New Blog Name … Slightly New Focus

I finally did what I’ve been dancing around for months: I changed my blog name and migrated The Free Quark to my new domain, The Wild Beat.

I started The Free Quark more than four years ago as a casual photo chronicle, not knowing how it would bloom or maybe even wilt in the bloggish landscape. The name obviously has its origins in physics, in the hypothetical quark unbound with other quarks. The affiliation was simultaneously sentimental and abstract. It derived from one of my favorite coffee houses in Berkeley where a resident physics professor gladly answered questions about string theory and particle colliders. I also loved the idea of discussion topics being unbound by any convention.

Over time, though, I’ve been craving more limits, more delineation. Those are words I hardly ever speak, just so you know, and I probably won’t utter them again. The Free Quark just felt too broad and vague. The name says very little about the nature and wildlife images that constitute the bulk of my content. And, after moving to Seattle, losing my connection to the wilds of San Francisco Bay, I found myself more urban-bound and intrigued by the juxtaposition of wild animals and flora eking out a living on a developed city grid.

In renaming this space The Wild Beat, I’m pointing myself more directly toward the objects of my passion — the beat of the wild, the beat of the city, the news beat, the beat of wings. My main fondness and focus will always be nature and wild things, in both city and country. I also love the themes of urban reclamation and restoration. I’m thrilled when I find vines and sunflowers sprouting in abandoned industrial sites, or colonies of terns adapting to nests on warehouse rooftops. I cherish the pulse of that new life and also feel the dismay over the hurdles, the technology of man, as it were, that makes this regeneration process a whole lot harder.

I hope to take my photo documentation into other realms, renewed by the freshness of a remodel. To my friends here — who are really the reason any of this is worthwhile — I thank you. It’s a deep and heartfelt thank you for helping me sustain this blogging life with a great measure of humor, insight, understanding and learning. I’ve enjoyed immeasurable inspiration through the creative talents you share with the world.

Any links to The Free Quark or Free Quark blog posts should redirect to this space. If you have problems, please let me know so I can suss out the source of the problem. Thanks!

Cheers,
Ingrid