Random header image... Refresh for more!

278th Friday Blog Roundup

My computer can hold about 80 GBs of information and this week, I filled it up within 200 KBs of space (just in case you can’t do conversion math in your head, 80 GB are also 83886080 KB).  I didn’t even have enough memory to burn a disc because it couldn’t create the temporary files.  The machine kept giving me messages, like an overstuffed relative about to vomit after a Thanksgiving meal, and I kept shoveling in more pictures and more pictures until the machine said enough and then mashed its lips together.

So my father came over and fixed the problem because that’s what dad’s who are smart in computers do.  He created all sorts of new space for me on an external hard drive, cleaned out some unnecessary programs, and moved over all my photos.  The only thing left to do in order to reclaim my computer as a functioning machine was to delete the copies of my photos on the main drive.

But then I got nervous, regardless of the fact that I had all the pictures backed up on discs too.  I’m not sure how I got through the first 30 years of my life before I owned a digital camera, when all my photographs were simply printed on paper, the negatives kept in little plastic sleeves.  I didn’t create thousands of back-up versions of those photos and somehow survived.

But it was really nerve-wracking to hit delete.

Afterward, I went back to the check the space on the main drive and it’s half empty (40 GB), ready for me to refill it with 4 more years of photographs.

*******

The Weekly What If: You know how the photographs in Harry Potter continuously move?  They’re not set on a loop–the person is just seen milling about, scratching their nose, checking their watch, waving at you.  If you could have one photograph that you own move like that, which one would it be?  Describe the photograph.

*******

I wrote about the site Please Rob Me over at BlogHer.  I think it’s an important thing to think about–not a statement about where you should draw your privacy line (because it will be different for each person), but the fact that you should be cognizant of your comfort zone and operate inside of it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the piece.

*******

And now, the blogs…

Parenthood for Me has a post about a dream she had where she appeared pregnant.  The post becomes a fascinating look at how the waking hours inform the sleeping hours yet emotionally, the two sides still remain divided and at odds.  It’s a great post that feels a bit other-worldly–as if you are in a dream.

Are We There Yet? has a post about searching for medical answers for her son, familiar territory for one who spent years searching for answers for herself.  She writes: “I’ve been like a warrior the past few weeks.  I’ve been battle ready.  A steely coat of armor protecting my heart.  My sword at the ready, my feet ready to run.  Last night, I laid it all down, and I raised my white flag.  I surrender.  I surrendered to the tears only one whose heart was breaking could.”  It is a gorgeous, moving, emotional post.

Tales of a Batty Nurse has a beautiful post about learning to like herself.  She writes: “The sort of crappy thoughts? Those are still there. But maybe in a bit less hurtful of a voice. Right now they feel like great motivation to bring about change. Mostly because I’m not liking where things are at right now. And I’m doing something about it.”  It is about dipping into your internal pools of bravery and moving yourself out of one mental space and into another.  Sometimes when we’re struggling with our own fears, we need to hear that other people have our backs even though we still need to take on the hardest burdens of the act.  I’d love it if everyone went over and let Battynurse know that we have her back.

Lastly, Thalia has a fantastic blogoversary post.  Beyond the fact that you should go over and congratulate her for hitting five years of blogging–an amazing feat–she also has musings on the state of our community, from its early years until now.  The whole post made me reminisce and smile.

The roundup to the Roundup: this is what it’s like to fill an entire computer.  Answer the Weekly What If.  Weigh in with your thoughts about Please Rob Me.  And lots of great posts to read.

13 comments

1 Heather { 03.05.10 at 7:48 am }

I’ve missed you this week. xoxoxo

2 susy { 03.05.10 at 9:10 am }

Yay for you Dad!! I have a hard time deleting photos too, even though they’re backed up. I”m one of those that can just see past photos over and over and over. 🙂 I’ll confess I even have a hard time deleting from the camera even though it’s already in the computer. I’m constantly getting the “memory full” message on my cam, and then I have to delete the oldest (just some!) and then keep going until I get the message again. As for a HP-type photo to have… I’d have to say one of my wedding. I love a good party and even though small, I loved how I felt that day and how it all felt “just as it should be”.

3 jill { 03.05.10 at 9:18 am }

I completely agree – it’s so hard to delete pictures and other memory-inducing things, even if you know they are backed up.

For the weekly what if: I would choose a picture of my (step) dad who died 8.5 years ago now. Seeing him seemingly “alive” again would be awesome.

I don’t twitter or post regular FB status updates. I really think it’s odd that people constantly post their location online. Oh, excuse me, I think my “old” is showing. 😉

4 mash { 03.05.10 at 9:25 am }

Hmmm interesting article (on Please Rob Me). Gives me perspective on the world, and an interesting view on how the other half lives. The majority of criminals in our country have never even seen the internet! Our houses are protected with alarms linked to armed response, burglar bars and security gates. Our gardens are surrounded by electric fences, and at night we switch on beams which are also linked to alarms and armed responses. Robbers in this country (the word robbery here does not refer to a break in but an armed robbery) prefer people to be at home, so that they can put a gun to their heads and make sure that no alarms are set off. We grew up in a country much like yours, where kids played in streets and parents occasionally forgot to lock the front door when they left the house. It snuck up on us, this new world we live in in South Africa, and it’s easy to forget how it was, when people were still concerned about someone breaking in while they were out!

5 a { 03.05.10 at 10:01 am }

I hate to delete my photos, even after I have backed them up. I should just break down and make a photo book on Shutterfly or something.

The HP-type photo that I want is one of my dad standing in the kitchen of our (old – mom sold it long ago) house. The picture was just so him – the expression on his face, the posture, everything – that I know he’d be having a grand time. And he could snack, drink coffee, play solitaire, and read the paper – all of his favorite things!

Commented over at BlogHer on the Please Rob Me thing, but mash’s response makes me happy that we have these “problems.”

6 Lollipopgoldstein { 03.05.10 at 10:33 am }

Mash, that sounds terrifying. I think the image that comes to mind the most when I think about crime in SA is the idea of a rape gate. It’s terrifying that such a thing needs to exist.

7 loribeth { 03.05.10 at 11:53 am }

I upload my photos from my camera to my hard drive as soon as I can after they’re taken. Once my memory card is full, I get prints made of ALL the shots. I have the photo shop make me a backup CD, & I burn my own backup CD (just in case) and take one home to my mom (for her interest as well as backup) whenever I visit. I recently got one of those small backup hard drives (which actually has more memory in it than my computer does…!!) & backed up all my files on that, including my photos. And I have a few memory cards and rotate among them. I don’t actually clear the photos off the card until I’m ready to re-use it again.

And I STILL have a very hard time pressing the “clear all” button.

There is an old photograph, taken sometime in the mid-1930s, I think, of my grandmother’s family — of her, with her parents & all her brothers & sisters, outside their house. It’s the only such photo I’ve seen that includes the entire family, and when I look at their faces & how they are standing & who they are standing close to — & NOT close to (!) — it is just so typical of what I know of them personally & about them through the stories I’ve heard. I think it would be fascinating to see them actually moving around & relating (or not — as was sometimes the case! lol) to each other. Especially my great-grandparents, whom I didn’t know at all, & especially my great-grandfather, who died before my mother was born.

8 PFM { 03.05.10 at 5:01 pm }

Thanks, Mel!

9 VelvetMinxx { 03.05.10 at 9:27 pm }

Woot. I’m all over that dream one! THANKS!

10 Bea { 03.06.10 at 4:38 am }

I am so nervous about deleting already-backed-up photos that I don’t have enough room on my camera to take new ones most of the time. Now that is not right. I should get onto that.

Bea

11 Calliope { 03.06.10 at 9:19 am }

sooooooo nervous to delete ANY photos but I know at some point I will need to make more space as well. It makes me panic just to think about it!

I love the idea of having a Harry Potter photo and knew immediately which one I would use: it’s 1979 and my oldest uncle just got married (again) and everyone went over to my Grandparents for a barbecue. We all gathered by the carport and uncle’s new bride took a family photo. Everyone is SO happy and silly in the actual photo. And it would be nice to have healthy images of my Uncle, Grandfather & Grandmother.

12 caitsmom { 03.06.10 at 10:36 am }

Those pics are most valuable. I had (and have) many backups of digital pictures of my daughter, including the camera that I took them on. Then I dropped the camera and it was stolen, and even though I didn’t lose the pictures, I lost THOSE pictures. Memories are reconstructions and I need those pictures to help me remember her. Probably took the post in a different direction . . . but ah, there it is.
Peace.

13 Battynurse { 03.07.10 at 4:07 pm }

Thank you Mel. I’m all teary now. I’m so thankful for you.

(c) 2006 Melissa S. Ford
The contents of this website are protected by applicable copyright laws. All rights are reserved by the author