If you have gotten to the end of this image, THANK YOU for your
perseverance!
This is how it happened, because like most of you, I don't make New Year's
resolutions....
Blame it on Thanksgiving when I was feeling pitiful. It's the hardest
day of the year for me to be away from America (end of November for us) and
this last one was no exception. Mid-stream through the pity-party, I
snapped out of it by making a post (another blog) about something for which to give thanks.
Wikipedia.
They were in the midst of their fundraising campaign, seeking donations for
their lean-mean machine. And because I use Wiki almost every day of my
life, often more than once a day, I donated on the spot and immediately got out
of my doldrums.
There. Done. I felt good about it. Giving back to
something I really believe in. Inward pity turned to outward
thanksgiving.
Then it started seeping in. Here I sit on thousands of images from my
trips over the years to hither, thither and yon. Who in Sam's scratch
wants another tourist image? Well then, if they don't come to me, why
don't I go to them! Thus was born a resolution, to give back to Wiki this
new year something of what they have given to me.
The process of registering and uploading my first entry was a steep
learning curve I didn't expect. I decided to start with a YouTube of
still images I had made from the glassblower's booth at the Düsseldorf
Christmas market. Putting the YouTube into an "ogg" format (the
only video format Wiki accepts) in and of itself was a challenge. Then it
took a prerequisite 4 days after registration to see if it all really
"took."
It did. That's what you see in the above image: my very first
submission to the Wikimedia Commons repository of free images. You can
see the video online there or you can click on it as the original YouTube here.
Now here's the irony. Just when I "decided" no one would
ever come to me for my images so I'll go to them, I got asked by Mart Martorell, the
glassblower, to do the photos for his new website in April. He was
impressed by what I had posted about him on my blog. I told him I'd be delighted if in turn he
would teach Astrid how to blow glass. After Astrid had seen him make the
Christmas ornament in Düsseldorf, she had immediately said, "I want to do
that when I retire!"
Why wait for anything when you can do it now, right? Eat dessert
first because life is short. So, less than 3 weeks from now, on our
2nd wedding anniversary weekend, we will visit Mart to get the lay of his land
for my photos and for Astrid to get her first glassblowing lesson. In
fact, if all works per plan, maybe that will be my next post here....
Am I psyched or what! A rare New Year's resolution ended up being a
pity-party pooper and a win-win situation for at least 3 people I know.
And it's still January!
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