Photography is kicking my ass. My class is really difficult. My professor looks like Martin Short, in about twenty years. He doesn't look QUITE like Martin Short as Ed Grimley (SNL, people. Sorry. If you catch the Thanksgiving episode in reruns, you'll be quite happy, I assure you, unless you have no sense of humor, and don't find the part where he takes the pies out of the oven and burns his hands and jumps all around his kitchen in that kooky, jerky way one of the most ridiculously entertaining things you've ever seen in your life. Seriously. But no pressure.)
Still, I was thinking about how much his skits used to make me laugh, just this morning, and then I had class tonight and saw my professor, and it all came rushing back. So here he is. I must say.
Did I mention that this class is kicking my ass? SO MANY LIGHTS. Oh my GOD. You wouldn't believe. My friends and family would be appalled if they saw the equipment that I'm being allowed to handle, in a room where he says things like, "Yeah, there's 2,000 volts in there you have to discharge before you turn it on again. That could getcha pretty good." One of the more capable people in our class melted a huge standing light this week, and it caught fire, and it caused a big scene, and now he has to replace it. ONE OF THE MORE CAPABLE PEOPLE. It is serious pressure, just to take pictures. And I feel like I'm so behind. But my negatives still turn out really well, and my first print review of the semester was a relative success, so I guess I'm doing something right. It's just...all the lights. Wow. It's overwhelming. They move around on these huge booms, and they have boxes with buttons on them that say things like "watt seconds" and "combine" and "discharge." And there are cords with prongs to be dealt with, and things called "barn doors" and "snoots" and more normal things that I sort of understand like "reflectors" and "bulbs". Tonight we were climbing ladders to learn how to adjust and change backdrops. I've never stuck with anything this technical, this long. I was thinking tonight that even if I don't memorize all the details, I'll still understand how to do this stuff in a general sense, for the rest of my life, and that's a cool thing. There's so much that I want to learn, so I guess I'll just keep trucking along. I haven't had much of a chance to play with the new camera, but this weekend...I swear.
I am over the upsetting Valentine's day card. Over it. Completely. This is good, record healing time.
Today was beautiful. The weather was incredible. And it's February. It's been a really, really weird winter so far, but it's all good.
I bought my mom "Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits" for Valentine's Day, mostly because she listened to her a lot when I was little so she's one of my first musical memories (along with Olivia Newton John. "Please Mister Please", "Have You Never Been Mellow", "If You Love Me Let Me Know", "Let Me Be There." Child, please. Don't funk with my heart.). And at first she looked at me like I was all crazy, but tonight I heard her singing "When Will I Be Loved" in the laundry room, and I was all, "Yeah. Thought so."
Fell back in love with Fountains of Wayne this week, after a brief sabbatical, as I decided definitively that "The Girl I Can't Forget" is one of the greatest pop songs of all time. Saw Girlyman again last night, and although I have to admit that it wasn't the best show of theirs I've seen (those would be at Jammin' Java last fall for the sheer power of the show and the music, and at Iota in...wow, it was 2004, because that was a night when I was all in love and in music) it was still a great time. They are seemingly lovely people who write, sing, and play beautiful songs, and there is nothing that I support more than that.
Patty Griffin, also. To be that talented - amazing. Give her a listen. "When it Don't Come Easy," off of the new record, is a heartbreaker, but oh so right on.
Hotlanta next week should be fun. I've been around here for a while. It's time for a little break. I'm so excited - I get to see some friends, learn some things, and check out a new city. Jazzed.
Tomorrow is Friday, and once again I am so happy.
Fountains of Wayne, "Red Dragon Tattoo"
Monday, gonna take a ride on
The N train down to Coney Island
With the money I saved
Gonna get me engraved
Drink down a lot of Basil Hayden
Get kicked out when I can't see straight and
What an island can be on
Under the neon
Red dragon tattoo
Is just about on me
I got it for you
So now do you want me
With nothing to prove
Will you be my honey, oh yeah
In you I confide
Red dragon tattoo
I'm fit to be dyed
Am I fit to have you
I hear the man say "you want to see the others
A mermaid and a heart that says mother?"
But I don't know from maritime
And I never did hard time
I brought a .38 Special CD collection
Some Bactine to prevent infection
And in case I get queasy
A photo of Easy Rider
Red dragon tattoo
Is just about on me
I got it for you
So now do you want me
With nothing to prove
Will you be my honey, oh yeah
In you I confide
Red dragon tattoo
I'm fit to be dyed
Am I fit to have you
Will you stop pretending I've never been born
Now I look a little more like that guy from KorN
If you came a little bit closer
You'd see it isn't painted on
Oh no no no
Red dragon tattoo
Is just about on me
I got it for you
So now do you want me
With nothing to prove
Will you be my honey, oh yeah
In you I confide
Red dragon tattoo
I'm fit to be dyed
Am I fit to have you
Recent Comments