my new camera: a love story

5 years and 5,938 photos (at least, the ones i kept) later . . i have upgraded my camera. my nikon d50 served me well, but the freight train o' technology continues apace, and i had to make moves to keep up. now i am the proud possessor of a nikon d300s*. 5 years since a camera upgrade has me awestruck. after all, 5 years in the technology/electronics industry is like dog years, or so it seems to my feeble human mind.

(*here is where i will remind you that i do not care about/engage in nikon vs. canon arguments.)

the only way i can convey how it felt to fire off the first few frames on my new camera is to explain my reaction when i drove a brand-spanking-new bmw 330i for the first time. i was all, "WHOA. this thing drives itself."

i was pretty intimidated by my new toy at first. and still approach it somewhat cautiously. i longed to go back to the comfort and ease of my d50 and ignored my new camera for a couple of weeks. then my parents came to DC and i decided i had to conquer my fear. i also handed over the rights to my d50 to my dad . . i had no choice but to move forward. here's what happened in the first couple of days:

*click for bigger*

immediately after their visit, i flew down to FL for the annual Brotherhood BBQ and superhappyfuntimes. and then this happened:


*click for bigger*

i love it. oooooh i love it. and one of my favorite photos from recent history:


tough guys in the park, enjoying some bubble time. AWESOME.

here's to inspiration, family, good friends, and working lots of hours to justify purchasing my new toy.

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the code.

the blogging code, that is. because i love blogs. that intimate look into strangers' and friends' lives to feed the voyeur in me is part of my daily routine. i search for new blogs every so often and i can quickly tell if it's going to annoy me to death if it doesn't adhere to most, if not all, of the following rules (listed in no particular order other than this is how i thought them up just this moment):

1. do not address your "readers" or "fans". who are you?
2. do not make apologies for being busy with your life and NOT blogging for 2 days and disappointing your "readers" (see #1).
3. do not apply center spacing to all of the text in your post. layout is important, people.
4. courier font? REALLY? no. no no no. it is not cute and typewriteresque. it's an assault on the eyes. two latin words: sans serif.
   
5. do not just re-post stuff from other blogs or the internet. if the entire purpose of your blog is to recycle other peoples' content, then just get a bunch of followers on your google reader and SHARE stuff.
6. do post something at least once a week (if you can). otherwise, people lose interest.
7. piggybacking on #5, do not just post photos that other people took, especially if you don't give them credit. i'm fooled for a second thinking "wow, what a great photographer!!". (but you're totally not.)
8. to me, proper capitalization via internet communication has never mattered, but spelling, grammar, and punctuation sho' as snuff do.
9. don't be purposely vague/sad/emo to get attention. yawn.
10. remember above all else - this is the internet. it is accessible to everyone. your friends, parents, enemies, and even your ex-boyfriends and creepy people who stalk you.

and now for some blogs that i always really like:
My Milk Toof
Pacing the Panic Room
Whirly Bird
How About Orange

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regarding NYC.

new york city is still a mystery to me. i've been there only 4 times and still hate manhattan. yes, it's impressive and all that, but just being on that island makes me feel the constant need to shower. the dirt, the garbage, the people, the smell, the money, the consumerism. i rarely find anyone who agrees with my perspective on this, but that's ok. i'm fine with going solo on this one. the one redeeming quality: the food. oof.

i do like brooklyn, however. it makes me much more comfortable. i spent last weekend there with my beautiful friend iris. i've known her since the tender age of 14 and we have that kind of friendship where you can not talk or know what's going on with the other person for like 3 years and then get in front of each other and scream and jump up and down and pick right back up where you left off as if no time has passed. i hate that we don't get to see each other more, but it makes me want to explode with happiness that we don't have to have that to hold each other in our hearts.

she introduced me to a bunch of fantastic people that made me feel more than welcome. NYC is a quandary. i've never been to a place where i've felt more ordinary. everyone is attractive and does interesting things and has eccentric talents and cool jobs. and it's the norm rather than the exception. there are super models walking the streets, carrying their plastic-wrapped dry-cleaning heading off to a shoot. there's a band playing here, a dj spinning next door, and a gallery opening down the street. it's enough to make you feel downright ugly and uninteresting.

iris and i talked about the redundancy of relationships in a place like NYC. she said that you will start dating someone, and you connect, and it's intriguing, but there is the underlying nagging feeling that there is probably someone "better" out there for you. and i get that. i mean, it's hard enough to keep your eye on the prize when you're floating along in a Sea of Ordinary. i can imagine the exponential difficulty if you're swimming around in a Sea of Incredible. el Mar de Increíble!

so befuddled was i that i didn't even seize the opportunity to take any photographs. not even one. which is completely unlike me. i was overwhelmed and over-stimulated and have nothing to show for my excursion but my memories and these here thoughts. that's really only a half-reason. the other reason is that sometimes i want to actually just have the fun instead of documenting having the fun. i know. CRAZY.

mmmmm i already miss iris. she feels like home. i hereby vow to never let 3 years happen like that again.

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