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Shqipo's Virtual Mumblings

Shqipo's personal blog, about anything and nothing.

(un)excused absence and new addiction

Thursday, February 01, 2007
Those very few of you who, sometimes, read my blog, might have noticed that I haven't written in quite a long time. The reason behind my absence (in case you care to know) has not been laziness or lack of things to write about. Frankly, there are too many things I think about and plan to write about - I even start "writing" them on my mind (mostly during driving) but then don't materialize them.

Here's my confession: I've found a (new) addiction. It doesn't keep me up at night, but it is causing all kinds of issues: eating up precious time, eye deterioration, less time spent with family (causing quite a few aggravations), turning down clients, eating up my finances... and the list goes on.

This addiction is called photography, combined with it's showcase Flickr (damn them internets!). I blame my family (don't we all!) for feeding me the love of photography. After I moved to the US, I didn't have this addiction issue, simply because I didn't have the $$ to buy "equipment" (or even process photos!) and I didn't bring any cameras with me from home.

Then came the "digital" age and I bought a point & shoot. Still no biggie, taking photos yes, but not that serious. And most importantly, I hadn't discovered Flickr yet. Last year I made the big mistake of buying a DSLR camera... and it's all downhill from there. It wasn't cheap, but now there are other expenses that are needed. OK, that's a stretch, they're not really needed but... they are. It starts with a tripod, a bag, then a real flash, new lens... and then another one... you get the point.

And there is Flickr! Damn that site! I catch myself spending hours looking at other people's photos. No, not the "personal" ones. But photos that people have taken. I have become a member of quite a few groups (uhm.... to many) there. I look at other photos and learn, get inspired, etc. In particular, I look at photos taken by people that have the same camera as I do so I can see what the possibilities of this camera are.

When I first "discovered" flickr, one of my co-workers didn't see the point of it, despite the fact that I told him it's basically a huge photo gallery, it's free (he loves free!) and you don't even have to go mingle with other "art snobs" (as my co-worker calls them/us). Surprisingly enough, now he is posting pics on flickr, participating in different groups... .

So, back to my addiction: how the hell can I kick it off?

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