A picture really is worth a thousand words. That’s why I love the idea of gathering family photos and creating a Blurb photo book for Mother’s Day this year. No more spending time trying to figure out what to write in that generic card you purchased from the drug store. The pictures will speak for themselves. A card is thoughtful but is easily thrown out or tucked away in a drawer. Creating a Blurb book will allow any mother to flip through and see memories she help create that you both share. I could almost guarantee it would be a gift that would be left out all year.

I created my first book with Blurb and was thrilled with the results. Although you can’t actually see the quality of the cover and pages, you CAN see how nice the design looks using Blurb’s free book design software. Check out my book - Picturesque Olmsted Falls.

Start creating your Blurb book today and save 15% with promo code 15OFFBOOK valid through 5/30/12.

Marty Gitlin of North Olmsted hasn’t actually tried the 800+ cereal brands in his newly published – The Great American Cereal Book – but he has eaten his fair share of them.

Whether it’s Alpha Bits, Fruit Loops or Cocoa Crispies; Gitlin enjoys eating, collecting and researching each one.

Gitlin, 55, grew up in South Euclid in the sixties where he developed a passion for trying at least one bowl of every cereal that came out on the market.

At age eight, a new cereal called Banana Wackies came out. Gitlin says it was like Lucky Charms – only banana-flavored. “I knew I was going to hate it,” he said. “I didn’t like banana-flavored anything as a kid. I was in a quandary but I made my mom get it anyway.”

From that point forward, Gitlin tried almost every brand that hit the market through his teenage years.

Gitlin stocks about 40 boxes of cereal in his house at all times. He arranges them by his favorites with his “first team” on the top shelf. “I’ll only move one up to the first team if I like it a lot,” he said.

Gitlin typically eats about 10 or more bowls of cereal a week – one every day for breakfast and sometimes one in the evening.

The Great American Cereal Book shares a lot of information and trivia about the 800+ cereal brands that have hit American shelves over the years.

Gitlin said he wanted to make his book a fun read. “I wanted it to be colorful and alive and funny.” It looks like an actual cereal box with “nutrition information” on the spine. It covers 800 cereal brands with 350 photos of box covers, memorabilia and ads. Some of the brands date back more than 100 years.

Each brand includes information as to when the cereal was “first poured” and a “milked until” date along with any slogans that were used to market the product.

Gitlin started gathering information for the book in 2002 – researching such cereal giants as General Mills, Post and Kellogg. He found facts that even diehard cereal lovers wouldn’t know. For example, one out of every 11 cereal products purchased in America is a Cheerios product or derivative.

The book has turned out to be extremely successful. It has been featured in the Readers Digest, Time, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Oprah.com.

The Great American Cereal Book has ranked No. 1 on Amazon’s Americana category and rose into the 400s on their overall book sales list.

So next time you’re sitting down at the breakfast table to enjoy your favorite cereal – have a copy of The Great American Cereal Book by your side to pass the time away.

So what’s your favorite cereal and why? Please click the comment link to the right of this article’s title.

Mark Madere - SpectraLight Photography

The North Ridgeville Arts Council has asked me to present to the community my special, free presentation: “How to create a professional looking book of your family snapshots, child’s wedding, vacation pictures and more.”

Discover how to create a beautiful, coffee table-style book of all your snapshots as a lasting keepsake for family and friends. You will also learn how to quickly and easily publish books of your travel, nature, and scenic photos and earn income from them with minimal effort, NO expense and NO inventory.

I have taken photos of area landmarks throughout my career with my largest collection of images of Olmsted Falls – where I lived and operated my studio for 19 years.

View a sample of my self-published book – Picturesque Olmsted Falls – Gazebos, a covered bridge, waterfalls and more – Oh My!
http://bit.ly/olmsted-book

The meeting is on Monday, March 19th at 7 p.m. at North Ridgeville Library, 35700 Bainbridge Rd, North Ridgeville.

Have you ever wanted a high quality, hard cover book of your personal photos? Have you already created one? What company did you use and how did it turn out? Please comment.

Mark Madere and Glenn Barton after getting their heads shaved at a St. Baldrick's Foundation charity fundraiser at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.

Top 10 reasons why I decided to shave my head:

10. My co-worker – Glenn Barton – said he was going to shave his head for the St. Baldrick’s cancer fund raiser and I thought it would be cool if we confused our co-workers with the same new “hair” style. (Photo at left)

9. I hate “bed-head” in the morning. (Photo below)

8. The Mocha Monkey said he would if I would. (Photo below)

No, that's not a wild, furry creature sitting on my head. It's what I see some times when I get up in the morning.

7. I thought I saw some grey hair coming in and thought this was easier than plucking them individually. (Sorry – no photo with this one. You don’t need to see what those nasty grey hairs looked like!)

6. Women just LOVE bald guys. (Photo below)

5. Have you seen my hair in the wind? No Fabio look-alike here. (Photo below)

4. I shaved my head 8 years ago and really dug the look.

(Keep checking back as I post more reasons to the top 10 list.)

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The Mocha Monkey gets his head shaved at St. Baldrick's cancer research fundraiser at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.

I’ve answered the call to help a great cause! I had my head shaved to stand in solidarity with kids fighting cancer, but more importantly, to raise money to find cures. You can help. The good news is that you don’t have to get your head shaved to support cancer research!

Please support me with a donation to the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. This volunteer-driven charity funds more childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U. S. government.

Your gift will give hope to infants, children, teens and young adults fighting childhood cancers. So when I ask for your support, I’m really asking you to support these kids.

Mark Madere with his new "fans" after getting his head shaved for the St. Baldrick's fund raiser.

Thank you!

Click the link to make a donation online, or donate by phone or mail. http://bit.ly/spec-bald

Do you feel that cancer research is important? Please share this article with your family and friends on Facebook, Twitter or any other way you communicate via the Internet.

Fabio and Mark Madere - best wind-blown hair award goes to Fabio.

John Glenn looks through a device used in astronaut training on August 17, 1961. (Photo by NASA)

The date was February 20, 1962. Ohio native John Glenn became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth. I was a toddler, not quite three years old, probably staring out a window as snowflakes gently fell around my home in the Western Pennsylvania town of Du Bois. I had no clue that a historical event was unfolding – one that would captivate my imagination of space travel and someday living on the moon.

I had a poster with colorful illustrations of all the planets, I built model replicas of the Saturn V rocket and the Lunar Lander – complete with legs that extended as it came to rest on my own imaginary moon.

I remember the Apollo 13 flight that put three Americans in dire straights. If not for the creativity of those brave astronauts and Mission Control using “ball-and-twine” like solutions that only MacGyver himself would have marveled at – they would have perished. I stayed glued to the TV - watching the drama unfold when I was suppose to be heading off to school.

I remember the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster in 1986 – when the first school teacher to fly in space lost her life along with six other astronauts - just 73 seconds into the flight. And then there was Columbia – the shuttle that broke apart as it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere on February 1, 2003. I was in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania photographing the world famous Punxsutawney Phil festivities when I was shocked by the news.

But probably my all-time favorite memory of the NASA space program came when I was in Orlando with my family enjoying Disney World on October 30, 1998. As we were exiting the park, we heard a loud roar off in the distance as Space Shuttle Discovery took flight from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. There was a large plume of rocket engine exhaust marking the location of lift-off that made chills run through my spine. On that flight was the oldest human to ever fly in space – none other than astronaut and then Ohio Senator John Glenn – all of 77 years old. And that record still stands today.

Although I never became an astronaut – I’ve lived vicariously through the lives and legends of our very own American heroes.

To view over 600 videos on the life of John Glenn, visit www.johnglennbio.com

So what is YOUR favorite memory of the NASA space program? Please share your thoughts by clicking the comment link at the top of this article.

I just found the “Mother” of all web sites with videos of all-things-Whitney. There are up-to-the-minute Whitney Houston News videos and videos that cover Whitney Houston Movies,  Whitney Houston Books and Whitney Houston Songs. There’s even a video of her National Anthem Super Bowl Performance in 1991 from ABCNews.

If you want to remember Whitney’s music or the movies she appeared in – there are links to purchase those too!

If you’re a Whitney fan, this web site is for you. The address to home page of the site is http://www.whitneyhoustonlives.info/

So have you been following the news of Whitney’s passing this week? What are your favorite memories of this iconic singer/movie star? Please feel free to add your comments.

First Lady Michelle Obama takes on comedian Jimmy Fallon in a fitness challenge in the White House. Watch the video to the end to see a cute photo of Jimmy Fallon being kissed by the Obama’s dog – Bo!

A Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital patient with the first name of Za'Nyha holds a monkey she received while in the hospital.

The nursing staff at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital is hoping for an invasion of cute, cuddly mocha monkeys – just in time for Christmas!

That’s because I hoped to provide each child patient who is spending their Christmas at Rainbow a free monkey to brighten their stay. Unfortunately, I may not have enough monkeys to go around.

“Monkey Mayhem” – my initiative to raise enough money for a monkey for each of the 200+ plus Rainbow patients on Christmas day has reached the half-way point – BUT time is running out. I need to place an order with the supplier by Friday to have them in time for Christmas.

Anyone can donate to the cause at MochaMonkey.NET. There is an option to purchase a monkey for yourself for $9.95 ($6 goes to Rainbow) or purchase a monkey for a patient for $9.95 and I’ll deliver the monkey to Rainbow AND make a $6 donation.

Just skip a beverage or two at your favorite coffee shop and support a great cause this Christmas season.

Monkey on IV pole at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital

Marilyn McGrath, director of the Children’s Miracle Network at Rainbow, is pleased about this cause. “As a UH employee, Mark has come up with these adorable monkeys, which when attached to the child’s IV pole or bed will help take their mind off their stay.”

Another great way to help is to post a link back to this blog post from your Facebook page and encourage your family and friends to help. Copy and paste this link:

http://spectralight.com/myblog/2011/12/14/monkey-invasion-at-rainbow-babies-and-childrens-hospital-stalls

But hurry! I need to place my order for the monkeys by Friday, Dec. 16th to guarantee Christmas delivery.

For more on this story, read the Cleveland.com article and the WEWS Channel 5 News post.

Mocha Monkeys for Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital

The nursing staff at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital will soon be bracing themselves for an invasion of cute, cuddly mocha monkeys – just in time for Christmas! That’s because I’ve decided to provide each child patient who is spending their Christmas at Rainbow a free monkey to brighten their stay.

My first visit to Rainbow was in the early eighties when I visited a teenager who had Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Her name was Betsy Baker and she was the daughter of the minister who would preside over my wedding. Betsy was a dear friend of my wife and a cherished bridesmaid at our wedding. A few years later, Betsy succumbed to CF.

My other experience with Rainbow occurred when a friend of my oldest daughter – Dara Hosta – was taken there after collapsing in gym class from an unknown cause in ninth grade. Dara passed away six days later at Rainbow. Because of that experience, I became the Founding Sponsor of the Dara Hosta Olmsted Spirit 5K Race/Walk in 2000. The event has raised over $150,000.00 for college scholarships for Olmsted Falls graduates since its inception.

I now pass through the halls at Rainbow each day as I come to work as an Ophthalmic Photographer at University Hospitals. I witness ailing children arriving with their parents and concerned grandparents pacing the floors. It was an easy decision to make Christmas just a little more fun for the special children at Rainbow.

So here’s where I need your help. Could you find it in your heart to give a monkey to a child at Rainbow this Christmas? I’ve set up a web site with a link where you can donate to the cause. It’s at the MochaMonkey.NET. Just skip a beverage or two at your favorite coffee shop and support a great cause this Christmas season.

Hugo Burnand and his team of wedding photographers as they bike to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s Wedding.

If you thought the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton was a media circus; the photographer asked to cover it for the “royals” contributed to that image.

On the morning of April 29, 2011, London-based photographer Hugo Burnand and his well-trained team of seven assistants (all on bicycles) rode through Hyde Park to Buckingham Palace. They zigzagged through thousands of people who had gathered to witness Prince William marry Kate Middleton. “Cycling over was exhilarating,” Burnand recalled.

Days earlier, Burnand and his team created the couple’s official wedding portraits in the Throne Room in Buckingham Palace. “We had backup equipment for our backups,” he said. Even though he had experience photographing the 2005 wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, the pressure was intense.

On the day of the wedding, Burnand had exactly 28 minutes to photograph the bridal couple before they made their balcony appearance. He claims he wasn’t stressed. “I was very well prepared,” he said, thanks to following the military adage of the seven P’s – “Proper planning and preparation prevents piss-poor performance.”

It took 32 hours to prepare for the 28 minute shoot. “We rehearsed everything, including what to do if things didn’t go according to plan. I said my prayers before hand and every single prayer was answered.”

One of the royal wedding photographer's favorite wedding photos: Prince William and Kate Middleton surrounded by the children.

One of Burnand’s favorite photos is of Prince William and Kate surrounded by the children. “Every individual in that picture shows their real character. I knew what I wanted so there was photographic direction, but you can’t direct that kind of spontaneity and naturalness,” stated Burnard.

For couples wishing to get the best professional photos that they’ll truly cherish – consider hiring a professional who has received extensive training in wedding photography. Look at their portfolio and ask for references (and check those references.) A great resource of professional photographers is the Professional Photographers of America. Find a photographer in your area here.

So what unusual photography moment do you remember about your wedding? Please share it here with a comment.