It's time to add some goals for 2007. In addition to some personal goals, I have the following optical goals for the upcoming year.

First and foremost, I will get out of the big city and back to the country to do some astronomy under a truly dark sky. Words cannot express the ache in my heart these past several years for being trapped under a light-polluted sky. This one is way overdue.

Second, I will pursue digiscoping and wildflower photography with more organization and spend more time on each. Nothing quite gets me through the long winter months like spending some quality time reviewing all the bird and flower pics I took over the year. Might be time to add a new camera (as if I need an excuse.) I've been looking at the new Canon G7 or this might be the year to add that digital SLR like the Canon 30D.

Third, I need to add more birds to my Illinois list. This gets harder to do every year, but I still have not found my honey hole for shorebirds. I know I'm not in Nebraska, anymore, but if I could find a good spot, locally, for shorebirds, I will probably pitch a tent and live there. This one is also way overdue.

Fourth, I have recently acquired a LOMO SF-100 microscope and plan to add a LOMO BMH4-BF. I will be using these both visually and photographically, so while I am out there doing the first three above, I will also be collecting specimens. Can't wait to find a dirty, stagnant pond full of little critters. Talk about fun!

Fifth … well, it would be nice to find someone to keep me company while I do resolution one through four.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday. I sure did. Spent a day with my sisters and loved it.(My first complete day off since Thanksgiving.)

I am still hoping for a few clear nights to get under the sky and I'm sure a lot of new telescope owner's feel the same way, right now. For all those beginner's, be sure to review my article on our website, Telescope FAQs. It has basic information for setting up and using a new telescope and the information applies to any kind of telescope or brand. Beginner's need all the help they can get, and this is my small contribution to the cause.

I also recommend a few good books on astronomy, even for those who are using a computerized telescope. The first book should be a basic book on stars and constellations. Nothing fancy, here, just something that explains the way stars move across the sky each night and throughout the year. We carry the Celestron Starmap book, but there are many, many similar books on the market which will work equally as well. I also like a book that covers the basics of equipment and using a telescope. My favorite is Terence Dickensen's "Nightwatch" - must reading for every beginner.

Don't forget the magazines. The two standards in amateur astronomy both have websites packed with interesting articles and information. Checkout Astronomy magazine at Astronomy.com and Sky&Telescope at skytonight.com. Better yet, take out a subscription. Great stuff.

Now, if I could make the sky clear, I would. In the meantime, though, start reading.

We are now in what I call the "UPS Second Day Air" part of the Christmas buying season. In other words, if you want a present by Christmas, you will need to pay the cost of the expedited shipping.

For me, this is something of a watershed as far as my workload goes. People are now less interested about product features than when they can expect delivery. Time to catch my breath.

Not really, though. As a product specialist, I am getting ready for the next blizzard of questions which follows right after Christmas. How do I use this telescope? Microscope? Binocular? Camera? In anticipation, I have been busy adding more "How to" articles to our website. It's such a shame to see products come back because their owner didn't understand them. You can see these articles appear under our Information and Professional advice section.

Happy Holidays.

By the way. I am wishing for a white Christmas and a warm teddy bear to snuggle with. Cone on, Santa. I've been a good girl ... most of the time.

Reports of my death are greatly ... okay, slightly exaggerated. I am alive, despite brutal, long hours and an impossible work load. Still, it has been a great season for us, here at OpticsPlanet.net. My thanks to all our great customers for giving me some real job seccurity. I like to think I helped a lot of folks get started on a lifelong love affair with astronomy,birding, photography and all the other pursuits that have so enriched my life. Hope to see some of you out there on the trail and under the sky. Happy Holidays.

This time of year the phones are ringing for microscopes, mostly microscopes for kids. I remember getting one for Christmas when I was only 6 years old and talk about fun. Anything I could get on a slide ended up under that microscope.

Naturally, the concern of parents these days is quality and price. So much of what you see that is priced appropriately for a youngster is plastic and designed to last a week or two of hard use at most. Wouldn't it be nice if you could get a microscope that was solid enough and serious enough to last a lifetime and do it all for less than $100.

You can. It's called the LOMO P-111 and it's made in Russia to the same standards as LOMOs research microscopes. It does not have a built in light, though that can be added later, but it does have a solid metal body, the same optics as the more expensive LOMO lab models, dual focusing, an iris light control and all the other features you'd expect on a serious microscope. In fact, we sell a lot of these to third world countries who need to use a microscope where there is no electricity. This is not a toy. It has nothing in common with other microscopes in this price range except the price.

So this year, I hope some 6 year old gets one of these. I wish I had all those many years, ago. I might still have it.