I've been pretty happy with my little point and shoot cameras, and before our spring holiday to Venice and Paris, and all points in between, I did buy me a new Canon PowerShot SD900 with 10 mega pixels. But I still couldn't get all of the shots I wanted. I couldn't get the depth in my close ups and I was really limited in the zoom area, and even with 10 mega pixels I still wasn't getting the clarity I wanted. So I went and bought a Canon Rebel XT with 8 mega pixels and a standard 18-55mm lens, plus a super 75-300mm lens.
Now I'm not the most technically advanced person on the planet and I thought that this camera might have too many features for me ('cause I don't know all the lingo or my f-stops and shutter speeds), but I do know what I like and I don't think this is too much camera for me. I've been shooting everything there is to shoot around the house and I'm playing with the settings and all. And when I can take a shot of Jiggy's little black padded paw with the depth that I've been wanting to see in my shots, well lookit:
I've been captivated with photography from a very early age. And travel is a passion and where there's travel there's photos to take. So, all full of guilt for not spending where I need to (that running bathroom faucet that is just money down the drain) and instead spending on a pure want... well I haven't quite reconciled that in my brain yet.
And the more practical part of me is shaking her head and making a mental list of better ways I could have spent my money, and tisk-tisking myself for this, the visual part of me that loves order and symmetry and colors and light and spontaneity and slices of life and moments in time, she is lit up inside and can't wait to capture the next journey (or flower or cat or cloud in the sky).
I'll tell you how wonderful my husband is. On our first anniversary last year we returned to the Edendale Grill where we went to dinner on our wedding night. I remember the Fried Green Tomatoes were out of this world delish. It was also the paper anniversary and I got my Sweetie a book (which obviously qualifies).
However, not being aware of the anniversary gift content tradition my adoring husband was lacking in this department. Not that I expected anything at all. But this year when we both came to realize that our anniversary was approaching and that the content of cotton was in order, not only did I receive two gifts (a new cotton covered down comforter and a cotton blanky) but I also received from my loving husband a paper gift (that covered last year's content).
And not just paper, but the paper place mat from a cafe where we had dinner one glorious night in Paris. Le Notre Dame Cafe and our hotel are wonderfully reproduced on the paper place mats of this cafe and while admiring them Will said he was taking one with him. I didn't think he would get the paper place mat home without creasing it, but he rolled it up and somehow got it home crease-free. Now, a month later, I'd forgotten all about the place mat, but not my Sweetie. He went out and did this, for me. 
How sweet is that!?! And I think we'll find a nice place for it in the kitchen, our own little cafe.
Second Anniversary Photos here.
Rome, Italy
05/12/07
Docking late in the morning and a 45 minute coach ride to actually reach Rome didn't help. We had a plan. We covered a good amount of ground and saw most all of the things we wanted to see, but it felt rushed. I need more time.
But I did throw my coin in the fountain and that should ensure me a return trip to Rome, some day. When I don't have a ship to catch.
Photos are up.
Pulling into the busy parking lot of HanNam Chain Supermarket on Olympic, just West of Vermont, I knew I would 't see too many non-Korean shoppers.
I wish I knew my bean pastes. I ended up getting a nice red bean paste because I liked the color. Everything else was pretty easy. Soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, brown sugar, garlic and things like that. I also picked up an assortment of seasoned Korean cucumber and bean sprout salads but steered wide of the 5 gallon tubs of kimchee. 
