A Shift in Emphasis

I've kept this blog going since July and, although I'm not intending to abandon it, I am going to slow down my pace. One reason, to be honest, is that I'm running out of interesting old stories about my family and myself. Another reason is that I've added my 366 Photos for 2008 blog, which is taking a lot of my free time.

I'd recommend continuing to check here every week or so for anything new, but take a look at my photo blog more frequently. Since I hope to post photos on all 366 themes this year, I will be posting there very regularly. The temperature moderated a bit today, so I went downtown after work and took a few theme pictures, namely Library, Cinema, and Reflections. Go take a look. I especially like the Reflections one.

Photo Challenge for 2008

As many of you know, my hobby is photography and photo editing. For 2008 I hope to challenge myself to get out there and take more pictures, therefore I have decided to try DOGEARED's (aka Helen's) version of the 366 challenge, which you can read about here. (And Helen's own inspiration for the challenge came from this blog.) I will be making one change to the rules, however. I am allowing myself to Photoshop the pictures. After all, editing is also part of my passion.

The general idea of the challenge is to take 366 pictures during the year 2008, each one depicting one of the themes that Helen has specified. The themes can be taken in random order, and the pictures don't absolutely have to be one per day. If you miss posting a picture one day, it can be made up. The bottom line is that you post 366 pictures spread out over the year and covering all 366 themes.

Instead of cluttering my regular blog with the photos, I'll post them to a different blog site, but I have provided the link here, in the side-bar to the left. Please feel free to click on that link every day, to see how I am doing. The theme list is also available on that page.

And, if you got a new camera for Christmas, or if photography is your passion, as well, please join into the fun. Be sure to leave a comment here, though, so other readers and I can enjoy your 366 photos.

I'll be posting my first photo this afternoon.

Connections

When I first started blogging, I felt a little silly about it. In fact, even now I sort of mumble the word "blog" when I'm telling someone about it ("I was writing, this morning, in my bl-ahem-o-cough-mumble-g. . ."). But I want to share with you how my blog has helped to make several fun and interesting personal connections.

The first connection you know about if you've been reading my blog from the beginning (specifically here and here). Do you remember my successful efforts to locate Ruby, my long-lost pen pal? Ruby was my pen pal from fifth grade through our early motherhood years. And then we lost track of each other. When I wrote my blog about pen pals, it inspired me to do the Internet research necessary to find her - and I did! She's living minutes away from Chris, Kelsey and Sweetpea. And her daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids live right here in Albuquerque, just minutes from me! During this Christmas season, I'm happy to say, we've made plans to get together.

The second connection happened in a round-about way. My friend, Gloria, began reading my blog. That inspired her, one night, to look at Kelsey's blog, which mentioned their good friends, Becky and Glenn. As Gloria, then, dug into Becky's blog (I guess you could call her a chain-blogger), lo and behold, she discovered that Becky's mother, Karen, is her (Gloria's) long lost friend from high school. Karen was even a bridesmaid in Gloria's wedding. Bingo! Connection #2

There is a third connection, but it is so convoluted that I don't dare try to explain it. It would leave you scratching your head, I'm sure. It involves friends we had from our first time in Juneau, friends of Gloria's, and two sets of African missionaries. Trust me. It's complicated-connection #3.

Besides these complex connections, I've also re-connected with Betty, Genie and JoAnne - all old friends - because they found their way to my blog (or, in Betty's case, I found my way to hers).

My point here is that technology, such as the Internet or blogging, sometimes gets a black eye, because it is often used for nefarious purposes. But, like most things in this world, it's not the "thing" that's good or bad, but how we, as people, use it.

James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Short Break

I just haven't had time to do any blogging the last couple days. Stay tuned for more when I can catch my breath. (I knew I couldn't keep this pace up forever!)

Tim did start his job yesterday, and said the day went well. He'll be traveling down to Las Cruces in the near future to visit their other office. Right now the Las Cruces IT person is up here, helping to train Tim.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I've always loved to write, and in my life, spanning more decades than I care to admit, I've begun diaries (when I was a child) and journals (when I was older and too "sophisticated" for diaries) a number of times. My mother-in-law, Lauretta, who is now in poor health, was an inspiration to me in this regard. Until her health failed, Lauretta faithfully wrote, by hand, in spiral-bound notebooks, the episodic story of her life. I hope someday to have the privilege to read some of those journals. She always had such insight into life and people, and had an interesting, and often humorous, writing style.

However, in about the second week of each of my own journaling attempts, I would inevitably come to the conclusion that my life wasn't very interesting and become bored with my own scribblings. My journals were always private, so no one knew that I had started and failed repeatedly. I HATE to fail!

So that little insecure voice, down deep inside, is telling me that I should keep this blog private, as well. On the other hand, making it public might be just the pressure I need to keep me writing. Only time will tell. Welcome to this, my very public private life.