Week 3, Thing 5: Exploring Flickr.

Schraer. Tuscarora Cemetary, Tuscarora Nevada 2007, originally uploaded by terri.watford.

I've fallen way behind with this class: sickness, work, family - LIFE!!! - but I'm trying to get back in the groove.  So, now I'm in my first explorations of Flickr and I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed with it. I decided to look for a photo of something really obscure to blog about, thinking I'd narrow down my options. I chose to search for a ghost town I've visited in remote eastern Nevada that I find hauntingly beautiful. Well, I was shocked to find so many photos of Tuscarora, and I'm honestly a little queasy and "weirded out" to find a photo of my friend's gravesite on the web.... I think there's a good possibility he might just have laughed, but it made me stop and think about privacy and whether there really is anything left "undiscovered" anywhere in the world. It also made me wonder about how someone else might feel if they came upon a souvenir snapshot I'd taken of a place that is sacred to them. Hmmmm....

Week 2, Thing 3 - Avatar

Creating an avatar was interesting - why are there no avatars for middle-aged folks? Or those of us who don't like to wear lots of makeup? And perhaps more importantly, why do I care what this cartoon figure looks like?

Week 2, Thing 3: Blog

OK, I appear to have a a blog. Now what? I could tell you what I'm reading... I recently finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and loved it, as have several of my 8th grade students. So now I'm reading Reservation Blues. His writing moves me deeply: keenly observant, lyrical, funny, heartbreaking. He doesn't pull any punches. I think this title is a bit much for my students, but I'm thoroughly engaged.