Misadventures of the Past Twenty-Four Hours

I woke up because Nathan had burned some popcorn.

That's what I thought, anyway, as I lay there in the dark, gagging on the stench.  I peered bleerily at my phone- not quite midnight.  I'd been asleep for about three hours.  And the reek was getting worse.

It's nothing. It's just popcorn, I thought to myself, trying not to be That Paranoid Woman.  But then-

That's not nothing- the smell is too strong... and... chemical?  Oh shit what if Nathan is passed out! Thus did I come flying out of the bed and down the stairs, to a living room hung with greasy gray tendrils of smoke.

Why isn't the fire alarm going off? I thought, rushing into the kitchen to find the source of the smell.  There on the stove, on a burner that was theoretically turned off, were the charred remnants of what had once been chicken and vegetable soup, and a heavy plastic ladle that was melting and burning in the thoroughly ruined pot.

By this point Nathan emerged from his office to see why I was stampeding around the house: the closed door had cut him off completely from the odor (not dead from smoke inhalation- yay!).

We got it taken care of, of course, but the house... the smell is literally nauseating.  Even now, after a full day of open windows, it still smells like an ashtray.  It's horrific.  ::sigh::  Tomorrow's activities will likely include me washing walls...

After that adventure I had a hard time getting back to sleep- my brain wouldn't shut up with the "But what if I hadn't woken up?!" scenarios.  And then of course Neeps woke up for his night-feed, which kept me up even longer.

All of this to say, I did not get a lot of sleep last night, which perhaps explains the events of this morning.

I was scheduled to be part of a photo-shoot for a feature on working moms today (a joint effort by the dynamic women behind A Well Crafted Party and Momma Bear Magazine), something I was very, very excited about.  Since the shoot was taking place a good half hour from where I live, I had Neeps packed up and ready to go early enough that we wouldn't just be on time, we'd be a little early.  We'd been instructed to wear what we'd normally wear for work, but I, in my Motherly Wisdom, was bringing it with me rather than wearing it, because we all know that wrangling infants whilst wearing Office Apparel is a recipe for disaster.

Except (I realized just in time to miss the last exit on our side of the river) I forgot the damn outfit.  (also the damn makeup, jewelry, shoes, and hairbrush, all of which were neatly assembled in a bag so that I could grab it on my way out the door.)  And so I had to cross the river, exit, turn around, get back on the interstate to recross the river to get back home and retrieve the bag, and then start out again.  Normally this wouldn't have been so terrible- an extra 15 minutes, max- but traffic had been really heavy and slow on the way south the first time, and on the way south the second time it was at a literal standstill because of course they raised the bridge.

In the end it took me over an hour from the time I left the house (the first time) to the time I actually made it to the photo shoot.  Not my finest hour.  Although to tell the truth I couldn't help but laugh that me having a child didn't actually have anything whatsoever to do with my tardiness to the "working moms" event.

The day went a great deal more smoothly from that point onward- I loved hanging out and chatting with other working mothers- those ladies were inspiring as hell!  And of course I never get tired of hearing people admire my baby.  I'm really excited to see the results of the shoot, and you can be certain I'll link you guys to the feature when it comes out!

Subject Switcheroo

We’re down in Prattville this weekend, so we took advantage of our proximity to Tim and Meredith to pop down to their place and hang out/have dinner with them (and of course their lovely daughter-whom-I-shall-call-Leafy). We decided that the weather called for grilling, so Nate and I brought over some steaks and corn-on-the-cob (note to self: farmer’s market is open again- make it a point to get corn from there from now on), Nate worked his marinating magic, and then Tim wielded fire and turned it all into food. Good stuff, good stuff.

Whenever we get a chance to get together like this, Nate and Meredith try to get some joint-photography going. Meredith has recently started experimenting with light painting, so it was suggested that that be the subject of tonight’s session, since Nathan is interested in learning more, as well. In the end Nathan didn’t actually end up taking any shots (he’d gotten a good one of Leafy earlier in the afternoon) but I think he learned a lot by working with Meredith on hers. Tim and I took turns being models and playing photographer’s-assistant (such is the fate of photographers’ spouses everywhere) and generally having fun. At least, I had fun- it’s always interesting to me to model for different artists, because everyone has their own methods. And I will say that it did not hurt my feelings at all when Meredith complimented my ability to keep still between shots rather than running to look at the camera… (A trait that pretty much comes from getting my training during Katie’s film-camera beginnings, I’m sure…)

Anyway the whole experience was just good, and it really illustrates how important creative community is when you’re an artist. That’s something I wish we had more of- or, rather, lived closer to. All our artist friends are scattered across the country, and it makes it difficult to get together and bounce ideas off one another like we did this evening. I look forward to the day when we can have more regular access to a Studio of peeps...

Ugh (I'm So Vain)

I knew it was going to happen eventually. It's kind of the major problem with being a Muse (as opposed to being Amusing, which has an entirely different set of troubles). Enough people take your photograph and/or draw/paint/whatever your image, and sooner or later someone is going to not just turn out an image you don't like, but actually use the damn thing for their 365 Project.

My husband, of course, insists that it's not unflattering at all. He is obviously biased and a bit touched in the head (and also enchanted with the colors, something I cannot really fault him for because he did capture some sumptuous colors on that bad boy). And lest you think this is some sort of compliment-fishing scheme on my part, I want to point out that I am not questioning my own level of attractiveness (which I happen to think is quite high, thankyouverymuch)- I am speaking as an artist (both one who creates images and one who inspires them) critiquing an image of a person and whether or not said image portrays them in the most flattering light.

Which this image most decidedly does not (well, minus the ironic fact that the lighting itself is one of the most flattering you can get- "golden hour" and all that...). For instance, the placement of various shadows give me a pronounced brow-ridge, emphasize the bags under my eyes, and over-define the folds around my mouth, all of which add haggard years to my appearance. And speaking of my mouth just what the hell was I doing with it? I don't know! It's weird and uncomfortable to look at. Also my hairline appears freakishly straight. And I'm squinting. But that's only to be expected since I was looking into the sun, which normally I can do just fine for photos but if I'm forced to hold it for too long (which I was, in this instance) the result is Unflattering Squint.

Basically what I'm saying is that I am dissatisfied in a professional capacity with the image I helped to create. But since my artist is pleased with it, it doesn't much matter; he didn't take that photo for me, he took it for him- and he likes it. So I just need to suck it up and enjoy the colors.

Or something.

Now, all that being said, it is a good photo, technically speaking (just not of me); you've got your composition broken into thirds, your extreme sharpness, and of course the gorgeous, gorgeous contrast. The play of light across my irises (emphasized by the shadow of my lashes) is especially pleasing, and the copper-red of my hair just glows against that diffuse green and blue background. Strictly speaking I think it's not the best cropping choice on the lower part of the image (and not just because it emphasizes the roundness of my face) but I don't think that was actually chosen- I think it's just how the shot ended up being framed. All in all, it is a good photo....

...just not of me.




(Also, I think it's only fair to point out that Nathan did offer to take it down, once he realized how much I truly dislike the image- but I told him if he did so he'd waste a perfectly good blog entry... ;) No but seriously- I meant what I said. He didn't take that shot for me, he took it for him, and he likes it- so as long as he's satisfied with it I don't mind so much. Besides, it's probably good for my character to see images of myself that aren't 'perfect'...)