Da Goddess

The trip to Phoenix has been a lot of fun. I’ve taken a load of photos and, get this, managed to whittle night’s photos down to only 56, which is pretty remarkable for me. I didn’t edit any of them, just uploaded to Flickr. Still have over 1,000 from the blues festival and the pre-party on Friday night, but I went the instant gratification route for once.

Have enjoyed my time with Temple and the great dinner and convo with Miachelle, who made a long drive for just a couple hours of visiting. How cool is that?

Wish everyone could have been here. I’ve seen and heard things that will never occur again. Remarkable events. Simply remarkable.

A 17-year old girl named Chelsea King went out for a run yesterday and is now missing. Please read the articles and call authorities if you have seen anything or have any information. More photos and description available on the PUSD website.

Hai! This is PJ. PJ is minding the store while human mom in Phoenix, I don’t have oooopposable thumbs, but I do pretty well for a cat, Don’t you think?

I stealed her camera when she wasn’t looking and took a picture of myself. It looked like something from that stupid can I has Cheezburger website. Silly cats. Most of them can’t spell. Not me. I have superrerior cat spelling skillz.

And I’m a good model. Check me out. It’s just me and “The situation” hanging out. The situation being my amazing coat of fur. The longer and fluffier, the better. Dig me. I’m handsome.

As a special kitteh treat, you get to choose which saying you like best.

Choice Meow

Choice Mew

Please register your votes in the comments section. You see, I want to prove that a cat can get more comments than a human can. I want to prove it’s time for a really COOL cat to formally declare himself an official candidate for the office of presidency. It starts here though, people. You must love me. You must believe in me. You must vote! See, this first time around, I can’t lose. You gotta vote for one of those pictures. They’re both of me. No matter what, I win! This is how I intend to run my entire campaign. It’s a brilliant plan.

So whaddya waitin’ for? VOTE! Choice Meow or Choice Mew?

Chic. But dark. The drinks were carefully crafted. No mere pouring. Lemons were hand squeezed as needed. Zest was zested only when called for. Berries mulled by hand. Magic fairy dust was sprinkled in the air or over the counter. I think I saw Tinkerbell float by and giggle at the concoctions. Yes, they were infuse with magic! Ingredients were added slowly. Each drink was a work of art.

Did I mention it was dark? The new 50mm f1.8 lens made these photos possible.

If you come to visit me here in Vegas, I will take you to a fun little jam where all sorts of music is played. Then, we’ll walk across the street and you will be treated to the Cocktail Room, where I’ll buy you one of these drinks. You will then proclaim your love for the drink, the bartender, and finally…me. They’re really that good. With any luck, Cary and a special young lady will be working and you’ll be thanking your lucky stars you got to meet them.

Tomorrow I head out to Phoenix for a few days. I’m covering a blues festival for a magazine. Yeah, you read that right. I’m also hanging out with the his own bad self. Maybe I’ll even get to see Miachelle this time around!

Also, it looks as though I may have another shoot while I’m in town there. It could be a very good thing. Very good.

Once again, as I pack, I’m wondering if I bring the laptop or leave it behind. Temple has a computer and I’m sure he’d let me check email. But, what if I need the computer to offload images? What then? Or am I just making this more complicated than it needs to be? All I know is I’m super limited on pain meds and hauling a bunch of extra stuff doesn’t exactly sound fun.

And, is it too much to ask that the rain not fall in AZ on Saturday? I just want that happy little window of dry so that I can properly photograph the bands and the crowd. That’s not a selfish request, is it?

Okay, back to finishing up my laundry and packing and gear prep. So much to do. So very much to do.

It may seem a little odd to call an article a love note, but it is. Or rather, they are. There are three articles that must be read together in order to get the full picture. The first: Ebert in Esquire. Then Roger Ebert’s Last Words. Finally, there’s Ethan Hill’s post about setting up the shoot. Hmm, you know, perhaps you should read Ethan’s story first. It sets it all up beautifully.

I’ve spent a long time looking at the main photograph used for the piece and I’m struck at how loving and gentle it is. It’s not an easy photo to view, especially for those who haven’t spent time with anyone who’s suffered from a disease that robs you of body parts or causes horrific scarring. Me? I can’t say I’ve seen it all, but I have seen a lot. Still, it was a bit of a shock to see that iconic face so transformed. Yet the eyes…they’re still as bright and lively as ever, aren’t they?

Accompanying the photo are the words that truly paint a picture in only the loveliest of colors and strokes. The absolute respect Chris Jones and Ethan Hill hold for Roger Ebert are apparent. Ebert’s response is respectful and he gets the whole deal. He’s a writer; he knows.

I look at the photos and read the words and I suddenly feel this gaping void where my talent should be. And then I find myself not worrying about it because these three men have created something that transcends mere words and images — they’ve created an experience. They’ve created a love note for all of us to share.

Imagine rhythm
Ricocheting like matter
Time remembers us

As written on the refrigerator by me at 4am (we play the magnet haiku game a lot around here). I’m a firm believer that exhaustion and happiness can produce interesting results. Individual mileage may vary.

The following was written yesterday and things have certainly changed within the past 24 hours. You should never ever go to bed angry or upset, write something when you’re angry or upset, blog…you know how it goes. So, keep that in mind as you read.

Some days…

You know how it goes.

Think I’ll just go ahead and sew my mouth shut for a couple days. I can’t win. I don’t say anything and it’s taken the wrong way. I say something and it’s taken the wrong way.

This, my friends, is the very definition of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. I’m not playing any longer.

Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs and narrator for Deadliest Catch, wrote some potent words about Captain Phil Harris. He absolutely nailed the reason DC is one of the world’s most popular shows, why millions of fans have taken Phil’s death so personally:

I guess it comes down to this. The world is desperate for authenticity. In business and in real life. In work and play. We crave it I think, because it’s in such short supply. Consequently, when we see it, we’ll wait for it. We’ll watch it on TV. We’ll stand in line for a chance to be near it. Fans, fishermen, CEOs – we know authenticity when we see it, even if we’re not looking for it. And Phil Harris had it in spades.

I didn’t know Phil well enough to properly eulogize him. However, I knew him enough to like him, and more than enough to miss him. He was the real deal. Flawed, human, decent, kind, and totally authentic.

And one hell of a Captain.

While Little Dude was here, we talked about Phil, DC, and why and how the death hit us like a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the gut. Phil was one of the good guys.

We may have only been shown a small part of Phil Harris on TV, but the fact remains that the bit we saw, we liked and we invited him (and everyone else from DC) into our homes each week, hoping some of that authenticity and spiritedness would somehow rub off on us and our children, rough edges and all. Like cowboys in the Old West, the crab fishermen ride wild waves, get thrashed about, endure brutal conditions, showing us and our children that hard work does bring its own rewards and we shouldn’t and can’t run from it, from life, or from death.

We never want to have to say goodbye, do we? Thankfully, Mike Rowe has said it beautifully for us.

In the last ten days, there’s been a song running through my head. Phil, this one’s for you. May your ride be a good one.

I’m not ready for my Little Dude to leave. He just got here!

:(

Sigh.

At least we had fun. Yes, we did. And I’ll be back in San Diego for ten days in March after WPPI. (For anyone in the SD area who’d like to schedule a photo session, please leave me a comment or send me an email and we’ll coordinate.) I’ll get to see the kids, spend time doing some things I love, and then come back home.

Still, I don’t want my kid to leave. I like having him here.

Yesterday was spent at the Old Mormon Fort. For a buck, you get to see a lot and it was a beautiful day. Plus I got to hang out with another photographer and chat about photo stuff and we all got along wonderfully.

LD is currently downstairs helping Buster do something. Buster asked if the kid wanted to earn a couple bucks and the boy said “yes!” So, they’re still down there doing whatever it is they’re doing. I’m not going down to check. They’re fine. I’d have heard something if anything bad had happened. From the sounds of it, they were rearranging drums in the studio. (Just confirmed by LD as he wandered upstairs and notified me he raked in $10.)

I’m going to miss this. Yep, yep, yep.

From a recent shoot, this is Miss J. I’m not entirely done with this image. The color is off, but I have to go to another computer for editing. Eventually, her skin tone will be warmed and the tower will be a bit darker. Wish I could have pumped a bit more light into the area, but we were stuck between casinos at the wrong time of day (which, of course, happens when you’re in slow-moving crowds).

This kid is just so awesome. He picked out the hat at Walmart the other day and has really only taken it off to shower and sleep. Little Dude is definitely a hat person. I don’t know anyone who can wear hats so well. The jacket (from dear friends of ours), well, that comes off only for showering. Doesn’t matter that it’s been t-shirt weather; the jacket stays on. The shirt: Dr. Pepper. The jeans: Dickies. The shoes: Vans.

Wanna hear something funny? The image number is 007 (technically 0007, but I never use that first digit). That makes him “Dude, Little Dude”. Even cooler than he was before.

Even better, he’s a willing student when it comes to music. Before heading out yesterday, I schooled him on The Hooters and a few other 80s bands. He liked ” You Zombies” and “And We Danced“. Oh, and he really likes the Proclaimers. Since he’s been here, he’s also shared some new music with me. Muse and One Republic (love these vids). I had no idea.

LD and I were playing with our food. It was playing with us, so we played back. We had fun.

Still working on uploading photos from the last couple days with Little Dude. Until then, there’s Randy. Here’s a photo of one of my friends on the drums. He works with one of the big blues guys and with several other bands. He’s good. Damn good. And really cool. He makes me laugh. Just like LD. Which reminds me, LD had another drum lesson last night with Buster. One of these days, it’ll be LD on stage and I’ll be the proud mama photographing him.

LD is a Pepper. He has a shirt that says so. And a cool new hat that makes him even more handsome. We did a little shoot yesterday and are going back out today to explore, shoot, eat, etc.

Right now, as I attempt to handle some correspondence and other bidniz, he’s digging through his Taylor Swift CD’s liner notes for hidden messages. Heh. (I saw the random cap letters and thought, “hmm, secret message!” and sent him off and running with it.) Yeah, he likes Taylor Swift. I kind of do, too. Even if she is a stick figure with lots of hair who couldn’t harmonize with Stevie Nicks (ANYONE can have an off night, she’s young, and it was Stevie, who isn’t exactly the easiest person with whom to harmonize).

We’ve also taken to watching movies like Red Dawn and Mr. Bean’s Holiday. And walking through Walmart singing Cheap Trick songs.

My young dude has, additionally, begun doing an impression of Michael Jackson. He’s so weird.

We’re having a good time though, and that’s what matters.

Today is NASCAR Cafe or the buffet at the RIO and wandering around with friends. Oh, and a trip to the camera store. Maybe even a quick trip to Kohl’s for some zebra print heels (for me, for me…!) since tomorrow is DMV day again.

Off we go!

Signed,

Happy Mommy

P.S. Longer post later. Maybe even with photos!