Into My Mind's Attic

"Wow. Nice sky. If only I have my camera with me."

I muttered that while going out one day, catching an attractive streak of colours in Semenyih's evening sky.

That statement was not exactly true. Yeah sure, the sky was nice, but I had digital eyes with me all along. I had my cameraphone right there in my pocket. It's imaging capabilities may be rather limited, but it has served me well the few times I put my faith in it.

I even had my Nikon Coolpix 3200 with me, in my backpack. Yeah sure, it's a 3MP, 7-year-old compact camera. It's so old and its specifications so dated that I'm not even sure if anybody wants it for a mere RM50 now. But it has certainly proven itself many, many, many, many, many times, especially over the year when I was in UK.

But no, now when I say "my camera", I probably don't mean the Coolpix. I mean my Nikon D90. I can't say I don't pity the Coolpix. The poor thing has gone from being one of my most loyal companions to being a camera that's not being considered a camera.

I was a little horror-struck when I realised this. Well to be fair, the D90 is lightyears ahead of the Coolpix. But without realising it, my practicality is rearing its head. It's like I'm not thankful for the hundreds of pictures the Coolpix has taken for me over the past two years.

Well if you think feeling guilty for abandoning an old camera is oh-so-geeky, what would stop me from forgetting my friends in university? My lecturers, perhaps? The kind lab technician who helped me with my internship? The nice people I worked with for 3 whole months when I did my industrial training?

I glanced back to my past and I suddenly realised the number of people missing from my mind. I'm starting to have trouble recalling all 40 of my classmates when I was in secondary school. I can't even remember the name of my physics teacher when I was in Form 4, and I kind of liked her too. A lecturer in college treated me to a movie once and I don't even remember if I said thanks.

There was even one time a few years back when I got my dad's birth date wrong.

There's obviously little I can do about my past, short of tracking down all those people and get to know them again. That'd be crazy, sitcom-worthy, even (remember My Name Is Earl?). But I'll try to be more thankful from now onwards. Don't kill me if I fail to recognise you some time in the future, just spill me with humiliation and accept my apology.

As for the Coolpix, well I promise I'll continue to keep it in my backpack. An SLR's not suitable for all occasions, and for that reason, I know I'll be thankful for having that Coolpix again one day.