Accompaniement

At work I'm usually accompanied by either Penn or Ringo (the dog) (never both.). They're presence is in part, just spending as much time with my family as possible (ok, sometimes it's because I can't find a babysitter), but they also both offer a little tension tamer for nervous clients. I mean, that, and I just totally love my kid and my dog.

The annoyance factor is completely hit or miss. Sometimes Penn sits quietly and waits on mommy to finish while I bask in the good-mother-smart-kid compliments. Good times.

And sometimes he likes someone so much he just can't ... shut up ... and I feel like the only thing I've said for an hour is, "PeeenNN." (That's his name with the tone of my voice going up a little at the end warning him of all the things I can't say right now because of the people surrounding us holding my paycheck, but will definetly say in the car on the way home.) He milked the man pictured above for every snack in the house. Let me tell you, this is a very nice man.

Sometimes Ringo obediently sits at my side and sniffs things. And sometimes he's a complete embarrassment and pees at Space. Twice. Sometimes he sits and stays and I bask in the smart-dog compliments and sometimes I hog tie him to my leg and drag him around with me.

Occasionally they both flip out and Penn starts speaking in what sounds like toddler tongues and someone comes in to let me know that my dog is on round 600 of chasing the yard at top speed for no good reason, and like, seriously, what's he doing and when does he stop? (answer: appears to be between ringo and god.)

The both have the same look when they want to go with me.

Look for more from today's shoot on a full page in D Weddings for A Very Special Day Dj's and Videography. I speak from lots of experience now, that they are absolutely exceptional and work well with children and animals.

Beautiful

I followed some information today to find community garden plots in the city given to African refugees. Just as I was about to give up I spotted this woman through a chain link fence. I found the garden and some of the women. All extremely reluctant to be photographed, but then granting me one shot each. The language barrier keeps me from knowing their story or even their names right now. All I can tell you is that they're beautiful and important and I'm going back tomorrow.

Carissa Byers Photography: Engagement Portrait

They flew in from New York and we literally just laughed our way around the Dallas Museum of Art. Amazing family, amazing couple and no doubt ... it's going to be an amazing celebration. I am honored to be there with my camera.

Art in Space (Friday 27th 6-10)

Don't forget the upcoming art show at Space this Friday. I'm excited to be showing some fresh work that will now be part of a continuing series tentatively entitled, "Shell of a Man."

Also humbled the Amazing Fred shot me jumping down Deep Ellum and breaking records for some of his pieces. (The above photo courtesy of my cell phone.)

It's raining in Dallas.

Model: the wonderful Brian Fellicella

The Anti-Portrait (Test #1)

The Anti-Portrait series is about showing who people are by shooting what they're not and in the end, directly comparing the two. The actual shot will be a little more complicated and interesting than I'm going to give away here ... I don't have wardrobe quite figured out and am using myself as a test bunny until I get it together before I start soliciting.

I still have an older series to finish and another fantastic idea I want to do.

I owe my complicated ideas to Erica. I used to just want to take a picture.

Art from Space: April 27th 6-10pm

Oh no's! I haven't decided what I'm showing yet!

From the blog of Hal Samples:

"Space" Is The Place where we are able to come together and form a community through all mediums of art. It is available for openings, yoga, sacred arts, concerts, multi media presentations... much like the 'Velvet Underground'. Space's purpose is to provide an alternative space for those who are dedicated to spreading healing and wellness to the community without boundaries of class or culture.

Next Friday, SPACE will be hosting a group photography art show featuring a dozen different local artist.

Mark your calendar and join us for a night of Art & Music in Deep Ellum on next Friday, April 27th, 2007 from 6-10pm.

SPACE
2814 Main Street Ste# 201
Dallas TX 75226

going public

via twitter direct: "just did your logo over a single cup of coffee. i'm chuffed if i do say so myself."

Me too! The new logo made the new business cards tonight, so I suppose that makes it official. Thanks, Daniel!

Ringo Mandog and how I plan to take that second part away

As Ringo comes into his "manhood" he's throwing a few subtle changes our way. He completely surprised me at the vet's office by peeing on all of the dry things. Who knew there were so many dry things? The nice people in scrubs stealthily followed us with a mop and funnies.

(*mop, mop* "Like it never happened ....")

He also growled at one of the nice scrub-clad fellows. Scrub-clad Fellow probably did carry the scent of a thousand dogs, but this was still the first time I've heard my dog growl. Sounds like a sharp purr with potential to eat you. He's been voicing his growing interest in the ongoings of life on the other side of the fence. What used to be stern huffs and puffs now resorts more often to, "MY SIDEWALK! JUST SO YOU KNOW."
When I heard that cute growl and watched that sweet mohawk puff out at the nice man I walked straight to the counter and made an appointment for a "fixing." Fellow dog owners know I've been holding out in hopes this unavoidable day would be mild and forgivable. I am not in favor of paying lots of money to cut my dogs testicles off so the world doesn't have to deal with his inconvenient but absolute right to keep all of his body parts. It seems cruel, especially to such a sweet and mild pup.

However. I has a baby, yo. And I have no desire to see what other surprise Ringo Mandog has in store for us. Bye-bye testicles.

On the other hand, all that extra testosterone has also made him fantastically, impressively, brag worthy obedient. And cuddly. Not that he wasn't before, but the brag-worthiness has increased tenfold. Meetings and greetings have been accompanied by a dog who's managed to sit and stay for the duration, painfully holding back his need to see what flavor the new people have. He's just full of more snap-to-itness lately. Lots more eye-contact and waiting on me to give him something to do. (My favorite is "race the baby." Baby wins due to lack of friction between claws and hardwood floors.)

He's on expensive steroids and anti-histamines and antibiotics because he's allergic to the entire world and every time I think of his vet bill I gasp involuntarily, but umm, I am so all about my old-man-faced slanty-eyed pooch right now.

quoting

Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

-Lewis Carroll

Mine

It was like everything I did or touched today was fulfilling. Maybe I should start more days early, cleaning and setting up lights. I was working on my piece for the IRC and experimenting with some felt backgrounds. I used myself to test the light.

After flinging herself repeatedly at the chair I realized my cat, Sexy Sady, was trying to say something. I still don't know what that was, but if you do let me know and I'll submit it to "I Can Has Cheezburger?"

[Imagine a list of all of the wonderful things I could have possibly done today, here. It's way more entertaining and economical than me doing it for you.]

It was also a really good day to be a mom. (As opposed to the days where you feel like making an iron-on t-shirt for the kid that says, "Not mine.") Penn and I take up the rolls of mother and son well, but for bonus points, we're friends. Sometimes I enjoy myself as a human being so much I forget he's three. And my son. He's totally mine.

*note: pics here awfully dark compared to originals. i'm on it.

yesterday in pics

Yesterday there was David LaChapelle at Goss Gallery. I wish that'd he'd run a show in a huge house. Preferably his. Intimate setting, people hanging out on couches, tall ceilings, entire house filled with Chapelle. I wanna go to the bathroom and see some pieces and get a beverage from the kitchen and see something. I want intimate immersion and people over the usual stark white gallery walls with a few pieces. A few big amazing photos that make me want to throw someone in a tank of water, take their picture and see what happens. But, that's already been done....

Josh in the back seat.
Daniel, pizza and his mail.
My computer with it's newly installed firewire card. Why would I go through the trouble and risk of opening up my computer and installing a firewire card? Because Compusa and Acomdata have lousy "company policy" and this was the last costly solution to use a drive with a port I didn't have before I had to go yelling to a manager. My external hard drive cost me more than it's worth.

But I can use it now.

FYI: All of the photos in this post were taken without looking through the camera.

random pic of the day

Penn in Space.

Can you even believe I made that? (The kid, not the photo.)

random pic of the day

As i was driving out of downtown Dallas I noticed a sign I must have passed a million times before and never noticed. It's at one of those intersections that normally demands a lot of attention to navigate. I'm not from Texas. I don't have the slightest idea what the "Field of Dreams" is. But, I think I'd like to find it now.



Across the street is the new version of the Dallas skyline. The photo is in color, but overexposed on a gray sky took away the details.

A parking attendant walked with me while I was taking pictures. His questions trickled down until he seemed confused: 1) what class are you shooting for? 2) are you shooting for the construction company? 3) are you with the paper? 4) then why are you taking pictures?

-no class, but awesome I still pass for a college student.
-no construction company, didn't you see the funny looks they gave me?
- I'm not with the paper, but, um, hey, Dallas Morning News? You might as well go ahead and hire me. Everyone already thinks I work for you.
- I'm taking pictures because it's what I do.

Also, the shoot I was paid to do today was fantabulous!

Renee Rouleau Skincare Presents:

I'll be in Plano Saturday morning shooting Discovering the True You: Look, feel and live the life you deserve.

It's been all over the news and papers lately. This is an inside/outside makeover event on a large scale. I'm pretty excited and curious to see how everyone will feel.

My three shoots this week have all taken me to interesting places.

Like, the Inwood Theatre. Oddly, I've always felt this place was just too fancy for me, but I had a spectacular time shooting this portrait. (More photos later.)

buddy wakefield

And I know ya don’t wanna hear it
because ya still can’t stand to see
and I know you still won’t drop your guard
because I just might knock ya free.

Yeah but,
my point forever endlessly
is that you still don’t know you’re amazing.

You still don’t know you’re amazing.

You still don’t know you’re amazing
for the things you see.”

----from a Stretch of Presence

from my first memories of trying to be me, there was poetry. everyone asks "what is poetry?" or questions it's purpose as an art. it is my bold opinion that those who ask that question are probably not poets. no answer will satisfy them. archibald's famous lines: A poem should not mean / but be.

so, poetry. whatever it is, it makes me really really ---really happy. like static electricity and hair, everything stands on end. i probably have as many poetry classes on my college transcript as i do gen. ed. i have the student loans to prove it.

the reason i didn't get everything packed, at least the night before big fat moving day, was because i got lost in the big fat box 'o journals dating back to 1994. in one of the journals sat a business card from buddy wakefield, a poet i met in memphis.

he made an impression.

not because he's the two-time individual world poetry slam champion among other things. [insert gushing compliments here]

but because a repeated message in his work seems to be: "you’re amazing/for the things you see."

there are all these paragraphs of words stacked on top of one another questioning "your" religion, sexuality, hometown, grandmother, vanity .... and instead of doling out answers, he tells "you" that, whatever, you're fine the way you are. even if you can't see it yet.

"but she was never given those words. she has not been told she can definitly change the world. she knows some folks do, but not in convenient stores and not with lottery tickets ... is this it for you? is this all you'll ever do? ..."

he made an impression because listening to him tell stories from a dirty plastic lawn chair in the chill of a memphis halloween party i heard him say the things i was thinking.

it is everything i want to do with my camera. show people their beauty. i can't tell people the same as well as buddy wakefield. but i can show them.

he'll be at the Granada in Dallas, with Sage Francis, Buck 65 and Alias.

just bought his album "run on anything." ---fabulous.

click here to listen to "convenience store." listen to the end.

among the many lessons learned during this move

1. do not go home and fall asleep just because you're exhausted and disappointed that the sean lennon show was sold out, when you haven't packed anything.

2. do not wait until the morning of the move to begin seriously packing.

3. do thank your father profusely for making the long journey to provide amazing help and free babysitting.

4. do not procrastinate the cleaning you know you have to do before you even dare put your bed on that floor.

5. do not wait to sort books into the "keep" and "sell at half price" piles before you pack because you know, despite all of the "sell at half price" trips you are constantly making, you still have too many books for your own good and you can already tell that all those other boxes of books in the garage are not going to fit on the shelf. you might get so discouraged about that you actually leave them in the garage. forever.

yay reading! boo stuff!

6. although already relatively simple, do downsize more. enact more purposefully your idea that one of each is plenty. do not give in when your dad tries to convince you that more than one cutting board is necessary, no matter how many times--a day-- you find yourself chopping spinache, or that baby blankets might come in handy one day. you will be happier in the end.

7. do hire movers. and maybe packers. hell, do they make unpackers? hire them too so you don't lose two days of your life to boxes and pinesol.

8. do put birds on the wall.