In August, Scott Bennett gave me his hand me down Pentax *ist DS digital SLR camera as a gift. I took it out and used it in Chicago, but I largely haven't taken it from home because I haven't learned how to use it.

I started using it tonight, trying to get comfortable with it since I want to use it next storm season. I've got the 18-55 lens on it, which seems to be fine for normal pictures. I thought I'd make my cat the subject of my pictures tonight.

Here is the first picture I shot in RAW and touched up in Adobe Lightroom.

I'm not a huge fan of how that picture turned out, so I tried again.

I like more of how this one turned out. And I must say, my cat looks very handsome in that picture.

I purchased a laser pointer to have fun with the cat. Mission accomplished:

This weekend I drove to Oklahoma City with Adam Lucio and Danny Neal, but came back with an extra member for my apartment. I brought back Steve Miller's cat Caruso.

Caruso is an 8 year old oci-cat with a great personality for a cat. He survived the 1000 mile trek without a problem, not getting angry with me until I was almost to Lansing. This is the first pet I have owned myself, so consider me a new pet owner. It's the first time I've ever really had a chance to take care of a cat.

On his adoption paperwork that Steve gave me, it says Caruso is a loud cat that likes to talk a lot. That is really true. He has been meowing at me a lot since I got him home.