Yesterday, I finally went on one of the Raleigh Flickr group intentional shoots. Six of us headed to Durham. It was a cold and windy day, but the light and sky were spectacularly varied: ominous dark grey covering to pinky blue skies with whispy clouds and a glowing sunset. The group of people couldn’t have been better selected either. Our pacing and personalities worked well together. And to think I almost didn’t make it out. Here’s some of the damage.
This one cracks me up:
Abby
Originally uploaded by EngelFish.
On my goodness! Chris is such a talented portrait photographer. I’m going to definitely get him to give me a Photoshop lesson. Given the magic he can do with Photoshop, you’d guess his wife, Taryn, wasn’t as gorgeous as she looks in photographs, but WRONG! She really looks like that in real life (and she’s a peach to boot!). So glad I met them. And I’m definitely going to spend a lot of time hanging out in front of Chris’s camera whenever I can!
Once a year, I talk about how much I hate Valentine’s Day. It’s never good. Last year, my boyfriend at the time was out of town for work on Valentine’s Day. I’d made reservations far in advance at this really nice Mediterranean restaurant. Since he had the trip, I rescheduled for later in the week… I barely spoke to him on the 14th because he was so busy working. On the 16th, I picked him up at the airport, and when we got home, he dumped me and moved across the country 5 days later. Fun times
This year, I’m single, which is maybe better than some other possibilities. I always feel bad for couples in new relationships around Valentine’s Day: “Do we celebrate? What about that L-word that’s floating around everywhere? Am I supposed to say it? Wait, I’m not ready. Shit, this is calling the entire relationship into question. Gah! Am I supposed to be buying a gift? And what cost is appropriate for someone I’ve only been dating a week, a month, two months. What is s/he expecting?” PRESSURE!
When I was in a happy long-term relationship with my ex-husband (yes, I was very happy… just because it ended doesn’t mean it wasn’t happy), we both hated the sentiment of Valentine’s Day. It’s such a Hallmark holiday. It’s forced affection. Plus, the restaurants are so packed with newer couples who are either feigning love or newly crazy in love. Who wants to compete with that?! What I much preferred were the spontaneous displays of affection. “Hey sweetie, you forgot to set the VCR for your favorite show before you left for choir. I did it for you.” (These were the days before TiVo!). “Look, I saw this CD at the store, and I knew you would love it, so I bought it for you.” “You look like you’re really enjoying that book you’re looking at. It’s on me.” Or… “You seem stressed. Let me put on some Ella. Just sit down. I’ll make you something to eat.” That’s what it’s all about… at least to me. The other stuff is just pretend.
I was thinking recently about how on talk shows, people are always talking about how “the magic” went out of their relationship. What a load of crap! They’ve been watching too many romantic comedies. I watch them, too, but maybe because I’ve seen a 40+ year relationship in action, I know that the really good stuff comes from years and years of shared experiences. Periods of distance, sitting in the same room engaged in parallel play, with intermittent passion, silliness, sorrow, and all the rest of it. Magic comes and goes, but the bond of being with someone over years is indescribably enriching. Not sure whether I’ll have it again, but I did have 9 1/2 years of it. It wasn’t perfect. I did a lot of things wrong, and I can’t say I won’t do more wrong things in future relationships, but they will probably be different wrong things. A relationship of that length and the recovery when it’s over teaches one many lessons that I wouldn’t trade in for anything. Not that divorce was a cakewalk (far from it), but it made me who I am today, so I never wish that it never happened.
Looking at my calendar for Valentine’s Day, all I have planned is an informational meeting with a local psychologist. His practice isn’t hiring, but he was very helpful on the phone, and my last one of these informational meetings brought many good ideas and good leads. Hopefully, this one will be similar. The other event on my calendar is much more important: Smoooochie’s (Veronica’s) Birthday. Now that’s something to celebrate. She has been a patient and loyal friend for about four and a half years now. She is much more cause for celebration than Valentine’s. So MY VDay is all about the Veronica… oh, and maybe I’ll arrange the cat food into little heart shapes for the girls. I’m sure they will LOVE that… “Meow, meow, meow. Hurry the fuck up, Mom!”
Here’s a little Valentine’s video to lighten up your emotional angst at being single or coupled on this strange holiday:
I’ve met some really fine photographers through Flickr since I’ve moved here. Chris’s pictures consistently impress me, especially his portraits. I keep looking at the one of me above and wonder if he retouched my skin, or if it really has gotten that much better since I moved here. Chris, his wife Taryn, Brian and Shannon (another married couple in the group who like going to gigs like me), plus a whole host of other Flickr folks are very social. When I’m out with them, I can ask them how they have their camera set for different light. It’s ideal for me: I’m learning how to do something better while I’m meeting great people. I love it! What was really cool was that I went to Sunday’s bout with Xopher, ran into Drew who was filming, and also saw all these Flickr people I know. The world here is starting to get smaller and more manageable. It’s what I was hoping for. I had so much fear before I left Boston, but now I really think moving here was the right thing to do.
While my social life here is going very well, I’m still not making enough progress in the job hunt/unpacking area. To that end, my mother has come to visit. For the next several days, we will be running important errands, prioritizing, making plans, and generally getting things done. I’m happy to have the structure of another person who knows me well. I need it. I get pretty overwhelmed when I look at the big picture. This is one of those times I need help, and SUPERMOM is here to do just that!
A little rollerderby for those who’ve never seen it. Not my greatest work, but it’s interesting if you’ve never been:
When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.
