Blogathon 2007: Changing the world, 30 minutes at a time.

We lost someone close to us this last week, and all too young. On that Monday, when we gathered to celebrate her life, the joy she brought to everyone around her overflowed. It burst through the walls of the church and tumbled home after all of us with a playful whisper — an echo of the laugh we loved so well.

She was an artist, a painter, a creative spirit. She reminded me of dreams I’d long forgotten. Her whisper, as it kissed the air above the hot sidewalk while we made our way home, spoke of inspiration and of remembering her not for how she died, but for how beautifully she lived.

I set things aside far too often. I bring fear to the table when I mean to bring joy. I hate that. There’s not much worse than the gut feeling of knowing you’re just not living.

Just three days ago, I stumbled across an announcement for Blogathon 2007. I remembered last year’s event (and Sam’s delicious farmer’s market exploits over on Becks & Posh), and I thought to myself, no. No no no. I can’t do this. It’s too scary. I’ll run out of things to say. I’ll pass out over the keyboard. I’ll make an ass of myself in forty-eight ways.

And then this little whisper — many whispers actually; whispers from every creative soul I’ve ever known and loved — said, do it, you idiot. Get off your chickenshit ass and do it.

Deep breath.

Okay. I will. I promise. To all of you I’ve lost, I promise.

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do for this. Write about food? Auugh, no. I hate to break it to my food blogging friends, but I think I’d burn out on that in two hours and two plates of summer salad.

No, I’m going to try something a little different. It begins with a trip to my basement and the hauling upstairs of many boxes of old photographs.

In the years before I owned (and then broke) my first digital camera, I had a love affair with film. Black and white, mostly, home developed and printed in my basement darkroom. I photographed everything from woodland fungi to sweat drenched punk icons. I carried my trusty Nikon everywhere. I ended up with stacks upon stacks of photos, contact sheets, negatives. All now in boxes. All unsorted.

I intend to remedy this situation. I intend to sort my photos. And while I sort them, I’ll pull out random images, scan them, post them, and write what comes to mind.

I may write a memory. I may write flash fiction. Maybe a lyric. I won’t know till I get there. Forty-eight unexpected photographic adventures. Without fear.

Blogathon, for those who aren’t familiar with it already, is blogging for charity. For this part of my adventure, again, I gave it a great deal of thought and at last settled on an organization that I believe does vital work for artists in this digital world. I am blogging for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF does so much good work in so many areas it’s hard to put it all into a short paragraph. So, I’m going to quote two snippets. First, from EFF’s About page:

EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990 — well before the Internet was on most people’s radar — and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights.
(www.eff.org/about/)

And second, from EFF Fellow, Cory Doctorow:

EFF are canaries in the coal-mine, the first responders of cyberspace, building coalitions and briefing lawmakers, users and companies on the risks coming down the pipe. This is a critical job: if the resistance to these issues only mobilized once their risks had percolated out to the wide world, it would be too late. You need to start work on these issues as they are born, not when they are about to mature.
(From BoingBoing.net, January ‘06)

Just a few of those issues: Intellectual property, fair use, censorship, and bloggers’ rights. Visit the EFF’s site to learn more, read about their case victories, and check out their current campaigns and projects.

And if you like what you see, sponsor me in Blogathon 2007.

You can pledge a flat amount, or a dollar amount per hour; whichever you prefer. EFF’s donor page doesn’t require a minimum, but I will note that larger donations come with cool swag.

A couple of important notes: You may sponsor me (or any of the other terrific bloggers in Blogathon 2007) through the duration of the event, so if you’re reading this post and I’m in the thick of it, it’s not too late! Also, if you want to donate directly to the EFF and not through the sign-up page on the Blogathon website, just let me know and we can arrange for a “proxy” pledge.

And now, I really have to rest up a bit and if not get my ducks in a row, so to speak, then gather all those whispering voices beside me so that I might launch into this with the sort of wild abandon I think our lost loved ones would appreciate. Jo, and Dad too, this one’s for you.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 27th, 2007 at 8:39 am and is filed under blogathon 2007. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.