my camera arrived safely on monday, thanks to matt who took the day off to wait for it. overzealously, while i put in the battery, matt tore into the packaging for the memory card, and handed it over. the little card was smaller than i remembered CF cards being... sure enough - didn't fit right. i couldn't figure out how it was supposed to fit in there.

because it was the wrong card. i'd ordered the right brand, right line, wrong type. i ordered the kind my old camera uses - out of habit, i suppose. heartbroken, i packed up the camera, not really sure what to do. matt, Solver of All Camera Problems, took me to dinner, and then to buy a new memory card.

i've now read the manual, cover-to-cover, taken a good 180 pictures of CDs, coffee tables, bookshelves, matt, cats, feet, television, etc - all in the name of practice. i'm simply blown away by the kind of control i have; astounded by the kind of pictures i'm able to take in the house, no flash, low light, after dark. incredible.

i've put a good 5-6 hours into the couch over the last two days, reading, fiddling, and otherwise learning my camera. the cats, who'd normally occupy the space now consumed by the camera, sit nearby - on the coffee table, on the arm of the couch - and watch the intruder in my lap, not quite sure where it came from, nor why it would deserve the most esteemed position in the room. what will they do when we have babies?

oh, and i've named her "charlotte". :)