And so it begins...

I feel like I'm on a blind date...or a counseling session. The person across from me (you) wants to know one thing that no one else knows about me. I think...and think...

Me: Hmm. I hated brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes until last year.

Them: No...something else. Something about YOU, something deeper.

Me: I used to be a studio art major. I wanted to be a photographer, but they made me take drawing and design classes before I could take a photography class. So I quit.

Them: Why a photographer?

Me: Well, maybe not so much a photographer...just pictures.

I want to take pictures. I feel like I've lived half of my life through pictures. Some of the relationships I have with the most important people in my life have been created through pictures and other people's memories. Pictures are what brought people closer to me, the ones that were far away. Pictures make the past come alive, they make me smile, they make me remember. I could spend hours, days even, looking at pictures (it's happened). It's a connection for me.

The only problem...I'm not a photographer. I don't know how to take pictures. I DO have a camera, though.

So I'm starting an experiment. My goal through this is to take my camera with me and start taking pictures (that was my first problem, I didn't take enough pictures). I want to post at least one picture a day, maybe more (depending on the day). I'll edit it, you know, make it purty. And write about why that picture captured that moment. Hopefully, we'll all see an improvement over time (in the pictures themselves, the composure, the subject, my writing, even me). You're welcome to tell me what you think, but this is very much a place for me to accomplish something I've always wanted to do: take pictures and write (I'm an English teacher, what can I say, I like to write).

Now don't get your hopes up...Life isn't that exciting around here so some of the posts may be just food or friends or random still life I've created because all I did that day was sit around and watch TV (very likely).

So here it is...my first picture.

This picture says everything about how I spent last night and today. Thinking about how I wanted to make this blog happen, why (see the picture wall?), and putting it in action.

And so it begins...I'm a blogger. And I'm taking pictures everyday!