Learning curve keeps on rising

'Sharing those memories' sure is getting complicated. It's not like I'm trying to take pictures with a shoe-phone camera or anything. I finally enter the digital age and then they go and change things on you.
Yeh, those 'they.'
I barely got the hang of our first digital camera -- after being a halfway veteran of the old film photography -- when it dawned on me I needed a new one. More mega-pickles or whatever they call it; better zoom; more capability in low-light settings.
So this model I decided on also has greatly expanded videocam capability, something I have no experience with.
But I've often thought about it. In the past we had friends here for kids' birthday parties who shot a little footage of the festivities. It's priceless, of course, preserved as it is on VHS, allowing us to revisit the moment.
Another friend who has been using a proper video-camera for years also regaled me recently with the joys. He told how on a visit to Disney World, they went on a ride that was quite an experience, taking you through a simulation of an earthquake. As they rode through and the disaster unfolded, he thought, hey, I'm going to film this. He said it turned out to be great footage, like special effects compliments of Steven Spielberg.
So there I was last weekend, off to the Riverfront Jubilee in New Glasgow. The main event for us was the Pictou County youth songwriting contest winners, who were playing their prize-winning compositions that night. Our eldest's beau was among them.
I actually remembered to grab the camera before I headed out the door, congratulating myself, since I've gotten pretty lax over the years taking one on special occasions.
We arrived, Molly and a buddy of hers headed off and I gathered my camera bag. When the security guy at the gate made me open it to check for the booze or dope you might expect a character like me to be smuggling inside, I unzipped the top proudly to reveal my sleek, new toy.
With a steady drizzle and thin crowd, I had no trouble getting a good spot near the front to take the shots. Playing around with the zoom I got some nicely cropped pictures of these young, talented musicians as they launched their songs for the public.
With that mission accomplished, I enjoyed the rest of the evening, bumping into an acquaintance occasionally. Especially enjoyable was a great, rollicking set by Dave Gunning and his fabulous band. I had some of those fantastic ribbon fries -- I know, something you need like a hole in the head, they go straight to the hips, but pretty hard to resist. I even talked myself into a $5 beer.
It wasn't until later, thinking about the photos, I realized, you know, I could have video-recorded that. The camera even has stereo microphones, so the sound likely would have been decent.
I showed the still photos to Molly later when we hopped in the car to go home and mentioned my afterthought about getting it on video. Oh well, she shrugged.
When I got home, I told the same, unfortunate tale to the wife, who hadn't felt up to going in to the Jube.
"What?" her jaw dropped. "Well I hope you're kicking yourself in the ass. I would like to have seen that."
I half-heartedly wondered aloud why she hadn't reminded me about the technology in my hands, but she let me know that I'm my own camera-control guy. I guess so. Maybe it'll sink in one day.
In the meantime, in relating this to someone else, he said, "Well I guess you're not likely to load anything embarrassing on You-Tube anytime soon."
No, admittedly, that will definitely be several steps up the learning curve.