Home home home....

Tons of stuff to chat about but right now, I just want to sleep... SO - Spark Notes on my Life:

• Just arrived back home after a six hour flight out of Houston, TX.
• Cab drivers who listen to 9/11 police recording tapes are scary
• "Pinch a Loaf" is a disgusting term
• FiveNakedModels went live today on YouTube
• I have W4's.... fucking hell.... I have to do taxes
• How do you think I would look with blond hair?
• Jetblue has Satellite TV and Dunkin Donuts on their planes
• Oooh, I get to visit my grandparents this week!

Home Sweet Home - (well, for the moment..... right?)

Gumbo, Kitties, and Ben-Gays...?

I was not planning on returning to Louisiana unless it was mardi gras season or something. .....But SunArcher Photography wooed me with tales of Gumbo. I left Hot Springs and detoured to Shreveport. 

Tim's house was a nice stop-off. We shot all day - which is always a hard thing for me. After about three hours, I start drifting off..... But we changed locations six times, which helped a lot. It is always nice to shoot with someone who is still completely excited over photography - I mean, like little kid, almost jumping up and down excited..... I love that. It keeps you going and puts you in a good mood.

Now I am in Dallas staying with Randy and Mr. Kitty....Last time I was here, Matthew was with me. I remember when he crawled into bed the first night - he said, "Your life is just insane. I cannot believe you just sleep in a different house every night....." Ha, and that just made me giggle.... I love this place. Randy is great company, he is a dancing man, we watch American Idol together, he lets me sleep in until 11am.... let me tell you, if you can sleep-in at someone's house until 11am and still feel welcome - that place is a good place to be.

Happy Working Song.... and Oaklawn Race Track

I left Little Rock hoping to go soak in some of the Bath-houses at Hot Springs (I LOVE hot springs... I have them bookmarked for every state I visit)..... The roads are a little strange in Hot Springs, AR - they kind of weave in and out, around in a circles. Neat town though, Route 66 is still alive and doing well. Somehow, weaving in and around the roads, I managed to locate the Arlington Hotel (Al Capone's favorite hotel) which had a neat spa... I passed up the hotel, though, to go check out the racetrack (actual photo of OakLawn Racing Track below). Again, I got kind of disoriented with all the roads and turn offs for the track.... so I ended up pulling into the stables. Maybe it was the out-of-state plates or something, but they definitely made a mistake and just waved my car in. I got to watch the race from the point-of-view that the photo was taken. Eventually some jockies came over, trying to figure out what I was doing, we struck up conversation .... I never knew how tiny jockies are. They are so itty bitty and so talented. I have never learned so much in a single day - I learned how to pivot a race horse, how to gamble... they explained the track, the different kind of races, what the score boards were about. It was the most entertaining mistake I have made in months..... Eventually as the guys were getting ready for the 10th race or something, I made my way to the actual track.... I made a bunch of new friends, and this cute little Grandma and I bet on a horse together.... I filmed a little part of the race. Perhaps I will put it in my blog this Friday.....

Dumpster Diving

Couchsurfing a Memphis commune tonight = another world. Dumpster Diving for bagels. Their dog vomited on the couch that I was sleeping on and they just tossed a sleeping bag over and said, "Get some sleep"..... I know that everyone that follows this blog thinks that I am some sort of hippie (and perhaps I am a little bit) - But I love a hot shower and some clean white sheets at night. 

Envy gave me ThermaFlu...

Being sick on the road is SO HARD! You want to be pampered and cared for... but the only person caring for you is yourself. I could barely breathe last night (oh-so-stuffy). I want to thank everyone who offered to drive out and help me.... It was really unexpected. Literally received twelve emails in my Gmail box last night, one from a photographer all the way down in New Orleans willing to make the drive.... that kind of support, although I would never use it, really makes me feel a little bit better, being alone, on the road all the time... Anyways, I am feeling a little bit better, but still not 100%. So, regrettably, I had to cancel the remaining work for Nashville this morning (to those of you I was going to work with, I am very sorry.... but take my word for it, you do not want to waste your time photographing me this way). 

The Up-Chuck machine .....

I have not been this sick in years - I have a fever near 103, I can barely walk, can barely see, I have fever blisters .... I cannot even get to the pharmacy because I might crash my car. All by myself - It is actually quite scary. Even worse than being sick, though..... I am supposed to work with DK Thursday morning - and if I have to cancel on him, I am going to kill somebody.....

Nashtown - Nashburg - Nashville-town

Nashville-town is my favorite city .... ever! ...And that is how it is. I love how diverse this place is.... You have the Grand Ol Opry on the left, hard metal guys with tattoos, someone preaching the word of God at you and someone swing dancing to bluegrass tunes.... It is new, fresh, it has history, culture.

I know that finances are so boring but I really do live paycheck to paycheck. Last month was hard. Very few modeling gigs, I cut my rates in half, so many weird photography situations, weird sleeping arrangements, negative people... to make things worse, while in Birmingham, my laptop crashed. I woke up to find the Blue Screen of Death staring me in the face. Found a repair shop. Makes me so nervous that I could lose my modeling schedule, all my contacts, photos, videos.

All alone in Alabama, without a schedule, without a purpose, a total mess...... But THEY FIXED IT!.... which means that, I once again have purpose!! 

Isobel Wren bought a website called fivenakedmodels.com and she asked if I would be willing to be one of the five naked models on the channel. Updating once a week from the road .... it is just going to be a dorky fun thing which you will be able to participate in. I have been filming some footage. The teaser is going to go up next week.... so stay tuned for that....

Tornadoes....?

Cows are going to fly, it is going to rain frogs!!!! Tornadoes! - I had to freshen up on my "What to do if you are driving and you see a tornado" .... if you were interested..... you are supposed to get out of your car and lie in a ditch with something over you to protect your neck and shoulders.

Wish me luck!

"Excuse me...Miss?"

The Modelmayhem Tampa Bay Meet and Greet was a lot of fun.... by far the most organized, well thought out location, I have seen to-date. The gathering was held at RAW, a little posh sushi bar, down in Ybor City. Arrived minutes after the doors opened.... just four or five photographers hanging around. Grabbed a name-tag, met people as they came..... Normally Meet and Greets are total madness - hundreds of people milling about, everyone is shooting, flashes going off left and right. You are tripping over cords - You are in someone's shot - You never get to meet everyone that you want to..... but because I was there early, I could pace it. More than anything, I was just excited because people knew who I was.... Models kept coming up to me and telling me how they look up to my work, Photographers asked me about my travels and where I am headed next, I had a few people come up to shake my hand, and gasp a little and go, "I never thought I would actually meet you".... It was soooo sillly!!! Perhaps I sound self-centered, but it was just nice not to be lost among all the beautiful, tall, skinny, long legged, models of Florida. 

"Keep the Blog...."

Perhaps I will keep the blog. It is the stuff that I CANNOT talk about which is actually the most thrilling. The strange photographers, the bad scenarios, the photogs that magically lose their undies, the photographers that fart in small studios - that kind of thing. If you know me, you know that I enjoy a good story. When I write on this blog, I have to edit myself x100 so I do not get in trouble with my peers, friends or family.... it bothers me to no end that I cannot be 100% honest (because if I could, I absolutely would). 

But with that said..... Let me catch you up with what I have been up to.... Staying in St Petersburg right now, at a photographer's place - The other night, I strolled over to a little bon-fire, lawn party..... Twenty minutes after introductions, someone stuck a beer bottle in one hand and a bottle of hair dye in the other, "Think you could dye my daughter's hair, young lady?" So I did, next to the little bon-fire, bunch of people talking small town things that I couldn't really follow.... they rewarded me by finding a bunch of marshmallows to roast on bbq skewers. That first marshmallow is always so good...

Car broke down - Had to be towed..... I was shooting wrestling match at a hotel, the car died pulling into the parking lot. Shuttered, Shook, and Died beneath me.... it was too late at night to have it fixed. Luckily it happened while I was working with an accommodating photographer. He gave me the hotel room for no extra charge.... I got to deal with the tow trucks and the repair shops at 10am. The car needs about $900 worth of work on it, (much of that going towards a new oil tank because it is leaking) - but before I get the work done on it, I am going have it have it looked over one more time at a different shop... from there I will figure out how to budget all that.

Today is the Tampa Bay Meet and Greet, three hundred photographers and models from all over FL will be there. I am still deciding if I want to go. I really struggle at these events. I feel people know me but I do not know them. And so many guys say things like, "OH! Heyyyyy ...... It's you! I didn't recognize you with your clothes on...!!" - I don't know. Maybe I should just stay at the hotel and watch Sex in the City.