Monday 9 February 2009

'You're it.' or 'PRIZES, PRIZES, PRIZES!!!!'

I have been 'tagged'.

Not since that sinking feeling in primary school when some boy comes and whacks you on the back and you realise you are going to spend the next 15 minutes of your lunch break halfheartedly , self consciously running around after a bunch of, frankly
much faster kids has this happened to me.

I should note that this is a vastly more pleasurable experience. My cousin Shawna was interviewed via her blog a while ago, and has passed on some questions to me.

As I have noting else to do (nothing remotely like marking a
vast pile of student papers, for instance) I thought I'd indulge the ego and give it a go.

1. What sparked your interest in photography?

For those of you that haven't hopped on over to Monday yet I'm trying to sharpen my skills at something I have loved doing for a while now. I'm not where I want to be yet and am frustrated by the huge limitations of my little camera, but I like where I'm going.

I've been a snap shot girl for years, and have always loved photography as an art form, but never saw any scope for me through the lens of cheep 35m film camera's I had as a teenager. I've always felt creative but there is a huge disconnect for me between the
idea and the execution.
A slightly better camera and the instant-gratification-feeding introduction of digital changed my outlook. At first just lots more photo's, and from that a more selective eye. I mean, still
a lot of photos, most of which only see the inside of a virtual recycle bin, but enough that I like to keep the passion fulled.
Photography is fluid, and I can experiment until I get what I want, and cyclically, as with all process I'm almost at the point that I would like to work with film again.

I'm at this weird, cusp-y place right now between wanting to take things further, invest in a better camera, learn how to really use it, exhibit maybe, take some classes..... and not wanting it to all become a chore, and just
too complicated. Know what I mean?

All that to say that this was probably the first picture I took that someone else was so complimentary about that I thought 'hey.... maybe there's something to this....'

I'm doing a cool project at the moment called 'A Year of Mornings'. Its just that. A photo every morning for 365 days. It seemed like a good way to be more intentional, and to document this year of transition, and there is a group of others doing the same thing to help with the motivation... The set so far is here. The rest of my (small) Flikr set is here.

2. How did you choose your boys' names?

This is actually fairly embarrassing. There is a cheesy series of novels about Highland Scots (and also time travel) that sucked both Marti and I in at a time when cheese was just what we both needed. The male lead was Jamie. The name stuck long after the books were finished. Its really James, so he has the option of either as he grows up, but its always Jamie right now.

Noah presented a much bigger challenge. Have you ever had a sudden moment when you realise that you have
absolutely nothing in common with your spouse? Second child. Boy. No common ground to be had. My sister suggested the name and I instantly knew it was the one. M took some convincing but we got there in the end. I mean, Frederick??? god.

Both boys have second names for authors we admire, and that mean something in our lives. They are, respectively, Ivan and Thomas. Unfortunately I can't actually tell you who they're for right now, as I'm embroiled in a Face Book fueled challenge with a friend in Canada where she is trying to guess.
Go on. Give it a try.
There may even be a
real-life prize in it for the first person to get it right in the comments section here.
If no one is close I'll give hints next week :)

3. What is your favourite childhood memory?

I'm having a hard time with this one. I think I'm going to have to be annoyingly general.
I spent family holidays in France as a child with my parents and 2 younger sisters, and that has very fond associations for me. Sunny, warm, cafes, board games, swimming. Even the car journeys were fun. We used to sing along to 50 Children's Favourites, Joseph, and (gulp) 'Elaine Page Sings Andrew Lloyd Webber!!'

I'll think more on this one and get back to you...

4. What is your favourite memory from this past week?

Much easier. We just got back from a fairly uncharacteristic holiday, where we went to a woodlandy, outdoorsy holiday park and spent 4 days basically in the (amazing) pool.
The boys were like fish. Noah is naturally more fearless than his older brother, and he was just a ecstatic bundle of slippery water-baby flesh all week. Suddenly, however, out of over a year of trepidation, and clinging, shaking fear, Jamie 'got' swimming. There
were float vests involved, but nonetheless he was on his own in deep water, dunking his head, laughing, jumping, sliding, and just swimming.










5. If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be and why?

I try hard not to have regrets. I can't make this sounds anything but trite, but I really see all things as learning's that shape the direction of the paths I choose. That said I would really like the big, white wedding dress I couldn't afford, and was idealistically opposed to when I got married.... ;) I might have taken more interesting GCSE's too.... Oh and the green leg warmers in the 80's (although I stand by the stripy tights and Docs...)
I'm fairly self conscious and over analytical and can easily fall into the little, day to day 'could have done more/better/other..' I'm trying hard not to do this...

That was fun, and I need to share the joy. Volunteers to be tagged next?? Speak up, or I'll start choosing people....

Don't forget the prize y'all..

6 comments:

a li'l bit squishy said...

Yay! Thanks Kate. But damn you for dodging the bullet about the boys' names. I thought I "got you". Jamie's middle name: I know where it came from, Noah's: I'm not so sure. I hope your facebook battle comes to a close soon so that you will share with the rest of us!

Multi-tasking Mommy said...

HOlidays in FRANCE?!? Wow, that's nice :)

Nice to meet you!

Your family holiday looks like you had a blast!

I'd offer to have you interview me, but I've been interviewed a few times already...

Anonymous said...

Found you via Shawna. Outlander rocks! And your series of mornings photos are amazing.

I'm up to be interviewed, if you want to interview a complete stranger!

daniloth said...

Also found you via Shawna - and also - Highlander rocks. Can you tell I found Shawna via nikita-chan? I love this meme, and your comments re: photography? I can so totally relate!

a li'l bit squishy said...

Interview the complete stranger please...she's VERY interesting! And you can let Jamie know that Aidan, Zoe and Avery will do their very best to be at his five year old birthday party, location dependant!

Anonymous said...

All done! Your interview of me is at http://nikitafullmoon.blogspot.com/2009/02/my-random-blog-interview.html. Thanks for the very interesting questions! N.