Buy a camera, you never know when it might come in handy

You know that old out-of-focus photo of you and your best friend
drunk and cross-eyed somewhere in a college dorm, or a beach in
Mexico? Or that one of your boss with her head in the toilet? Yeah,
it’s the one that’s faded and crinkled, fell into a
bowl of Ronrico rum punch, but will forever have a place up on the
wall along with your favorite concert ticket stub and the
“Hey Stan-furd! Your mom called and she says YOU SUCK!”
banner you got at a football game once. That photo probably
didn’t come from a zillion dollar camera or from a
professional photographer. But it means the world to you.

And think, if you didn’t have a camera at that time the
moment would fall into obscurity. And that would be lame.

I have tried to bring UCLA closer to the students for three
years now through my photographs. I have tried to educate readers
on a wide range of topics from local music to the social issues
that we face as students and as Americans.

So my last lesson will be an easy one. Buy a camera. It
doesn’t need to be expensive, just one that works. And take
it everywhere you go. You never know when you’ll need it. It
may be tomorrow morning when you and your roommate are sitting at
the kitchen table, stuffing cereal in your mouths at a frightful
pace. Or in that horrible physics class.

Don’t believe me?

I have one of my little brother shooting Cheerios from his nose
after a joke on TV and another one of my TA totally passed out in
lecture. Fun. Fun. Fun. Film is cheap. Take photos of your friends,
your co-workers, your lovers. People move around after college and
you may never see each other again.

I just met up at 2 in the morning with an old friend in a Waffle
House in Lexington, NC last week. We took photos in the booth and
with our waitress Joan. I won’t see him for a long time, but
I’ll think of the funny memories every time I see those
stupid pictures.

Those few bucks that you spend on a camera and film could give
you a lifetime of happiness if you get that great photo that goes
in your wallet for all time. Take pictures and have fun.
That’s what I do.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Next time you see a T-shirt that
labels Zionists racist and oppressive, don’t forget the
fundamentalist Muslim governments that tolerate certain terrorist
organizations and the battering and oppression of women. We want to
be equal and fair in our public education campaigns, right?