SuitableFotolog 2003-2008

Once upon a time--June of 2002, to be pacific—an exhilarated girl procured her first digital camera, because she was going to be a panelist at HOkana (attending THAT event was a first for this thenga, too). While she took some pictures at the conference and at a few events afterwards, she wasn't really feeling it, because *she* was the girl who had a Costco membership JUST for the one-hour photo access. How could someone who always got doubles (sometimes triples!), who loved touching and seeing images without a screen or a battery/AC cord enjoy this sterile version of photography? The impressive (“World’s smallest!”) toy she bought started to gather dust.

Just over a year later-- July of 2003, to be pacific-- a bored girl browsing Gawker took note of a post which mentioned "Fotolog". She googled, surfed, then joined, on a whim. Perhaps this would inspire her to actually use her Minolta? I mean, why bother taking pictures if you have nowhere to put them (this was long before Facebook and Flickr), right? Slowly she got used to taking her camera with her and photographing things which she found interesting, though it was a struggle-- who was *she* to pretend to be a photographer? Why should anyone care about what she shot? And wouldn't her technique be non-existent or worse, awful? It was intimidating, because everyone she encountered on the site was a professional with gorgeous work to display. Beyond that, she didn't know anyone else on Fotolog. Oh, and she didn't like her username, either. All of this almost turned her off, but then, a kind Angeleno complimented one of her pictures. Positive feedback from a pro was encouraging and it inspired a desire to give this fotologging thing a final try-- but this time, with a NEW username, one which she was also using on her first blog, on blogspot. She deleted and re-registered, this time as “Suitablegirl”.

THIS time, her Fotolog, then shortened to "flog", actually flourished—so much so that she upgraded to Gold, because to her astonishment, she had more than one picture a day to share. She uploaded shots of San Francisco (is there an easier city to photograph?), her German Shepherd, Rani (snore in one of your contorted positions in peace, beloved friend)and her godson, Pudgesicle (= perfection)—it was addictive. Her friends started to tune in regularly, to divert themselves while at work. Rani and Pudgesicle became small stars in the flog galaxy and the people who knew them IRL loved catching up with both of them (and occasionally their photographer, even) online. What an easy way to see what everyone was up to! :) Even those serving abroad, on the other side of the world, could surf by at their convenience, to sate homesickness via images of Mom, dog, sister.

In the years since that auspicious start, I have grown up (a little), moved away (a lot), been interviewed by the media about this aspect of Web 2.0 (cool!), met someone who is now an ex-bf (what a year THAT was) and discovered a previously-unknown cousin (Hi Lisa!), all thanks to Fotolog. My Fotolog was also the catalyst for profound, occasionally confusing, mostly gratifying development within, regarding my identity (or previous lack of one, more accurately), as someone of Malayalee descent.

Growing up around no other Desis (let alone specific types of them/members of even more specific Christian denominations), attending a Greek Orthodox church instead of a Syrian one and THEN attending a University where I was the only Malayalee undergrad for a few years meant that I felt VERY disconnected from something which many of you rightly take for granted. Thanks to Fotolog, I have done something I never thought I would-- forge relationships with other Malayalee women [I never had the opportunity to do so before :( ], and I am emotionally wealthier for it.

You should all know- you are now a part of my life, even though I don't have the opportunity to keep up with you here.

I happily keep track of you on Facebook, keep you in my prayers and think about you at random moments…when catching a rerun of “Who’s the boss?”, spotting Balenciaga bags or eating German Chocolate cake, for example. I love you and I love the way you have improved me, humbled me and taught me, even more.

I started this Fotolog when my little baby boy was six weeks old. Now he is four and so are we.

A lot is changing in my life and it’s time for me to change, too, whether I’m willing to do so or not. These changes mean accepting a different mentality, one where other priorities take precedence over those I currently hold; they also remind me that I only have so much time to do the things I dream of and if I want to be honest with myself, I cannot update four blogs, three social networking accounts, two Fotologs and one Flickr stream consistently. It’s time to move on, to streamline, to focus, to start anew... [continued here- http://anna.typepad.com/diary/2007/11/so-long-farewel.html]

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