Trading Cards?

I didn't know that people still traded trading cards. That was something that some kids did when I was little. It was mostly bubblegum cards of baseball players. I had a few and so did my sister, but we didn't trade much--only when one of us got a duplicate. Then we'd give it to the other person. But I thought that died out in the seventies.

Here they are again, online. I played with Trading Card Maker for a few minutes, though I'd want to get some different photos to upload; my at-work supply is rather limited. The prototype that the website produced looked good; I just wasn't sure what I would use it for. Business cards might be useful, especially for things I do outside of work, like writing, acting, playing keyboards. But trading cards?

Maybe I can trade them for bubblegum.

Creativity by the individual for the infinite

Just as blogging has opened up creative writing, or at least free-form journaling, to the general public, tools like Flickr have encouraged ordinary people to express themselves through digital photography and to share it with an infinite number of strangers and friends. We've seen teens on our public website expressing their individuality and creativity in some very visually sophisticated ways. One of my favorites is a photo taken of a field of flowers: from the angle that the photographer has chosen, the field appears to hold an infinite number of alike flowers, but the focus is on the one flower that stands out.

I see Flickr encouraging teens to express and celebrate what makes them unique even as they face immense pressure to conform. Even the shy, socially awkward teen can create something that will garner the respect and appreciation of a large, diverse audience. And this tool obviously is open to people of all ages; makes me want to get a digital camera and see what I come up with.

So like, hey, I'm blogging.

Who has time to blog? I've often wondered this. And who has time to read everyone else's blog? That's why I've never bothered to start a blog prior to being given the green light to actually do so *on work time.* Did I mention that I love working for the library?

So who has time to do what they really want to do, whether it's blogging, learning Swahili or jamming with a bunch of musician friends? That's my biggest barrier to committing to learning or trying something new. I already have so many obligations and so little time that is truly my own. If I could afford to never work for a paycheck again, I'd be very happily occupied doing many things. But there's that seduction of a roof overhead and regular meals. If anyone can figure out how I can pay my bills while writing, playing keyboards and volunteering at the animal shelter, let me know.

Once I've started something new and I've shoved aside the other ten things I'm supposed to be doing instead, I want to master it right away. Patience, especially with myself, has never been a virtue of mine. Yeah, yeah, I know it's healthier to view problems as challenges; they certainly can be. But don't tell me that while I'm cursing and frightening the cats away.