So that I can hold my head up high

We bought a new camera.

Let me 'splain. Way back when digital was cutting edge, my dad bought my sister and I digital cameras for Christmas. They were thick and weighty, and had a screen the size of a mini-wheat. It took a full five seconds of warm-up before it could take a picture. The video option was a solely visual experience. They were top-of-the-line, folks. We'd be taking group shots, and the designated picture-taker (that poor sap) would get to mine, hold it to his eye, pull it away, laugh, ask 'Is this digital?' and then make a comical show of trying to look at the screen and press the button AT THE SAME TIME. I'm telling you, it was novel.

Some five years later, Joel and I find ourselves somewhat out of date. People still get to my camera and go 'Whoa!' but that's because of its immensity, not its novelty. As the daughter of a man who loves his toys, especially ones that go *whirrrr* and *bing!* I was mildly ashamed of my technical retardation. So we used some of the fabulous dollars we recieved for getting married, and bought us a shiny new darling.

Aint she a beaut? She can hold 700-and-some-odd pictures at 7.1 megapixels, her screen is over half of her backside, her video function has sound, she can take pictures immediately upon start-up, and (best of all) she fits into the pocket of my board shorts. Sometimes, when Joel's not around, I nuzzle her.

We took her camping this weekend to see how she'd do, and (solely for the sake of science) we now have over fifty pictures of this family of ducks.

The camping trip is a tale in itself, but since I have a zillion assignments due tomorrow (ok, four), it'll have to wait. I'll leave you with this awesome shot of Keisha, our landlords' dog, chasing a goat.

The camera is awesome.