Something New

A while back, my friend Jonathan got engaged to a beautiful girl named Kalie. A while later I worked up the nerve to ask him if they would be willing to let me attempt to do some engagement pictures. For free, of course, and with the understanding that they'd still reserve a real photographer to do real engagement shots at a later date. He said sure, they'd do it. I spent several weeks hyperventilating into a paper bag. Then last Sunday, we braved the 100 degree heat and went to the park downtown to take some pictures.

It was a real learning experience - as it was meant to be, I suppose. I had a hard time remembering to check all my camera settings, something real photographers do by instinct and reflex. I don't have the right equipment to do a lot of the shots I wanted to. I didn't have a good feel for what shutter speed/aperture to use in which light conditions. I had no idea how to pose people (I mean, my usual subject is a toddler). I didn't know what to say or do to put all of us at ease. Also, I was completely surprised by how much I hurt the next day, after only an hour of getting up and down. It was awkward, flesh-meltingly hot, and a little confusing, and the whole time I was worried I was failing miserably.

But when I got home, I found that amongst all the glaring technical errors and rookie mistakes (and believe me, there were A GREAT MANY), I managed to get a few pictures I loved.

And you know what? They love them too. Yay!

In the end, I think we all got something good out of the experience. I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave it a shot.

(The rest are here.)

Timeline of woe

July 2 - We move in.

July 30 - AT&T finally installs all their wire, and we have internet. Glorious internet!

August 2 - Some douchebag contractor accidentally cuts the newly-installed lines. No more internets for us.

August 6 - AT&T says not to worry, they've fixed it all! But it turns out they completely swapped our connection with someone else's. We start getting calls for some Random Dude, and we still don't have DSL service because Random Dude wasn't subscribed. I resist the urge to tell callers Random Dude was arrested for streaking a daycare playground.

August 9 - AT&T finally gets the connections sorted out. Yay internet!

August 10 - But...wait...it's down. Why is it down? What happened? It was working at 1:30 PM, WHERE DID MAH INTERNETS GO? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

August 11 - After keeping Todd on the phone for over an hour, AT&T has no idea why our connection has gone tits up again. But not to worry, they're going to get someone out to check the network by 6 PM...ON FRIDAY.

So, to sum it up, in the 40 days we've lived in the new house, we've had an internet connection for 3.5 days. And two of those days, we were out of town. When you put it like that, what's two more days? Right?

New House

As requested, here are some pictures of the new house. I took these the day we closed, as we were conducting our final walk-through. The house wasn't completely finished (it still isn't), but you can get the general idea.

More here.

Squirt!

I forsee much mockery

I just ordered a $55 CAT INHALER. For my asthmatic cat.

Yes, yes I know.

It's called the AeroKat. Here's an illustration of how this thing is supposed to work:



Because of course the cat is simply going to stand there with the mask over its whiskers, and give you a quizzical look. I actually made my own sketch of how I expect the whole inhaler thing to go, before I remembered I have no way to upload it. Let's just say that in my illustration, there's a lot more blood.

I'm trying to think how best to do this. Do I fold the cat up in a towel and sit on her? Should I forget the towel and just wrap the cat in duct tape? Do I need to wear a suit made entirely from Kevlar? Will I come out of this with both eyes and an intact jugular? The vet assures me that she's known people who've used this same device, and none of them had much trouble. I think I'd like to see how scarred these people really are. Do they have all their limbs? Do any of them now require a colostomy bag?

Anyway, I just purchased an AeroKat. I am, officially, one of those people.