The Ol' Days

I was thinking when I went to bed last night: about this time 8 years ago Honey and I were living out of a Lincoln Towncar in snowy Minnesota. We were so broke we lived off the McDonald’s dollar menu and camped at the construction site where Honey worked. On pay days, we got the cheapest hotel we could find to shower and do laundry. We were cold, hungry, and completely free. I may have been quoted as saying, “You know if we had a van and it wasn’t wintertime, this would be great.” I know for me it was a huge growing experience: I spent most of my days scribbling in journals; we lost everything in a storage unit we couldn’t pay for (I’m still upset about my VitaMix…), the alternator died on the Lincoln… I didn’t have a choice but to suck it up and become stronger.

And then the pendulum began to swing the other way.

Honey got his ‘break-in’ job at state line, then his gig at the Rio. I went back to school and got the gig at Wynn. We were making what we considered ‘bank’; we had the house, a fancy car, the fishing boat…

And here we are now: getting pretty close to the freedom of having nothing to worry about. I can’t say I’m upset by that. As hard as it was in MN, it was also simple. We could all use a little more ‘simple’ in our lives.

If you’re in Vegas any time soon, swing by O’Shea’s on the Las Vegas Strip and check out Acoustic Soul. They’re the only ‘jukebox’ band I’ve ever heard that sings solely by request and they rock. However, there website pics kinda suck – we’re hoping to help them with that.

Got to see Train perform not to long ago. Pat Monahan has recovered from the bronchitis that caused them to cancel performing at Bite of Las Vegas, and they sounded awesome live. The venue though, Pure Nightclub at Caesar’s Palace, totally sucked: standing room only, $9 drinks, and zero access to the bathroom due to stage placement and the crowd. Not a good choice to host a live band.

Anyway, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Enjoy it in whatever fashion you can manage. Remember it’s not about the stuff, but the memories and time well spent.

An Author with a Good Point (not me)

This is for everyone in the US. I thought this writer had a unique idea. See what you think:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ucru/20091218/cm_ucru/forecloseonthebanks;_ylt=AvZ1HZayvnGGOwugJO4MA3xzfNdF

Altered Perspective

Let me see if I can express this…

I read somewhere that your soul is like a bird inside your chest. That’s what makes your stomach flutter, your imagination soar, and your heart swell with feeling. Mine is trying its damnedest to get out right now; she’s flapping about so hard it feels a bit like floating and that I can’t breathe at the same time. We saw a movie tonight that truly moved me. There was a beautiful world, alive with life, like nothing I’ve ever seen or will see. There was a tribe bound together by a great energy that resided in all things. There was harmony and balance. It was awash in color and vibrancy that I struggle to describe. Quite possibly it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

This produces two distinct reactions in me, at complete opposites with each other. On one side, I’m overflowing with hope, a sense of happiness and peace, and an inner smile that’s felt in every fiber of my being. On the other, everything around me looks flat, gray, and lifeless, and the point of everything is completely lost. I’ve lost all perspective about here.

Which brings up something I’ve struggled with my whole life, since I was old enough to read and fully comprehend sci-fi novels: the urge to be something other than I am and be someplace other than here. I’m not talking about being a lawyer instead of a designer, or living in Hawaii instead of Las Vegas. I mean something more than me and someplace out of this world. As you can imagine, it makes it rather hard to be content within myself.

Honey tells me I’m going to have to make peace with myself within the world I live in, inside my little sphere of influence. Do what I can, where I can, and find peace knowing I’ve done everything possible to make my world better. It feels almost pointless, if I’m being totally honest. People can be so horrible; there’s greed, want for power, soulless fools who think only of themselves. These are the so-called ‘civilized’ people of the world. This is not the first time I’ve been ashamed to be human.

And yet…there is hope. I’m not quite sure for what; it’s very ethereal and if I try to grasp it too hard or define it, it slips away, but my future prayers will be for the balance of life in all things. Everything wanted in life seems pointless, the stuff, the money, the need for bigger, better, more, but this – this has purpose.

Go see Avatar and see if it doesn’t change your perspective… I can’t be the only one.

Awesome Weekend

I've just had an awesome weekend: took a 'personal day' and went Christmas shopping (Honey is taken care of), went hiking in Valley of Fire for a photo shoot, got some excellent one-on-one time with my hubby, made sugar cookies, and got a massage. I am a happy camper. :)

Last Thursday night we had a shoot downtown. Apparently you're not allowed to wear a mask around the vendors because they're afraid of theft - even if your arms are tied behind your back in a straight jacket. A lady handing out flyers made a bee-line for Darrin, saying he needed this (this being a brochure for mental health during the holidays). We got to walk around for maybe ten minutes before security showed up and escorted us to the other side of LV Blvd. Right before we crossed, the guard asked if Darrin would put the mask back on so he could take a picture on his camera phone. There was another security guard on the other side of the street who wanted a picture also. Guess he's already been alerted to the presence of a man in hot pink tights, a straight jacket, and gas mask.

Sunday's shoot was at Valley of Fire - there was no nudity so we didn't get hassled or kicked out this time. We did get some strange looks though, hiking off into the wilderness with 20 black balloons streaming behind us. Stephanie, our model that day, gets big trooper points for not complaining - it was cold and windy and she was wearing a strapless dress and no shoes. On our way back out there was a wedding party, all of them freezing their tails off in wedding attire, who actually got married on a rock while we got a couple last shots on the road. I told Honey they couldn't borrow our balloons, which are still in the back of my truck.

So is anyone ready for Christams? We put the tree up yesterday, but didn't do the outside lights because of the rain. I need to find something nice for Mom. We're going to be printing calendars of Honey's photography...I was just thinking of making them available for purchase thru here... more on that later, and as always feedback is appreciated. Off to work, like a good leming.

Missed You Guys!!

Long time no post. Yeah I know. This last month has been rather uneventful for me. Seems all the photo shoots are during my work hours, hence I don’t get to assist or pick up fun stuff for blog content.

We did go to the 2009 Aviation Nation at Nellis AFB. It was cold and windy, but the jets all flew, the parachute jumpers jumped, and a good time was had by all. I ate entirely too much kettle corn. We got to watch a gun store with wings run drills and set off explosions. (A crowd always loves a good explosion). My personal favorite was the C-17. It’s a cargo plane half the size of a football field (175’W x 170’L) that weighs 315,000 lbs without cargo and floats through the skies like a 300 lb woman gracefully doing toe-point ballet. It was enough for me to seriously consider joining up if I could only work on that plane. That and past a physical.

We did our customary “Strays Thanksgiving”; there were 9 of us. There were two strippers - one male, one female – and two massage therapists, one who moonlights as a professional clown, one very short Mexican woman (Mom), a bible-reading nude photographer, a retired Alabama boy who never turns down a meal (he turned down turkey day in Alabama to be with us), my good Honey and myself. We extended the table using a spare, 12ft sheet of chipboard and a king-sized bed sheet. Everything was ready on time, the male stripper texted thru most of dinner, my pumpkin crisp was renamed “insanity cake”, everyone got leftovers, and a good time was had by all…until I remembered I had to work the next morning – that part supremely sucked.

This weekend we went to the indoor swap meet, to see Ninja Assassin and 2012 (in D-box). Let me just say that the main character of Ninja, a man who goes by the name Rain, gives the phrase “body karate” a whole new meaning. I’m still having dreams. I’ll be buying that when it hits DVD. 2012 was also awesome, just in a different way. We watched it in D-box, the new 4th dimension movie experience where the seats move like a motion ride. The only drawback is the vibrations seriously speed up how fast soda filters down the system…yeah.

And on a humorous note, I’ve just been looking through the gag gift catalogs that come every year. They include T-shirts that read “looking for love, but will settle for green jelly beans”, “Danger: mouth operates faster than brain”, and “easily distracted by shiny objects” (my personal favorite). Also a door mat that reads: “never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic” and a wall plague that reads “Diplomacy: the art of telling someone to go to hell, and having them look forward to the trip”. All winners for the kinds of people I shop for.

Can you spot Yours Truly?

Happy Halloween everybody. I’m writing this in between hordes of munchkins coming to the door. When I was a kid we walked till Mom was tired and went home; now they’re driving them around and releasing them in waves at the mouth of each cul-de-sac. We didn’t expect this many and will be out of candy soon; for self preservation the guys are going to get more. Kinda like a beer run…

I was all excited last week because the desktop has been resurrected and I was about to get my computer back. Unfortunately, Photoshop CS4 runs better on 4GB of memory than 2GB and now we’re where we started – I still don’t have my own PC. Combine that with Honey’s prolific schedule in the studio and basically I never see this thing. Sad, I know.

So 15+ models have come through the studio; I’ve missed just about all of them. Well, actually all of them. My days off he hasn’t scheduled any shoots. The last one I went to involved an awesome cat from London named Nick; there was a Mohawk and yellow skivvies involved. I’ll say no more. Check him out on Model Mayhem.

There are still no pics from Bite of LV. By the time they’re ready I’m sure no one will care. I’m getting the barking kind of response – he says I’m nagging. So until he’s ready I guess we all wait.

Please enjoy the visuals.

Trying to catch up...not there yet

Ok, so there's an old post (already written) and a new post (swirling dangerously in the gray matter), both of which are admittedly very overdue. As usual, I was waiting for edited photos and computer time, which should be remedied soon, more details later. On to the old-to-me, new-to-you post.

I think I’m losing my mind, people. I’ve been having dreams about counting (probably due to the recent inventory at work), being a Wild West woman (complete with trusty steed and shooting people), chasing things, being chased by things (what kind of things in either case I don’t know), and the largest build-your-own-whopper-sundae ice cream parlor ever. This morning in the grocery store I thought there was nothing to eat in the whole place. And I think my age is showing: I’ve made a good friend of a 75-yr old woman, and I recently listened to an 18-yr old tell a roomful of strangers she should get married immediately (to her lesbian girlfriend of 4 months) because she might die at any moment. My immediate solution to this whole mess is to make at least two batches of cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Everything seems better after you’ve eaten a cupcake.

And what is with the people who’ll gladly pay twice as much for something that has a box versus the same thing that doesn’t??? It’s just a box!

We got a little spoiled this last Saturday (Oct 17-also just learned the pics still aren't ready. sorry gang). We got to go to Bite of Las Vegas ’09 as VIP guests. Bite of LV is a one-day festival where a bunch of restaurants come out and sell sample-sized versions of their dishes so you can try them. There’s live music; this year there was Catherine McPhee, Parachutes, Uncle Kracker, Blue October, plus some local bands. Train was supposed to be there but had to cancel last minute cuz the lead singer ended up in the hospital with dehydration or something. So as VIP’s, we got access to a fenced off area beside the main stage, free water, free beer (Michelob Ultra only), and catered food we didn’t have to pay for. There were tables and chairs under a pavilion, private port-a-potties, and a little area used for “underground lounge” type performances. We got to hear Katherine McPhee and Parachutes sing acoustic from 6 feet away. I got my picture taken with Katherine; she thought Honey with his big camera was a paparazzi – she says thru the corner of her smile, “Do you know him?” I got a kick out of it. I also got a poster of Parachutes signed by all the band members, who are very down to earth guys. I think we were there about 7 hours. If we’d had to buy all the water we drank we wouldn’t have lasted nearly as long. The lasagna from Brio was fantastic, the guys really liked the spare ribs from Roy’s, and the folks at Cupcake Lane saw us three times. Like I said, everything is better after a cupcake. We had a great time and will be back next year (but quite possibly only if we get VIP tickets again – it made all the difference).

Don’t know if I’ve said, but the home studio is finished. Honey’s been very busy in it. A few samples of the fruits are below: