ loved ones as the smartest grad with this cool ecard. [ Interactive ]

	Take The World In Your Stride... An encouraging wish for your son/ daughter/ grandchild/ student/ dear one who has graduated. [ Flash ]		Earn Few Quick Bucks ! Send this fun filled ecard to make your friends/ siblings/ dear ones' who have graduated roll out with laughter. [ Interactive ]