Eric Robert Nolan graduated from Mary Washington College in 1994 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He spent several years a news reporter and editorial writer for the Culpeper Star Exponent in Culpeper, Virginia. His work has also appeared on the front pages of numerous newspapers in Virginia, including The Free Lance – Star and The Daily Progress. Eric entered the field of philanthropy in 1996, as a grant writer for nonprofit healthcare organizations.
Eric’s poetry has been featured by Dead Beats Literary Blog, Dagda Publishing, The International War Veterans’ Poetry Archive, and elsewhere. His poetry will also be published by Illumen Magazine in its Spring 2014 issue.
America’s new plans for the War in Afghanistan were announced yesterday by a man who was also photographed yesterday staring into the solar eclipse without protection.
I was a second grader in 1979. I don’t think I have any recollection of people talking about the eclipse. And that’s odd, because I do remember the Blizzard of 1978 quite well.
Also, one of you guys has to check me for ticks now.
Okay, so my photos of the eclipse itself didn’t turn out so hot. But they are kind of interesting in that you can view the eclipse via a weird lens flare effect in these photos.
Look at the first two shots. If you look past huge, blurry, distorted image of the sun, and look just above and to the right of it, you can see a smaller, better image of the entire eclipse. It looks like the top portion of a glowing ring. In the third photo, the effect is all the way toward the bottom of the shot.
Guys, please do not view the solar eclipse tomorrow without the ISO-certified eclipse-viewing glasses. You could go blind.
Do not allow any children to view the eclipse without the special glasses. (Wouldn’t a lot of kids just ignore adults’ advice and watch an eclipse unprotected anyway, especially if their eyes don’t hurt when they first look at it? I was that kind of kid.)
Sunglasses are not a substitute. I’m a little confused by what I’ve read so far online about taking pictures, but I understand you should not be looking at the eclipse through a camera or a smartphone camera either.
I don’t know why this whole thing has me acting like such a mother hen on the Internet, seriously. But here we are.
If your eyes aren’t protected, MARION, DON’T LOOK AT IT.
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 