Pictures are an amazing thing.

• When I was little my mother had a disc camera. True story. It was seriously high-tech for a woman who finds technology challenging at times. That said, her thumb was in most of the photos.

• She always took millions of photos of us as kids. She always told us to put on a “Big SMILE” which, of course I never did after a certain age because after she’s taken that 20^th shot you just want her to stop already. Now, of course, I’ve learned to give a “Big SMILE” when I’m in pictures as it makes my eyes turn up in that certain way and defines my cheekbones making me look particularly glamorous, guaranteed.

• When I was a kid my big sister had an instant camera that was pretty
  awesome, and one that came with flash bulbs which, to my young eyes, was so cool.

• When I was in college I took a photography class and bought my first real camera, a Canon SLR that used actual film. I still have it, it’s my baby. I’ve taken many awesome pictures with it.* I haven’t used it in years but can’t bear to part with it. Can you even buy film any more?**
• I went digital not long after meeting my, then boyfriend, now husband. And we have taken literally thousands of digital pictures since. Actually, I just looked it up. 40,697 digital photos on my hard drive and counting. We’ve also been through like half a dozen cameras because our family is where cameras come to die. Or get lost. Or broken. Or just used the hell out of.
• Cell phone’s have cameras in them too. Remember when cell phones used to just be phones? Maybe with a fake pong or frogger game on it, but you mainly had it just to make and receive phone calls because that’s so much cooler than having a pager, right? Remember pagers? Remember before cell phones and pagers?**
• My first few cell phones with cameras were pretty crappy as cameras (as I recall) and I didn’t take many. Then I had a blackberry. Then I had KIDS! Then I needed to by an external hard drive for my laptop because SO. MANY. PICTURES. (seriously, 40,000+ and counting!!)
• And the memories. Cameras capture the things you don’t want to forget. And even, sometimes, the things you do.

• I love pictures, and I love being a hobby photographer.
• My current phone, my beloved iPhone 3Gs, is dying a slow death. The battery is, anyways. And I’m too lazy (and broke) to take it to an Apple store to see about having a new one installed. Plus I’m waiting for the iPhone 5 to come out so that maybe I can get an iPhone 4 for $0 on contract.
• Since my iPhone is pretty sketchy these days, crashing even with a full charge, I haven’t been able to take as many photos as I’d like to. I miss Hipstamatic. My Instagram uploads have slowed considerably because of my temperamental iPhone. It’s heartbreaking.

This post has no end, other than to say that I Love Pictures.

And even though the preshus doesn’t start Junior Kindergarten until next year… I just couldn’t resist taking this…

*I didn’t put up any pictures from my SLR days because they’re either a) still packed in a box somewhere, or b) actual real photographs that I have yet to scan… You know, they’re in an actual album that I share… with people… hmm… ironic.

**I’m really showing my age with this post.