YAY!

Futurama has been able to work out differences with the original voice cast! Hurray! A week ago they announced that due to salary compromises they weren't able to get the original cast back, but were pursuing another season of the simply fabulous show. And as a fan of the original show I vowed I would boycot the new non original version..... But they pulled it off and everybody compromised a bit and the original cast is back! yes!

http://www.toplessrobot.com/

And on a dissapointing note.... I'm not an Iphone user, but I'm truly dissapointed by their choices at the moment.

http://www.macworld.com/article/142022/2009/07/appstore_innovation.html

yup.

I caved...

http://www.twitter.com/aenux

disgusting I know.. But if you're on there you should follow anyways.

xoxo

PS. Party at my place! Well not really, it's more of a social thing but I've made some awesome wicked food, even tried my hand at some raw vegan stuff which is totally unlike me... I'll take pics of it for another post... Still waiting on people showing up. Off to get dressed...

For for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself
Phew, for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself
Karma Police, Radiohead

We're rocking the radiohead tonight & I think I'm finally settling in back at home. With some happy things on the horizon, I'm taking on the rest of the summer focusing on the positive.

I'm particularly looking forward to long evenings with some good friends around in my steller new yard with some killer drinks, my inevitable cooking experiments (failures), and maybe even a new direction with my art interests.

It's no secret that I've gotten lazy, and to say I've been uninspired would be saying it lightly. But there are some new ideas hedging on the horizon and I'm dedicating myself to a new workout regiment which will hopefully give me more energy.

*edit* Sorry about the quotes extra large size there initially. Not intentional, but apparently by putting quotes around it it popped more than I wanted it too.

So the good news is that today I'm treating myself and going to buy the sm58 microphone (it's a tried and true vocal mic) and I'm going to spend the afternoon/evening sipping a margarita on the patio and making tunes.

The bad news is that yesterday I had to put my cat Jasmine to sleep. Jasmine has been with me since I was 5 years old, and she was the consummate best friend. She's been with me since my earliest memories and I'm kind of devastated now that she's gone. I was a wreck last night, but I'm trying to focus on the good things and how happy she made me rather than the other option. She was an old soul, and those eyes knew everything about everything. She taught me many of lifes lessons, simply with her gaze. She wasn't just my pet, she was an equal. She will be sorely missed, but it was definitely time for her to rest. She hadn't been very well for the last year and I stalled until I could hardly stand to see the pain in her eyes any longer. She was a rare individual, and I'll likely never meet another cat like her. And I'm ok with that, because I was fortunate enough to have the connection I did with her.

I'm gonna go do some therapy shopping now...

Here are some pictures of my Princess Jasmine.

Shot by IHartPhotos, for a project that is ongoing.
(If you know any fit guys who have a pitbull or something similar we need him and his pup for the project.)

And this is a shot I took of her a few months ago. I rented a macro lens with the sole purpose of caturing the character of her eyes.

(Yes I named her after Princess Jasmine in Alladin. I was 5 when I got her. )

I'm a fan of the Art Nudes Blog and today they featured my friend Mac Swift!

They said he'd updated his site, so I scooted over to take a peek.... and holy mackerel! This man has been busy! I first shot with Mac 3 years ago when I first started doing nudes and he's just kept getting better and better over the years! His work is simply incredible, and anyone that hasn't seen his work should go take a look right now.

And while you're there take a look at his project 'the raw files', it's a fabulous concept for a project where two photographers take one model for a 6 month term and shoot consistently for that term, then they all blog about their trials & experiences. Simply fabulous work all around!

http://www.swiftimages.net/

So today we got home from the trip to Saskatchewan, and all went as well as one can imagine.

But I got a really wonderful surprise when I checked my messages once we got home! I got a Daily Deviation over on DeviantArt! hehe I'm terribly happy about it, possibly stupid happy. But happy is good, I needed some happy. :)

Got a shoot tomorrow that came about super last minute but how could I say no?

I know I've posted this shot already, but it's the one that got the DD. So Enjoy!

Time for me to go enjoy a celebratory beer.

The pilgrimage to the farm country has begun....

Having packed & unpacked for 3 entirely separate trips to 3 entirely different climates, I feel as if I'm awaking my inner nomad. And I think it's a good thing. In recent years due to some very personal things in my life I seemed to have slipped out of my nomad lust. These last few weeks haven't necessarily even been all that great, but this has been an interesting experience and I may just kind of be enjoying the chaos.

This morning my Grandmother passed away.

Tomorrow we're packing up and heading to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to be with the family. Out of our family unit, my dad is the only one who's really shaken by it. We've been somewhat expecting this for years now, but she was a fighter. She was very ill with Alzheimers and we never really expected her to make it much past when grandpa died anyway (and that was 10 years ago.) But with her passing comes a sense of peace, for me at least. She can finally be back with her husband resting eternally together, and for her sake I hope god is real.

She was a woman of great passion and she lived everyday of her waking life dedicated to her family of 7 kids. I wish I'd gotten to know her in my adult life, but by the time I was old enough to be anything other than 'one of the kids' she had long ago disappeared into her Alzheimers.

So tomorrow night we make the 8 hour haul to Moose Jaw. Luckily I don't have any shoots to cancel (haha! totally the most common flake excuse from models .. or so i've heard) I'm not looking forward to the drive, or even really the funeral (as watching grown men cry makes me uncomfortable) but it's one of those things you do out of pure and honest respect for a great woman. And it will be nice to be there to support my dad, he's always trying to be the hero, but he's pretty upset. And I strongly believe that when the shit hits the fan, we need to take care of our own. Family is all we've ever really got.

Know what? Today is totally somber and it's about to rain. I'm gonna go slip into some rubber and put on a movie.

Shot by Christian O'Grady in Detroit back in November.

So... I had a few days to settle in at home after Osoyoos. Then there was our Canada Day party (more on that later), and to add to my stress levels and back ache *I desperately need to see my chiropractor* we drove out of town to J's dads place.

Now you have to understand J's dads place isn't exactly the most enjoyable place on earth. It's more of an obligatory visit than anything. So J worked all day friday and I packed, we drive for 2.5 hrs at 140km, just to get to this joke of a farm thing and have a few beers before bed.

But here are some shots from along the way.


So after driving way out of our way, we find out that J's dad has to work a 12 hour day the ONLY day we're there to put in our obligatory 'visit' time, and we'd have the wonderful opportunity to hang out with his redneck 'beat you up in a bar' wife. -_-

I couldn't tell if I was insulted or relieved, but it's still a faux paux when guests are visiting. I understand that getting time off can be a pain but he'd told us he would take it off. ugh! So we spent the day getting drunk off cheap beer, playing wii & avoiding the pet pig rosey who 'owned' the yard. Yes, they have a pet pig who's nearly 200 pounds. I can't seem to find the pictures of Rosey on my computer, but that's probably for the best.

So I'm left with a frustrated feeling, an entirely lost weekend, "wii arm" and it's back to the daily grind. Grrrreat.

I have a secret love affair with good ballet. As a child we went to the Nutcracker every year at Christmas, and it was so exciting to get all dolled up. Part of the appeal is the fantasy world they put into motion, and for me I often got to see the behind the scenes of it all as well. My little sister was taking ballet lessons with the Alberta Ballet Company, and they were the ballet house putting on the Nutcracker and other shows Hayls was in. So there were quite a few years where I ran the halls and played in the dressing rooms before going to watch the show, one year I even recall helping do the makeup. Part of the experience that left me jaded but seeing the lifestyle of some of the dancers, but part of it was so intriguing and I loved watching all the pieces fall into place to create this magical world.

Anyways, I simply adore going to the ballet. And when I saw the poster for the Moulin Rouge Ballet it was nearly too much to fathom!

Anyone want to be my date for the night?