First - thank you to every one for the faves, features and follows (I know it's watch, but I didn't want to break the flow). You've all been incredibly busy, and I'll make it around to all of your galleries at some point in the near future.

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last updated my journal. I haven't had much time to get out and spend some quality time with my camera as I'd like - then again, time management has always been an issue. If I had more time to manage, there might be some improvement, though - and as a painful lesson over the past week brought to the forefront, we never know how much time we really have. I lost a cousin last Tuesday in a horrible car accident, one that was caused by a third party who left the scene, turning his back on the mayhem he left in his wake. He caused the deaths of two women in two cars, and just drove away. Thankfully the police did catch him, but we have had no word since in what legal consequences he will face for his actions. My cousin lived her life to the fullest - she was always busy, always smiling, always helping out wherever she could. She worked as both a Corrections Officer and a Special Constable for the SPCA. She shouldn't have even been working, but she was doing what she loved - heading for a meeting to better the lives of abused animals, filling in for a colleague who was on maternity leave. While I will be sad for her passing, I will celebrate her life and honour her with the lifetime of memories she has left behind.

On the lighter side - I have been asked to be a panel speaker at the Casual Connect Conference in Seattle next month. Women In Games International, Women In Games Vancouver and the IGDA are presenting a Leadership Development forum the day prior to the actual start of the Casual Game Association's annual conference, and our Women In Games Vancouver is the main organizing body for the forum. I've wanted to attend this conference for a few years now but was never able to get there - it's an event I'm definitely looking forward to - except for the public speaking part.

Our news site has grown a lot since we launched it, as well. It, along with my involvement with various digital media associations is what has made the severe dent in my time to get out and shoot. There is so much going on in the Canadian digital media industry and so many research studies to read - and games to play, that time just disappears. There have been more than a few nights where I only intend to check on a few things, and before I know it the male population in the house is wondering what happened to dinner. Oops.

I'd also like to congratulate the organizers of the annual Canary Derby in Vancouver and Victoria. I don't know how much they raised today in Victoria, but yesterday in Vancouver the total was just over $113 000.00 for early detection cancer research. The Canary Derby (www.canaryderby.com) is a soapbox derby made up of teams mainly from the technology industry. We had great weather for the day, there was an excellent turnout, and that much more money directed to researching ways to detect cancer cells earlier - something which is sure to save many, many lives.

Congrats as well to the recent graduates of Vancouver Film School and Art Institute Burnaby - many of them have work on this site, as do past grads, and they are very talented indeed.

So...how have you all been?