Trip to North Carolina Leads to Flickr Encounter

This past weekend I was traveling in various parts of North Carolina as my wife Staci and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. We decided to travel to North Carolina to visit my good friend, Brandon Aragona and his wife Michelle. I grew up with Brandon in Shinnston West Virginia. He is a WVU graduate who recently received his PhD in Neuroscience from Florida State. He was recently published in Nature Neuroscience Magazine. Michelle his wife, has just opened a new retail furniture/décor store called Uptown Nature in Carrboro in the Historic Carr Mill Mall. We were excited to visit the shop and purchase a few great items, like a unique humming bird feeder and blanket. The items Michelle has stocked in the store are very unique and I think they this line of goods would fit perfectly on Capitol Street, the East End, or South Hill here in Kanawha County.

While traveling in the Chapel Hill/Durham area we were able to visit some great restaurants, like Top of the Hill in the heart of UNC’s campus and Mad Hatter in Durham, one of the best breakfast places on earth, well particularly if you are looking for Loxs. I also took some time to visit Whole Foods. I had been hearing so much about Whole Foods as a place I should investigate to expand with an operation in West Virginia. Now that I’ve visited one of their locations in person, I can see why people really like to shop there.

Anyway, the reason I share all of this is to set up a story about Flickr particularly for you bloggers out there who may use Flickr as a resource for photographs and photography for blog usage. For those who may not know, Flickr is an online photo management and sharing application.

While in Raleigh on the way to dinner, several people with professional cameras stopped us as we walked on the sidewalk. They ask, “Could you help us with our contest for Flickr?” Brandon and Michelle immediately refused; not knowing about Flickr. I however, decided to participate having used Flickr before and wanting to help. The group further explained that they were taking casual street pictures for a contest sponsored by Flickr and of which the winning pictures would be featured in a local Raleigh Art Gallery. They placed a blue piece of cardboard behind us, explaining that the pictures could not identify a certain place or location and then the flash bulbs began. It felt a bit like a red carpet walk as you arrived at a movie you were staring in… multiple photographers, lots of flashing lights. Anyway, we were happy to help. It is amazing what applications such as blogs and Flickr are doing at a grassroots level to connect people.

We look forward to continuing this blog as a resource for you to stay informed about the region and the Charleston Area Alliance.