Patricia's 366: January 2012

Oh hey. I'm not really starting a blog, well kind of.

Let's face it, those who stuck with me, through my 3 months of "Patricia's World Travels - 2007" know that my fingertips were not made for my contributions to 'blogspot.com.' Seriously, the pictures were hands down the best part of those posts. Witty remarks and current event debates don't come naturally and I haven't stuck to writing in a journal in years. Honestly, just the thought of journal writing makes me queasy and bitter. During elementary school and some of middle school, I was so good about keeping up with every detail of every day... Then the socialite took over. Blank pages of days turned into months, turned into years of my life going by and I wonder, why didn't I just keep it up!? The longer I would rest my pen, the less I wanted to write. Excuses: my hectic schedule and talking to boys killed the motivation. Maybe that and the realization that I could capture my memories in a fraction of the time, with a gadget that didn't admit my illegible hand writing. Don't get me wrong, I don't always take the easy way out, or try to cut corners. It's just that if there is a way to do something with equal effectiveness but take less time, I will find it, do it and move on to the next thing, ahead of schedule! Some call it the check-list syndrome, impatience perhaps, I call it productivity. My productivity has brought me to where I am today: happy, successful and eager to accomplish more and more, every day of my life.

I am jealous of the talented writers who can consistently track their lives via words in cyberspace and beautiful diaries, but if I have learned anything from my journal failures, it is that using words to sum of days is not the right avenue for me. My current unpredictable schedule does not allow for the time that it would take me to write about and invite any curiosity, let alone interest in my daily endeavors. By the time I complete this entry, three hours will have been stolen from my Saturday! Good old Wiki says that a blog “is a personal journal published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order so the most recent post appears first.” I say, I can share my days or "personal journal" through a photograph instead. If I should become inspired to add a caption, maybe I'll allow myself the time to do that. Nowhere does Wikipedia clarify that blog "posts" need to be written. So Patricia's 366 was born with a little help new year's bubbly, a passion for photography and the stubborn desire to accomplish the maintenance of a (kind-of) journal for an entire year.

A little about my passion. The summer after high school, I made my proudest purchase: The first Nikon Coolpix Digital camera. My hard-earned dollars (eh, only a few hundred bucks) were made by running food at Marco Movies. I loved that coolpix camera. Not only was it so perfect in its’ simplicity and a camera-virgin's best friend, but it marked the beginning of a special relationship that I would develop with photography. I have digitally recorded my life since that summer and seven years later I could not be more appreciative of the moments captured which I can revisit with just one click.

Last month, I was hugely spoiled. Mom and Dad gave me this amazing camera for Christmas. Kind of like a child receiving that toy they couldn't live without, I have been obsessed with it ever since. Everyone knows that I read far less than I should, so you can imagine my family's surprise when I began reading the camera manual…start to finish. (Did I mention highlighting along the way?) Is she actually going to stick with this? I know that's what they were thinking. I was just so excited to hold it in my hands! The said object is the Canon Rebel T31 and I'd been salivating over it as soon as it hit the market. I scored two awesome lenses too and I've gone a little snappy happy. Yes, it is my first digital SLR camera, so I get that there are features that I will need to learn and probably some I may never understand but I am going to do my best, which from what I've come to learn counts for something.

My amazing husband saw how excited I was to use and learn about my new camera and bought me a DC Photography Class (www.washingtonphotosafari.com) which I took advantage of the first weekend back from Marco. It was great because it started me allowed me to get comfortable holding such an impressive piece of machinery. The most important lesson I learned from the class (aside from some D.C. Monuments I never knew existed) was that in order for me to maximize my time with it, I need to practice. Keep at it! He kept saying. Immediate panic struck, because just like the journal, the longer I may leave it untouched, the harder it will be for me to pick it up again. I usually hate New Year’s resolutions. Maybe it's because I am normally too impatient to wait for a specific date, to start something, or maybe it's because my success rate for sticking with them sucks. Either way, it seems appropriate if I ever was going to start one, to combine it with this project I've dreamed up. Take a picture a day and document 2012. I refuse for this camera to turn into my blank diary. To accomplish this goal, I will start by savoring this rare but reassuring feeling of inspiration.

It's already January 21st, 2012. How embarrassing. I've taken 21 pictures and they're hanging out on my memory card. Is it even worth trying to explain my tardiness in starting this thing? Well, I wasn’t originally planning on sharing it with anyone. I just don’t really feel like there is that much happening during my day to day lift to warrant any followers, I just felt like it will be something cool that I can look on and say, hey that was actually pretty cool. Then I started telling people about it (well I had to explain the massive thing I was hauling around with me). Paul asked me last weekend, "Why take all these pictures and document your life if you're not going to share it with anyone?" He's right. Then I remembered that one of my good friends, Ryan did something like this a few years ago and I thought, it was such a fun idea that he let us all in on it, but I didn’t think I would ever stick with long enough for it to be legit. Well people, I'm going to try and if I am able to spark some interest during the process, awesome! The first post of pics will be three weeks delayed, but trust I did not cheat...all 21 pictures were in fact taken on their respective dates.