I thought I would use my birthday money for a new cell phone, but after a week of hassle with AT&T, I decided that I would continue to limp along with my 1998 Nokia and instead use the funds to buy a new digital camera. The decision was made on Friday night when Rachel Varla asked me if I would submit some of my Boys Gone Wild photos for the Spring deadline of Varla magazine. I had to explain to Rachel that my trusty, well-loved Mavica FD73 only took 640 by 480 72 dpi pictures that were not ready for print mags.

I went home that evening and researched, for the fortieth time or thereabouts, digital cameras in my price range that could and would be very small as to fit in my purse, take great indoor and low light photos, as well as have high, print quality resolution settings, if I so choose to use them.

Yesterday morning, I drove down to Cal's Camera in Costa Mesa, and drove home with a Casio EXLIM Z40. I am wildly ecstatic about my new little baby, and spent much of yesterday and today reveling in the fact that I could trot it out at any time and snap a pic.

It has quite a few more functions and options than the Mavica did, I took the Z40 with me last night to the St. Vincent's Meals on Wheels Angel's Ball (why I was even there is a whole other story) and was able to take photos of people 40 plus feet away in moderately bright indoor lighting with no flash! With the flash I was able to get good 640 by 480 photos of people with the flash 20 odd feet away.

Reviewers at Amazon have been complaining about picture quality, but I am not, as each pic I have taken so far has been a large improvement from what the Mavica would have taken in a similiar situation.

Did I mention that it is the size of a credit card and about 5/8 of an inch wide?

Manic Hispanic and Go Betty Go, here I come on Cinco de Mayo.