What I'm Learning

There's a zen saying that from one thing, you can learn 10,000 things. Here are some non-photographic things I'm learning from photography:

I will run out of ideas. I will also get more.

Newness wears off, but there's still joy to be had in the doing. More joy, potentially, than exists in the newness.

The simple things you do at the beginning don't really box you into one certain path. In fact, nobody really pays attention to the simple things you do at the beginning.

It might take more than a minute's thought. Corollary: there's always another way to do it. The sweetest fruit isn't necessarily the low-hanging fruit, and you're not going to jump to the top of the tree in one bounce.

Don't be afraid to copy (other's ideas, anyway). In fact, this is probably the best way to get going.

Similarly, from cycling:

No pain doesn't mean no gain. It might mean slower gain (or not), but might mean I'll stay with it, too.

Enjoy the doing. You'll never get anywhere, let alone get to all the fun places those with experience seem to be, if you don't enjoy the doing along the way.

A New Bike

Hey, look at that, I still have a blog! Well, let's make a post.

I got a new bike for my birthday! It's a Trek 7000, which I got from a local bike store.

I initially went to a local sporting goods store, a few weeks ago. The guy I talked at was *very* quiet, and I couldn't get more than a couple of words out of him. The bike was nice enough, but more than I wanted to spend, and with him not being helpful...

I did a little bit of research online, and found that I wanted a hybrid. They're more comfortable than a regular road bike (i.e. easier on my aging butt), and have a wider range of gears (at least than my 15-yr-old 12 speed).

So I went to the shop down the street, and found the Trek model, but in a smaller size than would be right for me. They had my size in stock, but not assembled. So I went to another sporting goods store, which didn't have anything I wanted, and a day later, to Target.

Target had a Schwinn bike that was the style I was looking for, and I pulled it down off the rack and gave it a try. The price was right, but the shifters were awful and the gears rattled badly in low gear. All in all, I wasn't impressed, even at a lower price.

So I went back to the bike shop, and they had mine assembled. Tried it out, loved it, bought it. Friendly, helpful staff, and a good bike at a decent price. And I get to feel good about helping keep a specialty store running, (for what that's worth to ya).