The Story of the Burning Toy Soldiers

How to save Actions in Photoshop

Start by opening a file:

Now go to the Actions palette beside the History palette:

Click on the "Create new set" at the bottom of the Actions palette:

With the Set selected, create a new action:

Once new Action has been made, the red record button should automatically go on. If it doesn't, select it at the bottom of the Actions palette:

Once you are satisfied with your actions, click the stop button next to the red record button. This will stop recording your every action:

Note: if you want to delete actions while recording, you have to hit the stop button and then delete the unwanted action since it won't let you delete while recording. Make sure you have the Action selected when you continue recording.

To save, select the set that contains the Action(s):

Then go to the little arrow at the top right of the Actions palette and choose "Save Actions...":

Choose a location for the Action to be saved and it will be ready for use.

Accomplishing your dreams

It is a clear day outside and the sun is casting its last rays of light into the valley. Its reflection shines on the calm lake as if it were a mirror. What a beautiful scene. I take out my camera and capture it for eternity. The sun dives behind the mountain and it starts to get dark. The night is also a beauty; the crickets begin singing in unison, setting the perfect mood for the warm night. I watch the moon rise over the mountains, bringing light to the still night. I stay outside admiring the view for a while longer and then retire to bed.

The next morning I wake up to a loud bang coming from the outside and I get out of bed to have a look. It is a thunderstorm out there. I go back to bed hoping that the weather will clear up. Couple hours later I wake up again. I remain in my bed listening to signs of thunder. Silence. I get up and go to the window. The thunder is gone but the rain hasn't stopped. Looks like today will be an inside day. As I enter the kitchen in my morning gown I see my camera on the table. Remembering the photo that I took yesterday, I pick the camera up and look at the photo. This would make a great painting I think to myself. I quickly bring out my sketch pad and begin drawing the outlines of the photo. The day progresses and I now have a finished drawing of the picture. I am ready to apply paint to it now. I realize that I still haven't eaten breakfast and head to the kitchen to make some. As I look out the window, I see that the weather has cleared up and the sun is shining again. I go through my day and am able to paint only a small part of the picture before going to bed. Weekend is over and I go back to work. I go about my routine schedule and totally forget about the painting. It sits unfinished in a corner for months.

Three months have passed and it is weekend again. I have no plans and therefore sit around the house doing nothing. I go to the garage to look for something when I see the painting in the corner collecting dust. I pick it up and blow the dust off. Now I have something to do. I set the unfinished painting on a stand and take out my paint kit and begin painting. It took the whole weekend to finish it off, but now when I stand back and look at it, it was worth it. It turned out perfect and is now hanging in my living room. I went to bed that night feeling good. I had finished something that I started a long time ago and was proud of it. I felt accomplished.

In today's world, it is common to start something and never finish. People get excited about something and do it with enthusiasm in the beginning. But then that enthusiasm fades and we tend to forget about the whole thing. We say that we'll finish it later but it never gets done. We procrastinate. This is a problem that our society faces. Somehow we have lost the ability to stick to a goal long enough to see the end results. We lose interest very quickly when things don't go according to the plan. We give up and move on to something else. This then becomes a habit which we apply into most of the things we do. How can someone unlearn this harmful habit? It won't happen overnight of course, but is a rather long process. One has to start pushing himself to ignore the urge of not wanting to do anything. Do what is right and not what feels good. Obviously it feels better to sit in front of the television eating junk food than going for a twenty minute run because that's what you're used to. One step at a time. Start with turning off the television and at least going for a walk. Trust me, you'll feel much better for doing that. Human beings weren't meant to be spending their entire life inside four walls. Fresh air helps clear the mind which then gives you energy and makes you open to new ideas. I always use the fresh air trick whenever I am working on something that requires a lot of brain power. Everyone needs a break every now and then. I spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer, which usually ends up taking up my whole day. And then at the end of the day I feel horrible because I’ve been sitting inside in front of my computer the whole day.

Everyone needs to step aside from the routine once in a while and do something productive. Build yourself. What are your dreams? Build your dreams. Most people today aren’t living their dreams. The average person lives on a pay check-to-pay check routine which will keep him alive but it won’t make him rich. If you spend all your time working so you can hopefully somehow save up enough money to retire when you’re sixty, is it really worth it? By then most of your life is behind you and you’re not young anymore and therefore you’re not able to do as many things that you wished to do in your life. Life is happening now, enjoy it while you can when you can. Don’t wait till your old because then you will most likely regret all the things that you didn’t do when you were young. Everyone has a dream, some stronger than others, but everyone has a dream. You need to begin building the foundation for your dream, if you haven’t already started. Now what is that foundation? It varies, but most likely it is either time, money, or both! You’re working as hard as you are to get enough money to live your dream. But the problem is that you’re not getting enough money fast enough. And because you are working all the time, you don’t have any extra time to build your dream. You’re stuck in a hamster wheel. And in the end you will not be happy with what you’ve accomplished in your life. How to get out you may ask? Well, that totally depends on how bad your situation is, but the key is to replace all the unnecessary time wasters with something productive. But remember that we need to focus on getting things done one thing at a time. If you try to do too many changes at a time, what will happen that at first you’ll do great because you are enthusiastic, but then after a while you most likely will go back to the way you used to be. Remember, big changes come slowly and with patience.

I challenge not only myself, but everyone out there to get some action into life and do something else than eat, sleep and work. If you do a lot of sitting at work then why do you need to sit at home? Our society has become lazy and continues to get lazier if something isn’t done. So get out there and be active, get some fresh air, and build your dream!

“Wishing you success”

-Mark Antturi

Into the new year!

Here we are, just over a month into the New Year, and it is already starting to feel like spring here in the valley. The snow is gone and the sun is shining; time for a fresh start. For me it means that it is time to take action, it is time to make my life enjoyable at its every turn. To start that off, I have challenged myself to write at least one article a week and post it in my blog. This way I can get some of the thoughts and ideas out of my head on to paper and then publish them for discussion. I will also maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating healthily, by staying physically active, and by keeping my mind sharp. I will set reasonable goals and stick to them. All in all, I look forward to making this year the best of them all yet!