The FE Fractalist of the Month for February 2007 is:
Paula
Your name?
Paula
Do you have a nickname you use on the net?
Seatac
Would you tell us a little about you and your family?
I'm just an old spinster lady who lives in the beautiful Emerald City of Seattle who loves nature, fractals, God, and all God's creatures. I retired from nursing in the early 90's related to health issues.
Do you live in a city, town, village? If you would, please use the English term and the word in your language.
I live in South King County, technically a Seattle address, but outside of the city limits. Actually, I live about five miles from T'sarveK, December's Fractalist of the Month!
What country do you live in? What is your native language?
United States of America. English.
Is there anything that you find special about your country that you'd like to share with us?
That's a sore subject right now. Ask me again in 2008.
Other than using the computer and making fractals, what other interests and hobbies do you have?
I am a bigtime animal and nature lover. I have a large deck attached to my double-wide mobile home on private land. That deck is just covered with squirrels who love to chase each other and crawl all over the railings and roof supports like it was their own personal playground....so much fun to watch! The blue jays love to compete with them for the peanuts I throw out all day. I also have several bird feeders and humming bird stations, and the birds are alot of fun to watch, too. Before we had so many cats move into the neighborhood, I used to have several birdhouses on the deck, and always had several batches of babies all summer long. The hummers and the chickadees are quite friendly, and the chickadees even allow me to fill the feeders while they are sitting on them, and those crazy squirrels jump right up on me and eat out of my hands. I used to enjoy camping and hiking alot, and did alot of handcrafts, gardening, etc, and I read voraciously. I also play the organ, and I love to cook.
Who is your favorite author/actress/actor?
Many of the authors I read are Pacific NorthWest locals, such as Ann Rule, John Saul, Karen Kingsbury, Kristin Hannah, JA Jance, Susan Wiggs, Francine Rivers, etc. I like Christian fiction, medical mysteries such as Michael Crichton, Robin Cook, Michael Palmer, etc, and heaps and heaps of non-fiction such as biographies, autobiographies, politics, and true crime. I usually read at least twenty books a month.
What is your favorite movie?
Don't laugh, but I would have to say that I really loved the "The Land Before Time" animated movie series. Ya know, the one with the wee dinosauer named Littlefoot? LOL Here I am,in my sixties, and I faithfully watch my Land Before Time movies every Christmas just like a wee kidlet! They have some very deep, earth-moving life lessons, as well as even some spiritual lessons that can be learned from those movies. If I would have had children or grandchildren, watching the Land Before Time together would have been a required tradition each Christmas holiday!
What is your favorite book if you are a reader?
My favorite book is the Bible. It tells about the creation of our existance as it is now, and as it shall be for all eternity, and provides the ticket and the guidebook to assure our safe arrival to our final destination. The Bible is the world's greatest love story; it is a love letter straight from the heart of our Heavenly Father to each and every human being on earth.
Who is your favorite singing artist/group?
Vocalist Josh Groban, and instrumentalist Phil Coulter.
Any particular song you like the most in the whole wide world?
Brahm's Lullabye and Away in the Manger
What kind of car do you drive if you have one? What kind of car would you really like to have?
Honda Accord. I'm satisfied with the car I have even though it is a true geriatric of 20 years!
Do you have any pets? If you do, what are they?
Sure do!!! A wonderful cat named Mickey, and dozens of deck buddies and neighborhood cats that come to visit.
What kind of job do you do? How long have you been doing it?
I retired in the early 90's after 32 years nursing.
What would you consider a dream job?
Being retired! (But I'd prefer a much larger bank account....Social Security just ain't much, ya know....LOL)
What season is your favorite? Any particular reason?
I love Autumn because of all the beautiful, rich, colors, and the fresh scent in the air.
What time of day do you like best? Any particular reason?
I am a born and bred nightowl. I usually go to bed around 6 or 7 in the morning and get up around noon. I also love dusk when the trees are silhouetted so beautifully by the setting sun, and all the little birdies are singing their "goodnight" chorus to one another.
What kind of computer do you own? (if you can, tell us the brand, your motherboard, your RAM, monitor size, the screen resolution you use). How long have you been using a computer?
Well, I just bought a new computer a few days ago to replace my poor old geriatric computer of over four years. My new one is my first store-bought computer since the Tandy I bought in 1990. Since that dreadful experience, I have always built my own computers after researching and using very carefully chosen components, but now my hands have become too old and dilpidated to follow orders, so I decided to treat myself to a store-bought model! I do feel a wee bit uneasy about buying a computer this way, but at least it does have an Athlon CPU and an Asus MB, which are both major priorities for me. My old computer had an Asus A7V8X MB, AMD Athlon 1.3 GHz XP 2100+ CPU, nVidia MXMX 400 video card, 768 RAM, Iomega CD Rewriter, Plextor DVD Rewriter, Iomega Zip drive, three external drives and three internal drives for a total of 1320 Gigs....yes, all filled, two as storage back-ups. The new computer has a Vista Premium OpSys, 2Ghz AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core 3800 CPU, one Gig DDR2 SDRAM, nVidia GeForce 6150 LE graphics card, DVD Rewriter, a 250 Gig WesternDigital harddrive, eight channel audio, and is the HP Slimline, which is a neat little bundle 4" by 12" by 10," but unfortunately, because of its abbreviated size, there are no open bays, nor any room for additional harddrives or other IDE devices. The only possible upgrades would be to increase the RAM to two Gigs, or to swap out the video card and the harddrive for better ones. Fortunately, I do have the three external drives, and can easily add another to one of the many USB ports this cute little feller has. I kept the same 17" flat screen monitor I already have, and it is running at 32 bit 1152 by 864 screen resolution. BTW, Vista is wonderful!
How long have you been using the internet?
That would be since 1990. I knew absolutely nothing about computers, but decided to get one as a reward for having survived a mastectomy and a year of chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer. I was very good to myself that year, as I also bought myself a $17,000 electronic organ, deciding that I may as well spend my life savings and have fun while waiting to die. Oooops, I forgot to die! LOL I'm an eighteen year survivor now, so never give up hope if you get the Big C. Ask Titia, she knows. She too, never gives up hope. (Hi, Titia! You are an inspiration to me, not only for your beautiful fractals, but also for your faith, your courage, and your wonderful attitude. I love you, and I pray for you every day, Sweetheart!)
What ISP was your first?
It was called "WOW," and was a part of the Compuserve group.
Which ISP do you use now?
Comcast cable
Do you play games online? If yes, which ones?
No online games, but I used to play computer games alot though, mostly simulator or city or ancient civilization building type games such as Simcity 2000 and 3000, Caesar II, Pharoah, Cleopatra, SimTower, Locomotive, RollerCoaster Tycoon series, Zeus, Poseidon, Cleopatra, Ages of Myst, Children of the Nile, and of course, all the King's Quest series that came out in the very early 90's.
Do you belong to any online organizations? If so, do you wish to name them and tell us why you chose to belong to them?
No, I don't belong to any online organizations.
Do you have a personal website? Would you like to share the url so we may all visit?
Yes, I do, but it is unrelated to fractals. My website is called TheGentleShepherd You are all welcome to drop in anytime!
Now lets talk fractals! Do you remember when you discovered fractals?
When I first discovered the internet....Fractint, it was. DOS only.
How many fractal making programs have you used in the past or are currently using? How long would you say you've been using Fractal Explorer?
All I can find, (in the past.) Currently I use FE, and once in a blue moon, UltraFractal.
Is there a feature in Fractal Explorer that you like best?
Easy learning curve.
What is there about Fractal Explorer that you like the least?
The new color mixer thingie.
Do you remember when you first joined the FEUsers mailing list? Was there a particular reason that you joined?
I think I joined last mid-summer. I just adore fractals, and wanted to see what other folks are creating, as I know nothing about creating fractals myself, real ones, that is. I did a Google search and came up with the FE User's Group, liked what I saw, and joined it!
What type of fractal would you say is your favorite?
Huh? Are there types? LOL (Just kidding, I really like Julias and Newtons)
Is there any particular type of formula in Fractal Explorer that you like best? Any reason you find this is so?
What's a formula, please?
Is there any particular type of formula in Fractal Explorer that you like least? Could you state why?
Same as above.
Is there anything in particular you'd like to see changed in Fractal Explorer?
Hmmmm, I really like the way a person can pan a fractal in UltraFractal 4 by using Lt Ctrl-drag, and Lt Alt-drag to rotate the fractal. I would truly love to see those features added into FE.
Do you post-process your fractals?
Rarely.
If you do, what program do you use?
Corel Paintshop Pro Ten, Adobe Photoshop CS
What is your favorite type of post-processing you like to do?
Anti-aliasing, adjusting color, removing yukkie color cast, adding images to the fractal,
What would you most like to learn when it comes to post-processing
your fractals? What kind of tutorials would you like to see on the FEUsers site in the future?
Actually, anything and everything, as I know nothing at all, except that I love fractals! A fractalist I'm not, but after all, you don't have to be named McDonald to enjoy eating a hamburger, do you????
Is there anything you'd like to see added to the FEUsers Mailing List site?
Uhhhhh, noooooo, not that I can think of, anyway. A great group, just as it is, even if I do say so myself!
Anything else you wish to tell us that we didn't cover above?
LOL, you mean there is actually something we may have missed? Whew, I don't believe it! HoHum, guess I'll go play with my fractals now!
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