Forty days and forty sights

And lo it came to pass. Apparently the use of the number forty in biblical texts is really just poetic shorthand for "a lot". And it does feel like I've spent a lot of time with blip recently - on the site, taking pictures and thinking about what I see, do and read here.

It's a growing problem. Here are some more numbers for you: so far in May, over 4,500 new photos have been added to the site, and as predicted, the 200-a-day barrier has been broken several times.

I'm not quite anal enough to try to figure out how many users there are now (maybe Joe can tell us?), but judging by the increasing number of L-plates I see membership seems to be accelerating. I've held off subscribing to anyone to encourage me to discover images beyond a closed circle, but as the numbers pile up it's getting harder and harder to get to everyone - and remember their children's names ( ;D hope/SU ).

As lots of you will no doubt attest to, one of the pleasures of blip is getting to know a bit more about people, what makes them tick, how they think, their sense of humour, their trials and tribulations - it's not just a gallery of pretty pictures. Maintaining that sort of connection with people takes time, and it's why cliques form. Blip's 'early adopters' will maybe be feeling it too?

I hadn't heard of the Dunbar number until today, but I knew such a phenomenon existed. A lot of the difficulties of maintaining modern relationships come from the fact that we no longer all live in a village long hut, but instead juggle social groups across work, home, continents and cyberspace. Interestingly, the level of commitment that blip takes may mean it correlates quite closely to that 150-person limit - it's only in the last couple of months that that daily figure (in posts) has been significantly exceeded.

So, I think I've reached my own tipping point: I need to subscribe to the blips that have, over the last forty days, kept me coming back for more (for all sorts of reasons), and hope that I can still find time to add to that roster in future.

It's something I'm reluctant to do - all through school and college I was never in a 'gang', I was always loosely affiliated with several groups (often with friends in each who would never hang out with each other). I am a bit of a social chameleon (I blame my semi-Forces early childhood).

I should also point out that until about three days ago, I was completely unaware that I could see who subscribes to my own blip (how rubbish am I?). So my thanks to all those of you who do, and to everyone who has taken time to comment. It has been a really great addition to my daily life, and I hope I can maintain it in balance with all the other demands on my time.

The statistician in me wants to see if I can post 100 days straight, but I also know life is all about letting go, so we'll see what happens. And I know that however much I post, it will only give you a glimpse - it will take more than blip for you to "Know All Of Me" (which I imagined was some scripture I was half-remembering, but Google doesn't seem to think so. Anyone?)

And I wonder what it is about humans that makes us want rules (all games have rules), but we only want the rules we like. We can all agree on one thing: blip Rules O.K.