Good Morning, Beautiful

I even heard birds chirping as I awoke at 8a Sunday morning.  Like every morning, I set water to boil, fed my angry and attractive beta and filled a spray bottle for my orchids and tenacious little potted rose bush, which always receives the last of the mist and then gets dumped on (thirsty little guy).  Much to my surprise, the green buds from the night before had produced two elegant blossoms of a vibrant yellow color I had forgotten.  Knowing that roses are typically anti-pot and prefer to deeply root in the ground, I was doing mental flips.  I busily set to my photo set up wearing a smile.  Three hours into preparation my model arrived beaming with a sparkling attitude.  A well-traveled woman with perceptible humility and kindness, she gracefully transitioned into character during makeup and hair.  Interesting and eager, she offered patience for an intensive pinning of juice cans for makeshift hair rollers, and we made it through almost 2 hours of transformation.  Shoot time that day meant total equipment failure.  Utter optimism and a plan B could never have carried our shoot to fruition without her generosity and flexibility.  She drove me to exchange rental lights in full costume, helped me move the couch that had been totally blocking the entrance to my flat and gave her Mother's Day dinner time to achieve the shot.  She was one of the most beautiful people to work with inside and out.   Like the blossoms to which I woke, she was the most colorful and lovely surprise I could have hoped to have.  Many thanks go to Shelina and the people who provide me fodder for faith in fellows.  FFFFF-antastic.

Muppet Show - Nuclear Powered Shaver

Beaker is the Awkward Muppet

In my constant undercurrent of admiration for Jim Henson and his parallel and metaphoric magic, I must follow up my contemplation of awkwardness by celebrating Beaker, my end-all, be-all of The Muppet Show characters.  This bewitching orange entertainer in a lab coat is anything but a dandy and embraces all of the bumbling that lab or life's experiments could endearingly encourage.  I would like to believe that my appreciation for the tender survival of unexpected outcomes was what Mr. Henson had in mind with this mostly wordless character.  While his role as guinea pig may not afford much time for analysis and opinion formulation, he is never lacking in new experiences.  Perhaps his meeps would render more protest, but instead his communications yield constant albeit timid interaction with the possibilities.  Never sure how to proceed and ever propelled by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker's awkward fortitude never lets us down; his trepidation palpable, he always shows up ready for the next test.

On Awkwardness

First of all, when do two w's split the attentions of a k?  Listening to my beloved friend lumbering over some words of endearment as we caught up on the phone, I came to know that awkwardness is one of my favorite experiences, to have, to encounter.  It is so human, the natural, unending learning curve as it arches.  It is real, and it is to what I gravitate most when editing my own imagery.  That raw moment of searching without placement, not knowing what to do or say or think...  It nullifies the reaction in a situation and leaves only action.  Postured in the brief pre-adaptation phase, we are able to just be.  It occurs to me that having to be without the shroud of premeditated response is to really be.  Just be.  Anticipation can be full of expectations, unwieldy predictions.  While anticipation is invaluable in the fluidity of my work, I take this moment to celebrate those glimpses of the absolute striped down exposure of not knowing 'what next.'

To Celebrate THE dress and THE model who wore it so well...

A quick shot of the amazing woman who wore this show-stopping dress, which by the way stands up on it's own...  I could leave it out, though I feel remiss leaving out the two designers' names, for which I am currently searching.

Our "Little" Fashion Show

Nothing was small scale at this year's Academy of Art University Fashion Show, and I had the great privilege of a backstage pass for the festivities.  Not only was I deeply impressed by the finished and avant garde works I saw, but I was touched by the positive attitudes of those worker bees making the show such a sweet success.  Everyone's attitude was as lovely as the wearables, and I had a blast taking snap shots of such loveliness without worrying about staging or setting up lights :).  Here are some of the excessive photos I could not help but take...

Two Thumbs

Thinking about these little digits of mine that have so much to say and do so much of the work.  I often find myself donating approval with the words "two thumbs."  They are way up, they are unique and indispensable members however off to the side or underneath the towering heights of other fingers, and they always lead the show.  Evolved dexterity, having a grip, catching a ride...  They are party seeking, war waging (count to four) and holding on to it all.  They guide with the rules of thumb, opposable yet so agreeable (see again, two of them), green and growing, deliver fates.  They are the instrument of my instrument.  I salute you; two thumbs up.