January 2011
4 posts
Should you work for free? →
Amazing. Unfortunately, after following the chart, most of my answers led me to YES, YOU SHOULD WORK FOR FREE.
My new favorite quote by Paul Rand “Don’t try to be original, just try to be good.”
June 2010
3 posts
Summer showers
It started with a trickle which turned into a drizzle which turned into a rain which started to pour. The street started out dry, drinking the trickle, but couldn’t keep up. It got slick and then spotted with puddles and before long, the cars were racing down a gushing river
A Group Effort
How to turn a dinosaur into a talking dragon:
Step one- Stop with the lame brontosaurus crap, he needs fucking teeth.
Step two- He needs tiny arms.
Step three- Cool dragons don’t carry their own suitcases.
Step four- Give that sucker giant fairy wings.
Step five- Make him breath fire.
Middle School
Seventh grade sucked. Hormones started flying and kids like me got kicked around. The metal braces and glasses made my face a magnet for ridicule. Suddenly my luck started to change. One day after lunch the most popular girls in class personally invited me, to join the exclusive PEN15 club.
May 2010
15 posts
Kids these days
“Have you ever used photoshop?” I asked the 10 year old.
“Nope, but I have a DS,” he says.
“Ok, here you go, have fun. I’ll be back soon.”
An hour later he had finished my ad… well.
I guess when he grows up I’ll be out of a job.
Photograph
Her mom thought it would be cute. Some lipstick, gold chains across the oversized black dress and mom’s too-high heels. The five year old smiled sweetly at the camera, then provocatively. She grew up fast. Why did they wonder when they found her on the street corners in those boots?
Island in the city
When you walked through the door you were in another country. For a few minutes you could escape into another world. Your American Express? It is no good here. There are toothless grins following your every move. Papaya, mangos, pineapple and sugarcane. No one will yell at you for touching.
Moving to Australia
izteachnu:
swilco:
It was a terrible horrible no good very bad day. The kind of day that makes you want to quit. Should I move to Australia? Better not, days like this happen, even in Australia. That’s what Alexander taught me. Except in the book, Alexander didn’t get a margarita before bed.
Where do I know that line? From one of those young reader books no?
Yes- That’s why I...
Moving to Australia
It was a terrible horrible no good very bad day. The kind of day that makes you want to quit. Should I move to Australia? Better not, days like this happen, even in Australia. That’s what Alexander taught me. Except in the book, Alexander didn’t get a margarita before bed.
Photography Frustration
izteachnu:
swilco:
Beer beer everywhere yet not a drop to drink. Spray paint, glycerin, gelatin, salt. Lights camera action. Again and again. Third time’s a charm? Better try the fourth. Too much head or not enough? Light light light light light light light light light Everyone goes thirsty in beer bottle hell.
Nice use of the word “light”. Cheater. ;)
It’s not really cheating...
Yoplait
“Ok guys, here it is. Keep in mind that this is the final version and there will be no edits. We tried, but it still came out shitty”
“Umm, well you could reshoot the blender, add more yogurt”
“The light on the yoga class sucked, reshoot that”
“What’s the product?”
Photography Frustration
Beer beer everywhere yet not a drop to drink. Spray paint, glycerin, gelatin, salt. Lights camera action. Again and again. Third time’s a charm? Better try the fourth. Too much head or not enough? Light light light light light light light light light Everyone goes thirsty in beer bottle hell.
Dear Golden Glades Interchange,
We are over. It’s not me, it’s you. I refuse to have you keep me from my life any longer. You have ruined 8 am for me and for that, I will not forgive you. Fuck you and all you stand for.
Sincerely,
P.T. Cruiser
Adorable
The puppy was cute. Aren’t all puppies? A little quiet, skiddish. Everyone was excited when he started to play. He pulled a sock to shreds and they laughed. He dragged a shoe around the house and they laughed. He bit my big toe and pulled it off. No one laughed.
R Us
She perused her options. Mahogany cabinets? Stainless steel? White columns or streamlined? Perhaps retro appliances? Then the dining sets- so many china patterns. She knew he wouldn’t care. She should probably go with the countertop already equipped with a highchair. Oh a baby! She skipped across to the doll aisle.
Family secret
My mom makes the best cookies in the world. People swoon over her chocolaty almond delights, covered in cinnamon and sugar. They demand the recipe.
“It’s extra special,” she says, “If I tell you I’ll have to kill you.”
They found Mary Ann’s body in the dumpster the next day.
In the studio
It needs some more lube. Rub it off a little right there. Ok. Now a little to the right- twist to the left. Perfect. Do you want me to squat down more, is my arm in the way? What if I hold it like this? Awesome. That’s a great shot.
Ghost
What a pleasant view on destruction- photographing an old house, he thought. Deserted for years, it was crumbling to the ground. There were ancient baseball cards collecting dust on the floor. He took them. He didn’t know the little boy was murdered there with his family, reaching for those cards.
Masterpiece
He lay there dead- motionless on the floor, a red hatchet by his side. The walls were splattered with his blood. It dripped slowly down the canvas. A dark figure loomed menacingly above him.
“And that’s how you make a painting” said Jackson Pollock as he smiled at his work.
April 2010
7 posts
The mind of a 3-year-old
Shhh. You have to be quiet. The witch is coming. She lives in the scary castle painted on the wall. You have to walk on your tiptoes or she’ll find you too fast. Quick, we have to put on our dresses before she gets here. The witch only likes princesses.
Drugstore
She was standing in front of me smelling like cigarettes and sweat. Wire hangers wrapped around her wrists. She bought some chocolate and notecards. Haggling at the register for her pennies back. Walking outside with a plastic bag, she mounted her broken bicycle and flew over the trees, laughing.
Failed 5,000 word attempt
They told his parents that he fell into the river and was taken by the current but I know the truth. I was there and saw how the tree ate him alive, burning through his flesh and bones until he was absorbed into the bark. I shouldn’t have pushed him.
What it means to remember
The sirens wailed and life froze. The bustling streets paused as cars slammed on brakes and people stood still on the sidewalks. For a full minute the world was silent aside from those screeching sirens. Tears were visible across faces until the sound died down and the city started again.
Jerusalem
The walls were enforced with lead. A thick metal door sealed tightly over a welcoming wooden one. Out of the single window, opening like a microwave door onto the city below, the scents and sounds of ancient history poured through the tiny room. “Welcome to your new home,” he said.
Counting
Breath in… pause. Too long of a pause. Was that it? Can life just vanish before your eyes? The machines continued to whirl, oblivious to the sudden chill across my spine. Suddenly, a shaky exhale. As I held her hand I knew we would be safe until the next breath.
Citrus
He stood in the yard, promising fruit. His little roots dug snugly into the rocky soil. After school the little girl ran home to sit with him, but he had run away. There was nothing but a small hole of torn up grass and a note fluttering in the fence.