Fare Thee Well, 733 HP Photosmart With 3.2 Megapixels (Hello 5.2 Megapixels!)

Photo, above, by John Hoff
Photo, below, by unknown


My digital camera never did work quite right after my backpack broke the blow when I vaulted over that cement barrier during RNC 2008, as the smoke bombs and flash bang grenades went off in front of the Grayhound Station...

The camera suddenly had trouble turning on...and it would abruptly turn itself off, even when the batteries were fresh. Tricks like shaking it, taking out the batteries and putting them back in, these things worked for a while...but yesterday it just...died. And couldn't be revived.

Digital Salvage Operation

I was worried about some of the pictures on the memory card, including McKenna Teachout, Age 1, moments after she took four big baby steps. McKenna's mommy, Joy Teachout, wanted those photos and I'd promised to send them by email. Plus there were the "shoe patrol" trophy pics.

Fortunately, Bryan Thao Worra at the HACC office showed me how to extract the memory card and I was able to save all those last photos. (Actually, Bryan has been showing me loads of valuable stuff in preparation for taking on some new duties in Hawthorne, and I'm very grateful for that)

I'm bummed about the camera, not because of its technical abilities...it was rather limited, in some ways, but it filled all my purposes...no, rather I'm bummed because that camera had sentimental value. A businessman donated it because he supports my efforts to help my neighborhood and, well, because he bought a much better camera. I'll always remember it was "Bill's camera" which took this blog up a notch and pushed me over a small "digital divide."

Hello, Gangster Cam

So today I went to a pawn shop in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood, looking for a similar HP camera. I learned my previous model was so old pawn shops won't buy it anymore, but I was offered an upgraded version. The digital functions were familiar, which was comforting. I not only bought that camera, but I got a deal on a spare.

The memory card hadn't been erased on my "primary" pawn shop camera, and it contained exactly 343 pictures of...well, somebody else's life. The picture I've included, above, conveys the general spirit, and that's all I'll say about it except...

I've dubbed it "The Gangster Cam."