November 17, 2007

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New Camera Is Cuter, Cuddlier, And 50% More Sanitary Than Old Camera

For a long time before we started our summer jobs this past summer, Jeanette and I knew we were going to be making way too much money. We both had summer associateships at law firms in San Francisco, and they pay young attorneys (and the law students who will soon be young attorneys) way more than they are even close to worth, in the hopes that you'll stick around once you've learned the ropes. Along with all the other similarly situated law students in our class, we played this game where we planned out what we were going to buy with the small fortunes we anticipated earning. We allotted certain amounts to clothing, or travel, or electronics, or hobbies, and we even committed to saving large sums, even knowing we'd spend more than we had planned.

I decided well in advance that I was going to 1) buy a digital SLR camera, 2) fly my family out to San Francisco for a vacation, and 3) buy some sweet new kitchen gadgets. And I faithfully fulfilled numbers 2 and 3. But I decided, over the course of the summer, that I just didn't need the expensive new camera, in a large part because I was rarely blogging, and certainly wasn't posting extensive photo sets. So I felt like I was being "good" by not giving in to the covetous urge for pixel-y deliciousness. I was resisting temptation, and being frugal. I was a real trooper, living my deprived, 3 megapixel life.

It worked out nicely until, two weeks ago, I knocked my one decent camera off the kitchen counter. I was photographing the process of butchering a rabbit (yes, I do that sort of thing, and I have about a whole year's worth of cooking exploits awaiting posting to EatFoo or here, if I ever get back on the wagon). I reached for it and, instead of my fingers grasping the camera, they just kinda slapped it. It went sailing.

Durable as my camera always was, it flew down, lens-first. There was a sickening crack as it hit the hardwood floor. Before I even looked at the LCD, I just knew the camera wasn't going to work. Sure enough, the screen will only show all-white, and it won't store any pictures, despite the shutter opening and closing when I press the take-the-goddamned-picture button.

As soon as I realized that my beloved old camera was finished, I started to let out little whimpers. Big wet drops ran down from my eyes and found their ways to my lips. What else could I do but turn to my only companion for support? And so I buried my face in the loving embrace of the half-butchered rabbit, snuggling up to the cuddly little guy for comfort. He was with me in my time of need. There was only one set of footprints in the sand that day. And they weren't footprints. They were paw prints. From lucky, delicious paws.

Oh, and in a twist ending of which Rod Serling would have been proud, the dropped camera turned out to be powered by what kind of batteries? You guessed it. Energizer.

Anyway, with nothing left but my point-and-shoot, pocket-sized, good-for-parties, bad-if-you-want-decent-looking-shots camera, I had no choice but to make the stupid purchase that I'd wanted to over the summer. There went $600. If I'd have just bought the stupid thing five months ago, I would have avoided all that pain and suffering--from the loss of the camera, as well as from the bacterial infection I got from snuggling up to the raw meat.

Now I have a Canon Digital Rebel XT. It's 8 megapixels, with much better lens and features. It's also sturdier, so I will feel free to slap it around a bit. It ain't one of them sensitive broads what can't take a hit. The best thing to come out of this ordeal is that the new camera has given me a renewed interest in taking crappy pictures of things. That means you can expect more photos, just like old times. But I'm happy. This camera is really, really awesome, and I love it. And I'm constantly worried that someone is going to steal it.

Posted at November 17, 2007 1:33 AM | Comments (1)

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