Once more, with feeling...

I had sort of talked myself out of doing the annual meme this year, having decided that I'm bored with it and that my answers don't change all that much, anyway but now that I'm face to face with a laptop, I figure I may as well do it. I did it first is 2007, again in 2008, and last year.
I wanted to upload some photos, as well, a few of my favorites this year but Blogspot won't let me so I'll come back to that later.
So here goes, the annual What's Up With Banana meme, version 2010.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?
I asked a celebrity to take a photo with me when I spotted her at the movie theater and I totaled a car. Not at the same time. Also, I got a dog.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Maybe?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, no one close to me but someone close to my guy did. Does that count? I got to hold the baby.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank God.

5. What countries did you visit?
I didn't leave the US this year. Now I'm sad. .....Stupid question.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Things were good this year. As always, I'd like a little more money in my bank account but generally, I'm blessed to have the things I do and don't really lack for anything.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
There were a lot of really great days this year. My favorite was probably my birthday. Everyone dressed up, there was dancing, I was happy. It was a phenomenal birthday.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I am embarrassed to admit that there are no great achievements this year. I did a couple of photo shoots that I'm proud of and I bought a domain name but this year was sort of a slacker-type year and I've got to push myself quite a bit more in 2011.

9. What was your biggest failure?
No failures. One Big Mistake, but no real failures.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I DID!! I should have added that to the first question! This year was my first ER visit (twice). I had an abscess in my throat and couldn't swallow anything and before that, I was in a car accident and needed to have my neck looked at (it was fine).

11. What was the best thing you bought?
I got a great lens for my camera, a nice 50mm. I love it and am going to marry it. Also some great dresses and shoes.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
A good friend of mine is dealing with some incredibly difficult things with remarkable grace and maturity and I'm so proud of her.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
This year was tougher than most, people-wise. A good friend sort of drifted away and I finally cut the ties, a figure from my past popped up and wreaked havoc in my life, and there was a guy at work making things Very Difficult for me but as of now, all those things are over and I'm good again.

14. Where did most of your money go?
.....Honestly? ......clothes.... .......i am embarrassed.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The concerts I saw this year - some really great ones, including a few of my very most favorites. Some shoots, the lens I finally got after coveting it for years.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
I heard this for the first time early last year and just loved it to bits. Listened to it constantly.


17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
happier
b) thinner or fatter?
fatter, definitely. :(
c) richer or poorer?
about the same.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
I really, really, really need to focus more on building my own business and taking better pictures. I didn't work on that nearly enough this year.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
There was a lot of fighting with people this year. I don't usually do that and I'm sad that it happened at all.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
I spent the holiday with my family. It was lovely.

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Sort of - I rediscovered the person I thought I knew, and fell in love all over again.

22. How many one-night stands?
Again, and as usual, not even one.

23. What was your favourite TV program?
30 Rock is still holding strong, recently I've really enjoyed Raising Hope, and I always love Doctor Who.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I am a hate-free zone.

25. What was the best book you read?
Oooh.... That one's kind of tough. I can't really think of any books that really blew me away this year. I finally read A Prayer For Owen Meany and I dug it, so that one? Maybe? I'll get back to you....

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Hmmm.... Maybe A Fine Frenzy? I like them. Oh - and Maximum Balloon. They're fun.


27. What did you want and get?
A feeling of contentment.

28. What did you want and not get?
A million dollars? A unicorn?

29. What was your favourite film of this year?
Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Fan-farking-tastic. Kickass was really fun, too.

30. What did you do on your birthday?
There was a big party at the Edison with all my friends dressed up in their Fancy Duds.

31.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
My year would have been much more satisfying if I'd been less passive about working towards where I'd really like to be.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Lots of boots this year. Lots and lots of them (I got my new favorites yesterday). More colored tights.

33. What kept you sane?
The Guy.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Steve Martin. I've always loved him but the stuff he writes on his Twitter account brought him right back to first place in my shallow little heart.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm still pretty worked up about this whole Health Care thing.

36. Who did you miss?
Again and again, it's my brother and my grandparents.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
I've made a couple of new friends this year. As to who was the best? I don't know. It's too soon to tell.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010:
I'm trying to remember to appreciate the truly wonderful things I already have.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year
"So make your siren's call
And sing all you want
I will not hear what you have to say

Cause I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be"

~The Cave, Mumford & Sons

Precious Snowflake

My dog has two best friends; one is a much bigger dog and the other is a slightly larger homicidal cat. Playtime is a pitched battle for survival. As a result, my adorably tiny bundle of fluff is the neighborhood bully. He thinks he's playing, the neighborhood pampered pooches are cowering in fear. Their owners glare at me over their shoulders as they pull their precious snowflakes away from my miniature beast. I mumble feeble excuses and apologies. My dog wonders why no one wants to play with him. Everybody loses. Thank goodness he's cute.

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Happy Holidays!

Christmas is a'coming and for the first time in years, I'm practically almost ready. I've got gifts for the Guy, his Kid, my Mom, the BFF, the slightly lesser FFs, and some co-workers. The only problem giftee (every year) is my Dad. The guy is so quick to purchase anything he wants that I can never beat him to it. His hobbies and interests are so few and specific that it's difficult to avoid buying the same things every year. My inner monologue when shopping for Dad goes like this: "Books about the Civil War! John Wayne movies! Books about the Civil.... Waitaminute...." Every year. Once I become a gazillionaire, I'll buy him a yacht with a Civil War cannon on it, name it The Duke, and consider him gifted for life.

Thanksgiving was fun this year. I went with The Guy and The Kid to see his family in Northern California and once we'd arrived, I ditched my boyfriend for this guy:

And this guy:

(The mustache is not real)

It was a fun long weekend. When I wasn't trying to make friends with the two-year old, I spent most of my time holding the tiny baby or lurking just behind people that were holding the tiny baby, so as to be nearby when they were ready to give him up. The Guy and I spent one baby-free day in San Francisco and that was perfectly lovely. I'll be traveling with him and The Kid again this month, going to see their family in Boston in the week between Christmas and New Years. This is particularly exciting because I've never been to Boston and I understand that it will be Extremely Cold there. I have hats, coats, gloves, and scarves that I never get to wear here in LA that will finally be useful!! Very much looking forward to this.

Wild and crazy Saturday nights

I am a wild and crazy gal who spends her Saturday nights doing wild and crazy things. Tonight, for example, I spent hours sitting on a couch being Very Very Quiet while a todder slept in the next room. CRAZY, I KNOW! I don't know how I manage to keep up with myself.
I'd stupidly forgotten to bring a book with me so I had to raid the family's shelves and ended up with Into The Wild, by.... That one guy. It's a pretty easy read and I finished it in about two hours. Here's the thing... I'd heard about the kid (you know, the one who took off into the Heart Of Alaska all by his lonesome and then died) but had never seen the film that had been based on this book and so this was the first detailed account I'd heard of his life and death. Now that I've read it, I'm even more confused: The author tried to paint the kid as an unfortunate Spirit of Adventure, a Soul Searching Wiseman when really he was ill-prepared, naive, more than a little arrogant, and ultimately, careless of both his family's concern for him and his own life. Spirit of Adventure, my ass. He was a kid who made stupid decisions and died because of them. I was also annoyed by the two chapters the author used in the middle of the book to tell his own life story. I think it was supposed to prove that he understood the dead kid better than anyone else had up til now because THEY HAD DONE PRACTICALLY THE SAME THINGS. Except, you know, differently. Really annoying.
So that was my Saturday night. Watched a kid, read a book, got really annoyed and ranted about the book, drove the Guy's car home with the headlights turned off, passing THREE cop cars, had a tiny freakout when I parked, turned the headights off and realized what I'd done, walked dogs, and got ready for bed.
No way next weekend's gonna top this one.

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The zoo

My guy is in Florida for a little while and because his dog hasn't been doing so well, I've moved into his place to care for the dog while the guy is away. My own dog gets along well with China but I didn't want to drive back and forth between our places every day to care for my cat as well as the two dogs so I moved the cat in here, too. It's taken a couple of days for everyone to get used to each other but now it seems good. China the Pit Bull ignores Ferris the Cat, who likes to tackle Dr. Evil the Maltipoo, who enjoys wrestling with China the Pit Bull. Sitting on the couch, I can look down the hallway and watch the animals zip back and forth from room to room, like those old movies. First, there's a quick gray flash (Ferris) moving from the guest room to the master bedroom. Seconds later, a slightly fuzzier flash of white (Dr. Evil) follows. There's a smacking sound, sometimes a muffled yelp, then the fuzzy white flash comes barreling out of the master bedroom, followed closely by the quick gray flash and both disappear into the guest room. There is more smacking and yelping and the gray flash is rushing in and out of the hallway again, the white flash just behind him. This happens over and over and is always hilarious, especially when Dr. Evil tries to make a quick turn and ends up skidding along the hardwood floors and crashing into the walls. China does not play the Hallway Game. She waits in the living room until Dr Evil comes rushing past, all giddy with excitement, and then with one swipe of her massive head, she takes him out. Once he's down, China stands over him as he's lying on his back, limbs in the air, and she sort of gums him to death (she's pretty old) while he bats ineffectually at her with his tiny lamb legs. Again, hilarious.
The house is noisy but it's certainly not lonely.

Dr. Evil got a haircut today and he lost about seven inches of girth. He's got a puff of a tail, a puff of a head, and a stick of a body between. My dog is a Q-Tip. When I picked him up from the groomers, I started laughing as soon as I saw him - I wish I could get a picture that really shows just how ridiculous and adorable he looks - and throughout the day, whether I'm walking him or watching him play with (get mauled by) the other animals, I keep laughing at him. He's gonna end up with a complex.

Numero two.

I've made it to Day Number Two of the 30 for 30 challenge, which is pretty spectacular for me. I'm not so good with the old self-restraint and don't usually make it past the end of day one. The challenge will be on this shiny new blog, which you should only look at if you really like looking at boring clothes and lots of pictures of my dog. This is my favorite expression of his:
Don't be fooled by his extremely adorable good looks. He's a bully.China, my Guy's dog, is super-sweet and loves loves loves to be loved by the people but the dogs, not so much. She hates other dogs and was growling at Dr. Evil for weeks before his constant, unending need to be right next to her every second of every day finally won her over. Now they're best friends and have bi-hourly wrestling matches. They're surprisingly well-matched. Dr. Evil is tiny and incredibly uncoordinated but China is ancient and extremely stiff. The wrestling usually ends with Dr. Evil having stuffed himself under the couch to get away from an increasingly cranky China while she takes a quick nap so as to regain her strength.

So then I was, all, like, you know...

Halloween happened and I was a burglar, of the old-fashioned variety, complete with shady mustache.

I'd decided on the costume about two days before Halloween and I was all smug about how prepared I was (long-sleeve black shirt, black pants, black hat, black mask. I have all those things. I am done) only to find while I was getting dressed that morning that I did not, in fact, have half of those things. Pink masks, white masks, tiger masks, those I had but a plain little black one? Nope. Same with the long-sleeve shirt. The only black one I have has yellow seams. Totally unsuitable for burglary. Finally, I ended up cutting the mask out of one of my backdrops and wearing the yellow seamed shirt out the door, studiously ignoring the fifteen or so costumes I already have hanging in the closet. I've already worn those. I got to where I was going and ran into my friend, Anahi. She wasn't in costume but she happened to be wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and as soon as I saw it, I dragged her into the bathroom, swapped tops, she drew the mustache on my finger, and voila! My burglar costume, it was complete. Then I took a nine-year-old boy trick or treating and I was one of a very small group of adults in costume. This is because I rock.

Another Halloween festivity this year was going to Knott's Scary Farm with the Guy, the BFF, and her guy.

We saw a lot of stuff like this:

It was a lot of fun and I got to try out my new camera lens, a Canon 50mm. I'm kind of in love with this lens. As soon as I figure out how to use it, I'ma take some purdy pictures. This is one that the BFF took of my and the Guy, using the lens.

It's blurry and off-center and I love it. My BFF is a much better photographer than I am.

I also went with Amber, the Guy, and his Kid to a Day of the Dead event at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery but the pictures aren't uploaded yet. I'll get around to that, eventually.

That's it, really. Work is working out, for now. I've got a shoot on Thursday night and I'll get to experiment some more with my new lens.
The dog is much better behaved since he's grown used to me and the apartment. The cat is still trying to kill the dog and I'm afraid that I may have to take my landlord up on his offer to take the cat but I'm holding out for a while longer, hoping that the cat may yet calm down, just a little, and quit with the dogicide.

I read today about a blogger challenge to pick thirty things out of your closet and wear them, and only them, for thirty days. I am intrigued and may give this a shot. The thing is, I'm poor, I have a somewhat problematic addiction to new shoes and dresses, and I love style. With this challenge, I wouldn't be allowed to shop and I'd have to find new ways to wear my favorite things.
I'd probably start up a new blog for this challenge. Definitely intrigued. I may even start tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

I am Sparta

I spent the last two days in the hospital and three doctors and two nurses told me that I "look really good for someone with an abscess".

That, apparently, is "looking really good". Mostly, I was weepy and woozy. I did all my eatin' through a tube in my arm and that, my friends, was not nearly as much fun as other kinds of eating. The first solid food I had in two days was an apple and that crisp, crunchy goodness nearly blew my drugged-out little mind.

The Guy was working at night so ended up spending the last two days without sleeping at all so that he could take care of me.

He did some hand-holding, brought some books and fresh socks, took care of the puppy, and basically proved himself (again) an all-around awesome boyfriend. The hairy growth that seems to be sprouting from his neck? That was me. I was hiding my face because by that point I'd gone about twenty hours without swallowing anything at all and despite the lack of liquid in my body, I'd squeezed surprising amounts of water out of my eyeballs. They were swollen up like basketballs. I'm not sure what that says about me - I was in pain, woozy from dehydration and scared of what was going on but I still had to take a photo and not look hideous - but I'm sure it says something. Probably something not very flattering, in which case I will assume it's jealous and pay no attention.
I've been given jugs and jugs of antibiotics and some painkillers (all the medications are liquid, in case I'm unable to swallow again. Isn't that thoughtful?) and some Dire Warnings about what happens if I don't take the meds on time and sent on my (droopy) way.

I'm home again, my dog is frantic with joy, my cat is outwardly indifferent but inwardly relieved and my plant seems not to have noticed. I'm going to drag myself into bed and stay there for at least twelve hours, or until the puppy needs to pee, whichever comes first.

*I should probably mention that I am currently all drugged up and if this entry makes no sense, I blame the codeine.

I've got a dog and he has Special Needs. Namely, food, water, and constant attention. It turns out that my adorable "non-needy, quiet, well-behaved" puppy has Separation Anxiety (fancy talk for He Freaks Out And Turns Into A Maniac Whenever He's Left Alone) and worms. The worms I don't mind. A couple of visits to the vet, a couple of pills forced down his throat, we're all set. The Separation Anxiety? That's a whole other can worms (See what I did there? HA!). Since he's relatively quiet when I'm around, I still don't know how obnoxious he really is when I'm at work but my neighbors have been quick to inform me: He's a whining, barking, yelping nightmare, producing brain-bending noises for HOURS at a time. I went outside to type this entry and as the door shut behind me, the yelping started. It's a sort of high-pitched squeak right now, like the world's longest fingernail scratching the world's biggest chalkboard.
The dog is adorable, and sweet, and needs to be trained. I'm not gonna give up on the beast but I've got to figure out how to get him to shut up. If anyone's got any tips, lemme have 'em.

How cute is that guy? How deceptively well-mannered of appearance.

Sigh.

Yesterday, I was confused, heartbroken, feeling lost and hopeless. Maybe my life shoulda taken a left at Albuquerque. I didn't know what was going on or how I'd ended up in such a mess. Today? My new boots have arrived and all is well with the world.
Well, I'm not so shallow as all that. Things had straightened themselves out by the time I'd gone to bed last night but the boots? They only confirm that, yes, things are going to be awesome indeed. How could they not be whilst shod in these?

Steve Madden, you always know how to make a girl feel better.

Getting the ball rolling

Earlier this week, I decided that I needed to replace my car, get a new computer, buy a new lens, and get a bigger apartment- all this in addition to enlarging my dress and shoe collections. Clearly, I'm going to need another job. I poked around the internet and moaned to anyone who would listen how much I hate waiting tables and I don't want a crazy office job and then I remembered: I take pictures and sometimes, people give me money to do it. Therefore, if I take more pictures and get paid for them, I would make more money and I wouldn't need a second job. I could just keep doing what I already do and be able to afford the things I need.
This was all very exciting and great but I'm pretty terrible with the whole 'not being lazy' thing. I see now that it's going to take a lot of work to get a viable business off the ground, one in which shoot more than just once a month. Still, I need the car, computer, lens, apartment, dresses, and shoes so yesterday, I got cracking. I set up a business page on the facebook, did a fashion shoot, edited and uploaded lots of pictures, agonized over making them public, did it anyway, and generally feel like I am off to a good start.I finished most of the pictures I took of Amber months ago - this is one of my favorites:She's just so happy!

This is one from yesterday:
Absolutely fantastic model. It was a great shoot, lots of fun, she was on her game, knew exactly what she was doing, trusted that I knew what I was doing, and loves having her picture taken - that makes a huge difference, when it comes right down to it. Models that are comfortable in front of the camera are so easy to photograph!

I'll be buying the lens next, then setting up a website. Very exciting stuff.

Other than that, life has been pretty quiet. Quiet is nice right now.

THIS STAYS BETWEEN YOU AND ME, INTERNET
My laziness has reached epic proportions. Yesterday I moved furniture around my apartment so that I could LIE ON MY COUCH AND SEE MY LAPTOP. I am really that lazy. I moved FURNITURE so as not to have to move a laptop. It was only one piece of furniture, really. Just the couch. It makes a certain kind of sense - I'm dragging around ONE couch instead of unplugging, untangling, moving, and reattaching, like, THREE cables (external hard drive, speakers, mouse). Plus one laptop. That's four (light) things to move instead of just one (incredibly heavy) thing.
I can't believe I'm trying to justify this. I am lazy. I am ashamed. Sort of. Mostly, I'm really comfortable.


ALL THAT COMPLAINING, WASTED.
Now that my work schedule has abruptly gone back to normal, I find that I'm freaking out. I didn't want to work all day every day but I liked having money. I'll still have money, mind you, just not as much. I liked all that much. I was getting used to it. My concern is such that I'm seriously considering getting a (gasp) second job. My job, as it is, pays enough to cover my bills and the rent but SHOES!! All those lovely shoes that I can't buy! Not to mention all those gorgeous summer dresses that are going on sale RIGHT THIS MINUTE! This is why I need a second job. The extremely shallow aspects of my nature are stronger than the very lazy aspects and I'm going to drag myself out of this extremely comfortable, well-positioned if not very decorative couch and get another job. Then I will be able to lie right back down again while wearing the beige Steve Madden platform pumps I have been coveting for months now. I recently got the electric blue ones and they are a dream. Shortly after getting them, I saw photos of Victoria Beckham, my beloved Posh Spice, wearing those very same shoes with three different outfits. It's kismet. We're meant to be besties. I can tell. We have the same taste in shoes.




IT'LL CHANGE YOUR LIFE, I PROMISE
The other thing I've been enjoying lately is 8track. You can make your own playlists and share them. I love anything that lets me force my favorite music down other people's throats and my obsessive love of making lists means that I have playlists about EVERYTHING. This is my playlist that has songs about Paris.


I also have playlists about coffee, breaking up, zombies, shoes, Los Angeles, covers, death, unrequited love, circuses, and photographs. They will all eventually make their way onto that site. I'm having so much fun with it!

This may not work. . .

this is an experiment. i was going to try and write some bloggy stuff using my keypad on my super nifty smart phone only it is not working out as well as i had hoped. my notsosmart phone will not let me use capital letters or any symbols. it is incredibly annoying and i am aborting the bloggy attempt now.

goodbye.

And then that happened

Some things are inevitable. I live in LA, I've been driving for over fifteen years, and I drive nearly every day surrounded by wackos. Friday, it happened: I was in an accident that took out not one, not two, but three cars, two of them completely totaled. One of the destroyed vehicles was the car I was driving and it wasn't my car. Good news is I'm ok and the dog that was in the car with me is ok.

That is the dog, being OK. My airbag didn't deploy and my brains are pretty rattled but China, who was in the passenger seat, flew straight in to hers, bounced gracefully off, then slid gently down to the floor of the car. When I could finally come to a stop, I was frantically pushing airbag out of the way to find her confused and happy, hanging out under the dashboard.
I've been in a few accidents, mostly fender-benders here and there and a couple big ones when I was a passenger but this is the first time I've been involved in something like this as a driver and I'm still waiting to find out what I'm going to need to do (pay) and how I do it. It's all very exciting (nerve-wracking).
I'm ok, sustained no permanent damage, just some whiplash and muscle pains. I should be as right as rain in a couple of weeks. And if you're in the LA area and need to go to emergency care, go to Cedars Sinai. I cannot recommend that place highly enough. I was in and out within three hours, everyone was kind and professional and, given the situation, it was a remarkably pleasant experience.

That's it really. That's the big news. Car accident.
I did a photo shoot the week before and I'm pretty happy with how those came out.

The model was a doll, super fun and easy to work with, despite the fact that she was sick. She was a trooper. People like that make me look good. Here's another of my favorites:

She's all super-model styles here.

Some days, I love what I do.

There have been happenings. Many concerts, some movies, a few parties, a Fourth of July. I saw The Murder City Devils in.... May, I think? Cursive, Sage Francis, Gogol Bordello (Hooray!), some local bands, some friends bands. It's been a good summer for music, so far. There are a few more concerts I'm looking forward to this year, Muse and Crooked Fingers being the most notable - those are my number two and number one favorite bands, in that order, and I've never seen either of them in concert before. My head might explode from the excitement.
I had a little notebook with a couple of notes I'd written for the express purpose of remembering to blog about them and now that I'm sitting all comfycozy, I'm too lazy to reach across the two-and-a-half feet span between me and my purse, which has the notebook. I'm pretty sure I was going to mention something about Facebook but now that I'm sitting here and doing the typing, I'm thinking that the Facebook story is not so much 'funny' as it is 'whiny'. The facebook story will not be told.
The BFF and I spent a day in San Diego a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic. We took lots of pictures and did lots of talking and I thought about how wonderful it is to have such a great friend to grow with.We started the day at the San Diego County Fair and made a beeline for the food carts. I wanted to try the deep fried butter but when it came right down to it, I chickened out and had deep-fried apples instead. It's the healthier deep-fried alternative. We went on my favorite ride, the Ferris Wheel, looked at some of the vendors booths, ate some more, and left. It was kind of ideal, really. I'm not so big on trudging around in the dust and the heat and Charles, she is exactly the same way. From the fair, we went to a local cemetery, took some pictures, ended up at the beach for dinner (pasta!), took some more pictures, and I went home. We're going to try and do these photo field trips at least a few times a year. It's great practice for both of us and an even greater excuse to hang out.


Another great day was Universal Studios - I hadn't been in years and it was really cool seeing all the changes made to the park. It felt much more Theme Park-y, with the kiosks and booths and themes, less like a working movie studio with a couple of attractions. It was fun but not the kind of place I'd visit regularly. You, Universal, are no Disneyland.

There was this guy, though. That's definitely a point in Universal's favor. Also, margaritas. More points to Universal.



MY CAT IS A JERK
My mattress is pretty hard and until recently, I liked it that way. I was comfortable, sort of, until suddenly I just wasn't. Lying on my back was exactly like sleeping on the hardwood floor, it was impossible to get comfortable on my belly, and my poor hipbone had no idea what to do with itself when I lay on my side. Because I am a Problem Solver, I betook myself to Target and bought a thick, comfy mattress pad. Target being what it is, I also walked out with a shower curtain, bathroom floor mat, a kitty litter box with a lid and swinging door, a couple of dresses, and a book (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It was good). I got home, cleaned the apartment a little, arranged my purchases around the place, forced the cat in and out of the litter box a few times so he'd know how to use the door, got ready for bed. The mattress pad, it was heaven. Squishy and soft and comfy and I got exactly two hours of slumbering bliss out of it before a horrible smell forced me awake. Startled and completely grossed out, I started to look for the source of the smell and found it almost right away and it was coming from the bed.
The cat, confused by the new litter box, peed in the bed, soaking the sheets, the comforter, and the BRAND NEW MATTRESS PAD. His first accident, ever, and it's on the one item I can't easily clean. I couldn't even get mad at him. He was confused! The door on the litter box defeated his tiny, tiny brain and my lovely mattress pad paid the price.
The smell was foul. Just brain-searingly awful. It's been a couple of days now and I've done everything I can think of to get rid of it, up to and including spraying the mattress pad down with Very Expensive Perfume. Funnily enough, that's what seems to work best. I've been drifting off to sleep lately in a cloud of Chanel and cat urine.

TWO THINGS THAT ARE UNRELATED BUT I THOUGHT I'D MENTION.
I got the awesome discount at the neighborhood boutique of Doom and now I'm more broke than ever. I will, however, be spending my time at the soup kitchens in some great dresses. Hooray! Also, my head has survived another self-applied haircut. There was a tense couple of hours while I waited for it to dry (I stupidly cut it fresh out of the shower and soaking wet. I sort of forgot that it's not always like that) but much to my simultaneous relief and annoyance, no one even noticed I'd cut it. Three inches, people!! That's not nothin'. Either my hair is so long that no one can tell bits of it are gone or it looks terrible, possibly from an angle I cannot see, like the back of my head, and no one wants to make me feel bad.

*My cat crawled onto my lap while I was typing this and he just gave himself a big ol' languid cat stretch and slipped right off my lap. I find this kind of thing hilarious, despite the leg-clawing I got when he panicked at the beginning of the extremely un-languid fall.
He's back now, dignity and balance intact.

YOU CAN PROBABLY SKIP THIS NEXT PART.
Clementine the Wonder Bug is in the shop again. Looking over this blog, I see that there very many entries where I talk about my car breaking down or catching fire. The latest thing is breaking down while parked on hillsides, for no particular reason. It just doesn't want to drive anymore. It's confusing my super-genius mechanic and he's keeping the car in the shop until he can figure it out. This means that I'm walking a whole lot. Walking to work, walking to the store, walking to the bus stop, walking walking walking. Occasionally biking. Mostly walking. I have discovered that it's much easier to walk up a hill than it is to ride a bicycle up one and because there is a large hill between me and EVERYTHING ELSE, the bike isn't getting as much use as I'd originally thought.

Abrupt ending because I can't think of anything else to talk about.

THE NEVERENDING 36FAIL
I started another attempt at the 365 - you know, that thing on Flickr where you're supposed to take a picture every day for a year? This was number three for me and I lasted less than a week. This time, though, I'm just gonna pretend that the portraits, they don't have to be in order. I can take them over the course of, say, six years. Or twenty. 365 is just the name of the project, it doesn't really mean anything.

That is the face of Failure.

GOD WANTS ME TO SPEND ALL MY MONEY
There's a gorgeous little neighborhood boutique just down the street and it has been the bane of my existence for years. Every time I walk by, I'll see a dress, or a coat, or a skirt in the window that I just have to have. The owner, Sarah, has nearly the exact same taste in clothing that I do and I can never resist her shop windows. I've spent so much money there that six months ago, I made a deliberate, conscious decision to avoid that store at all costs. I haven't been inside since and I studiously avoid looking in or at the windows, despite the fact that I walk or drive past the storefront nearly every day.
Sadly, I'm not exaggerating at all. Because I have ZERO WILLPOWER, that place was driving me to wreck and ruin.
Sooooo..... Last night I was having dinner at a local eatery when who should happen to sit at the table next to me? Why, Sarah, manager and proprietor of the gorgeous little neighborhood boutique, of course! I have never, ever seen her outside of that store. Not once, until last night. She recognized me, I recognized her, we chatted for a bit and then she said, "You know, you should come into the store sometime this week. I'll give you a great discount!"
A DISCOUNT! I die.
All resolve has been chucked out the window. That was a sign! I'm SUPPOSED to spend all my money there! I even get discounts!

Erm..... Hello there.
It's been a while.

NEW BLOGGY RESOLUTION:
I am not going to keep this up on a regular basis. Clearly, I am not nearly focused/motivated/mature enough for that. Nor, however, shall I let this blog die. The new bloggy resolution is to blog, you know, whenever.

While I'm always chock-full of great excuses for not keeping up, the one I've got now is a really, really good one - I was at work, all day, every day, ALL THE TIME. The occasional afternoon/day off I had was spent in a heap on my bed, bemoaning the lack of time I had to spend the funds I'd been accruing (thank God for the internet, eh? You can shop from ANYWHERE!). After nearly five months of that, my schedule is going back to normal. I'll have two days of a week and most afternoons to do with whatever I'd like. I'm seeing a lot of sleep in my future, with occasional naps just to shake things up.

I have managed to squeeze in a couple of shoots here and there, one in particular that I'm really proud of. This is Amber:Isn't she purdy? And she's a dream of a model. Our first set-up, after she'd been made up and costumed, I positioned her, she took up a pose, I snapped a shot and suddenly, she was moving all over the place, posing and hair whipping and generally being incredibly awesome and making me look good. I barely directed her at all and as we wandered Elysian Park, she'd spot trees and power converters I'd completely overlooked and suggest shots. I luff her.

In other awesome photography news, I've met a new neighbor who is an incredibly talented professional photographer and who is willing to gang up with me. He's been teaching me great tips and tricks and I'm already seeing improvement in my own work.

So, you know. That's fun.


I AM A GEEK AND THINGS LIKE THIS CANNOT GO UNMENTIONED.

The guy and I went to a BBQ in Echo Park a couple of weeks ago. It was in a small lot behind an art gallery off of Sunset Blvd and while it was sparsely decorated, there was a pretty tree strung up with Christmas lights in the middle of the lot and some vinyl benches scattered around. Nothing special UNTIL I overheard a guy ask the girl who was hosting the event where she'd gotten the benches. Oh so casually, she answered that she was friends with a set decorator and had he ever heard of the show Pushing Daisies? Well, those benches were from the diner set.

THE SET OF PUSHING DAISIES!!! My beloved, canceled, favorite show of ever!! I am such a nerd for that show that in no time at all, I'd commandeered a bench and parked myself there for the rest of the evening.

That expression right there? That is nerdy bliss. Glee, if you will. My behind is part of Pushing Daisies now. And there is photographic evidence.

Oh, blog.
I keep saying I'll pay more attention to you and then I abandon you for weeks, months, at a time. It's terrible. I mean to write, I really do. It's just... You know.... Stuff happens. Stuff I should be writing about except what with all the stuff happening, I'm just to busy to write. It's a vicious cycle.
Speaking of cycles (HA!! See how I did that? That right there? I'm going to talk about a BICYCLE now!), I have a bicycle now! I'd been pointedly telling everyone I know how much I wanted one, hoping someone would have a spare lying around and it turns out that someone did. My landlord had a gorgeous vintage Raleigh ten-speed rusting away on his porch and almost as soon as I'd launched into my gee-I-really-want-a-bike-speech, he offered the Raleigh to me. It might have been because he has no use for it, it might have been because he likes me, or it might have been to shut me up. I don't know why he gave it to me, but I'm really glad he did. As soon as my guy fixes the brakes, I'll be zipping around the neighborhood and crashing into every tree and parked car between here and my workplace.

The bike is kind of the most exciting thing to happen to me in a while. I've been working really long hours for the last six weeks and haven't had much time for anything else. I saw a great show, Cursive at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip, went to a co-workers birthday party (THAT'S a whole thing right there - this party was in a fancy-shmancy house in the Hollywood Hills and clearly, I've seen way too many movies and showed up with completely unrealistic expectations. There was not a cocaine mountain in sight. No one jumped fully clothed into the swimming pool. Not a single person was slapped OR shot. It was just another party, albeit chock-full of professional models. Dozens of them, all long-legged and pouty-lipped, casting wistful glances at the buffet table. I know they were glancing at the food because that's where I set up camp. While they milled around, striking poses and talking shop, I was shoving vast amounts of tasty foodstuffs into my mouth.)
One of these people is a six-foot tall model. The other is wearing four-inch heels and spends a lot of time at buffet tables.