To answer the first part of the title, they sure did! HP released several Photosmart-branded digital cameras in the 2000s, and I happened to be given one of them. Specifically, it's an HP Photosmart E327. It features a resolution of 5 megapixels, has a fixed-focus f3.5 lens, and lacks any optical zoom whatsoever. It's ridiculously basic, slow to shutter, and its video quality is abysmal. In other words, it's the ultimate terrible digital camera for lo-fi pictures. Seriously, just look at some of these shots. They definitely have that digicam aesthetic that so many people are into these days.
So, who was the generous donor of this camera? My buddy and future roommate Porter! Major thanks to him, as I don't exactly have money to spend on old digicams, no matter how much I wish I did. Plus, we were able to collaborate on these photos, which was a lot of fun. Definitely a nice gift.
Anyway, due to vehicular struggles I'll discuss later, we decided to go on a ~45 mile bike ride. Specifically, we went from my humble hometown of Peru to the less humble city of Kokomo. This is a 30-minute drive, and on bike (at our pace), it takes a little over 2 hours to get there on the trail connecting them.
 |
| What a beautiful camera. |
We had a blast, and we took the camera everywhere. We ended up biking for an hour in pitch black, which was an awesome experience. If you don't spend time like that in the wilderness, are you really living? I think not.
Before I get to the second part of the post's title, here are the last few pictures we took. Sit back, relax, and enjoy...
Now for the life update. I'm in a very bad automotive situation. My 2009 Accord has started knocking. This is in addition to the oil issues it has been having. I think the oil burning is about to be fixed by the mechanic we took it to, but the knocking is not going to resolve itself. Basically, it needs a new engine, which is not worth it.
So, I'm frantically saving money in the hopes of being able to get a new car by August. I have a job lined up and some money already, as I definitely need something more reliable for college. For now, I'm driving the Honda as is, but it's a ticking time bomb.
What this all means is that the blog is probably going to go dark for a bit. I'm going to be working a lot of hours, and I need all the money I can get. I doubt I'll have time to write for a while.
That said, I cannot say what the future has in store, so I leave you with this: Embrace summer, go on that adventure, and while you're at it, take a cool old camera. It's good fun. Thanks for reading.