I’m having some doubts about buying a digital camera. I mean, why buy a digital camera when you can get a digital camcorder with just a not-so-substantial amount?

Anyhow, I had these second thoughts when I saw my friend Twyla using a Sony Handycam to document my god daughter Ayesha’s birthday (Hmmm… I just remembered that Twyla’s been losing weight lately. I hope she’s not into one of those fat burners like Phenphedrine). She used the HDR-HC7 Mini DV Digital Camcorder. It has a 10x optical/20x digital zoom and can actually capture a 4.6 megapixel still image simultaneously while recording video. I also like the fact that it has the Touch Panel SwivelScreen feature allows you to swivel from just about any shooting angle.

Still, I like taking shots during the night. So I guess I’ll buy Sony’s DCR-HC90 Mini DV digital camcorder. Its intelligent accessory shoe, Super NightShot, and built-in flash makes it possible for you to capture videos intensely even when taken in low light.

Wait a minute?! What am I talking about? I want a DSLR! @_@

It was an exhausting hiking trip we (me and my crazy friends) had last Saturday so we decided to stop by a cottage near our hiking venue to get some rest. I was shooting pictures the whole hike so I got so excited to view the pictures on a PC. Since I don’t have my laptop, I decided to rent a PC in a nearby internet shop. Good thing I have my card reader with me to access my pictures in my compact flash memory card.

The PC booted up windows and voila! I was good to go! I plugged my memory card to my reader, and then plugged it to the USB slot in the front panel of the CPU. I waited a minute but my card didn’t seem to respond. I asked the tech person why the PC cannot read my card and he was shocked! He quickly unplugged my card reader and said “you should have told me first!”. I have no idea about what he just said. When I took my card reader it was hot. I asked him why and told me that the USB slot was busted!

So what happened was my card reader burned up. Fortunately, my memory card was not damage (thank goodness). Good thing I used a card reader instead of directly plugging my camera into that killer slot! Whew.

I got interested in playing the guitar through my childhood friends when I was in elementary. Unexpectedly, I became good at it and even became popular because of it.

Then again, I’m also fascinated with other musical instruments, so I tried every instrument I could get my hands on – drums, bass guitar, piano, and even the xylophone! Yep, I joined my high school drum and lyre band just to experience that. I had fun learning those.

However, of all the instruments I’ve tried, learning how to play piano by reading notes is one of the best achievements for me. You see, I just play instruments by chords or by imitation. But there was this tune that keeps playing over and over my head – Johann Sebastian Bach’s Minuet – and I couldn’t get over it. It was so grand, soothing, graceful, and jovial at the same time, but was difficult to memorize and play just by imitation… One day, I just decided I’ve had enough of wistful thinking; I will play it by the notes at all cost!

So I grabbed a simple piano piece of Bach’s Minuet and studied it feverishly like my life depended on it. It was painstaking, but my determination pulled off. Soon, I was able to play it by heart. Until now, whenever I see a piano, it’s one of the first pieces I play, and the piece reminds me that if I put my heart to something, everything IS possible.

I hope you find your “Minuet” that will help you get through life’s challenges as well.