Gone for a few!

Doll class was awesome last night...next week I get to start working on the doll I actually picked out, and I really can't wait.

Tonight I'm leaving with my mom to visit my brother at the USNA. A long 10 hour overnight drive to Maryland. Lovely. I get to spend my 25th birthday totally exhausted from the long drive and devoting all of my attention to my baby brother. Crazy.

I love Kyle, and I'm excited to see him...but I was kind of hoping to spend this birthday with someone who cared.

Small Business Start Up

Anybody ever started a small business before? I'm working on my business plan (not for anyone else, my business is minimal risk and requires practically no investment to start) and I just feel so overwhelmed right now. I don't know how to attract new clients, I don't know anything. I'm basing the entire idea that I can do this on the fact that I do have experience in the wedding vendor business and that eventually I have to be recognized for my talent, right?

*sigh*

I want to do more than just shoot weddings, but I'm not sure how to go about that either. I want to shoot models and conceptual photos too...I just want to take pictures of everything. Well, I think I'm good starting off with weddings and such. Then I'll try to branch out. I'm so tired today...

No time for reading!

I've found myself with no time for reading lately. I always try to make time for myself to read, whether it's fun stuff or not, but I've found myself at a stand still as of late. I'm currently reading 3 books. I'm reading "Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists", which is quite interesting, but written in a very old fashioned manner and difficult to plod through. I have no confidence in my ability to actually finish this book.

I'm also reading Photography Workshop's "Lighting" book, which is fantastic, but I've come to the first assignment, which I haven't completed, so I haven't moved on to the second chapter. I love how informative and easy to understand it is though.

Last, "Small Business Start-Up Kit" by Nolo. I'm working on writing out a business plan for my photography business (even though it's practically underway) just so that I can get all the technical jargon straight in my head. I just have all sorts of random business questions floating around in my head, so I figure if I work my way through this book I'll be much better off.

Here's to finding time for books.

Faeye Photography

So I'm starting to take my photography more seriously. I did a shoot for a family, and I shot pictures at Nathan's cousin's wedding. I think the pictures are pretty good, but I'm not sure that they're good enough to have a really good business plan. We'll see.

I'm kind of nervous about it. Wouldn't be nice if I could do something with this photography thing?

Housemate!

Nathan and I have a housemate! My brother's girlfriend had some trouble with her lease in northern Grand Rapids and had to get out immediately, so she's here. She brought along her two cats and dog, so things here have been pretty interesting for the last few days. Her dog is just a puppy and jumps all over our dog most of the day, then the two of them just pass out. It can be rather entertaining to watch them play with each other. The cats don't really get along with ours, they're always hissing and growling when they come face to face, but they seem to be adapting and getting used to each other.

I'm sure life in our house is different for Heather, and I hope that all in all we aren't making her to uncomfortable.

Jobs and Such

I had a job interview today. For those of you who didn't know I was looking for a new job, I am. The work environment at Complete Music has become almost unbearable, and since Floyd started cutting back my hours, he's practically forcing me to look for something else. I need the money to invest in photography equipment for my new potential business, plus I am way behind on my doll expenditures (not to mention that I'm still trying to complete our china collection!). Basically even though Nathan's job covers all of our bills, I still have financial requirements that Complete Music is just not meeting.

So back to this job interview I had today. It went well. It was really simple, the job seems really easy, and I think she will offer me the job. However, I don't think I want it. It is a set shift: Thurs-Sat from 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. Days off are not permitted. Ick. There are a few problems with this. First: holidays. We do not get holidays off. I just spent a year arranging holidays with my family, and I don't think they would be very understanding if suddenly I was unavailable on major holidays. Second: Saturdays. How can I start a photography business if I have to work a 13 hour day on Saturdays? So long weddings, so long events. Screw that. Also, based on the half hour or so that I spent in their office, I don't think the work environment or team dynamic is much different from what I'm trying to escape from at Complete Music. Guess I'll just keep applying elsewhere.

It's been a long time...

Okay, I'm bad at updating this journal. I promise to try and be better, how about that? As a quick update, I've been teaching drama camps for All-of-us Express Children's Theatre, I took my brother Kyle to Annapolis and dropped him off at the Naval Academy, and I took Nathan and Seth to a giant water balloon fight in honor of July 4th in downtown Grand Rapids. Besides that I've just been altering t-shirts and taking lots of pictures...some of which I think are pretty good. I'm going to try to update this thing every time I do something interesting...try to post some of the pictures I take, etc. We'll see how it goes.

I apologize for my absence to all the ZERO people who read this blog.

What the Dickens?

So I just finished reading "What the Dickens?" by Gregory Maguire. I liked it. The book is about an orphaned tooth fairy who takes a stand against the backward conventions of tooth fairy society. It's a fantastic idea and premise actually, but Maguire doesn't follow through. I do appreciate the messages it sends to the youth it is aimed at though.

Stand up for yourself, strive to learn, go outside your comfort zone.

What?! A Wife?!

I'm married.

It's an odd feeling being married. Nathan and I planned a wedding for a year, spending spare cash on wedding related things rather than things for ourselves. Then it was over. What do we have to show for it? A couple of rings on our fingers, enough wedding gift cash for new windows in our house, and God approved sex. Ha to that last one! No, in all seriousness, I feel safer and more secure than I've ever felt, and my heart feels full enough to burst.

I do think it's funny that all the guys say things to Nathan like "Way to sign your life away!" and "Now your life is over!". People say things to me like "It was about time, huh?" and "Way to go!". It's funny because it's so backwards. The whole marriage thing was Nathan's idea. I wasn't hinting or waiting for a proposal at any point. I was the panicked commitment phobe, Nathan was the one who wanted to be married. Now we're both happily married. Take that convention!

Love is all around my friends.

The Lower Depths

Okay. Over the last few nights I've spent my time watching The Lower Depths. There are two versions of this film, both based on Gorky's russian play. The first one I watched was adapted and directed by Renoir, and is in French, the second is a Kurosawa film. I have to say that while I wasn't a fan of either adaptation, I actually liked the French film better. This is the opposite of what I expected. In general I tend to dislike french films, and while I find Kurosawa overrated, I do admire his style. Honestly, when it comes to style, I liked the Kurosawa version, and I appreciated that his adaptation didn't have the "happily ever after" ending that the Renoir film did, but I found that it just wasn't as easy to follow as the French film. The Japanese version had more characters, and gives you the feeling that you're picking up the story from the middle instead of being in on the entire thing.

I apologize. I'm really not good at writing complete thoughts, and even worse at it when it comes to movies. I shouldn't even write these entries anymore.

Salvatore Giuliano

Nathan is a movie buff. He has a collection of films, including some pieces of the ever famous Criterion Collection. I have been watching a lot of the DVD's that I'd never seen before, and I recently finished Salvatore Giuliano. I have to say I didn't like it. It was described to me as the first of the reenactment documentary. The director filmed in all the real locations where the actual events took place. However, it wasn't informative. It appears to be billed as a biopic, but nothing about the events of Giuliano's life are really explained. While there were shots in this movie that were breathtaking, and I found myself in awe, it left me confused, knowing really very little more than I came in with about the title character. Then I utilized the advantage of owning the Criterion DVD and watched the making of documentaries. The purpose of the movie is explained in the special features. It turns out that this movie isn't meant to be a biopic at all. The director didn't film a single thing that he could not also back up in historical fact through photographs, articles, and first person accounts. The film is less about Giuliano and his fellow outlaws than it is about the corruption of the Italian government and police, along with their involvement those same outlaws and the italian mafia. Knowing and understanding didn't make me enjoy the film anymore, but it did help me see what everybody else sees in it.

Fiber Alert!

So everyone sees all these commercials lately for fiber products. You know the ones. Activia yogurt, Fiber One cereal, all of those. Well, as disgusting as it is to admit. I have a fiber problem. Most days I don't even come close to consuming the recommended amount of fiber. Since I do all the grocery shopping and cooking, that means my fiance also isn't getting his recommended amount of fiber. So, I've been looking into some of these fiber products and trying them out. Generally I hate anything that you have to drink. Drink powders leave things grainy, and generally taste like crap. However, my mom gave me the Special K protein/fiber drink powder (pink lemonade flavor), and it isn't terrible. They tell you to mix it in a 16 oz. bottle, but I use a 32 oz., and think I would hate it in only 16 oz. I've also started taking chewable fiber supplements every day. The jury's still out on whether any of this will work, but I figure it's worth a shot, right? Maybe some day soon I'll actually start counting my fiber grams every day. Ha!

No place to clown around.

When I was 12 years old I took a clown class. I've performed at circuses, birthday parties, parades...all the typical events. I think I'm a good clown.

When I lived in Lansing I participated in activities with a clown alley, but since moving to Grand Rapids I haven't done much. Well, a couple of weeks ago, it occurred to me that it wouldn't be too difficult to have some promo pictures taken of me in costume and have my fiance build me a website. I had let my memberships in the COAI (Clowns of America International) and WCA (World Clown Association) expire, so I figure that maybe I'll renew those this year after the wedding and follow through with this idea. Part of this process, of course, is to find a clown alley to belong to. So far I've found nothing. There is one alley up here, and it appears to be awfully small...I can't imagine that they do much, but I could be wrong. I'm tempted to just belong to the alley I was involved with in Lansing and just travel the state a bit. I don't know what to do. I don't know where I belong. I really miss clowning, but I can't seem to find much.

How do you find a clown organization to belong to? If I do join an alley, providing I find one, I am going to volunteer to build them a website...even if it's the most basic, just so that nobody else has this problem. The funny part is that I'm totally motivated to do this now, and it's kind of a let down to not have anywhere to go or any meetings to attend. The nearest event coming up is the Midwest Clown Association convention in Lansing...in OCTOBER. Bah. I'll figure something out.

A Passion Above

I saw an interview with someone whose name I can't remember. She was talking about the value of blogs, and how everyone should blog. I've decided I agree. I've made the attempt to blog many, many times, but could never seem to do it in a way that I considered "right".

This woman that I can't remember, she said to blog about what you have a passion for. Whatever it is. Okay. It's been strange for me to blog at all, because nobody reads my blogs, and I never thought that this would be all that interesting. So this is what I've decided.

From this point forward, this will be my main blog. After I have made a few posts, I will link this to my facebook page and other pages. I will write about whatever I feel like: books, movies, life. If one topic seems to stand out more than others, I will create a branch blog containing those items. Make sense? I think so.