Here in Katie’s Head

This Saturday night, a couple of my friends threw a cocktail party.

Over the course of the night, several people there confessed to me that they had never been to a cocktail party before and didn’t know what to expect. I don’t think it was a very cocktail-y cocktail party, really.

I brought an old friend as my date because we desperately needed to catch up. A few hours into the party, he gasped when he recognized a guest as she came in the front door. I didn’t know her, but she graduated from our high school a couple years before us.

I knew her sister, though. Her sister is awesome. Back in high school, we took photography together. That was the last year the school had an old-fashioned darkroom. We used to go into the light-proofed closets together to wind our film, because the dark is scary and getting film onto the spindles correctly is hard. I remember taking very few photos worth looking at but having a lot of fun doing it.

I found my old camera — the old, cheap SLR I got for my eighteenth birthday to use for that photography class — recently. I played with it a little, trying to remember how to use it. It still baffles me.

Tonight I got into this stupid mood. Mostly because The Class was really sweet tonight, and damn it, why don’t I have a hot handyman to kiss me in the middle of my flooded living room? Is that so much to ask? So I got out my camera and tried to take pictures. And I’m pretty sure I don’t remember how any of the controls work anymore. I remember the f-stop, I remember the shutter speed, I remember vaguely how they work, but I don’t remember which way I should set them to get the picture I want. And I think maybe my shitty lens is scratched (reminder: don’t loan camera to siblings unless you’ve got collateral).

But if the pictures come out, I have two dozen shots of my bathroom tiles to forever preserve the details of a bathroom that still tells the stories of the previous tenant (specifically, that her daughter got a little wild with the crayons).

Also, the Mirror Project finally updated, so my most recent shot is now up. For the record, I did hang that mirror up, but it fell off the wall and the frame broke a week later. My attempts at repair failed. And I really need to figure out how to use my SLR because my cameraphone takes the worst photos ever.

(And for the worriers: all is not wrong in my life. Work is going really well. I wrote up a tech wishlist last week and was granted everything I asked for. And we have a new Senior Editor for Interactive and he’s way cool. I feel better about my job that I have since…ever. And I had a byline on a big Sunday centerpiece a couple weeks ago. Yay, work. Boo, personal life.)

Posted: 11:58 pm · Category: Misc Friends, Photography · Comments: 3

I started packing. I was prepared to finish for the night and come blog about how I crammed all my favorite shoes into one (one!) box — the rest are headed to Goodwill — and threw out a lot of other junk.

But when sifting through all that junk, I found some old photographs. I suppose I hadn’t entirely forgotten about them, but they caught me off guard. Portraits I’d taken of two people who I haven’t seen in years, who used to compete for my attention, who I no longer talk to, who I chose to sever ties with, and who I’ll probably never see again.

And some other photos of other things that don’t push my buttons quite so much, but still make me feel a bit unsettled.

It seemed clear enough that it’s time to throw them out. I’m not one for mementos, I hate keeping things that I can’t use, and I certainly don’t need any extra button-pushing these days.

At the same time, it seems impolite to trash such good photos. I’d have never kept them so long if I weren’t still so amazed at how vividly the subjects’ personalities are captured. I see them and remember exactly how I, exactly how they felt as the shutter snapped. I was always a crap photographer — terrible at composition — but I got lucky with these two shots.

I haven’t emptied my trash can yet, but they’re in there now. Maybe I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and rescue them.

Or maybe I’ll let go.

Posted: 10:02 pm · Category: Memories, Photography · Tags: letting go, mementos, Photography · Comments: None

New mirror photo, featuring Quinton and my wacky hair.

Posted: 11:55 am · Category: Photography, Quinton · Comments: 2

I finally remembered to submit a recent mirror shot to the Mirror Project.

Posted: 8:42 pm · Category: Photography · Comments: None

Okay, you asked for the cat on webcam. I’ve tried that before, but she’s so disinterested that it never goes well.

So I dug up my old pictures of her.

This is my drawing of Cece. She really does look just like this.

This is Cece, taken about 14 months ago, looking impatient because I was slow focusing my camera.

This is Cece curled up asleep on Mom’s bed asleep. I don’t remember when I took this. Over a year ago, probably less than two. But she always looks pretty much the same. So.

This is Cece sniffing Larry. This is very brave for her because she is a huge wimp.

Oh, and that’s my neighbor’s uglyass house in the background. When our house was built back in the 30’s, that was a tennis court. I resent the previous owner’s decision to tear out the tennis court and build the ugliest house in the neighborhood.

Anyway, those are my cat pictures. And a bird picture. I hate that bird. He is loud and shits constantly. He’s one of the top five reasons I am very glad I don’t live here 9 months of the year. And that’s why I never really talk about him.

In other news, I am making slow but respectable progress with my knitting. I started the scarf over, but it is 50x more beautiful now. Cece is not impressed with the potholders I’ve made, but my sisters find it amusing to put them over her like little blankets when she is sleeping.

Posted: 11:41 am · Category: Photography · Comments: 2

A few months back, I got a new monitor [old generic 15" CompUSA model didn't meet my needs anymore], and since then my friends and I have been storing the old one for a special occasion.

You know, a special, violent occasion.

We decided today was the perfect day to destroy something expensive, heavy, and fun to break.

We considered dropping it off the fire escape or throwing it out of my third-floor window, but decided not to for safety reasons. Instead, we dropped it off the ledge next to our street, which is about 4 or so feet off the ground. Yeah, not that high, but it allowed us to break it apart in pieces and all take turns doing the damage.

And of course, we all took pictures. Here are some of them:

[01] The monitor sits innocently awaiting its doom. [02] Sammy prepares for the first toss. [03] Damn monitor plays tough, lying in the street mostly intact, after it’s first launch off the hill. [04] Tough as it may be, there’s still some lovely cracking on the case. [05] After all the rest had fallen off [or been stomped/ripped off], we dropped the glass part. And this is what was left.

And then we got a broom and swept it all up and threw it away.

In the end, it was pretty cool, but my rage against that crappy-ass monitor had dissolved since it was decomissioned last December. It would have been more satisfying under different circumstances.

Posted: 11:36 pm · Category: Photography · Comments: 4

Updates to photo gallery, because Justin dyed his hair today.

Posted: 10:28 pm · Category: Photography · Comments: 2