In Christmases past, Husband has set the bar pretty high for gifts in terms of thoughtfulness and creativity, so I always feel a lot of pressure to come up with something great for him, even though he has been gracious about every gift I’ve ever given him, no matter how routine.

This year, Husband gave me a much-coveted and oft-requested video iPod. I must confess that I already own an iPod Mini, which I use for running. (The Mini, by the way, is quickly becoming a hot item on eBay since it was recently discontinued in favor of the Nano. Even Kate Spade is sticking with the Mini; they have cute little cases, if your style trends that way. Or, for the ultimate in convenience, what about one of these handbags so you don’t have to go digging around for it?)

Anyway, I really need the video iPod to store the home movies I’ve been making for Aitch every month or so since he joined us. Each video is set to background music and is the length of one song. They include transitions, photos panned using the “Ken Burns” effect, and other filmic affectations like letterbox format and lens flare. (God, I love it when I’m able to work “filmic” into a sentence.) They’re basically the digital equivalent of that new suburban-mother obsession, scrapbooking, in that they take a lot of time and effort and are of little interest to anyone but the mother and the subject’s grandparents. (Let’s put it this way: Spielberg has not yet called.) But I’m too lazy to put together a baby book, and I love playing around with my iMovie software, so there.

This is what’s great about the video iPod: it’s is going to be like a really high-tech brag book. I can’t wait until the next time some stranger on a plane starts making small talk. As soon as I hear, “Do you have any kids?” I’m going to whip out my iPod and say, “Here’s a video of my son on Christmas morning! And one of Hallowe’en! Here’s a video of his first day in the States! Here’s his trip to visit his grandparents! And I have 500 or so photos I can show you , too!”

Or maybe I’ll just jam the earbuds in my ears and watch a downloaded episode of “The Office.” (Does anyone know if they make smaller earbuds? Those things don’t fit in my ear porches, or whatever you call them.)

My gift to Husband was on the decidedly lower-tech end of the imaging spectrum. I got him a pinhole camera, which sounds like a science-class project that you could make out of an oatmeal container, but this version is a beautifully handmade camera from Hong Kong. It’s a small wooden box, about the size and shape of a large digital camera, with a pinhole aperture and a hand-operated shutter:



I can just see Husband at some event that other people are documenting with their expensive digital cameras and camcorders — a kids’ soccer game or pageant — and then he brings out this camera made of wood, like a prop for the Flintstones.

Then, of course, when he gets his pictures developed, I’ll scan them and load them onto my new iPod, thus completing the Technology Circle of Life.

Here’s my maiden effort with the pinhole camera:



Not too impressive, eh (but yet, sort of impressionistic)? I definitely underestimated the shutter speed, thinking any speed I was able to achieve manually would be more than slow enough for exposure. I also overestimated my ability to hold the camera steady. I’m looking into some faster film and a tripod, and will report back.