Long time no see...

My apologies for not updating this more regularly. The previous post was on the seventh! That's a loooong time in blog world.

I've been busy with other projects, one at work and one on-line. If you read the Examiner pieces, you may have noticed the longish one about the League of American Bicyclist instructors and their possible links to advocacy. That came from a local story about bicycle friendliness in Tulsa, and a response from LAB president Andy Clarke.

In all honesty, the story was difficult to write. Naturally, since I'm a firm believer in advocacy, I had a decidedly personal interest in it. That's not a good thing when I'm trying to get something just right, so I asked for help from my editor, Grant Davis. He's had an unusually light touch as an editor, something I really appreciate. This time he made some insightful comments that helped to tighten the article up and helped me avoid some genuine problems. After some back and forth, the piece went live on Monday.

In the meantime, I heard from another Examiner who said he'd posted something mildly controversial and saw his hits soar as a result. I've seen the same effect when I posted some articles about bike bans in Iowa and Colorado. Sure, I'm as shameless an attention whore as some guy out in California, whose name I won't mention though it rhymes with 'Fritz.' But I can't do manufactured controversy. It's just not in me.

And believe me, there's a strong temptation to do so. Examiners are paid on the basis of page hits. More hits = more money. Some of the political writers know this equation quite well.

But writing for the Examiner has had a downside as it's sapped some of my energy and creativity. I'm feeling worn out, tired, and bereft of ideas. I've had stretches like this before. It's no fun.

There's been one bright spot recently, and that's the rediscovery of the fun inherent in photography. Lyndsay and I took a photo class a few weeks ago. Both of us learned from it, but I came away with renewed interest in playing with cameras. Sure enough, I started using my old film cameras again, and never left home without a digital one in my pocket. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll post more photos. Until then, here's a shot of the newest acquisition, a Canon Canonet GIII Model 17, probably from the early 1970s.