Vanns.com: Check It Out

Yippee!

So far my experience blowing hundreds of dollars on technology has been enjoyable. My Montana supplier has proven be be faithful on many accounts:

1) When I had a question about the mysterious disappearance of Awesome Bundle Options (!), I was told on Saturday night that I would get an answer on Monday (cuz it looks like that store's a Christian, and is closed on Sundays); but I got a reply back Sunday morning (before church, I'm sure) from a very informative representative (who unfortunately confirmed that the bundle deal was indeed over, but hey, she was nice about it).

2) Then when I decided to go for the camera anyway(sometime around 11pm last night), and clicked to order the NOT bundled camera bag along with it, I got a pop-up that I could purchase this for around 40% off if I wanted to browse the go-backs section of returned bags that had all been given a perfectly-good-condition stamp of approval. Can you say heck yeah? (I thought so.) What a brilliant idea.

3) THEN, when I've placed my order, gotten my confirmation, been told that my order will go out on Wednesday, probably arrive around the 22nd (next Tuesday, still not a bad turn around for FREE shipping), and settled myself into a long nine days of researching every detail of SLR shooting that I can (I finished color balance and sharpness lessons on the Canon website over lunch today), I get this little e-mail at 3pm:


JORDAN PECK,
Your Vanns.com order processing has been completed. The purpose of this email is to confirm that order 51461216014024965468 has been sent to our shipping department. If you have received this email before 12 PM MST on a regular business day, your order will be shipped out on the same day.


Me: Why thank you, Vanns.com. I suppose I should be on the lookout for my camera full of awesomeness sometime next Tuesday then?

Vanns.com: No, it should be arriving this Thursday according to our FedEx buddies, who have already stopped by to pick up your camera of awesomeness; it's probably somewhere in Wyoming by now. Didn't we tell you we're all awesome like that?

SO! Thursday's the big day! (On an unrelated note, it's also the day Jenna and I have chosen for a mini-spring cleaning day of sorts. But don't tell Jenna I referenced spring cleaning for it; she thinks this is just a regularly scheduled cleaning moment.)

I did it... part two.

I love a good midnight snack. :)

Still researching. I think I figured out the flash problem: seems the flash automatically fires for certain automatic settings (ones I probably don't often use and therefore didn't notice that I have no flash options for), but all manual settings won't activate it. Neither will automatic sports setting. Excellent.

Bad news! I went back to the company website I've been lurking on the by the XT and the bundle options are now gone! Are they reading my blog?

Decisions, decisions (and lots of research)

I've been non-stop researching the Canon Rebel this last week. After hearing nothing but sung praises for it from my professional photographer roommate, Mandy, pro camp photographer Boy Jordan, and hundreds of people in message boards worldwide, I figured out that it's kind of a kick butt camera. (Well, I already knew that, but I got it confirmed enough to satisfy knowing that it won't be a waste of money.) Finally decided I needed to have one in my hands to really play with to see if it looked like something I could catch on to.

I decided to hit up Liz for her XTI at the Wild West Show; her battery was dead.

She directed me to Boy Jordan, who gave me a whirlwind summary of all five versions of the Rebel, including his personal preference, what was so great about the XS, and how he ordered one online, they took his money, then found out they were out of stock (!), and how he still wasn't over the whole ordeal, all in the time it took to get from the WWS stage to Oak Rock. Then he handed me the camera and I proceeded to not know what to do with it in the dark, as hundreds of campers filed past, old camp staff stopped to say hey, and new camp staff who had been campers when I worked there, paused to exclaim over the fact. (That's always fun- working at camp turns everyone into a celebrity of sorts.) So short story: Didn't get a darn thing from the experience (except, of course, for Boy Jordan's vast wealth of knowledge on the subject.)

Brings us to yesterday (Friday). I found this great dealonline (the XT, a fairly good lens, extra battery, 1 gb CF card, and a pretty nice camera bag to boot, all for $469, free shipping, and no tax since it's out of state), and I've been just itching to take the leap. Fortunately my sensibility kicks into high gear when monetary amounts over $200 are involved, and I told myself I was not allowed to seal the deal until I had actually spent time with an XT and found everything online about the XT that could answer anything I'm unsure about.

So today Ryan and I headed over to Best Buy to play with the cameras. It was fun. And I'm definitely loving the Rebel, and definitely hating the lighting in Best Buy. I was able to figure out how to change all my main settings (ISO, aperture, AF-- shutter speed took awhile to figure out), except for how to turn off the bloody flash. It kept popping up for every picture, unless I set it to a specific no-flash mode on the dial, but then I got no other manual options so that just won't work. Seeing as my little point and shoot has auto flash, manual flash, and no flash settings, I'm thinking there's probably an easy way to fix this, and five minutes from now I will be poring over the XT manual online to find that answer.

So all that to say, I will most likely be making my purchase tomorrow night. And maybe, just maybe, I'll even have my brand new little Rebel by this time next week. Woo-hoo!

I'm going to need to come up with a name for that little guy now....


(Also, the 'I did it' in the previous reference refers to my hair. As in, 'I did cut it.')

Bring in the Clowns

She's kind of cute like that, huh?

And one from my clown days, back in 2001. Same pigtails and everything. I guess it's a sister thing.

I did it....

I am so in love

... with photoshop!

Look what I can do!

To Splurge, or to Splurge More?

Along with my moral dilemna of chopping my hair or not (today I'm on the 'totally-doing-it' side, but who knows what will happen next time I brush my hair-- less than 24 hours to decide!), my latest problem is figuring out what kind of camera to upgrade to. I love my little Canon A75 to death. It is my most treasured gift, perfectly wrapped and presented to me Christmas 2004 by the most amazing friends I'll ever have.

Sadly, at 3.2 megapixels, it's a little behind in times now. I will always, always keep it on hand as my back-up (and probably even go-to early on for quick shots I need to know how to do fast), but the time has come, the walrus said, to talk of other things. Namely, do I go for the latest and greatest A series Canon, the A590, which is basically the 2008 upgrade of my little A75, or should I forsee my photography passion growing in the next year and splurge right on up to the Rebel XT (oh, the Rebel...)?

Seeing as there is a price difference of $300 between the two, this is no easy decision. What I need is to get my hands on someone's Rebel to play with for awhile, and then figure it out.

Pro/Con list to follow.

To Cut? Or not to cut?

Yes, that is the question.

And before you all think I'm going emo on you, I'm referring to the ridiculousness I call my hair. I know that if I go ahead and cut it, I'll never have it long again. Part of me just wants to keep holding out for just that reason. Then the other part of me that can't do anything with my own hair is screaming at me to chop it off so I don't have to worry about it. That part was darn well winning for awhile. Then two other parts, we'll call them Jen and Justin, convinced me last Thursday to keep it long. I was convinced... until today. And now we're back to the beginning.

What I really want is to cut it about midway down my back. That way it's not a shock to just have it all gone, and if I want to go shorter I'm already half there. But I feel like it would be such a waste to have grown my hair this long and then not donate it. I blame this conflict on my mom for raising me not to waste anything.

So I have until Thursday to decide. I guess right now I'm leaning toward keeping it long and layering, thus giving me more time to get used to the idea of chopping it all off next time. Or, I'm going to end up being selfish and cutting around 4 inches off to get what I want. Sheez.

I Went to the American Idol Concert and All I Got Was This Lime Green T-Shirt

Kidding! I also got some pretty great pictures, if I do say so myself. Also, if any of you were wondering, sneaking a camera into the Sports Arena? Cake. Walk.

:: Panaramic view 10 minutes before the concert started::

:: Top 5-10 perform a song mid-concert::

:: Half-time picture::

:: A lovely guy offered to take this picture for us::

::Representing $105 worth of merchandise::

::Jason Castro, with his weird red shoes::

:: Little David and the piano came up out of the floor-- that was pretty sick::

::Awww, I like this little guy::

::But I think I like this guy more::

:: Working the crowd::

::All of their humility really impresses me, but I think what especially got me was when Big David brought out this little video camera he'd just bought so he could capture the audience's reaction. I really like that he acts like a normal guy who just happened to be thrust into stardom, and shows it by nerding out on the crowd like that::

:: The last song ::

And for more pics, here's the flickr link: http://flickr.com/photos/18312815@N00/tags/theonewiththeamericanidols/

Also, now that I have them pu, here are the links for the rest of the fair pictures, NOT-couch-burning-beach-bonfire night, and Mikey's birthday:

http://flickr.com/photos/18312815@N00/tags/theonewiththefair/

http://flickr.com/photos/18312815@N00/tags/theonewiththenotbonfire/

http://flickr.com/photos/18312815@N00/tags/theonewheremikeyturns24/

Sea World, anyone?

Well, I'm over at Ryan's house now, and was about to set into updating the ol' blog (much to talk about, AI concert, Fourth of July, etc.), but looks like we're going to do an impromptu trip to Sea World instead. At 9:15pm.

I love San Diego. :)

Another Quote From Yesterday...

"When she grows up, she wants to be just like me."

~Justin Aubrey, July 2008, in reference to his dad's comment on how easily and amusingly we fight with each other.

Only Support Staff Will Laugh At This Joke...

"Screw you, fate. I do what I want!" ~ Brian Reames, July 2008

Aw, I get to see David Cook tonight

American Idol concert tonight, peeps. I'm a bit excited, I have to admit, even though I'm not much of a concert fan as a general rule. I think it's from following the trials and joys of the final seven in their last weeks of the show, the only episodes of American Idol I've ever watched. I love how humble they all are, not these big ego-centric rock stars. And since tonight's only the second show of the tour, we'll hopefully get them before they get too tainted by the glitz and glamor.

Pictures to come! (Fingers crossed!)

On an unrelated note, anyone have a suggestion for smuggling a camera into the sports arena? Are we going to be Disneyland searched (just a quick look through the bag and a walk through the detector) or is it not smart for me to just pocket the camera?

Goodbye, Jeremy!

We will miss you!
Have an excellent time in Benin/Be-i!
Tell us how to pronounce where you are so we don't sound like idiots when we tell others!
Sorry we didn't go to Ikea for delish hot dogs!