Kind of an amazing story, really.

So you know I had my camera stolen a few weeks ago at MJ's after the Leo Madrid Peep Show. I bought my new Canon T1i and the replacement 55-250mm lens and the very next day I got an email from Leo saying someone had contacted him about a camera they had found.

Why him?

Well... this cute guy called Dave apparently found my camera in the alley near MJ's. It was laying there, and he picked it up. He took it home, saw pictures of the club and of Peep Show and tried to call MJ's to find out more about the promoter, since he figured the pictures were publicity shots for the show or something (I took that as a compliment - whether he meant it to or not). MJ's didn't return his calls, so he began doing online research. He found Leo Madrid was the producer/promoter of the show, so he began looking for ways to contact Leo. Finally, he found Leo on FaceBook, and dropped Leo an email. Leo, meanwhile, was in Australia with his day job. So Leo wrote to me and told me to write to Dave and see if the camera was mine. Long story short, I described the camera and the pics on it, and Dave agreed to meet me at Starbucks to give back the camera. I was quite excited at first... but then I tried taking pictures with the camera and it just isn't right. The auto-focus and the f-stop controls don't work. It's like the computer part is messed up or something.

But enough of that, I had the new camera, and I started a new class this week at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. The guy is a trip - a pro photographer who is part scientist, part theorist, and wholly intellectual. And a Ren-fair juggler, I'm guessing. And he lives in a pod with a partner and another couple, but who am I to judge, right? Free love rules.

Anyway, I think I'll like the class - it was on Saturday for 4 hours this week, but will be on Tuesday nights for the next 5 weeks. We had to do some shots of shallow vs. deep depth of field, so that explains the odd assortment of pictures on this page, in case you were wondering... After this, I think I'll need to take a Photoshop class to become more skilled there. I have been using Fireworks but I think Photoshop is what I'll need for my art!