April 20, Then & Now
04.21.10
Some things just don’t change.
2 years ago Today in 2008
I got together with some friends in the scrapbook industry who I met online. One was my girlfriend, Dedra, who lives near me but who introduced herself to me on the scrapbooking website, TwoPeasInABucket. The other was Lain Ehmann who worked for Simple Scrapbooks Magazine and was visiting my hometown to teach classes at the Creating Keepsakes Convention.
Today, April 20, 2010
I got together remotely with other friends in the scrapbook industry via skype to record an episode of the Paperclipping Roundtable. Two were Cathy Zielske and Ali Edwards, who for years I admired in Creating Keepsakes and Simple Scrapbooks Magazine, who are now a regular part of my audio show, but who I have yet to meet in person.
Another was Nancy Nally, who we all know from her news coverage of the scrapbook industry and who I got to meet in person at the Craft & Hobby Association trade show last summer when I met up with her and Lain and others to record a Paperclipping Newsbreak episode.
The fourth person was Izzy, who helped me build a business out of my scrapbooking hobby, who I know in “real” life, in the “online” world, and in the biblical sense. 
* * *
2 years ago Today in 2008
I talked about scrapbooking with Lain and Dedra — about our different methods and about the people we admire and learn from in the industry, both in the magazines and online.
Today, April 20, 2010
I talked about scrapbooking with Ali, Cathy, Nancy, and Izzy — about methods for integrating our personal internet content with our scrapbooking content.
* * *
2 years ago Today in 2008
I pulled out my camera. Dedra and Lain pulled out their cameras.
We found innovative ways to frame ourselves in the shots.
And we took lots of pictures being silly and having fun and bonding through this intersection of our online worlds, our “real” worlds, and the hobby we love of documenting our lives.
Today, April 20, 2010
I pulled out my camera and set it on a tripod.
Cathy and Ali had their cameras out and ready. And we took pictures of ourselves in headsets and in front of microphones, being silly and having fun and bonding while talking about the intersection of our online worlds and our real worlds and how we choose to (and in some cases, choose not to) document the parts of our lives that we share on the internet.
* * *
Later This Week
We will share the audio show with others like us who love to scrapbook and love to talk about scrapbooking. And they’ll have some very cool thoughts which they’ll share back with us on the Paperclipping blog. And some day I’ll get to meet some of those people as well.
Like I said, some things never change, except to grow bigger. Or maybe this is just what happens when you find a way to make a life doing the things you love.
* * *
Hugs to another online scrapbooky friend I’ve yet to meet in person — Stephanie Howell — from whom I learned to compare and contrast my past with my present by looking at my photos.
How fun! I especially love the photo of you and Izzy in the studio. Photos of you two together really show off the awesome bond you share.
=)