Robert Townsend Collaboration

I am currently working on a collaboration with favorite contemporary painter, pop realism painter Robert Townsend, who is transforming a macro self portrait I shot of sprinkles on my lips into a 36x36 oil painting for his show at Sue Greenwood Gallery in Laguna Beach, which opens June 2, 2011. You can track the progress of the painting here. You can see more of Robert's work at: www.freecolortv.com

PERSONAL FACTOID: Robert and I met through this very blog, thanks to this post I made about Bill Wood.

M.I.A

Sorry I've been M.I.A!! March was a busy month. Justin, my friend from college, visited me for a week and we spent three days in San Francisco. We rented a car and took Route 1/the PCH up the coast to get there. It took 10 hours to get there (instead of 6 or 7 hours via Route 5), but it was worth it!! I wasn't too impressed with Pebble Beach but the drive along Big Sur was amazing. We hit up all of the typical San Fran locales... went to Alcatraz; drove down Lombard Street; found the REAL Full House House (1709 Broderick Street); Visited Alamo Square/Painted Ladies; walked 1/4 way across the Golden Gate Bridge; took photos from the Marin Headlands; went to Fisherman's Wharf; ate Thai food. All and all, a fun trip!! I also introduced Justin to Pinkberry and now he is an addict. We ate Pinkberry (sometimes for breakfast!!) at least 4 times that week.

Also in March, my favorite boss Dave Nagel landed a HUGE job for Best Buy. It was a four-day shoot with 11 models and an excellent crew!! We shot at 5th and Sunset studios whose in-house chef spoiled us with breakfast and lunch every day. Breakfast burritos; bacon and eggs; French toast and fresh fruit for breakfast. Pork tenderloin on Monday; grilled chicken on Tuesday; salmon on Wednesday and skirt steak on Thursday--always accompanied by salad, sides and dessert!! Did I mention there's a coffee bar?! Best studio to work in!! During the four days, my boss shot an impressive 11,759 photos!! I shot a lot of production stills and videos that will available after the ad campaign debuts this October. I have to admit, I am impressed with the quality of Canon's 5D Mark II video setting... but the fact that it's manual focus is a drag. I had the opportunity and pleasure to work with Kirk Weddle, my boss's longtime friend, who produced the shoot. (For those of you who may not know, Kirk shot Nirvana's infamous baby underwater album cover for their album "Nevermind." You can read the whole story here). Watching Kirk and Dave interact and hearing all of their crazy college stories was a blast!! Can't wait to work with both of them again... which luckily will be soon!!

I've been drawing a lot of cutesy comics lately which I am hoping to display on a personal website. I just created an awesome summery comic but it's still spring so you'll have to wait to see it!! I'd love for a website or magazine to want to buy my comics for their publication. I should really look into it but I have to find the right market for them first.

And that pretty much sums up March, other than consuming lots of delicious Ice Pan, babysitting, going on an ebay spending spree and having my Polaroid camera break... luckily two replacements are on their way!!

BUSY BEE

a look back on my busy, busy week...

monday: retouched photos for my favorite boss dave. :) i love working with dave because he's so easy going; a great person to talk to; and sometimes we even accomplish A LOT.
tuesday: modeled for james. i secretly love getting my hair and makeup done. the photos came out great.
wed and thurs: retouched photos for my favorite boss dave. and i even passed on getting pinkberry. wow.
friday: dealt with my car. retouched for a few hours and babysat from 6 pm to 12 am.
sat and sun: worked a two-day promotion.
monday: finished retouching photos for my favorite boss dave. ate thai food with rick and james. packed.

i have been incredibly busy lately... which is GREAT!! especially because i am taking a looong vacation and heading back to NJ til october. yes, i'm probably crazy for staying that long but i think it's a wise decision. my cousin is getting married in october so instead of flying back and forth, i decided to extend my stay in order to spend more time with family and friends. my grandmother recently broke her femur bone so i am glad i will be able to keep her company while she is living in a rehabilitation home. my birthday is in september, so i will be able to spend the day being showered with gifts from loved ones. ;) hahaha. as much as i enjoy living in california and am SO grateful for the opportunities i have been given, sometimes i feel like i'm missing out on the simple things in life... like being able to hang out with your best friends or spending the weekend with my mother. luckily nobody has a problem with visiting me in california (hehe), but being able to go back to the comfort of your childhood home is priceless.

most fun work day

i worked for my favorite boss dave on thursday and it was thee most fun work day i ever had!! it was very mellow, but very productive. first, dave shot photos of me with an iphone... mostly torso shots that would make killer iphone ads. then dave's neighbor's daughter arielle came over and i shot photos of her on dave's swing and photos of her with her dogs. then dave shot photos of her. then dave shot photos of me and arielle doing cartwheels. then i shot photos of arielle doing handstands and some mid-air jumping shots. then dave's wife mary came home and became a mid-air model. dave took some really good photos of mary with their foster dogs. then dave shot photos of me, arielle and mary jumping. and finally, i shot photos of dave and mary jumping. we shot exactly 1,000 photos... lots of good ones dave can hopefully sell on getty images which is why i can't upload them onto here. but i will post a link after they've been accepted by getty!! so stay tuned. :) :) :)

hard work.

today was a grueling day of work at nagel photography. i love working for my favorite boss, but sometimes it's more work than i anticipated. i started at 6:30 am and was so busy i didn't get a chance to sit down until 3:00 pm!! i had to clean alllll of my boss's camera equipment; program his computer so lightroom would stop screwing up; iron and sew a VELVET backdrop that was 14 x 20 ft long; build an entire set (basically from scratch) for our upcoming baby shoot, edit 283 images; give his dogs a bath; set up his digital cable; make him lunch AND fold his laundry. sure, those seem like manageable tasks, but his phone would not stop ringing AND i had to quickly learn japanese in order to talk to the adobe help tech who was walking me through the new beta version of lightroom. i cut my finger on a shelf while i was organizing all of my boss's camera gear in his garage but luckily, my boss let me take a two minute break to get a band-aid (he's such a nice guy). he also let me work two minutes overtime. i didn't get home until 7:15!! and then i had to cook dinner.

...NOT. ;)

what i had for lunch...

medium sized original with three toppings: strawberries, raspberries and pineapple.

on my "lunch break" from working with my favorite boss dave, i stopped at pinkberry in beverly hills. driving in beverly hills SUCKS. especially during tourist season. i watched a car attempt to pull out of a parking spot onto beverly blvd. he, of course, was blocking the road but mr. angry man had to pull up right behind him and laaaay on his horn. the guy backing up acknowledged him, then proceeded to back up even further (in attempt to get out of the way) but in doing so, wound up backing right into angry man's car. thus, making him even angrier.

back to me and my lunch... pinkberry and i have an odd relationship. it's sort of become my guilty pleasure. the first time i've ever tried it was back in march when my friend lindsay was visiting me. before then, i never had any desire to try pinkberry... it seemed too trendy and i couldn't understand why it was such a popular place when it only served three flavors... none of which are pink. so i got an original (because the green tea sample tasted nothing like green tea) and it tasted like sour milk... not so much as spoiled milk, but sour -- as if it was trying to taste like lemon but couldn't overcome the pungent taste of plain yogurt. i couldn't even finish the small and rick took one spoonful before tossing it in the garbage. lindsay, on the other hand, got the coffee flavor with raspberries and LOVED it.

so flash forward to me working a promo on a hot day, somewhere within walking distance from a pinkberry. i went there on my break, i tried it again... and it wasn't so bad!! so i'm guessing it's an acquired taste. it's not a habit i go out of my way for (yet) and i'm hoping it will never become one because a medium original with three toppings is almost $6... and that seems pricey for almost-sour-tasting frozen yogurt so i usually opt for no toppings. rick still thinks it tastes awful. and lindsay thinks i'm blatantly addicted. i still think pinkberry is waaaay overrated but i'm not going to lie, i sorta look forward to eating it now. O:)

"I LOVE MY JOB!!"

for the past two days, i worked for my favorite boss dave who keeps me busy/employed so i don't move back to new jersey. i'm helping to plan/coordinate his upcoming stock photo shoots for infants and children. within one hour of posting the casting call online, we received 150 submissions for the infants shoot (of which, we will choose six infants). and due to a posting error which made mothers believe they will be receiving $300 per HOUR instead of $300 per DAY... we received 650 submissions in one hour for the children casting call!! (of which we will choose ten kids).

usually a shoot will keep me out of trouble for three days but a few weeks ago i had the pleasure of working for dave and his wife mary for a week. i worked as dave's photo shoot coordinator (which consisted of booking/contacting models; building a production book and assisting in wardrobe). the shoot was for the cover of a midway video game called BLITZ 2, a "vice city" style football game where steroids are optional. dave rented a studio and hired an awesome prop stylist who transformed the space into a mini patch of football field. the models who were hired were once athletes, muscle-y football player types.


on the day of the shoot, i served as "girl friday" to the crew - helping the prop stylist lay sod; assisting the grip guy move lights; lending an extra hand to dave and hal (the digital tech); shooting production stills; and writing checks to the crew and models. in addition to all that, i had the honor of rinsing mud off every crevice the prop stylist caked mud into the helmets and cleats. the shoot ran very smoothly (as always) with dave occasionally exclaiming "i love my job!!" between shots (as always). i know i've said this before, but it's so nice to work for someone who actually loves their job. dave's career is a constant inspiring reminder that "work" and "fun" can coexist and that you can get paid for having fun. (yes, it's sometimes hard work and can be stressful at times... but it's well worth it).

after wrapping up production (billing and budget stuff), i worked for dave's wife mary, resizing a plethora of images and preparing them for print. mary works for a london-based clothing company who recently purchased a bunch of worn vintage frames of all styles and sizes for in-store displays. after the images returned from the printing press, i assisted in framing... which consisted of stripping the frames; cleaning the glass; cutting/trimming the photos to fit (usually in odd sizes); and reassembling the frames. the highlight of the day was finding a newspaper from 1923 from england hidden behind a signed artist's proof/lithograph from the same time period - hello, antiques roadshow!! hehe. a cleaning person tried to covet it, but they got it back.

in addition to a generous paycheck from mary's company, mary included some gnomes from their last in-store display!! this little guy was one of three i adopted. on day two of the project, i took home a giant outdoor gnome. so there i was, jena poulain, walking in beverly hills with a giant gnome under my arm... which i may have to do more often. it made a lot of people smile... and point at me. haha. here's me and the gnome in the elevator:
aaaand then on monday of that week, dave took me back to high school. i assisted him while he provided hands-on lectures to five different photography classes. it was really fun!! dave showed the entire process of a commercial shoot: 1. receiving the idea/sketch from an ad agency. 2. the thousands of photos shot during the shoot. 3. the chosen, retouched images. 4. the final product (which in this case was the box/packaging of a video game). we set up studio lights and groups of kids got to pose and take photos of their friends using dave's camera and equipment. everyone seemed to be really interested and having fun!! it was entertaining to go back to high school and see the little cliques and unabashed fashion choices and personalities.

afterward, dave and i stopped at his friend's house for a pair of sunglasses he left behind. his friends live in the neighborhood rick and i used to live in... awww!! so it was nice to be in that area again. (i miss it!!) and that concludes the awesomeness that is my boss and his stylish wife.

hearts, love and cupcakes. and MSG.

i worked for james on valentine's day, assisting a jewelry product shoot. my job was to clean titanium wedding bands with acetone to make them as lint-free as possible. after the acetone treatment, we used compressed air to blow them off. so basically we were just inhaling acetone and freon. after that, james showed me how he retouches his images and had me try it. i did an awesome job but i took forever. (he gets one image done in 20 min!!) so i have to get faster. the plan is for me to retouch his images while he's shooting so he can accept more work which is good because more work for him means more work for me!! i like working with james because i can get away with saying things i normally wouldn't say to a boss. needless to say, he teases me right back. he's a good guy though.

rick had to pick his brother up at the airport after work and drive him to their parents' house (a good hour long drive each way) so that gave me plenty of time to go to the foodstore, go online and bake some heart-shaped lemon cupcakes with vanilla frosting and heart-shaped sprinkles. Mmmm!! rick didn't get home until 7:30; luckily we exchanged gifts at 6 am that morning. i got him a nice button-down quiksilver shirt, a pair of brown quiksilver pants, a pair of khakis and a box of hand-picked See's chocolates. he got me a pelican case for my camera (i really needed one) and two necklaces i ordered myself on etsy. :) i am seriously addicted to that website.

because of the time, we had to flake out on our thai food reservations near the grove and instead, we went to a closer, smaller restaurant i recently discovered and loved. on our way to the restaurant, we stopped at james's house to drop off some cupcakes. he was pretty happy about that. :) our dinner was good. we did what we usually do: order and split three meals because we are pigs when it comes to thai food. unfortunately, on our way home i discovered that the food at the new thai place i found gives me sinus headaches. :( it happened last time too but i didn't think the headache was caused by the food. i usually don't get headaches, so when i got a headache 20 min after eating at this restaurant AGAIN, i realized it was the food. damnit!! my theory is they use a lot of MSG.

when we got home rick almost immediately fell asleep on the floor with miss gray and i wasted time online. and yes, of course i teased him about it today.

busy week!! :)

monday and tuesday: i worked for james. on monday we shot headshots for his new website. (look for mine, i'll be on there too!!) on tuesday i assisted him while he shot a line of jewelry for a client. the woman used two models, her husband and her 6'2'' best friend and the photos came out amazing. we ate a late lunch/early dinner at this tiny thai restaurant. i was a little weary at first because the sign said "thai-chinese cuisine," but there was nothing chinese about it (which is good because i like my thai food to taste like thai food) and so *drumroll* I HAVE FINALLY FOUND A THAI RESTAURANT IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THAT LIVES UP TO MY STANDARDS OF THAI FOOD!!! finally!!~hoo-ray.

wednesday and thursday: i worked for dave and his producer kevin. i built the production books with kevin and delivered them on wednesday. i also bought tons of junk food and over 150 cans of soda (that barely got consumed on thursday!!) on thursday dave shot four olympic athletes (tyson gay, amanda beard, reese hoffa and nastia liukin) for a sega's new "bejing 2008" video game. the shoot went really well. all of the athletes were friendly and down-to-earth, especially miss amanda beard. she liked the necklace i was wearing (one i purchased from stoopidgerl on etsy) and so i introduced her to the wonderful world of etsy.com!!

friday: i worked for dave again, this time on a last minute shoot for another video game cover. the inspiration for the shoot was lara croft and james bond. the female model was russian and in need of a green card and the male model the company chose was off the hook. he was british, full of energy and highly entertaining. at multiple points during the night, he was running up and doing back flips off trees. pretty crazy.

saturday: rick and i went to melrose to return the clothes and hooker boots dave purchased for the video game shoot. most of the garments were non-refundable or final sales (boo!!) but as a bonus, my boss dave is allowing me to use the store credit. so i have $150 to spend in on questionable clothing. (no, i'm just kidding. it's not that questionable). on one of the final sales, the guy working there allowed me to exchange one of the corset tops for a large, silver panther head necklace.

sunday: was supposed to be an LA Polaroid Nerd Out on the santa monica pier but not many nerds could attend, so there was a mini Nerd Out at jake and george's house with lou, and me and rebecca as models. jake is the proud owner of forty or more of wallace seawell's handpainted backdrops. so it was pretty awesome to be photographed against the backdrops that were once used for portraits of peggy lee, sophia loren and gregory peck. jake took some ridiculously awesome shots of me wearing my canvas mossimo cut-out dress, a blonde crackwhore wig and retro rollerskates. wait until you see...

box office weekend

this weekend i worked in the box office for Art LA, a contemporary art fair in santa monica that represented sixty-four unique local, national and international galleries.

despite the long hours, it was fun playing box office with a group of eclectic locals (actually, very few were locals. the majority were transplants like myself).
the dynamics of a group of freelancers never ceases to amaze me. there are always type-cast personalities, but this time those personalities were even more specialized. i worked with quite a bunch of characters. the cast included:

the bossy, take charge, been-there/done-that/know-it-all, 20-something "stunt woman" and her nice boyfriend (also into stunts), a theatre geek all grown up.

the middle-aged worldly writer who was trying to absorb as much as she possibly could. although she has lived in the united states for however how long, she still pretends she hasn't grasped "american" ways and phrases.

the likable, well-dressed, high-energy actress who quickly becomes every body's best friend (but not in a negative, fake way).

the bohemian art child with a unique name, soft-spoken annunciation and hippy clothing (also very nice).

the poor-luck guy with an outdated haircut who always gets suckered into doing all the bitch work because he's too compliant to say "no" and very few people pay attention to what he mutters under his breath.

and then... me. the cynic who nominates herself the "normal one" as she quietly judges all of the other characters, honestly not caring what they must think of her.

despite the awful weather, the event brought in quite a number of celebrities. patricia heaton (who plays the wife in everybody loves raymond) promptly showed up at 11:30 AM on opening day.

saturday celebs included daniel stern who was modestly dressed in attire that resembled what he wore in home alone (he played marv). he was also the voice of the narrator in the wonder years... i had no idea!!

karolina kurkova showed with a three-man entourage of guys who could easily pass as roadies. (the one with long blond hair was cute though).

keenen ivory wayans bought tickets for himself and his "sweet valley twin" brittany daniel toward the end of the night.

james franco was on the VIP list and was rumored to be inside, but nobody saw him enter the building.

todd oldham came to my line on sunday. he was so modestly dressed (in a blue sweatshirt, corduroy-ish khakis and with a backpack on his back) i wasn't sure it was him until he spoke in that gentle, todd oldam voice. he was so very pleasant and down-to-earth.

i didn't start conversations with any of the celebrities but when adam raspler (311's manager!!) was buying a ticket, i had to go over and say something!!

matt dillon snatched a VIP ticket and darted across of the box office to the front door like a weasel who just stole an egg from a hen house.

my stunt-woman coworker gave dustin hoffman major attitude. she didn't even so much as glance up at him because by the end of the night her goal was to say as few words as possible and make the the minimal amount of contact with people. hoffman seemed amused by her attitude (those infamous, twinkling character lines appeared in the corners of his eyes). i sat in disbelief and just as he was about to leave, i offered him one of the Art LA canvas tote bags (since miss stunt wasn't about to hand him one). he came back for it but i think it he was just being friendly because i highly doubt he really wanted the tote bag... although they were a hot comondity!!

Billy Baldwin photos

here are the photos feaured on PARADE magazine's website of Billy Baldwin taken the day i babysat my boss's house during a photoshoot. only one photo was chosen for the physical copy of Parade.









photo credit: Larsen & Talbert for PARADE

you can read the article that accompanied the photos here.

it was awesome to have witnessed the photo shoot and to now see the final results of the production and it's also really awesome to know (by looking at the photos) exactly where william baldwin was standing and to have taken photographs/been photographed in the exact same spots. here's a polaroid i took of that birdfeeder he is standing in front of and here are shots of me in dave's dining room:




Photo Credit: Court Leve

and on the infamous swing...



Photo Credit: Dave Nagel

more polaroids i've taken at dave's house can be seen here.

ok, i officially have the world's coolest boss

today instead of making phone calls for 8 hours (racking up a whopping $82.50) i am housesitting for my favorite boss mr. dave nagel who is en route to LA from a photo shoot in orlando. dave and his wife rent their house out as a location for photo shoots. my job is to make sure the production crew doesn't throw a wild party or snoop through his office. the photographer is shooting billy baldwin who has about five or six hats stacked on his head right now. he seems very pleasant and agreeable; a nice guy to work with. :) once the photos are published in parade magazine i will post them.

apartment hunting SUCKS.

friday: tough day working for dave... not. it's always more fun than "work". :) went to "ski dazzle" at the LA Convention Center with rick and aldo. free lift tickets with the entry purchase... not that i'll be using mine. rick and aldo got a good deal on snowboarding bags and i entered every contest i could. i'm still waiting to hear that i am a winner for a weekend getaway in utah... but i won't hold my breath, hehe.

saturday: worked. looked for apartments. ugggh. still haven't found anything DECENT. we have totally ruled out 90% of Van Nuys. yuck.

sunday: honestly don't remember... i think rick and i played scrabble and he won. (what's happening?! hahaha). then rick stayed over his parents' house because he had a dentist appointment in the area early in the morning.

monday:awful. spent alllll afternoon looking for apartments. the eh-ones had no vacancies and the yuck-ones were too yuck to even consider ANNND (this is the best part...) i got a $50 parking ticket for being parked on the street during the last 15 min. of posted street cleaning time. not a street sweeper in sight... nor a cop and the irony is i was only parked there for a matter of minutes while i hopelessly walked up and down the small stretch of street looking for a vacancy among a group of shitty apartments. i dunno how i didn't see anyone near my car and i wasn't the only car parked there. (i was parked behind two other people). needless to say, i was about ready to give up after that not-so-pleasant incident. screw those apartments!!

today: i started a new job. it's a full-time position until i go home for the holidays then when i get back (after new years) it will just be part-time so i can continue to pursue photography. (figures i finally get offered a flexible part-time job riiight before we move out of the area). it's a pain-in-the-ass job making phone calls for a production company that distributes substance abuse materials (i made over 200 calls on my first day!!) but it's easy and the guy who works there is really nice and chill (reminds me of my cousin anthony!!) and i don't have to dress up... which is definitely a plus. i HATE fancy schmancy work clothes!!

what i've been up to the past two weeks...

monday, nov 12: had a job interview for a p/t receptionist position at a political consulting firm. "so i see you have a bachelor's degree... why do you want this job???" the lady asked. then she told me i was "over-qualified" for the position. lame.

tuesday, nov 13: i don't remember.

wednesday, nov 14: worked for my favorite employer dave. called ad agencies and employed dave's new targeted marketing strategy which seems to be working. saw dr. 90210's (aka: robert rey's) wife hayley at the grocery store. zero makeup. skinny. looks exactly how she looks on tv.

thursday, nov 15: worked for dave again. :) ate lunch at a lil greek place.

friday, nov 16: assisted a shoot for james which consisted of shooting 30 amplifiers at a small place where they're actually made. the brand is called Matchless and the amps are used by such artists as: johnny rzeznik, sheryl crow, carlos santana, joe perry, aimee mann, michael bolton, lenny kravitz, and jewel. pretty damn kewl. ate mexican food for lunch.

saturday and sunday: MADONNA INN with the polaroid nerds.

monday, nov 19: escaped a 7-hour-long video game focus group and hung out with hal all day long instead. tagged photos for him. ate lunch at wahoo's fish tacos. started to seriously plan our business venture. met hal's friend naomi. went wallpaper shopping. got lost in the fog on my way home. too embarrassed to say where i wound up.

tuesday, nov 20: re-shot a couple of amps with james. ate a late lunch. taught james some new diner table tricks. :)

thanksgiving: made a cheese pie. went to rick's sister's house. ate an early dinner. watched the beginning of shrek 3. colored. chatted. played with rick's nieces. spent the night over rick's parents' house (they were in mexico).

black friday: woke up at 7 am to go shopping. first time rick and i ever participated in crazyness of "black friday." hit up radio shack, kohls, the mall and a board shop. scored some good deals. bought a nice sweater zip-up from pac sun. covered a few bases for christmas. ate lunch with rick and aldo. jonathan stopped by. watched a marathon of the dog whisperer with rick and his brother. rick's parents returned home from mexico.

saturday, nov 24: my grandmother's birthday!! i worked a cosmetic promotion. rick went back to his parent's house to spend some more time with his brother (who is visiting until sunday). watched My First Mister which was eh, alright. definitely sad. the part that was the most unbelievable was the fact a 17-year-old girl drove herself from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, NM. and didn't get stuck in traffic to there or on the way back. yeah riiight. ;)

sunday, nov 25: polaroid nerd meet up in LA. tomorrow is not going to feel like a sunday to me...

pleasant and not-so-pleasant finds.

friday night i burnt our steamer pot again, for the third time now. i had just washed the dishes and prepped all the veges before rick called on his way home from work. i was all proud of myself for having everything started before he got home so we could actually eat dinner before 7 or 8 pm. after i threw some chicken into the oven, i turned on the stove. i heard some clicking noises but just assumed it was oven warming up. when i got up to stir the vegetables (10 minutes later), i noticed the smell of burnt steamer pot. Mmmm!! turns out i forgot to add water in the bottom pot. (i know, i deserve a "duh"). and so i ruined all the vegetables. :( but i did beat rick in scrabble later that night. :)

so saturday night rolls around and rick and i are hungry. the burnt pot is still sitting outside, full of water, on the balcony. we decide to check out a new thai restaurant for dinner that just opened by our apartment. on our way to the car, i collect the mail that we've neglected to get this afternoon. by the light of the car interior, i sort through it... there are two bills, the daily assortment of supermarket flyers and an envelop addressed to me with no return address, just "Court Leve" which threw me off because it was dark out and I only saw the word Court, but then I made the connection... it was from Dave's friend. inside the envelop was a check for $100 and a note:

Jena-

Thanks for your modeling help a few weeks back at Nagel's - I really appreciate you spending the time with us.

All the best

-Court

P.S. Send me some neat images to look at sometime.

my jaw literally dropped. first of all, this man did not have to send me a check. he didn't hire me to model. he wasn't even expecting a model!! Dave hired me because he thought it'd be more fun and he knows i need money and he knows i appreciate getting the work. that said, Dave paid me that day before i left. so this pleasant surprise is above and beyond the realms of generosity, WAY beyond. and so a HUGE thank-you to Court whose awesome work can be seen here!! :)

ohhh yeah... earlier today, rick and i checked out that guest house we were hoping to rent. the owners were super nice but the place was TINY. the bedroom looked like it would barely fit our bed!! there was a small bathroom and one kitchen/living room/dining room area. the deal breaker for me was the positioning of the house... it was attached to the backside of their garage making it constantly shaded. add in the small heater and tiled floors and we'd be freezing our butts off all winter long. and it was so far out in the middle of the woods that neither of our cell phones got service. :( and so the apartment hunt continues...

***update: even IF we wanted the guest house, the owners went with someone else, but we were "a close second."

promo from hell/i need to get a "real" job.

i signed up for a five-day promotional gig for an office supply store. the hourly pay was decent and there was a $40 gas reimbursement, so i didn't mind the hour-long morning traffic commute. i was a little suspicious when i saw there were three other promoters working the gig because the store wasn't that big. then we were given a map...

our job was to travel in our own vehicles, distributing 75 coupon booklets (that we were supposed to call "free gifts" instead of "coupon booklets") to businesses within a 20 mile radius of the store. the goal of the promo: to distribute 1,500 coupon booklets to 1,500 DIFFERENT businesses. maybe i over-reacted a bit, but i was pretty pissed when i found out i had to use my own car because the promotional company failed to state that in the gig description. had i known that, i would have not signed up for the promotion. (i NEVER had to use my own vehicle DURING any other promotion). and that $40 gas reimbursement was not a daily reimbursement... it was $40 FOR THE WEEK.

most businesses wanted nothing to do with the booklets and made me feel like an unwanted solicitor. although we were told we weren't solicitors and to enter businesses that had "no soliciting" signs posted, i did not enter these establishments. despite the heat and the fact i was wearing all black, i walked to most places. then i drove within my designated area and became highly frustrated when i was told at two separate strip malls that one of my fellow promoters had already been there. so i passed out a whopping 25 coupon booklets and took advantage of the promotion by shopping at the dollar store, eating at el pollo loco and sitting in my car for an hour and a half. i wasn't about to drive around all day.

i called the woman who booked me for the promo and left a voicemail saying how disappointed i was in the promotion and how, had i known i would have to use my car, i would have not signed up. she gave me attitude when she called me back and i canceled the rest of the days i was supposed to work. since i didn't give 24-hours notice of my cancellation for the next day, i am being fined/deducted $25.00.

and so... i need to find a "real" job. this would be an easy task for a normal human being but to me, this is a death sentence. i try to keep my schedule flexible so i can assist photographers whenever the opportunity arises. i also visit my family a lot (who are on the east coast) and get a lot of visitors, so receiving only two weeks vacation would be a problem. i understand everyone would love more vacation time and i should chalk it up to "that's life" and deal with it. i also understand that whatever two-bit job i find wouldn't be permanent, but one of the reasons rick and i live in california (and pay outrageous rent) is because there are ZERO photography/graphic design jobs in my home state. if i wind up as a receptionist in an office building, i might as well be living at home where at least i would be with my family.

and so i applied for three RANDOM jobs online (a tutoring job, a human resources job, and a marking job). all which i feel i can handle with what little or no experience i have in these fields. despite all of this, there is a sliver of a silver lining... or false hope, whichever. tonight i received an email from a photographer who replied to an email i sent her on APRIL 24th (6 months ago)!!

"I've received you e-mail a while back and at the time had no openings but I liked you message and saved it. Could you send me your phone number, I'd love to give you a call and talk to you about office work/second shooter opportunities."

unfortunately her studio is located too far to be worth it for a daily office job(one of the many reasons why i should move closer to LA despite the fact i never want to live in a majorly congested city), but hopefully some of the second shooter opportunities will be within a reasonable distance from my apartment. to justify my decision to sabotage a job opportunity because i do not want to commute that far, it should be noted that gas money and wear and tear on your vehicle (while you sacrifice at LEAST 3-4 hours of your day in traffic) is not worth the pay rate.

and so the internal struggle continues... but at least this random email has inspired me to email another extensive batch of photographers/potential employers before i sell my soul because i really can't imagine myself not working in the photography or art industry. i simply do NOT have the capacity, desire or blind dedication to ever work for a large corporation. i know our country wouldn't be successful without big business, but i'm one of those people who believes big businesses are distracting us from our own lives, polluting our environment, sucking away our money by convincing us we need their products and creating monopolies we don't even know exist. (not to mention making it IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to start an ethical small business). end of rant.

being a PA is better than being from PA.

trust me, i lived in PA for 4 years. : P

tuesday: worked for my favorite boss dave. :) i was mainly there to inspire dave to work, but i made a few calls to ad agencies, looked through a really interesting (and inspiring) photojournalism book from 1978 and got lunch. it was a pleasant afternoon. dave is letting me borrow his lomo action sampler camera so expect some fun photos soon!!

wednesday: long, tiring, productive day. i assisted a product shoot for james. he rented a studio in hollywood and shot boating accessories (wake board racks, speakers and lights that attach to the "tower," if that's what it's called). the pieces were all round and chrome so it was nearly impossible to shoot with the amount of resources (mainly white cards and c-stands) we had with us. but we did it!! and the man and his wife who designed and patented these parts were really nice. they were an older couple with southern-ish accents who drove in from san diego. james is a really great guy to work for because you always learn something. i'm hoping to work for him more often (assisting small product shoots in his studio) after he returns from new york. and i might even be one of his apparel models for a test/webpage shoot.

thursday morning: was ready and waiting to buy foo fighters tickets to the special album release show at the henry fonda theatre on my birthday. both rick and i tried to get tickets. we both clicked the button AS SOON AS IT HIT 10:00 and -sold out- ...how the hell??!! :(

thursday afternoon: worked for dave again. i e-mailed ad agencies and dave tested out his flash on me (since he has to use it on a friend's wedding this weekend). dave's not a wedding photographer, but he looooves shooting weddings... NOT!!!! i helped him pack, we talked shop and i played with his pseudo-dogs (that really belong to his neighbor). i can't wait to assist dave's upcoming stock shoots. :)

busiest saturday ever.

9:30 am - 1:00 pm: assisted james during a product shoot.
1:00 pm - 1:30 pm: commute back to apt.
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm: ate and changed at apartment.
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm: commute to second gig.
3:00 pm - 10:45 pm: served/helped cater an outdoor wedding.
10:45 - 11:15 pm: commute back to apt.

assisting james was fun. he shot an assortment of day planners, greeting cards and gift sets designed for moms by a moms. i helped prep the set and the products. i've assisted a clothing line shoot before, but never a product-only shoot. the idea that most products aren't shot on a level surface never occurred to me. we actually stuck the products to a white seamless backdrop using a sticky putty. assisting a variety of photographers has helped me narrow down which photography fields i would like to pursue professionally. i'm working for james again on wednesday on location for a boating-product shoot. he's thinking we'll need extra C-stands which means... lots to haul and set up.

serving at the wedding was pretty hateful at first. the guy in charge was 45 minutes late because he had a lot of last-minute stuff to do. we were all scrambling around doing nothing because we didn't know how the guy wanted it to be done. there were 6 of us... quite some characters, almost stereotypical, as if from a movie:
1. the masculine woman of questionable sexuality (not that there's anything wrong with that).
2. the annoying chick/borderline know-it-all who is waaay too enthusiastic about the job.
3. the older (indian) guy who you wonder why or how he ever wound up doing this.
4. and 5. two girls (one tanned and of hispanic decent. the other, a redhead) who know each other and paired off.
6. and me. the judgemental girl. ;)

one of the chefs was french and i swear he said "hamBERGarr" over a million times. he also looked at my shoes (black vans with pink stripes) and said, "you're were those??? non, that iz not good. you need black shoes. those are not acceptable."
and i said, "are you kidding me?!!"

the wedding was semi-formal, meaning there were burgers, lemonade and port-o-potties, but nicely done and decorated to look classy. there were couches covered in brown seude-ish material, round paper lanterns, lots of candles and champagne dyed blue to match the color scheme. as the night progressed, i wasn't hating it and some moments were disguised as fun. perhaps the most memorable moment occurred while i was carrying a tray of (filled) champagne glasses and one of the guests was headed right for me. i made an "UH-UH-UH-UH" kind of noise and lightly swerved to avoid him. he noticed me and put out his hands as if he were going to dodge me, but he didn't move and just kept walking straight into me. spilt and broke all but two glasses. amazingly no champagne wound up on either of us. and he cleaned up all the broken glass.

so that was my night. i got paid more than i antipated. so perhaps this could become a semi-regular thing on the weekends. :)

more writing, more work, more back massages.

my grandmother always tells me all these interesting little stories about our family and how she could write a book, but she never writes them down. :( i told her she should email me a page every day and then i'll put them all together.

gma: where do i start???
me: as far back as you can remember...
gma: i can remember things from when i was three years old...
me: well then you'll have a lot to write!!

hopefully this will inspire her to start typing soon. (*hint *hint)

yesterday aldo took rick and i to IKEA (it was my first time) and i bought some frames and something really kewl for my grandmother and one for andrea as well. (i can't tell you what it is because they read this). last night i finally finished editing an environmentally-friendly-how-to craft video i filmed this weekend while rick was at his parents' house. i'm pleased with the results and will post the final product on youtube. more info about it later. :)

as for work, i'm seeking a more reliable part time job. (as you've read, i sometimes have issues with scheduling/my boss). my boss told me yesterday that i can assist him at weddings, but he can't pay me because i don't produce enough quality images. ouch!! i would take this as conscructive criticism because i KNOW i could use more experience on the technical aspect of photography, but i don't think i was ever fairly represented. first off, i've only assisted him three times and twice i was handed a camera i've never used before. during my third assist, there wasn't a flash for me to use and we were shooting people dancing in a dark venue... so i was pretty much useless. i was always hesistant and weary to shoot reactions to what my employer was capturing because i could never predict his next move. i assisted two of his colleagues on seperate occasions and had a much better experience because neither ran around like a nervous gazelle. i'm not quite disappointed because i know i'm not cut out to be a wedding photographer anyway (too much ass-kissing), but i was still pretty bummed. luckily i've been receiving some awesome compliments in emails from people who are fans of the work i post on flickr. :) i'd much rather receive credit for my photography than to take wedding photos and not be attributed in somebody's wedding album. so onto bigger and better things...

cute story: i woke up with rick's alarm the other morning (6 am). Rick got up, showered, got ready for work and then came over to the side of the bed i was sleeping on, leaned over and challenged me to a game of scrabble (to be held that night) loser gives the other person a back massage!! hahaha. very random, but i loved it. and guess who won by 49 points... ME. :)

my progress report.

frustrated.

this morning i got up early because i spoke to one of my employers yesterday and he told me he would have work for me today and to be at his home office "the earlier, the better." so i get to his gated community this morning and they say i'm not on the list to enter. i call him to ask him to clear up the situation and this is the conversation we have:

him: what?! i don't have work for you today.
me: um, you told me to come over the earlier, the better.
him: i know i said that. but then i said 'i'll talk to you later about it' and you never called me back.
me: i thought you just had to get off the phone...
him: yeah, i did. but then you never called me back.
*after discussing how he doesn't have any work prepared for me*
me: so, should i just go back home then???
him: yeah...

arrrrrrrrrrrrg. :( i don't understand and i don't feel at fault. i think what happened was he forgot (or didn't have time) to set up work for me because when we were talking on the phone his 'i'll talk to you later' really just seemed like an 'i'll talk to you later.' not an 'i'll give you a time for tomorrow but if you don't talk to me later about it, i'll have no work for you.' :(