I have decided that what I want for my birthday is a new telephoto lens for my Nikon D70. The kit lens that we bought with the camera is not very good at all, and to boot, we have damaged it somehow and every picture we take has spots on it. Thankfully the spots are on the lens glass, not on the camera optics. I have done some research and know exactly what I want - a Nikkor 55mm-200mm telephoto with VR (vibration reduction) image stabilization.
This, my dear friends, is what I am saving my money for. This is why I have cut and dyed my own hair. This is why I have made my own coffee in the mornings and given up my Dunkin Donuts run. This is why I have cooked dinner instead of gone out. This, dear readers, is why I have blogged about Oysters for $8.14.
I will most likely buy this lens online either from 42st Street Photo, or Adorama. I remember going to 42st Photo with Mom and Dad when I was a kid. I remember the hustle and bustle of the New York streets, the Orthodox Jewish guys running the place, with their peyes, side curls. It was a cool experience and I remember my parents saying "This is the place to get a great price on cameras." It's still true, and now you don't have to go to New York to get the price, you can order online. What a wonderful thing, this Internet! Just click their big ol' ad below if you want to check out their store. I figured out I could chose my own ad to have Google Adsense display (called a referral ad) and when I saw 42nd Street Photo was one of the choices, I was so happy. I knew I could totally recommend them in good faith, having personally shopped there and even been in the store. I even had a great personal story to tell about it. Yay for Google referral ads! Who knew?