Number 4 of 5

Tongue, paw, leg

2008-11-02T23:48:00.001-05:00

Have I mentioned that I love this dog?

Trente-deux

2008-10-03T08:36:00.002-04:00

Turning 32 means that I am now the same age that both of my sisters were when they had their first child. Since that isn't on my agenda for the coming year, I have been trying to shake the feeling that I am falling behind. It is a strange thing being a younger sibling and having these artificial benchmarks of when certain life events should be happening. You would think that this would have disappeared after taking seven years to finish college, but it hasn't.

Then, last night while taking this family photo, I realized that I am not actually falling behind. Since Jack is now a member of our family, that makes me his Mom. And since that happened when I was 31, I am actually ahead of the game. There may not be diapers to change, there is still plenty of poop to clean up. And a lot more fur.

It has been hard to think about celebrating my birthday without Derek. But the day is here, and he isn't, and life goes on, right? But I miss him. Last year he and I got into a fight about my birthday, because he wanted to have a party, and I didn't. What a stupid thing to fight about, huh? If he were alive I would probably still be bickering with him about something as equally ridiculous. Meh.

I want to finish this on a happier note, so here is another one of my little guy. We weren't actually touching, which is what makes this photo so much better.

And one more of the my other guy.

My sister wrote a poem for my Dad

2008-09-28T16:44:00.003-04:00

WART HAIKU

Odd Spot on Shoulder
Doctor Ordered Biopsy
But its Just a Wart

It is a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique

2008-09-23T14:55:00.003-04:00

Ms. Clarkson found this piece in the NYT about a fashion spread in Vogue India. As you can see, this woman with no teeth is holding a child sporting a $100 Fendi bib. It makes total sense, I mean what kid who lives in a country where half the people live on a $1.25 a day doesn't sport a Fendi bib, like duh? After I got a little huffy, Dave pointed out that after all these years, and the survival of the Malaysian prime minister, Derelicte is alive and well. Long live Mugatu.

Is this life imitating art, or art imitates art? Or art imitating art, imitating art? Or is it just sad?

It is a Proud Day for America

2008-09-18T10:43:00.002-04:00

Portrayal Of Obama As Elitist Hailed As Step Forward For African Americans
Dave is obsessed with the Onion, and he pointed out this video to me a few weeks ago. I was thinking about it in the car this morning and started laughing, again. Dr. Woodson looks just like my college thesis advisor, but that is not why this video is so darn funny.

I heart John Stewart

2008-09-04T13:06:00.000-04:00

I never really act like this

2008-07-28T15:46:00.001-04:00

Photo Illustration
Originally uploaded by Michelle Bosch

We have been working on photo illustrations at school, and you can see one of my attempts in the last post. This Monopoly shot was done by my classmate Michelle, but I really want to share it with you guys. Anyone who has ever played a game with me before knows that I am a little...just a smidge...competitive. When she asked us to model, I agreed after she told me that I could be the winner. No one wants to see my "F*$% I lost face" Haha. I am such a bad winner.

Aside from all that, this image is pretty awesome. Such a cool idea.

I've got no strings to hold me down

2008-07-27T13:44:00.000-04:00

I get up, and nothing gets me down.

2008-07-09T10:06:00.002-04:00

My brothers are crazy. This isn't exactly news. Now we just have photos to back it up.

In case you ever wondered, this is what three grown men look like when they play competitive H.O.R.S.E. on a two year old's basketball hoop.

There are more on flickr. And dozens I haven't posted yet.

Number 4

2008-06-26T00:20:00.003-04:00

So it is official, I am an aunt again! My sister gave birth last week to little Audrey, making her my fourth niece. It is a good number Audrey, trust me.

Not only do I have the cutest nieces on the planet, but they have awesome names. If you sit the four of them down together they sound like four old birds playing bridge in the church basement on a Tuesday night. And I mean that in a good way.

Being an aunt doesn't get old, I highly recommend it. Now, I just need to get my behind home so I can meet the world's newest Red Sox fan.

Suitcase of Memories

2008-06-18T23:11:00.000-04:00

I haven't been here in a while, and the truth is that this past month has been very rough. I lost one of my closest friends four weeks ago. He passed away unexpectedly at the age of 32. I wasn't sure if I wanted to mention it here or not, but decided that if I didn't it felt like I was in lying, to myself mostly. I miss him unbelievably.

I saw a couple in a restaurant a week or so ago, a man and a woman, probably in their late 40's early 50's. The man reminded me a lot of my friend, a loud, over the top, dramatic guy with his hands waving when he talked. The two of them were laughing the entire meal. They were oozing fun, and really enjoying each other's company. I keep thinking of them and know that such a fun, joyful part of my life has been taken away. I can't tell you how many of those types of meals we shared, and how I thought that we would always be having those meals, even when we were older.

I can't stay in hiding forever, so I want to resume blogging. I even have some very happy news to share in another post. I am coming to terms with the fact that losing him may never get easier. I think time goes on, and the pain is still there, and always will be. I am learning to accept that.

It is funny to me how much time I spend trying to create great photographs, and yet I have spent the last few weeks staring at snapshots that mean more to me than those photographs ever will. Such is life I guess.

Year One

2008-04-21T13:46:00.006-04:00

It has been one year since we got married, or as Dave likes to tease me, it was one year ago that we ran into Derek Jeter...hahaha, he knows me well. If we ever create any spawn, I image that is how he will describe our wedding day to them, the day your Mom got agro at the Yankee shortstop. His fault, he could have been nice to us.

We spent most of last week in New York celebrating. Celebrating for us means watching baseball and eating mass quantities of cheap NYC eats. It was awesome. We saw the Nats play the Mets at Shea on Tuesday, and the Sox play the Yanks at the Death Star on Wednesday. Unfortunately, both of our teams lost, but it was still a ton of fun. OK, watching hordes or Yankees fans cheering against my boys was not fun, but it was still a great experience...even the part where some chick behind us with the worst accent you have ever heard, screamed that Jorge Posada was "such a hottie." Ew.

There was probably a fifteen minute time span from when we checked into our hotel, to when we stood in line for some Shake Shack. Man that place is so yummy. The next day we hit up Katz's Deli for the first time, which may be one of the most memorable meals of my entire existence. I never knew that a simple pastrami sandwich could taste like that. It is no wonder that Rob Reiner chose to film the "I'll have what she is having" scene from When Harry Met Sally there. We grabbed pizza at Lombardi's which calls itself the original NYC pizza parlor. It was a simple, classic pizza with fresh mozzarella and basil. Perfect. There were other bites of things here and there...Belgian frites, gelatto, apple tarts, and sushi (you know that wasn't me, but he said it was great).

Overall, a great trip. In fact, a great year. We went through a lot of life's ups and downs this past year, but that is the great roller coaster of life. It is just better now that I have someone to hold my hand the whole time.

Five Guys + Nine Guys

2008-04-14T00:29:00.002-04:00

Today was my first trip to the new Nationals stadium, and since I was hungry I headed straight to the Five Guys. Genius. This photo represents all that is good in this world.

Yes I love technology, but not as much as you, you see

2008-04-08T15:55:00.003-04:00

I ordered two pairs of fabulous pants online, and on sale, the other day from my favorite store, and was anticipating their arrival at my door from UPS. As I was sitting on my couch yesterday and working, because yes, I sit on my couch and work now, I heard someone on my front porch. Now, the distance between my couch and the front porch is about fifteen feet, maybe. I wasn't sure if it was the UPS delivery person, or the mailman. So instead of actually moving my behind off the couch and either a) looking out the window, or b)actually opening the door to look, I chose option c. Option C was opening up my email and tracking the package online, which stated that yes, indeed, my lovely little brown JCrew box was sitting on my front porch. I'm not sure if this makes me smart, or lazy, probably both.

Welcome to Washington

2008-03-21T10:38:00.004-04:00

A few months ago The Clarkson and I took a walk around the Capitol building on a warm winter day. There is a park on the Senate side, between Union Station and the Dome, where about 57 million assorted cops hang out...Secret Service, Capitol Police, District Police, what have you. In fact, that day when The Clarkson and I paused in front of large garage door, a nice uniformed police man jumped out of his little booth to see if he could help us. And by help us, I mean, tell us to keep moving on. You know, because she and I and are actually a dangerous threat to the security of the nation. Anyway, after we did move along, we spotted a bench to park our behinds. As we were chatting away, I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye, something that my friend was inches from sitting on...a pretty little needle left for us from one of the friendly neighborhood intravenous drug users. How lovely. It is nice to know that in such a big heartless city even the heroin addicts can find a nice safe place, surrounded by dozens of armed guards and security cameras, to get their fix. It leaves me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Photo Friday, "Found Objects"

Oh my life is changing everyday

2008-03-12T23:21:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted since the show, and I am trying to find the right words to describe it...awesome? amazing? spin tingling? They all work. There were hundreds of people who came to see the show, in fact there was a line to get in that extended down two flights of stairs and into the street. How cool is that? You can read more about it on the DCist website, and while you do that you can spot my smiling face at the bottom of the first picture (thanks to Bea for pointing that out). My photos have been on DCist, but never my mug...and yeah, that is pretty much how I looked all night, huge smile on my face. You can see more photos if you would like, in my favorites section on flickr.

There were many of you that came out, and thank you, thank you, thank you. It was fun to have my friends, school friends, blog friends, and flickr friends all in the same room. It was even more fun that they were trying to eves drop on the people looking at my photo. HA! That was great. My best friend Sheri came down from NY to be my wingman, she gets a shout out for being the person who came the farthest. The only person missing was Dave, which was a big bummer, but he was on a flight to Delhi during the show. Kind of a good reason.

So I hope this won't be my last show, wait, after I wrote that I know it won't be, I have one next month...haha. It was such a great start to this big change in my life. Yey!!!

Exciting news 2.0

2008-03-06T21:59:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was the last day at the job. There is a lot to say about that, but not now. Maybe never? I don't know. My goal is to spend more time shooting, and practicing, and learning, and trying to make this dream more of a reality. I have learned so much in the past six months, and I am learning more everyday. I have never felt this focused on a goal, and often I feel like I am on a mission.

One of the steps of that mission if floating out there on the web for your viewing pleasure. I finally have a website. How cool is that?? I am geeking out about it. I will continue to add pictures as I learn more, and do more studio shoots, but I now have a place to sent clients. Hehe, clients. Oh, yeah, if you have any of those for me please send them there. Just in these past two weeks, five different shoots have fallen in my lap from places I never would have expected, so thank you to those people out there thinking of me. The bio portion of the website will be updated again. Do you have any idea how hard it is to write a short bio about yourself without sounding silly? Every time I write something new I hear it in the voice of the announcer on Jeopardy...."Meaghan is a photographer, from Washington DC, specializing in shooting dinosaurs in the studio. She is also an expert on macaroni and cheese." I am accepting any and all help with this.

I also want to post a reminder about the DCist Exposed show that opens tomorrow. This is the first time one of my photos will be in a show, and it is expected to be a packed house tomorrow night for the opening. It was written up in the Washington Post, and Washingtonian Magazine. This is where I geek out again. I know that many of you are coming, and you will be in good company because they are expecting about 600 people. If this was a video blog you would see my smiling ridiculously right now.

I have been getting a lot of support and help with these big changes in my life, and I am extremely grateful. I have many lovely peeps in my "real" life that cheer me on, but I also have some great peeps here on the blog who root for me too. I guess I am just trying to say thanks. You rock.

Why I love my husband, part 785

2008-02-29T11:00:00.002-05:00

So, it is two months away, but our first anniversary is coming up. As tradition dictates, on your first anniversary you should celebrate by giving the other person paper. Being the traditional guy that he is, Dave just called to tell me that he has purchased some paper for us to celebrate with. Doesn't that sound so exciting?! I love me some paper. But seriously, it is what is on that paper that just had me leaping from my chair and making a scene in front of my coworkers. My husband just bought us tickets to a Red Sox/Yankees game, in April, in Yankee Stadium. How bloody awesome is that? I've never been to Yankee Stadium, and this is the last year it will be around. To top it off, the Nationals will be in New York that same week playing the Mets, so we are trying for back to back baseball nights. Come on, can you get more romantic than that?

It is moments like this, when I am telling people that my husband just bought us baseball tickets as an anniversary present, and I am actually excited about it, that I realize how funny my life can be. And by funny I mean awesome.

A year in the life

2008-02-29T00:05:00.003-05:00

This photo was taken almost a year ago in Kennebunkport Maine. I spent a girls weekend up there with my sisters and their girls, and this is one of the few photos I took. It was an interesting weekend, for everyone involved.

I know people say stupid bs like this all the time, but if you were to tell me that Sunday what my life would look like today I never would have believed you. I'm really glad I found this picture.

Oh, and the version 1.0 of my exciting news is that I quit my job, and my last day is next Wednesday. The new release, version 2.0 of exciting news, should be ready by then. I can't wait to share it with you. It is pretty exciting.

Coming soon

2008-02-21T11:36:00.000-05:00

I have a big announcement coming soon, hopefully very soon. This post is basically the written version of the struggle I am having between wanting to tell all of you my fun news, and having to wait. And before you start to get any crazy ideas...no, I am not pregnant.

In the meantime, check this out. Now, you will find no one in this world who loves both pop-tarts and trivial pursuit as much as me. No one. But this? When I saw this creation in the grocery store, I just thought...wow, who doesn't know where Robin Hood lives? D'uh. Can you give me a real question please?

I wonder if Quizberries taste like Snozberries?

Like sitting in my pediatricians waiting room

2008-02-16T19:02:00.002-05:00

Do you remember the back pages of the magazine "Highlights for Kids"? There were two images, and you had to compare what was different about them? Yeah. Let's do that.

I am finally learning photoshop and am having a bit of fun with it. This was from our trip to Vienna in November. I was bummed that it was so cloudy on the day we visited Schönbrunn Palace, so I was able to jazz it up a bit. Not my favorite photo, but definitely much better than before.

If your time to you Is worth savin' Then you better start swimmin'

2008-02-14T00:22:00.000-05:00

Today was a big day for me. Big. I have to wait a little bit to tell you why, but I can say that I pulled the trigger on something I've wanted to do for a while. I was staring this decision in the face thinking both "this is a great idea!" and "are you stupid?" Well the deed is done, and I can't really turn back now. I may fall flat on my face, I may not succeed the way I want to, but I will never look back on this day and say I didn't try. I know this all sounds a little cheesy, especially because you may not know what the heck I am talking about, but the gist of it is that I have decided to stop playing it safe. And, as the great and beautiful Heidi Klum said tonight about the Project Runway contestants (you didn't think I stopped watching, did you?) you can't succeed if you don't take chances.

Amen to that my sista'.

I can't decide which one I like better

2008-02-03T10:18:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I am in love with the studio. Playing with the strobes, and the hot lights, and the soft boxes, and the c stands, and the cards, and the gobos...it is like crack. But crack for photographers. Crack that is going to get me paid...so maybe it is like crack in reverse...I don't know what I am talking about.

I am at that point where everything is so new to me that I am just testing the limits of what can be done with certain pieces of equipment. I feel like a little kid just exploring. Sometimes I try things a certain way and it doesn't work, but that leads to me learning something else new and totally cool. Then sometimes it just goes right, and that is the coolest feeling ever. I have been known to scream out in joy when something goes right, or when I have figured out something that has been driving me nuts. I have been told that I am having too much fun. How cool is that?

Gobo Gadget Go

2008-01-30T23:24:00.001-05:00

I am in love with the studio. I am questioning how I lived before setting foot behind the lights.

Sometimes you feel like dancin'

2008-01-23T23:09:00.000-05:00

I found out today that one of my photos was selected for the DCist Exposed Photography Show. You can read more about it on the DCist web site, but this was something I really wanted to be a part of and I am very happy that I will be.