It’s an interesting meme, innit? I mean, I can guess a few number of the words or phrases people used, or at least the gist). But the ones I’m stumped on, I haven’t the first fucking clue what people might have said.

But I had a different point with the post, and it’s this: I want icons. Bought a permanent account yesterday, and I’ve now got the Stupid Number Of Icons that comes with it. So I’ve decided to abandon my long held rule that I’ll only use pictures of me, not least because I almost never use anything but this one, and now that I have more icons that I could possibly use, that somehow seems a shame.

So, new rule: I’ll only use pictures of me, or icons based on photos I’ve taken. (Oh, and not animated ones. There many are excellent reasons why you should never use animated icons.)

Which is where you lot come in. Because I’m shit at this LJ-icon making lark, and some of you are quite good at. So, if you feel like it, head over to electricana, and make icons out of what’s there. I don’t promise I’ll use them all – if nothing else, I’ll have to get over the shock of people chopping up my beloved pictures and probably putting words all over them. But I do want some new icons, so you’re in with a pretty good chance. And if I wind up using your icon or icons a lot, then you can a) be smug, and b) claim a drink off me.

And finally: anyone who does not own Tom Middleton’s Cosmosonica Volume #1 is missing out, in a very big way.

So the first photo that I know for damn sure my other camera couldn’t have managed has just gone up on electricana.  It’s not anything earth-shattering – just a little exercise in light-bleaching, but I like it.

But more importantly, I have a question for those of you that I spend time around.  Up to now, I’ve largely restriced myself to taking photos of things, rather than people.  But now, I have a camera that’s rather better able to cope with things like being indoors, and I would like to start taking more photos of people.  At some point, yes, I’ll probably get around to trying to arrange actual proper shoot type-things with anyone that’s interested, but for now, what I want to work on is just catching people as naturally as possible (and yes, I accept that people will instintively pose a bit when there’s a camera about), and generally being the irritating bastard at the party who won’t stop taking photos – I really don’t have much feel for getting people’s “best side”, so I figure I’d better develop that a bit before I move on to wasting anyone in particular’s time.

But I know a lot of people don’t like be photographed, and particularly, don’t like having photos of them put on line.  (God knows, I’m one of them, hence the hiding behind the camera myself.)  And while I’m happy to give assurances that no-one will see anything I think is less than a vision of pure loveliness, and will never make anything available to the general public without the specific consent of the parties in the photo, I do want to put them on-line in some manner – I don’t like working for an audience of none.  So I figure the least I can do is give everyone that I’m likely to photograph a chance to weigh in with what they’d prefer.

My current plan is to create yet another photojournal, one specificially for photos of my friends, and friends lock it so that only people I actually know will see it, thus saving me from feeling like I have to get permission for every photo – they won’t be completely public, after all.  If there are ever any photos of people I want to put on electricana, I will ask specific permission for that, unless you tell me I don’t need to.

I hope that was all slightly clearer than mud.

So, a poll.  Please, if you think I’m likely to be pointing a camera your way at any point, tick the appropriate boxes.