In case you didn’t know, Christmas Banquet is a big dinner that happens at the end of November. The guys ask the girls to be their date for it, often with elaborate proposals. I was not one of them, since I didn’t ask anyone, despite my friends constant hounding of me to ask someone. But I didn’t relent. I was planning to take pictures during the event, something would be made much more difficult by having a date. During the whole month of November, I had to endure constant prodding by well meaning friends to get a date, while at the same time hearing about the people that others had asked.

They started selling tickets on Thursday, Friday, and Monday. And I managed to miss it every single time! I asked Mr. Bryan about what to do, and he made arrangements and I got a seat! I asked him about which camera I was getting and was delighted to hear that I would be getting their top end stuff: a Nikon D300 with an 80-200mm f /2.8 lens!

For Christmas Banquet, we’re expected to wear a suit, which I had bought before school. I’ve never worn a suit before, and it was a bit uncomfortable. But I lived

Along with the camera, I also got a flash, which was pretty much a requirement for the low light (think romantic camera light), and a monopod, which allowed me to shoot at 1/40th of a second and get a sharp picture.

Once I had given the camera back to Mr. Bryan, I could safely say that it was one of the most enjoyable photographic experiences I’ve ever had. The subjects were interesting both on stage and off, I didn’t feel limited with inferior equipment, and I got great food to boot!

I took 414 pictures at the Banquet, so it might be sometime before I actually get some up here. I’m also working on a redesign of the site which will, at best (meaning highly unlikely), go live before the end of Christmas break. Here’s a teaser:

Tomarrow’s my birthday, so I’ll be feasting on banana bread all evening!

Yeah, so what if we had it on the 13th? Since I hadn’t posted these yet, I figured today would be as good as any to put them up. Taken with a D70 with a 18-50mm f/2.8, the same one I took these shots with.

New photos on my archey presentation for English up here.

I’m quite pleased with it, unlike the horrible “iceTech KEO” player I had bought and subsequently bricked with a firmware update. Their firmware update page is a joke, telling you to look at the boxes for a subtle difference between two very similar models. I chose the wrong one (or both were wrong) and wound up with some etched silicon in a plastic case.

Fortunately, my Zen came with the latest firmware preloaded, so I didn’t have to run the (much lower risk) of bricking my it. It came with a ton of preloaded content, including a half dozen audiobook excerpts from Audible.com (one of it’s much flaunted capabilities).

Highly recommended.

Now, if only I could get those headphones…