Or so it seems, anyway. I thought I'd go ahead and update what I've been doing - creatively, lifewise, and elsethings. When I joined dA, I was in a writing groove - I think I joined to enter a writing contest, AAMOF. My intro essay even says something along the lines of "I'll post my writing and an occasional photograph."

As it turns out, I've been dabbling more and more in the visual arts, and less and less in the realm of the word. I'd like to say that it's because my mind has awakened to new, non-linear modes of thinking and seeing as I've matured, but the real reason is the instant gratification I get in taking a really good picture. I come from the quick shot school of photography, if it can even be called a school. The best way to describe my method is: I see a scene, I like the composition, I take the picture before anything can change. Too much thinking and you lose the spontaneity of the shot. I'll never be able to take a good picture at night; I don't have the patience to wait for the longer exposure. Also my hands shake from all the caffeine...

I haven't dropped writing, and I think writing is the one talent I have that will earn me superstar status - you know, sick Steven King money, John Grisham fame, Oscar Wilde babes... OK, strike that last one. It's just... I have to prepare, I need to set up a sanctum sanctorum, a quiet zone, meditate a bit, get the old neurons firing in a proper temporal sequence. And lately, (get ready for the oldest excuse in the book) I don't have the time. Two jobs, commuting daily from Baltimore to DC, maintaining a semblance of a social life - these things have taken a toll (not that I would trade in having a social life, mind you. The second job, on the other hand...)

Anyway, I guess my point is this - you walk a road. As you walk, you pick up rocks and put them in your pocket. As you get further and further down the road, you can't pick up as many rocks - you don't have room for new ones, your pockets are so full of the ones you already have. You can empty your pockets to make room for the new rocks, but you either just get rid of some of the rocks at the top, or you get rid of all of your rocks (and you might lose a gemstone in the process).

Moral: The rocks you pick up early on are the ones you'll likely have at the end of the road. Spend the first part of the walk picking up as many as you can, and keep the prettiest - it's very hard to change your rocks later on.

That's not meant to be depressing, and maybe rocks aren't the right image. Basically, it means try everything early on, pick out the things that you feel best suit you, and build from there.

Urk. To delete or not delete? Naw, read into it what you will. It's late, and I need to go to bed. See you in four years. ::wink::

PS - I wanted to thank the dA community for giving me a place to be creative, and I especially wanted to thank ~Saaner and ~VegHead99 for making me want to update my page from time to time!