Bringing over a few ancient Flickr posts to Micro.blog
I found 11 images on Flickr that pre-date my use of Instagram and any of my blogs.1 I downloaded them and moved them to this site, preserving the original captions. My favorite from this bunch was actually the oldest… a shot from 2008 of a neon sign in a rain storm taken with my original iPhone from my car. I’m pretty sure I’ve reached the beginning of my public online presence with the addition of these images. I’m guessing that before these pictures, I used Apple .Mac galleries to share family pictures online — and those galleries are long gone.2 I did have a couple of portfolio sites — including one built in Flash — that are also not accessible, thankfully.
So why is it important to me to bring these all in one timeline? Because when I look at the complete picture — the blog, the early iPhone images, my tweets — I can get real snapshot of how I felt about things in that moment. This consolidation process is all about my desire to have a complete record of my online digital life, in one place. It’s a lot of work, but it makes me happy to have everything brought together. It feels like the digital equivalent of my Mom’s photo albums.
I still need to move a bunch of posts over from Sketchbook B. I’m wondering if I can automate some of the more time consuming parts of the process. We’ll see.
Bob Wertz is a type designer, Ph.D. student and researcher living in Columbia, South Carolina. He’s been blogging since 2008.