I am so not ready for Vegas. Last year, I had this whole little itinerary of what parties were being thrown by who and when. Oddly, this year, I was invited to the one party I really wanted an invite to last year that I didn't get. A lot of the stuff I wanted to hit last year I missed and I ended up going to a lot of other cool stuff, so it will all pan out I'm sure.
Feeling a little stressed anyway. Trying to get ready while I am hobbling around. Getting pretty good with either one crutch or no crutches though, just still using the brace.
If you are on my friends list and will be in Vegas, please let me know.
I have to go get help picking up my car now. It need fucking $1,000 dollars in upkeep stuff. Damn it. That will teach me to never ever change the oil.
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Monday, December 27, 2004
Yay!
I've managed to do a bit of Igor style walking with no crutches and a lot of walking with one crutch.
Just finished doing some contracty work stuff which I am really happy to check off my to do list. HUGE thank you to Kumi, Darenzia, Julie Simone, and everyone who gave me input!
Done about a billion errandy things now that I am more mobile. Feeling much more caught up and super optimistic about the new year. Still have tons more to do before I leave for Vegas. I thought about cancelling the New Year's portion of my trip because I was worried about my foot, but sometimes ya just have to say what the heck. Also, the reservations were semi-nonrefundable and I thought it would be obnoxious to cancel the beginning of my trip after going medieval on my travel agent for screwing up the end of my trip. Needless to say, she fixed it, so I figure she deserves the commission even if I just chill in my room.
Does anyone know a good nonelectronic way to send payments to people in Europe?
I am so looking forward to seeing so many friends in Sin City. I hope I can still tear it up okay. I need to buy new shoes. Hoping I get doc's approval to wear a shoe on my right foot instead of this freaking giant medical appliance. I know I should have decorated it or something, but that just seemed to smack of pessimism.
Off to take a salt bath. My skin has so suffered while I was laid off and deserves a bit of extra TLC now.
Just finished doing some contracty work stuff which I am really happy to check off my to do list. HUGE thank you to Kumi, Darenzia, Julie Simone, and everyone who gave me input!
Done about a billion errandy things now that I am more mobile. Feeling much more caught up and super optimistic about the new year. Still have tons more to do before I leave for Vegas. I thought about cancelling the New Year's portion of my trip because I was worried about my foot, but sometimes ya just have to say what the heck. Also, the reservations were semi-nonrefundable and I thought it would be obnoxious to cancel the beginning of my trip after going medieval on my travel agent for screwing up the end of my trip. Needless to say, she fixed it, so I figure she deserves the commission even if I just chill in my room.
Does anyone know a good nonelectronic way to send payments to people in Europe?
I am so looking forward to seeing so many friends in Sin City. I hope I can still tear it up okay. I need to buy new shoes. Hoping I get doc's approval to wear a shoe on my right foot instead of this freaking giant medical appliance. I know I should have decorated it or something, but that just seemed to smack of pessimism.
Off to take a salt bath. My skin has so suffered while I was laid off and deserves a bit of extra TLC now.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Oof
Four hours of three different medical offices. And now I get to deal with the travel agent who fucked up my Vegas reservations.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Whisper Whisper
Just for the record, I think the backstabbing and secretive trash talkers who made a site like Fetish Gossip happen have only themselves to blame. However, I think it is just dandy that Scott Church posts naked photos of himself. When I am World Dictator, far more guys will post personal nudes to the internet. Unlike a lot of people who think they are fetish photographers (or whatever term is trendy this week) I shoot my own vision and I shoot both men and women. People need to get over their FEAR OF THE COCK.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
I went out on the town tonight
Tonight I went out again despite the crutches. Wow, is crutching around in the Hollywood Hills not the easiest, but it was a friend's birthday, so I had to go and it was fun to get out. The hostess and Forrest and a writer pal of mine made sure I was a-ok and people were actually super-considerate. Ankle really aches now, but hopefully it will still prove healthy enough to ditch the crutches when I go back to the doctor next week. Here are a few pix from my evening. More at this link. If you appear in any of the pictures, please feel free to repost them in your own journal or personal free site unaltered.
It took me longer than it should have to realize that two of the fun shirtless young circuit-looking boys were actually twins, rather than one really active guy. Kudos to the birthday girl for turning the tables on the usual ratios at Hollywood parties.
The birthday girl and my super helpful friend at lesbian o'clock. Pajama time.
Forrest and longtime pal and editor of gothic.net. I had them give me the serious men of the world pose. They were somewhat agreeable about it.
It took me longer than it should have to realize that two of the fun shirtless young circuit-looking boys were actually twins, rather than one really active guy. Kudos to the birthday girl for turning the tables on the usual ratios at Hollywood parties.
The birthday girl and my super helpful friend at lesbian o'clock. Pajama time.
Forrest and longtime pal and editor of gothic.net. I had them give me the serious men of the world pose. They were somewhat agreeable about it.
Monday, December 13, 2004
Up Down Up Down Up Down
Fuck but I feel like I've aged a bunch in the past year. I just feel so old and brittle. Who the fuck takes seven or eight months for a sprain to heal or two months and counting for a tiny little fucking broken bone? I meant to make a doctor's appointment today, but I was in sort of a brain fog and the day just slipped away. I'm sick of being either low blood sugar or feverish. None of the stupid elimination diets work. I get new xrays in a bit over a week and please please please let them show that I can start walking again.
I'm feeling really happy about a bunch of personal stuff. Pleased with my work progress. Eager to hang out with my friends. Looking forward to travel. Super optimistic about the prospects for 2005.
How can I feel so horrible physically but pretty good emotionally and psychologically?
There are just so many little errands I need to run that I can't. I've got a check in a stamped and addressed envelope I want to mail on my desk and I have to wait for someone else to do it for me. Little stuff like that is driving me nuts. I've only been getting groceries like once a week and I'm constantly pissed off at some little thing I can't just go pick up. My skin is all aggravated from the stress and I know I'm putting some pounds on being so immobilized. I figure it is better to gain weight and have my ankle heal now than the avoid the nutrition I need so I don't gain weight but not heal either. But I'm going to need new clothes soon and I won't be able to drive myself.
I feel like I'm on such a roller-coaster. I think about my writing and my photography and my loved ones and I'm so happy. I think about my physical health and I think I should be put down like a horse with a broken . . . err . . . ankle. Neigh.
I'm feeling really happy about a bunch of personal stuff. Pleased with my work progress. Eager to hang out with my friends. Looking forward to travel. Super optimistic about the prospects for 2005.
How can I feel so horrible physically but pretty good emotionally and psychologically?
There are just so many little errands I need to run that I can't. I've got a check in a stamped and addressed envelope I want to mail on my desk and I have to wait for someone else to do it for me. Little stuff like that is driving me nuts. I've only been getting groceries like once a week and I'm constantly pissed off at some little thing I can't just go pick up. My skin is all aggravated from the stress and I know I'm putting some pounds on being so immobilized. I figure it is better to gain weight and have my ankle heal now than the avoid the nutrition I need so I don't gain weight but not heal either. But I'm going to need new clothes soon and I won't be able to drive myself.
I feel like I'm on such a roller-coaster. I think about my writing and my photography and my loved ones and I'm so happy. I think about my physical health and I think I should be put down like a horse with a broken . . . err . . . ankle. Neigh.
Goodness
I wonder what Scar was telling me just as Forrest snapped this shot. It was a bit of an adventure clubbing on crutches, but she and Forrest took good care of me.
More pictures with less fog at http://www.blueblood.net/boards/showthread.php?t=2307
More pictures with less fog at http://www.blueblood.net/boards/showthread.php?t=2307
I Miss the Zine Explosion
I just meant to post this photo and I shot of Gen from The Genitorturers in a community. Only I ended up writing a lot more about the background of how the shot came to be than I'd set out to.
Just been thinking a lot lately about how the internet was supposed to make it so everybody had access to get their words out. When desktop publishing came along, it permitted all sorts of people, including yours truly, to put their views and aesthetics out there in ways previously mostly available only to the megarich. It seems like a disproporionately small number of internet sites are really publications though. It is harder to get good people to contribute to online magazines than print ones too. Sure, ten million people will see their words or photos instead of thirty-six thousand and now they could get paid for what they do, but somehow very few folks really get it together to produce magazine type content online. I think maybe I will see if I can get Forrest to drive my broken-ankle-having ass to the magazine store later today. Feeling a little nostalgic. Maybe it is the clean air and rainy overcast weather.
Oh, and here is what I wrote about the photo of Gen: We've worked with her a lot over the years. Although we put her on the cover of Blue Blood in print, oddly we have shot her not once, but twice, for magazine covers that ended up not happening. We shot her for the cover of Juggernaut before they sadly went out of business. We also shot her for the cover of a certain supposedly Gothic magazine which was going to take Gen's band credit off of the cover picture because a certain supposedly Gothic mall store told them to. Needless to say, Gen was not too thrilled at the idea of not having her band credited, so we told the magazine they couldn't use the shoot, even though we'd already spent the dough and time on doing it. I figure it is always nice to see Gen anyway and we do work well together and I wasn't about to throw away a long positive relationship just to have one more magazine cover in my clip book portfolio. I sometimes miss the days of the zine explosion where supposedly underground publications genuinely really were trying to service their scenes. Rest of gallery on BlueBlood.net at http://www.blueblood.net/bb_97.html
Just been thinking a lot lately about how the internet was supposed to make it so everybody had access to get their words out. When desktop publishing came along, it permitted all sorts of people, including yours truly, to put their views and aesthetics out there in ways previously mostly available only to the megarich. It seems like a disproporionately small number of internet sites are really publications though. It is harder to get good people to contribute to online magazines than print ones too. Sure, ten million people will see their words or photos instead of thirty-six thousand and now they could get paid for what they do, but somehow very few folks really get it together to produce magazine type content online. I think maybe I will see if I can get Forrest to drive my broken-ankle-having ass to the magazine store later today. Feeling a little nostalgic. Maybe it is the clean air and rainy overcast weather.
Oh, and here is what I wrote about the photo of Gen: We've worked with her a lot over the years. Although we put her on the cover of Blue Blood in print, oddly we have shot her not once, but twice, for magazine covers that ended up not happening. We shot her for the cover of Juggernaut before they sadly went out of business. We also shot her for the cover of a certain supposedly Gothic magazine which was going to take Gen's band credit off of the cover picture because a certain supposedly Gothic mall store told them to. Needless to say, Gen was not too thrilled at the idea of not having her band credited, so we told the magazine they couldn't use the shoot, even though we'd already spent the dough and time on doing it. I figure it is always nice to see Gen anyway and we do work well together and I wasn't about to throw away a long positive relationship just to have one more magazine cover in my clip book portfolio. I sometimes miss the days of the zine explosion where supposedly underground publications genuinely really were trying to service their scenes. Rest of gallery on BlueBlood.net at http://www.blueblood.net/bb_97.html
Friday, December 03, 2004
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Commercial Photography Jobs
So, a number of people have been asking about commercial photography jobs lately. I usually don't pitch shooting catalog or band stuff to people I meet in day-to-day life. I think this is mostly because I prefer to just hang out and be sociable on a random evening and partly because I am pretty overworked as is. I've been getting a lot of sort of odd back door requests for commercial photography lately, so I thought I would just post rates here in case anyone is interested in hiring me and for that type of work.
Our day rate for jobs such as clothing catalogs is $X,XXX.XX [CENSORED BY FORREST WHO DOESN'T WANT ANY MORE GODDAMN WORK RIGHT NOW]
Our discount half day rate for band promo is $X,XXX.XX with the exception of album/CD art or merch which starts at $X,XXX.XX
We generally throw in some extras such as casting and sometimes some bonus press for free, but certain expenses such as extra equipment or location rentals or models can cost extra.
We are very interested in shooting interesting and original clothing lines for product placement and for press coverage on our sites and in print. If you have good photos of your line already, please submit to submit@blueblood.net and we may interview you for coverage on BlueBlood.net which is the most visited lifestyle site doing significant forward fashion coverage on the net. You may send clothing to:
Blue Blood
8033 Sunset Blvd #4500
West Hollywood, CA 90046
If your line is mostly rude T-shirts or something along those lines, clothes are not returnable. If you do couture evening wear or expensive corsets or high end latex, then we can make arrangements to return your clothing after shooting. Please email before shipping.
If you are in a cool band, you can go ahead and have your label send a package to the same address listed above. We might give your band some press coverage on BlueBlood.net or in one of the magazines we contribute to and we might not, but that is pretty much how press works. Let us know when you are playing shows in Los Angeles and if you have some cool promo photos available we could use to cover your music. If Forrest and/or I like your look, we might photograph you ourselves.
If we give your band or fashions coverage which includes our original photography, please do not thank us for doing you the favor of good press coverage by coming back to us with requests for a million more favors. If we do press on you and exposed what you do to thousands of people in a magazine or millions of people online, if anybody owes anybody a favor, you owe us a favor, not vice-versa.
If you want to talk about trading free shows or custom clothes or something along those lines, we are often up for punk rock barter.
For the record, I generally avoid commercial photography jobs, even though I'd make more money doing them, because I don't really enjoy them as an artist and I don't really have the time. For those of you reading the numbers and deciding to hit me up for rent next time you need it, I've paid enough people's rent this year. I'm not motivated by money, so I mostly do work which feels artistically good and which I think is good for my community. If I put a gallery of burlesque photos Forrest and I shot for free up on BlueBlood.net and 120 million people look at them this year, that is a lot of expensive bandwidth, but I feel things like that are good for my community because they give exposure to a lot of people. That is journalistic.
If the object is just so one person or business can get paid off of my sweat, then that is commercial work and I need to be compensated so that I can continue doing the journalistic and artistic work without charging anyone.
Our day rate for jobs such as clothing catalogs is $X,XXX.XX [CENSORED BY FORREST WHO DOESN'T WANT ANY MORE GODDAMN WORK RIGHT NOW]
Our discount half day rate for band promo is $X,XXX.XX with the exception of album/CD art or merch which starts at $X,XXX.XX
We generally throw in some extras such as casting and sometimes some bonus press for free, but certain expenses such as extra equipment or location rentals or models can cost extra.
We are very interested in shooting interesting and original clothing lines for product placement and for press coverage on our sites and in print. If you have good photos of your line already, please submit to submit@blueblood.net and we may interview you for coverage on BlueBlood.net which is the most visited lifestyle site doing significant forward fashion coverage on the net. You may send clothing to:
Blue Blood
8033 Sunset Blvd #4500
West Hollywood, CA 90046
If your line is mostly rude T-shirts or something along those lines, clothes are not returnable. If you do couture evening wear or expensive corsets or high end latex, then we can make arrangements to return your clothing after shooting. Please email before shipping.
If you are in a cool band, you can go ahead and have your label send a package to the same address listed above. We might give your band some press coverage on BlueBlood.net or in one of the magazines we contribute to and we might not, but that is pretty much how press works. Let us know when you are playing shows in Los Angeles and if you have some cool promo photos available we could use to cover your music. If Forrest and/or I like your look, we might photograph you ourselves.
If we give your band or fashions coverage which includes our original photography, please do not thank us for doing you the favor of good press coverage by coming back to us with requests for a million more favors. If we do press on you and exposed what you do to thousands of people in a magazine or millions of people online, if anybody owes anybody a favor, you owe us a favor, not vice-versa.
If you want to talk about trading free shows or custom clothes or something along those lines, we are often up for punk rock barter.
For the record, I generally avoid commercial photography jobs, even though I'd make more money doing them, because I don't really enjoy them as an artist and I don't really have the time. For those of you reading the numbers and deciding to hit me up for rent next time you need it, I've paid enough people's rent this year. I'm not motivated by money, so I mostly do work which feels artistically good and which I think is good for my community. If I put a gallery of burlesque photos Forrest and I shot for free up on BlueBlood.net and 120 million people look at them this year, that is a lot of expensive bandwidth, but I feel things like that are good for my community because they give exposure to a lot of people. That is journalistic.
If the object is just so one person or business can get paid off of my sweat, then that is commercial work and I need to be compensated so that I can continue doing the journalistic and artistic work without charging anyone.
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