Shoot-day 2

These are photos i took of the images on the computer, so they're a bit blurry. The spread's going to be 10 pages, i can't wait! I was really satisfied with the makeup i did, and the model was divine, even though she was a total diva. (I say that affectionately as i think she would admit to that, herself)

So i ask myself now,what's next...? I'm ready.

chef cheryldee

First day of the shoot for the magazine...challenging, not from an artistic perspective, but the mix of strong personalities in the small hair and makeup room was at times, overwhelming. I won't elaborate. But just know that my very worst day, doing this, is still better than my very best day doing any other job. I am simply in love with what i do.
Tried to bake a sweet potato and it went...just, wrong. Burst and bubbled and went black on the outside, but remained hard on the inside. Yuck. So much for getting orange things into my diet.

plate spinning

It's appropriate that i have such amazing views of London from my flat, because what i've been doing these past 4 months, on a social level at least, is viewing life from the other side of the glass. I know it's all out there for me, because i see it, and i wonder, if when money is no longer an issue, i will set myself free or remain in a self-imposed position of static.
At work, I have a padlock with which to secure my belongings in the lockers. On my days off, i see that lock and key, swimming around in my bag, and it is so symbolic to me. A lock that i have the key to. A jail that i can walk out of any chosen day. When i leave that job, i will throw it in the river, any river will do.I am euphoric when i realize that these are my last few months of retail artistry-EVER. The old me would just see the long days of drudgery, allowing petty nitpicking to get to me in the meantime...but i am glowing with all that is to come.
My life is fat with promise.

dreamin

London by night holds secrets and delights, none of which i'm privy to. Saturday, a night like any other in routine, somehow feels emptier for me.

In this bitter cold, i dream of my future travels. I will reward myself at the end of my six months in South Africa ( i know, i went from 2 to 3 to 6 now), with a trip to somewhere i've always wanted to go---the Seychelles. It's a 5 hour direct flight from Johannesburg. Every photo i've ever seen of this tiny group of islands in the middle of the Indian ocean, is beyond beautiful, beyond words.

weekend

Beauty test-sunday


'Louie' shoot-saturday

its a small world after all....

www.googleearth.com is now available on Mac!!! yeah!!! Can't really figure out how to work it properly yet...but i find it pretty amazing already.

Some mornings, the 'shuffle song' feature on my iPod taunts me with pertinent love songs to pull on the strings that still attach themselves to my heart. Mostly, i skip skip skip until i find lyrics that don't....remind me...

not listening to Mos Def

reaching out

Every evening in my social bubble, i send out shoot upon shoot of energy, reaching out and connecting with a world beyond my living room. This energy comes back to me, seeks me out, in extraordinary ways.
South Africa is calling me, perhaps for 3 months rather than 2. My plans for myself expand and come alive in my mind and in reality. I'm loving this.

intuitive interpretation

Another day of wonder...i can feel my world expanding before me. I spent a lovely afternoon in Oxford, with the children climbing me, then settling up under me, whilst they watched their movie. I got called to do a high-end jewellery shoot at the end of the month which i'm excited about. Saw my cousin who i havent seen for a couple of years...he lives in Johannesburg now, and it turns out he personally knows EVERYBODY i need to know in the fashion industry in South Africa. How great is that?
Before i forget, let me just record a couple of things for this year...resolutions? um...more like, dont forget to do's...study philosophy in some shape or form...investigate documentary courses for 2007...brush up on my French to the point of fluency, start learning Spanish.
I have many many goals, too many to write here, they evolve and are astoundingly realized.

is there anyone out there...?

So. I've been booked for my first British magazine shoot, 2 days of work, and 6-10 tearsheets most likely. I'm so proud of myself, because i went out for this boldly and it paid off.
Also, i'm going to be writing a monthly makeup column in a new magazine thats coming out, for a preview see www.lovepouting.com
I have 3 scheduled test shoots coming up and i'm meeting with some new photographers on Tues.
These are the things i must recall when i cannot breathe so well. When i start to do calculations in my mind, and have to stop because i start to feel a bit dizzy. Perhaps i'm just overly tired.
I used to walk, from the bus stop to work, past a large vent, that would blow the stench of stale cooking grease at me, as i passed. I would breathe into my scarf, or hold my breath, but it was always there, epitomizing all that i hated about my destination.
I am now walking the longer way to work.
Because i've found
that the shortest route, is not always the best one to take.

listening to Modern Love/Fashion by David Bowie

Happy Noo year, y'all

the year of truth

i continue this New Year with calm now finally replacing panic. There is so much i could worry about, but when i feel that feeling rising up from my belly, making its fluttery way to my throat, i just breathe, and remind myself to put it into perspective.
With everything that i still plan on achieving, its easy to forget how much there is to be proud of already. i feel as if i spent the last 6 months of 2005 with my head down, ploughing forward; because today was too hard to face, i was headed for the future, where surely it would be better. But a wise man told me, that the future is now.
And that is why, this years blog is called, present perfect.

Days here are rainy and so cold, overcast to the point of feeling like a perpetual dusk. My spirit says, Wait...be patient. Sunshine must come. In the meantime, the chill air on my skin makes me feel alive.
Every day, i progress.

reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel
drinking Belgian chocolate milk
listening to my inner voice