Tripping on Asphalt
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A night at the beach with a few of my favorite people. And no bug spray. A good idea gone bad.
Can you believe Little Miss A is almost 5?! She’s the first kid I’ve been photographing since birth. And she’s our beautiful Flower Girl in just a few short weeks… Holy crap… Is that right?! A few weeks? I’ve gotta go do, uh, some stuff… I think… Isn’t there some stuff I should be doing?
The Big Day is quickly approaching. As we were preparing our save-the-dates, a friend who got hitched last month said to me, “Oh! The save-the-dates. Exciting. You’d better hold on from here on in!” And all of a sudden, that’s what it feels like. An autobahn ride from here to late September.
I couldn’t be having more fun, taking pictures, designing stationary, picking clothing, and planning our honeymoon. It’s strange, because I didn’t take well to all this in the beginning. But I think the excitement is over-taking any of my party-planning misgivings. Mostly… Or maybe it’s the tequila.
There’s so much going on over here that it’s been tough to find the time to share it. Today it’s snowing for the first time (so early!). This weekend I broke out the crock pot for some coq au vin (thanks T), knit a couple of holiday gifts, started the Harry Potter movies with Year 1, and lit some candles. It’s definitely starting to feel (and smell) like the holidays. Warm and cozy. I’m getting in the mood for friends and family, food and curling up on the couch with a furry blanket, a good book and a puppy or two.
This past Saturday night we also had a blast at a cocktail party celebrating the opening of the new space for The Dance Collective. Everyone was smiling and in full party mode because we are so proud to be a part of this growing collective that has changed all our lives. And we are thrilled for the well-deserved success of Amanda and Enrique. For me, and Sequined Asphault, their opening week meant a couple of other exciting moments. A newly updated web site that I set live last Friday night after their last class was taught at the old studio. And the delivery of 5 (so far) humongous, fine art prints to decorate their modern, airy and bright, brand new dream studio. I won’t lie, it’s been very exciting to see those prints go up over the course of the week.
I took this photo years ago. In the summer of 2005 at Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade. I took a shine to it instantly, so since then it’s been around – on my blog, Flickr, poster-sized in a gallery, and finally in my house. For some reason, everyone thinks they know this guy and suddenly emails and phone calls ensue. They’ve all been wrong. So do you know this guy?
This is Gnome Chomsky. He hangs around my house looking super creepy. A while back, prepping a shoot with Little Miss A, he totally came in handy. For the very first time.
Prepare to be all over the place. If you are new here, check out the history of the Stand-in here or here.
I’ve had this post hanging around for a while. I decided to get this up today because Gnome has had a lot of action in the last 24 hours. DUG’s parents came over for dinner Sunday – for the first time. Did you hear that, Internet? His parents came over for dinner for the first time. And everything’s fine. Nothing burned down. Nothing exploded. No one cried or ran screaming. And no one took out a white glove. See Diana. I told you it would be fine.
Anyhoo… In the midst of the wonderful day we spent together, we re-lived the story of how Gnome Chomsky came to reside with me in Black Rock.
DUG is the notorious White Elephant gifter at his office. Messily wrapped, gigantic, carrot-noses poking holes through paper are his trademark. Every year the people of the St. John’s (home of the Red Storm – go me! sport!) Athletics Department await his gift with bated breath. Or so he says. In fact, it’s summer and he’s already trolling through our local Home Goods for the most… uh… well… I don’t want to put words in his mouth here (creepy, tacky, completely useless, gargantuan, and dare I say unsightly…) because one never really knows how he chooses – it’s an art. Let me just tell you that one year was a giant, ungainly, snowman head, made of pantyhose and sadly missing some of the actual coal hot glued on as a smiling mouth. Crafty as I am, I was unable to come up with replacement coal in time for the gift giving extravaganza (12 hours later). Where does one get coal these days?
So, one holiday, DUG procured Gnome while I was picking up some things for the house. On the day of the gift exchange, Gnome was still in my living room. Far, far away from the Queens campus of St. John’s. Have no fear! DUG ran a few quick errands and had satisfactorily replace Gnome with I-know-not-what.
This thing is staying in my house?! Get. It. Out. My house of no storage – no basement, no attic, not even a spare closet? Yes. In a corner that could not be more perfect in dimension and design, there Gnome lived for 365 days. And then it happened. DUG needed a new gift for the gift exchange. “Shall I give Gnome?” he asked. Well, it was more more like, “mumble, mumble, Gnome? Or should I find something else and leave him there?” And I was all “GNOME?! You can’t take my Gnome! With his awesome and crazy eyebrows! Who will stare at me creepily when you are not here?!!” And he was all, “Ha, ha! I have won you over with my amazing taste and extraordinary gift giving skills.” (or something like that.)
So now we are going on a couple of years and Gnome is a vital member of the family home. Good story, yes?
Then. After DUG’s parents have gone home. And the story of how Gnome came to be was shared. As if that weren’t enough attention for one Gnome. At approximately 8:45 pm, Chewbaca Scotto, lifted his teeny, tiny little leg, and yes folks, PEED ON GNOME’s FEET. (see above for aforementioned feet.) Gnome’s still recovering from the shock and betrayal of it all.
Ahem. Remember we are here for the Stand-in? I warned you about the all over the place. Here’s Little Miss A, the real deal on that shoot. The one where Gnome came in handy. For the very first time.
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On the Nightstand
