Essentially the Only One

My hobbies occupy me in spurts of great interest followed by periods of complete rejection. This has always been so, and is the main reason why I, for example, have boxes and boxes of unmade plastic airplane kits that have been sitting untouched for about five years following an intense model plane building spell.

I was reminded of this today and yesterday as I reactivated my photo printing after a lull of about a year. I have masses of printing supplies too, again bought in that semi-manic burst of enthusiasm that leads me to believe I will be far more engaged and for far longer than I ever end up being.

Here, at least, they were put back to good use and a select few of this year's photographs are now heading to various destinations worldwide as gifts. I felt that old stirring of enthusiastic passion at work again too, and it was nice to revisit that feeling.

It has not reappeared for the aircraft models, but it might be germinating again. I found myself looking at them and checking out my paint supplies last week as I rooted around for printing paper. Not yet, though.

Sometimes I wonder if this hobby - blogging - will stop. It's been going strong for quite a while, and that might mean a break. Other manifestations of my writing, be they a novel-length autobiograhy of my turbulent youth, short stories, histories or diaries, have come and gone.

Photography, too, has waxed and waned. There was a time in my twenties when I was quite active in a very simple manner quite free of the knowledge - and equipment - that I now possess (of course, no digital cameras then). Those were point-and-shoot days and can't even remember the manufacturer of the camera I used, let alone any technical details. I knew absolutely nothing about technique; it really was point - and shoot. But I have some very meaningful prints from that time.

Now I find myself fully engaged again, but will it last without interruption until I die? I've no idea, to be quite honest. One day, when I have saved enough - or found an interest-free payment deal - I will buy the new Canon 5D Mark II, and that will bring along with it an amazing potential for very high quality video recording. Will that make me a film maker and send my still photography back into the dusty attic of hobbies past? Maybe - I'll find out.

Meanwhile, whatever happens to my photography, I sense I will keep on blogging. There is something very satisfying about this form of public diary-making that amounts to strange combination of conventional publishing and spontaneous musing. A satisfaction that feels deep enough to go beyond a fad.

I've not felt the urge to blog much recently. There are good reasons for this. Firstly, I've been suffering from a low-grade but intermittently painful bacterial infection that was finally diagnosed and a treatment regime of antibiotics prescribed yesterday. This has tended to drain much of my energy.

Secondly, we have been writing a grant to the National Institutes of Health at my workplace, and that has absorbed a lot of my remaining energies in collecting, collating and analysing last-minute data. That went out on Monday - thank goodness.

Thirdly, the loss of Alan's Weblog, a regular port of call in my My Opera viewing, has disrupted my blog routine and removed one reason that drew me here. Not that there aren't plenty of equally worthwhile blogs here - there are - but Alan's photographs and comments were meaningful to me and I miss them. At least I still a comment from time to time!

The antibiotic I am taking, Cipro, tastes foul and the pill seems to have the uncanny ability to find my tongue however swiftly I try to swallow it. So far I have avoided any intestinal upset, the most common side-effect. I have to stay out of the sun and away from ultraviolet light, for the drug has photosensitizing properties somewhat akin to the toxin found in my favorite hazardous invasive species, the Giant Hogweed. Not so easy in sunny St. Louis.

Nevermind. I'm just glad to be on the mend.

Interesting article in today's New York Times about blogging your personal finance troubles. (As an aside, I am amused at how much 'news' in the mainstrean online press relates to the blog world these days). I was a little surprised at how candid sites such as this were, but revealing yourself without any clothes seems to one attraction of blogging to some people.

Read more...