the year of 2004 was good to me. but it feels awfully strange to put it in writing considering the state of the world caused by the deeds of evil and ignorant politicians and other strange characters. to top it all off, mother nature staged one of the most devastating disasters ever; the earthquake and resulting tsunami in south east asia. donate to the red cross.

2004 was the year when: i spent a seven months parental leave at home with my son, february through august; the traffic on this blog took off; i got to see some of my photos in print in various papers and magazines; i promised to try down-hill skiing... next year; i embarked on the final coursework required as a part of my postgrad studies; i started writing the thesis... for real this time; i went semi-digital.

a big thanks goes to all of you who've visited smudo.org during the year and lurked, commented, given feedback and advice, asked questions and provided answers regarding photography and blogging. when i first started this blog, i imagined it'd merit feedback on my photos. it didn't. instead, i've gotten something much much more valuable; friends and contacts throughout the blogging world, some who i've met in real life, and some i have contact with regularly. i hope to see you all in 2005!