If the political is personal, so too can the technological be.

January started innocently enough. The eating - er, holiday - season passed and I had a vague plan to get back into last year's fairly successful effort to get myself to a more comfortable weight and back to a sanity-saving exercise routine that tanked in September. I don't want to talk about it.

The first decade of the 21st century was amazing in many ways and alarming in others, but in photography it was arguably more exciting than ever. I mean, it may have been exciting in a different way from the time when photography was invented (thank you, Daguerre and Niepce, for giving me a hobby, seriously) but pretty cool all the same. 

The second-most-notable female athlete of 2009 according to the Associated Press was the first female to win one of the most celebrated contests in her sport and has a perfect record, winning all 14 of her major competitions.She is also the youngest woman to receive the honor, and at five years of age has accomplished all that she ever will in her sport and so has gone off to retirement.

It seems like it would be really easy to write about being grateful for your friends during the holidays, right? Simple. Friends are awesome. Holidays are times of gratitude, among other things, like stress, and cookies.