..so they say.  [I wrote this a while ago, but it really all still applies.]  I've been trying to slim a bit for a while now.  I'm having trouble sticking to a workout routine.  While my diet is not hugely out of whack, I think I could be better.  To finish setting the stage, I've never gone on any official diet and I'm miserable at keeping track of much of anything consistently for any length of time.

One of the first tips diet experts will give is to keep track of what you eat.  I thought about this recently.  What if, instead of the tedious task of writing everything down, I took pictures instead?  Would it be more engaging?  More novel?  Would I be more likely to remember?

This photo-dieter seemed to think it worked for her.  And her friends then started photocena - a social network for people tracking their diet through pics.  It's certainly striking to see what families around the world eat in a typical week.

I started with breakfast on Sunday - something quick and on the run before I had to play in a bell choir.  The pics were fun because I was in the car and trying to take them while also getting the clock in the shot.  That worked.

One thing I noticed.  I was hungry on Sunday and very tempted to munch a lot, but the thought of not only having to take the time to take the pics, but also of having a photographic record of a slice of bread here, 4 cucumber slices there, cheese & salsa on a tortilla on the other side - made me feel guilty and I didn't eat.  Probably why I got so hungry!
And yes, I did indulge in a few scoops of store-bought cookie dough (bought for comfort during a mini-crisis and silently calling since).

The next thing I noticed - this got boring very fast.  I'm seriously thinking about other ways to deal because only 2 days of taking pics of my food has rather drained the fun of taking pics - and I'd hate to lose that.

Hmmm, maybe I should start working out again, instead.

April 2008 - I'm tempted to try this again, but doubt I'd do much better at it.  I think the major flaw is that I lack the discipline for such constant repetition.  I think that also is part of the reason I have trouble sticking to a workout.  As much as I want to be a kick-butt, semi-bionic chic, I get bored after doing something just a couple of times.

Well, my issues aside, have you ever tried tracking progress on anything via pics?  What'd you think?

January was an interesting month.  No, I have to be blunt.  January was scary.  It made me realize many things - how much I love my husband, the great wealth that I have in the friends and family that surround me, and that sometimes you really just don't know what dangers lurk inside your own chest....

On a Saturday night in early January, I passed out and ended up in the hospital.  Seizure and other neurological causes were ruled out in a few days. By late Monday, the potential diagnosis was clearer - a rare electrical problem with my heart called Long QT Syndrome.

It's likely genetic, but no one in my family has any history of the visible symptoms (passing out unexpectedly).  Nor do I.
 


Just before surgery.

Kind of weird for a blog post on 1000 Words, but I've been thinking about the myriad of tests they ran.  I joke that I was on an episode of House created without the writers - slow and way too drawn out and without any sarcasm.  Anyway, the visuals from these tests become a way to explain and showcase what's happening.  This isn't new to parents, cherishing the first "photos" of infants yet to arrive.   It's new to me.  As a market researcher, I spend a lot of time with charts.  While I don't get the science behind many of these, I can appreciate the visualization of it all.

• CT scan (not recommended when nauseous - they scoot the table back and forth a lot)
  
• EEG (for all the nodes on my head, I thought this would be more visual and I now have a better understanding of the potential of strobe lights to incite seizures)
  
• echocardiogram (which I have had before and which is hard to grab a still of off the web)

EKG's played a big role in my diagnosis - and also in showing that my heart overall throws some weird rhythms a lot when I don't feel anything.

But I'm in my early 30's.  While I could work out more, I'm not in horrible shape.  I'm more on the petite side.  The scaring is minimal, the evidence hidden - it may not seem like anything is different.  These images are my proof.  It may sound really weird, but I'm half tempted to print them in wallet size and keep them along with my manufacturer ID card - yes I am now part bionic.  See, I have pictures to prove it.

Last week, a small bunch of Kodak Rochester employees descended on Washington, DC for Diversity Best Practices annual Summit and Gala.  Phil Faraci, President and Chief Operating Officer, Essie Calhoun, Chief Diversity Officer & Director, Community Affairs, and David Kassnoff, Manager, Community Affairs, led the team - accompanied by representatives from Kodak's employee networks.

From left to right:  Me, Nancy Laurie, Teresa Blake, TK Hatwar, Nelson Blish, Myrdna Vargas, Amanda Jackson-Jacobs, and Cathy DeConinck
 

Kodak has eight employee networks who each focus on a different constituency - Network North Star - African Americans, HOLA - Hispanics,  VetNet - Veterans, Empower - the disabled, NACK - Native Americans, WFKE - Women, Lambda - LGBT, and APEX - Asian Americans.  Any employee can become a member of any network - you do not have to belong to a constituency to join.  I, myself, am an Elder with NACK - meaning that I have previously served as an officer and now am a "voice of experience" on the Council.

So, we flocked to DC to celebrate the efforts of corporate America to build a diverse workforce, a diverse supplier base, and an infrastructure to reach diverse consumers.  We joined the conference already in session, just in time to get the perspectives of four CEO recipients of Diversity Leadership awards.  We thrilled at the idea of a corporate environment built as a meritocracy - where the only things that impact who is hired or promoted are skillset/capabilities and exemplification of corporate values.  In this perfect world, not only would race, gender, and disability not come into play, but age, religion, and ways of thinking would also play little role.

From left to right:  Nancy Laurie, Myrdna Vargas, Amanda Jackson-Jacobs, Nelson Blish, and Cathy DeConinck

The event inspired us, but it also made us proud.  Kodak is a leader in its efforts to build a supportive and inclusive environment.

But I don't want to hog the stage, here's what some of the other network representatives had to say.

"I was most grateful for the opportunity to spend time with fellow Network leaders.  It was a relaxed environment to get to know everyone and discuss the common challenges that face our respective networks.  We were able to share many of our own best practices.

The major takeaway I had from the conference was that Kodak and each of our networks are well along on the diversity and inclusion journey. We may not be on the cutting edge in all areas but we are leaders in many aspects of diversity and utilizing employee resource groups to harness our diverse talent. "
-Nancy Laurie, Lambda

"I thought the conference was great. ... I was very intrigued that 58% of the 38 participating companies had >25,000 employees. It underscores the commitments from the major corporations and diversity as imperative for business success. I heard again and again from all the panel leaders that diversity and inclusion is absolutely necessary to attract and retain people in the work place. I strongly felt that Diversity is here and here to stay."
-TK Hatwar, APEX

From left to right:  TK Hatwar, Myrdna Vargas, Phil Faraci, Nancy Laurie, Amanda Jackson-Jacobs, Me (seated), David Kassnoff, Cathy DeConinck, Teresa Blake, Aquila Powell, and Nelson Blish
 

Here's to moving closer to a true meritocracy.

As someone involved with 1000Words and someone who focuses on understanding what people are doing online, I am sometimes asked by coworkers, "So, do you have an avatar?"

The increasing popularity, and more important, press and blog coverage of Second Life is behind many of these questions, I know.  They are thinking of an avatar as a 3D-rendered surrogate for yourself - much like the avatars, shown juxtaposed with the people they represent, in this New York Times Magazine slideshow.

The dictionary definition goes slightly broader for computer application:
"a graphical image that represents a person, as on the Internet."

But I also like another portion of the definition:
"an embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life."

Combine the two and my avatar is a graphical expression of my attitude towards life.

OK, that's deeper than I really intended.  My avatars tend to be a real mix - of photos, "paperdolls", and art by friends/family.  And I have alot of them.

Photos:

"Paper" dolls:

Art:

The photos I use for avatars tend to be the result of culling my albums for a fairly suitable shot.  Since I'm usually behind my camera, many of these are mirror shots.  Here are some tips from "an expert" on taking a photo to use as an avatar:

• Take it in bright and natural light
• Use a plain background - you don't want to distract attention from yourself
• Get in close - you're the main focus and it saves a lot of cropping after

So, in the end - what's the deal with avatars?  Have you noticed our avatar photos in the posts here at 1000Words?  What do they add to your experience at our blog?  On the flip side, what do your avatars say about you?

I love to see wildlife. I also love to see wildlife doing their thing despite urban environments and other silly human artifacts. Like the black bears that have been spotted in our area of late. My Dad would love a pic of one of those! I try to capture these in pictures when possible and usually end up with something mediocre. Working here is sinking in, though, because I'm now consciously trying to better capture the animals and their spirit.

Last month, I took a quick trip to San Francisco on business. To stretch our legs after a day of travel, we took a stroll along the waterfront from Fisherman's Wharf to the pier just shy of Pier 39. I got a wimpy pic of some sea lions hanging out there and then turned to the group of pelicans nearby.

Missed that shot. I was trying to walk and take a picture at the same time and also moved too soon to check the screen. I told you, nature documentarian I'm not.

Almost... nope. Shot this one too late and only got the tip of the wing. Now, note that I had traveled all day, I was dressed for an 80-degree calm day and was standing in 60-degrees with fair ocean breezes, and I have long hair that loves to fly all over the place in said breeze. Cut me a little slack.

That didn't work either.

Luckily the birds were flying in circles and the 4th time was the charm. Kinda' cool and worth the wait.

In retrospect, I could have tried burst mode - if I'd thought of it. In Kodak.com's Tips and Projects Center, I found more tips on photographing wild birds. Including:

• Be ready to shoot: "This is where the patience comes in." - Would not have worked on that day!
• Take lots of pictures - Came close on that one.
• Pan your camera: "Your subject will be sharp, but the background will blur indicating speed." - And if it's all blurry?

Well, next time, I guess....

While there are a ton of things I could get my Mom for Mother's Day and she'd be very happy, I wanted to try something different this year.

My parent's wedding album has been sitting at my house for the past year or so, lent to me as a reference tool for what they did, for elements that I might have wanted to borrow in tribute. In the end, my new sisters-in-law used a portion of my Mom's veil on our card box and I wore a bracelet that Mom wore for her wedding - which is believed to have been her mother's.

The album itself is in need of archival replacement and the photos need help. The photographer my parents hired was not so great. He sent an assistant who messed up some of the shots. The processing wasn't the best and the pictures they have are now faded.

Mom has talked about wanting to get them fixed and restored, taking them to a lab and seeing what they can do. I decided to see what I could do with some of our new tools at Kodak. If this worked, it'd be a Mother's Day surprise.

I scanned the pictures using one of Kodak's new inkjet printers, the 5300. When you place multiple images on the scanner glass, it detects each image and scans each to a separate file. The software that comes with the printer has color restoration, sharpening, and Kodak Perfect Touch capabilities.

It did take some work. Color restoration and sharpening worked well, but sometimes Kodak Perfect Touch fixed things a bit too much. The fun was in tweaking the different sliders to get each image just right. The best part was seeing the pictures come back to life.

This pic was a challenge because of the original backlighting. Unfortunately, it was so backlit that you lose the ring he's holding.

This is my favorite. Because of the disappointing photos, my parents wedding pics have primarily lived in an album buried on the coffee table. I may print this one large enough to frame for her family wall.

After improving the images, I printed them as 4x6s on the same printer and high quality paper. I love the results. I'm starting with 9 pictures that I'll put into a nice new album. If she likes them, I'll work on more.

[Stay tuned for an update after the surprise is revealed]