A Picture A Day

I almost have no business posting a blog entry about this.  At least not yet.

A little over a week ago, I decided to try something that I've seen many people start (emphasis on start) and more people including myself have probably thought about doing .  But I did it. I started posting a Picture a Day.

FOLLOW MY PHOTO OF THE DAY

Of course, let's see if I can keep it up.  So far it's much easier than posting frequent blog entries.  A picture a day, we all can do.  Just take some shot somewhere during your day.  A person, an object, anything.  I might take a pic of my kid, maybe my shoes, maybe an ant, a leaf, a smashed sub sandwich that was run over or some other dumb nonsense! Who knows.

However,  I do have criteria.  The picture has to represent the day. It has to have meaning. It has to be something that triggers a profound or meaningful thought of my day.  I always found it unbelievably rewarding, before going to bed at night, thinking about the day that just was.  What was the best part?  What did I accomplish?  Did I live the day right?  At first it seems a little heavy but it's actually the bomb. So much stuff goes by in life that is pretty amazing and damn funny. 

My other criteria are:

- Not winning any photography awards.  Just a simple honest pic from my phone or a readily available device 

- No heavy effects.  No retouching, no instagram filters, no alterations (although if simple filters become built-in with future iPhone camera app release, I may consider allowing it. 

- Flickr.  One day I logged back into Flickr for the first time in 1.5 million years.  It's a pretty cool service and seemed to be getting some great buzz through Yahoo's resurgence.  I've had an account forever and my ID actually goes back to the "Hometown Tales" days when I was regularly podcasting on urban legends, folklore, myths and more.  I miss having the time to post about those things anymore so I found it fitting that since my Flickr account is under "Hometown Tales", sharing a brief daily pic and often simple story was appropriate.  

- A Brief Write Up. Each pic I post has to have a brief explanation of why that photo.  So in a way, my picture of the day is also another mini blog entry.

I still am a fan of Instagram and use it often.  Although some pics may find themselves on both accounts, I generally use Instragram for other types of pics, perhaps more than once a day or maybe even once a week.  My Flickr "Pic a Day" set is specifically for the picture that represents my day.  Plus as a social media guy, I feel I need to spread the love on the social media channels.  Ya know because my social media clout is so influential (sarcasm is incredibly intentional).

So welcome to the Pic a Day, Photoaday, Picture of the day, whatever you want to call it.   Follow me on Flickr, enjoy and let's see how long i keep it up.  Start one yourself and let's see who continues the streak longer :)  Rock on !

UPDATE :  This was a total failure because the Flickr app on the iPhone was terrible and crashed all the time.  I really did try though.

Jump...high...in the air

I’m definitely hooked on this CrossFit thing. I’ve been doing it since last Fall but that was only outside in a park. The “box” (Crossfit term for gym location) that I belong too only officially found indoor space in January.

Today was the first day where my whole struggle was mental. I was attempting to test my first box jump height. I felt like a little kid trying to learn how to ride a bike or dive in a pool. The only thing keeping from jumping my max height was fear. Don’t let this video fool you. It took me 15 mins to do this jump. And clearly I physically could easily do it but it was a total mental block & fear.

A patient Coach Katie waited & got the final silly moment on video.

Once when feeling perplexed about life, the drama of work, money & daily life struggles, I simply blurted out a statement to my 2 year old son - “Q, (short for Quintin), What should Daddy do?” It was a general open-ended philosophical question. He turned away from watching Elmo, paused, and responded instantly, confidently and without hesitation- “Jump…(pause) high…(pause) in the air”

The kid is right. Just jump. Just leap. Reach high, take a chance. It applies figuratively and literally. You have to attempt the leap at many things in life but also sometimes just physically jumping is damn fun. Just ask any 2 year old. Jump high, have fun.

Back in Black

What is more alarming?  When I was walking down the street and some random guy on a bench, with “Back in Black” blasting on a small amplifier behind him, yelled “AC-DC, 1979 !!!” at me - or-  How quickly, without hesitation, I rebuked him and said “1980 !”