It's okay... we'll get you another one... don't cry...

drunks... sigh...

So here's an amusing story from tonight:

At the bar where I work, the staff has to wear either a shirt with the bar logo on it or (on game days) we can wear sports shirts. Today Michigan State played Ohio State, the #1 ranked team. Now, MSU doesn't have the best record, and frankly, we don't EXPECT them to win. Which is why it's so much fun to be a SPARTAN, because when they DO win, it's awesome. And everyone likes rooting for the underdog!

So today I wore a Spartan t-shirt to work. MSU played at 3:30, U of M played at night.

Some drunk U of M fan (they don't need to be drunk to be arrogant assholes, it just makes them louder and stupider) started screaming at me in the middle of the U of M game, from at least 15 feet away:

"OOOooooh! A STATE fan! THAT MUST SUCK! You guys got your ASSES kicked today! OHIO STATE BEAT YOUR ASSES! HOW EMBARRASSING!" etc etc etc

At which point I walked over to him and replied, in a calm and collected tone of voice only loud enough for him and his friends to hear:

"Actually, the final score was 17-24. Which means that we got in SEVENTEEN points against the number one team. No, we didn't win, but we put up a good fight. What's really embarrassing is walking around like your team is made of Gods season after season, and then losing to a double A team. At home."

His buddies couldn't stop laughing, and it turns out one of them was a Spartan, too, 'cause he left me his phone number with a note that said that he owed me a drink for putting his buddy in line.

It felt good, I'm not gonna lie.

I can't wait for November 3rd. GO SPARTANS! (Oh, and GO APPALACHIAN STATE!)

the week, in review

So it's been a long, painfully boring week. On Sunday I woke up at the asscrack of dawn to drive out to Chelsea to do some family portraits. Altogether it was uneventful, the kids (2 year olds) did NOT want to cooperate - but that's usual for that age kid. It just further cemented my conviction that I do NOT want to do children's portraits for a living, ever.

But, again, cute little girl...




I basically worked all week... well, at least Sunday through Wednesday. All nights... all either closing or last cut. They're loooong shifts, too - at least for restaurant shifts. If I close it's about 9 total hours I'm running around. But I'm making very good money, and I'm finally back on my feet financially and I'm even able to be saving money, which is awesome. I suppose the fact that I have no social life whatsoever isn't hurting the situation either.

Yesterday I stayed home all day and worked on the shoot and some promotional things I've been getting going. At least I had the 2am visit from the cops to liven up the day a bit (see last post.)

Today I slept in a bit, got some laundry and cleaning down, and then went to my gramma's to visit her and Uncle Murphy. Just so you know, Uncle Murphy is my gramma's Shitzu puppy. He's about the cutest dog in the world... as you can see. After that I went shopping at local thrift stores for pieces for my Halloween costume. Continuing my 'pop-culture heroes of the 1980s' theme from last year I'm going as PUNKY BREWSTER. Easier said than done, but if I can pull of Rainbow Brite then I can do this. I got a couple of pieces that'll work, including two pairs of differently colored Converse hi-top All Stars (ol' school chucks!) Then Amy and I met at her parent's house in Dearborn and went shopping (I bought new jeans for work) and ate/drank at Chili's.

See, told you my life was boring!

Just a LITTLE embarassing...

So, it's 3am. It's not surprising that I'm still up... I have a nocturnal schedule now due to my new job at the bar. What IS surprising, however, is that my doorbell just rang. And rang again.

Thoughts running through my mind at the time include:
"Some idiot drunk has the wrong house."
"Someone died and my cell is off." (It wasn't)
and, most appropriately:
"WHAT THE FUCK?"

Yeah, it was the cops.

They wanted to make sure that everything was alright... Apparently someone had noticed that we had a car running in our driveway with the doors open for a long period of time. Upon further inspection, I found my dad's old-ass Saturn chugging away in the driveway, two driver's side doors wide open, interior lights on.

(Thought at that point: "I hope Josh didn't take this call")

This was at 2:30am. My dad came home at 9pm. That damn car was idling in the driveway, doors open INVITING someone to drive off with it, for over FIVE HOURS. He had left around 8pm to go buy some mat board for me to cut mats for some prints, and when he came back he had gotten out of the car, opened up the back door, and unloaded the bulky boards. He planned on immediately returning to the car to pull it into the garage, but must have gotten sidetracked.

Things I learned from this incident:
a. Early model Saturns must be great cars! If I left my car idling for more than five minutes it'd overheat beyond recognition, let alone for five HOURS.
b. My dad is a doofus. I don't use the word doofus, but I can't think of anything better to describe him right now. He's a genius, actually, but MAN can he be a doofus.
c. I must live in one hell of a safe neighborhood, huh?

So that's about it. I just thought I'd share my funny story with y'all.

Things are relentlessly monotonous around here. I sleep until about noon daily, wake up, shower, get gorgeous (helps with tips), run errands, and go to work at 5pm. Get off work between midnight and 3am, deposit my tips in the ATM, go home, wind down, fall asleep... I'm making good money but the hours are hard to get used to.

'til next time...

Things I'm feeling right now...

-I'm pissed off at the Democrats that pulled out of the Michigan Primaries just to make a point about us bumping up the date. No one said that Iowa and New Hampshire had the Monopoly on early primaries. Just to spite you, I'm not gonna vote for any of your asses, ever. Which is fine with me, 'cause I was planning on voting for Hillary all along. Much like my green party days, it's all about principle... at least it's all about principle now that we don't have worry about a Bush in office.

-I love www.xkcd.com. Maybe you gotta be a nerd like me to get/enjoy it, but I don't care.

-HEY! I quit my 'day job.' I'm officially a freelancer now. 100%. Fuck hourly employment. (OK - I still work at a bar to pay the bills, but at least I'm my OWN photographer now.)

-Sinus infections suck. Ass.

-I MISS KURT.

-I'm bummed about turning down the job in Santa Fe. God KNOWS I wanna go down there in January. I just chose the mature/smart option over the impulsive/fun option. First time for that. Feels funny.

-My ears hurt and my arms go numb when I sleep.

-My car died. But Josh Bonno is in a ZOMBIE MUSICAL. Unrelated, yes. But I love whiskey. Also, unrelated.

Why I love THE BOYS...

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a fan of the boys. I've always found it easy to relate to guys, and it comes as no surprise that most of my friends are guys. Including my best friend. Guys are simple. They're easy to call. They like what they like, and when it's around, they're happy. When it's not, they're not. Whether it be family, a girl, sports, a hobby, or their career. Easy. Simple. Low drama. I love guys.

I mean, I'm a girl. I still like to feel vulnerable. I still love having doors opened for me, and flowers bought for me, and sensitive things said to me. But in the end, I just wanna grab a cold beer, and throw in some whiskey... just let me just SIT and hang out. We can wax intellectual, or we can just watch the game. Maybe we can talk all deep-like about life and hopes and dreams, but probably we'll just talk about random bullshit.

So, to all the boys in my life: thank you! Thanks for easy, laid back nights. Thanks for assuming nothing about me, and not pressuring me but still being there when I REALLY need it. Thanks for protecting me when 'other guys' don't seem to have any respect. Thanks for being good solid human beings. I love my boys...

That's why, when my friend Eric posted this, I immediately loved it.

HOW TO BUILD A MAN

Begin with a boy.
Make him do a number of things with catapults, insects in jars.
Give him a pet or the freedom to run along the paths
of the forest.

Next make him a man.
This mainly means increase his size. Let him forget catapults.
Ensure he has his first loss -- that dog or his first love.
Invent something like a wife. Concern him with the daily bread,
choose him a newspaper for reading on the train.

Surprise him with the news.
Later, lay an infant in his arms. Let him look at the face, fear
for the fragile bones that make the skull.
Other than this equip him with very little.

If you fancy it allow him to imagine his significance.

A regular seat by the hearth, custody of the remote control,
now and then, some idea that what he says is true --
will be abided by. Let him also think you're taking his advice
(his half of conversation) don't imagine he's listening.

Lastly make him old.
This mainly means reduce his size. Let him forget
the ends of sentences, look past you with his milky eyes.
(He'll be recalling catapults and forest paths.)

In the end just let him go.
Carry his coffin

-- if you can shoulder it.

a.dunne

sad, sad, sad....

So I didn't get hired back at the workshops for the winter season. I'm really upset about it; even though I know it's not the end of the world... it feels like it right now.

This will get easier, this will get better.

Everything happens for a reason.

There's always summer.

And all that jazz.....

A semi-productive weekend before a CRAZY week.

So this past weekend I had the opportunity to do family portraits for my mother's friend, Marilee, and her husband and two kids. We went to McClumpha Park in Plymouth... it really was fun. I mean, not enough fun to make me wanna do family and kid's portraits for a living, but enough fun that I'm not going to kill myself if I do a few more of these before January.

The little girl, Alli, so absolutely adorable and she was a total ham for the camera, so I was able to get some really great shots of her.


As step one of my new plan to get myself out of total misery, I put in my two weeks notice at the portrait studio last week. My last day there will be next Wednesday. I also started my new job at Bar Louie today... I had orientation this afternoon and I start training tomorrow. Hopefully working there 30-35 hours a week (nights and weekends) and shooting during the day will make for a much happier Karen...

So, speaking of happier Karen... here's some things that make me happy right now.









From my favorite online comic at http://www.wkcd.com


This commercial is just funny. I think it's their faces.

Kevin Spacey doing Christopher Walken. Almost as funny as Jay Mohr's impressions, but I can't seem to find that online anywhere.



JULIE BLACKMON. I mean, of course I know and love her "Domestic Vacations" portfolio... It was awesome to see the prints at PhotoEye this past summer. But I'm even more in love with her "Mind Games" portfolio of square-format black and white images.... gorgeous...



I'm lovin' the design of this photographer's online portfolio. And this one's (the music can go.)






I was going to volunteer but it appears that there's already something in my mouth: Vomit.






'Nuff for tonight. Gotta get some sleep. I have to work two jobs tomorrow AND make it home in time for the SEASON PREMIERE OF THE SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM! Yay!