New Toy!!!!

Happy Birthday to me!! As a b-day present to myself, I finally upgraded my 4 year-old point and shoot digital camera to a more grown-up version... and here it is! After about a year of shopping around, playing around, dancing around (the idea, that is, that I was worth spending the money on) and weighing a lot of digital SLRs (literally and comparatively), I concluded that the Pentax K10D was the best fit for me. I won't bore you with all the techy specs, but you can ooh and ahh at the picture if you like;)
I actually had a fairly pleasant buying experience as well. I purchased the pretty little thing through www.digicombos.com, a website recommended to me by my D.C. Diva, Michele. While I was a bit skeptical about buying from a "bundle" company, they worked with me to get what I wanted, for a great price, and would you believe that they shipped it to me (from NY) overnight... for FREE!!!!
Of course I have had no chance to play around with it yet, but the main reason I chose the Pentax over the other popular brands (besides that my buddy David O. has one and LOVES it) is the ergonomics... Being a photographer... and artist... and uh, right-handed... it is very challenging when you don't have any sensation or muscle strength in the hand that is generally used to.. well, take a photograph (let's face it, it's a right-handed world!!). Therefore, I chose the camera that had the most comfortable body shape and weight for my crippled hand... it's a handicap, yes, but I won't allow that to keep me from exploring my passions. So thank you, Pentax for making a camera that "fits" me:)
So, hopefully soon, I will be able to figure out how to use this thing and I will post images from time to time... stay tuned!!!

Ah, yes... I am joining all the 'cool' kids.

Okay, okay... so maybe I am a bit behind here with the fantastically chic blogger trend... wait, is it even considered a trend anymore? In a world where it seems everyone has a blog in some way, shape, or form, I decided that maybe I need to jump onto that party boat, indulge in some of that fancy and stupendously delicious punch that gives you a chance to let go... free your mind... foster and expel emotions... say it like you see it... and on occasion (albeit too rare, from my perspective) share some outstanding news. So why not? Well... here's the 'why?'... because last year, at this time, I decided to create a different kind of blog where I vowed to make an effort towards visually capturing the world around me... everyday... well (and I'm sure you can see where this is going), that lasted until about August (and that was a leg-cramping, side-splitting stretch). In an attempt to look back and view what 2007 looked like to me, I realized that right about when I stepped toward my future and enrolled in grad school, my world (as you could see if you had been keeping up with my photoblog) became non-existent... pretty sad, I know. So the 'why not?' you say? Well, isn't it obvious? Try, try, try... fail, fail, fail... story of my life. But that story keeps on moving because even though it feels like I am always taking backwards steps, I can see what's a few steps in front of me, so I feel the desire to try, try, try and reach it... My hand on the door, always wondering how far I am able to get if I just keep trying (of course, never quite prepared for the inevitability of the doors slamming in my face). So... I am starting anew... with these written passages, in addition to my rededication to the visual depiction of my world through my camera. And since this image was the last one I posted in 2007, what better way to pick up!
So, as they say... "here goes nothing."