Fun on Flickr

One of the funniest things I saw on the Flickr site the other day was a video of a woman snow-kayaking. Yup, that's right. She had her kayak out in the snow and used it as a sled of sorts; using her paddle to push off. She did quite a nice low brace to stop herself from ending up in the icy river. And then rolled over and fell out face down in the snow. Then, rolled over on her back and just laid there.

I don't typically get that much traffic on my Flickr site. Lately, a lot of views come as the result of search engine activity. Although, I found out recently that a co-worker has, as he put it, been "stalking my Flickr site." No, really, it's not weird or scary. He's a cool person and I'm sure he found my Flickr site from Facebook. He let me know this during a conference call that we both attend. The call is this horrible status meeting that I have to attend 3 times a week and both of us find it painful. During the last meeting, he started IMing me about the awfulness of the meeting. I had to put the phone on mute since his comments were making me laugh (these meetings are horrid but at least they're short). During our IM chat, he revealed that he had been "stalking my Flickr site" and thought my pictures were quite good. Of course, I was flattered. Knowing that someone I know might be looking at the photos has inspired me to get out and take more of them.

And speaking of my Flickr site, one of the most popular pictures lately seems to be a silly one of my key lime tree. I purchased one of those little seedling things that you find at the airports in Florida. I've been able to keep the little critter alive for two years. Last summer, it lived outside on the patio and did quite well. For the heck of it, I took a picture and posted it. Now, it's the second most viewed picture that I have. It may soon overtake my pictures of ravens at the Tower of London. Most of the views come from search engines...what is it about key lime trees that people find so fascinating that they keep searching for pictures of them?

Poor little tree. I suspect it will never flower or produce fruit...a hard thing for a citrus tree to do in the Northeast. And yet, I still have hope that one day, maybe 10 years in the future, I'll be able to use the fruit from my own tree to make a key lime pie.

I've been at my wits end lately, not being able to go to the glass studio. I'm thinking of taking a digital photography class as an alternative. Since I have the Flickr site, it would be nice to learn how to take better pictures than the average muck I post now.

And speaking of the glass studio, there is a small, glimmer of hope that it will return in some form. The latest update is that they are working on a "go forward" plan (hopefully, it's not a liquidation plan!). There might be a fundraiser in March and there was some mention of classes in the Spring. And, one of my instructors is planning on renting torch time at her own studio in February. So, in another few weeks, I may be able to get back to working with glass. I miss it terribly. I realize that glass work is a form of therapy for me and without it, I'm becoming an anxious and neurotic person. Sigh.