House detail

Posted on July 29, 2013 by marey mercy

First off, it’s my birthday today. I don’t like forced celebrations of any kind as I generally find them tedious and more trouble than they are worth, so as usual I am doing nothing special for the big event. Just turning a year older, appreciating the fact that I’m still around to do so, and enjoying being back home after a weekend of traveling. Moving on.

In yesterday’s post I mentioned I’d taken a ton of photos of all the antique architectural details in my sister-in-law’s house, where we visited this weekend. While still there, the internet connection was too slow to bother uploading the photos, but now that we’re back home I can upload the first batch.

This counter is in her kitchen, and was salvaged from an old general store.

My friend Lana made an interesting comment yesterday that antiques can hold spiritual energy from the past, and I liked that idea. In fact I originally thought I’d try to conjure up a ghost for each photo here, but I was not creative enough to do it. I did however have a good ghost for this door (all the doors in the house are antique; most of them purchased from one particular resale shop in the Hill Country):

This antique is haunted by The Ghost That Always Hits You In The Ass On The Way Out. You’re welcome.

Not an antique, but it is a cool picture.

I mentioned this in yesterday’s post, but she bought loads of this recycled wooden trim and used it all throughout the house.

I asked her where the wood came from, but I don’t remember what she told me.The bathtub isn’t antique – the Jacuzzi jets kinda give that away – but it is a claw-foot tub.

These lights are over the recycled store counter in the first photo. As a bonus, you can see my car through the window. You’re welcome again. Also, that painting on the left wall was painted by her grandmother. I have a shot of it I’ll process and upload tomorrow.

Light fixture out of jelly jars. I wonder if it gets jammed often. Double-bonus pun!

Apparently this stove doesn’t work properly, but I loved the bright red knobs on it so whatever.

Lots of driving this weekend and I’m tired, so I’ll upload some more from this trip tomorrow.

Old new house

Posted on July 28, 2013 by marey mercy

My sister-in-law recently built a house on her property and this trip was my first time to see it. She is one of those people who puts a great deal of thought into every nook and cranny of a house, and this one is stuffed with unusual details. All the doors were purchased at antique shops, the wood floors are salvaged from old warehouses, the beams in the ceiling were taken from an old tobacco factory, and even the wooden railing around the porch was stripped from an old house and discovered in an antique store somewhere in the hill country. She has a bar area in the kitchen that was salvaged from an old soda fountain shop and an antique claw-foot tub in the master bath. It boggles my mind the amount of effort it must take to construct a home and incorporate so many unique touches, but she has always been one to care deeply about such things and invest loads of time into personalizing her living spaces.

I wandered about our first day here snapping away with my iPhone, but I don’t know if I took the sort of photos that unify the house as a whole. I was really distracted by the little details, so what I ended up with are bits and pieces of the house that I found photogenic and/or cool. Unfortunately, the wifi out here is horribly slow, and I don’t have the patience it would take to sit through uploading the photos. I’ll upload them in tomorrow’s post after I get back home, but here’s one pic of the lovely screened-in porch that I managed to get uploaded. The railing is the salvaged wood from an old house I mentioned earlier.

Traveling

Posted on July 27, 2013 by marey mercy

I woke up Friday morning feeling much better, so I loaded up the car and headed out of town to the in-laws. Because I’ve never made this drive on my own, I wasn’t sure of exactly where I was headed, and therefore my desire to meander and snap pics was seriously subdued. I was spending most of the drive wondering if I was even headed in the right direction. My goal was to make the 4-hour drive without stopping, but of course this did not happen. And when I pulled off at a roadside rest stop and saw how spiffy it was, I decided I had to take a few quick shots.

My memories of rest stops are fuzzy as I am not a big road-tripper, but in my mind the ones I visited in the past were nothing more than glorified Porta Potties. No air conditioning, definitely no one keeping the place clean, and definitely no toilet paper. This thing was swanky. It had a little community center inside and huge, air-conditioned bathrooms that were well-lit, well-ventilated, and seriously tidy. I didn’t even do that thing I normally do in pit stop bathrooms where I struggle to disallow any part of my skin touching any surface whatsoever while I’m in there.

Welcome Wagon

Also educational

As I pulled off the main highway and onto one of the many country roads that would take me to my sister-in-law’s house, I discovered that Texas is close-minded and judgmental towards not just women, but cattle as well. Then again, maybe this goes without saying.

Slut-cow shaming

7/21/2013: Photo Day

Posted on July 21, 2013 by marey mercy

I literally spent all Saturday taking photos; I set up the studio early and then worked in a few hours of shooting intermittently throughout the day, alternating it with doing laundry and other domestic duties. Sounds thrilling I know.

I took about 400 photos and there were several costume changes. I’m still obsessively working through the results, so I don’t have much to say right now. But I did want to pop by the blog and share a few I’ve processed so far:

I realize the ground is slightly tilted in this photo, but I promise it is perfectly level in real life.

Love the lighting here.

I always have to make myself look stupid at least once.

Errands!

Posted on July 20, 2013 by marey mercy

I made a trip to Party City Friday to pick up a mask and a fake mustache or two for photoshoots (don’t ask), but I was also thinking it would be a great place to snap iPhone photos. I could not have been more wrong. It was way too practical and organized to generate any sort of interesting photo opportunities, which I should have expected of a place frequented by harried parents trying to plan last-minute festivities for huge groups of exuberant children on the cheap and in a big damn hurry. Except this one, which came out kinda cool:

This being a typical strip center for my area, it had the usual stores – PetSmart, WalMart, Party City, Marshalls, Best Buy, Famous Footwear…you get the idea. So of course, they also had an Ulta, which turned out to be no more photogenic than the PC. They always have way too many salespeople in that store lurking about, forcefully offering assistance and preventing any real picture-taking time. Or maybe they just do that to me. Come to think of it, most of the pics I shot today are quite blurry because I felt I was being watched everywhere I went. It must have been obvious to everyone that I wasn’t hanging around to spend money. Gotta brush up on my stealthy pic-snapping skills. Or maybe just bathe.

Lips on sticks. Someone’s getting way too literal.

I sauntered into the store next door without really looking up at the sign to see what it was – turns out it was a Pier 1, which I admit I thought had gone out of business (I avoid strip centers like this to the utmost of my ability). I knew what it was, however, as soon as I opened the door because of the overpowering Yankee Candle smell and the abundance of throw pillows scattered onto every available surface.

This reminded me of a joke: Why are fish so smart? Because they don’t buy shit like this.

Honestly, I would rather gouge out my eyes with over-priced black lacquer Pier 1 chopsticks than spend time in a shop like this. My interest in decorating anything is so far below zero it’s almost antagonistic. I just don’t understand why most of the items in these places exist, or how and when people decide they need these things. For example, I encountered these party dishes that had every dish’s purpose labeled in chalky cursive script right on the plate. I don’t get who sees this and thinks oh, I just have to have that. It’s kind of insulting, when you think about it, plus you’re buying plates that are going to order you around when really it should work the other way. I’d end up rebelling against those party dishes. I’d use them in all sorts of degrading ways for which they were not intended, just to show them who’s boss. The tray that says “a smattering of olives,” (yes one of them said smattering) would end up being a dustpan, and it would damn well like it, too, or else I’d put it in the dishwasher which I assume is exactly where one is NOT allowed to put such a fussy item, in spite of it’s being a dish and all. And I’d correct the lack of capitalization too.

See what I mean? Antagonistic.

I’d hang this one on my front door, just because

Sorry I don’t have more to say, or if what I said here sounds lame. My carpal tunnel (or whatever it is I have) is killing me tonight – too much time clicking my mouse editing pics – and I can barely type at this point. Did I mention I am turning 44 this month?

Signing off for now, yours always & etc.,

A Chunk of Cheese

Outtake Awkwardness

Posted on July 19, 2013 by marey mercy

I set up for a weekend shoot Thursday afternoon, and while I was at it I threw on a crinoline and attempted some sofa-jumping pics (I worked in the interior design industry in the 90’s, and to this day I cannot use the word couch when referring to that particular piece of furniture; it was considered in poor taste to do so, which is one of those completely random, useless factoids from a past career that has never vacated my brain). Anyway, most of the shots were crap, but I did snag this one, which I enjoy:

I have very veiny feet, and until my mid-20’s I had hair on my toes. My nickname in high school was “hobbit feet” because of this. True story.

I took this one shot where I hit the sofa hard and the face I made was so awful, I deleted it directly from the camera. The second I hit the delete button I realized it would have been perfect to upload in an outtakes post on my blog, and actually shouted “Nooooo!” but it was too late. So, the best outtake I cannot upload. But I did find a few lovelies to share.

This one illustrates the importance of being sure one’s Hobbit Feet are pointed

Nice framing

Believe it or not, I’m making an even worse face in the shot I deleted. But at least my Hobbit Feet are pointed.

I always watch a Rifftrax or old Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode while shooting. Weird, I know; but I can’t sit still to watch anything, so I use my shooting time as movie time. Sometimes between that and the industrial-strength fan I have blowing, I have a hard time hearing the timer count down This was one of those times I couldn’t hear it, and realized it was about to go off too late. I tried to scramble into some sort of pose, but I didn’t have time to come up with anything, so I punted:

When in doubt, make this face

I’m going to try out some new costume stuff this weekend, which will require a trip to Party City tomorrow. Time to buy more cheap crap! Maybe I can get my hands on some Hobbit Feet slippers or something. But it would probably be better to get my feet on them (or in them).

Poetry Break

Posted on July 18, 2013 by marey mercy

I am tired tonight for no particular reason. Got up early to go in and do some work, so maybe that’s why I’m dragging (and by early I mean 7:30. It is summer after all). So allow me to post a poem and shuffle off to bed, if you will.

This poem was inspired by the title phrase, which I overheard someone saying on her cell phone in a Nordstrom’s restroom. I love it when people talk on their cell phones while they are in the stall (Oooh that reminds me of this awesomely disgusting behavior my friend and I witnessed in a movie theater restroom one time…I’ll wait to share that story though).

At Least She Got the House

She cleans the backyard pond,
scummed over
from the broken pump
he didn’t notice,

the umbrella palm
he planted grown so high
the tips
of each stalk dip

down into the sticky water.
Every broken doorknob,
rot of wood, defective fixture

bore his name, and she blamed
him each spring
while hacking
the ginger plants
running wild

against the crumbling slats
of their fence. He had loved
to build but not care for things,

and she still thinks of him
each time
she hears the steady
drum-drop
of a bathroom faucet,

or a fence slat
loosens, tipping
over in the yard,
like another little death.

Cape Collage

Posted on July 17, 2013 by marey mercy

What is honestly on my mind tonight is that I’m thinking about getting a perm. So I’m posting a set collage because I really don’t want to be that person who writes an entire post about getting a perm. I’ll save that post for after I do it and need to unburden myself of the regret and anguish I will most certainly feel when the damage is done (but seriously, I am reading that “the perm is back” and of course it’s “not your grandmother’s/mother’s/other-women-my-age perm”). Secretly I have always wanted to look like Elaine Benes from Seinfeld, and really, who doesn’t?

In other news, OMG I just found my Halloween costume for this year

Anyway, since I’ve got nothing else rattling around inside my head tonight, I thought I’d access the pixlr collage app again and share one of my favorite sets. But after making that collage, I remembered that I did a previous set using this same Red Riding Hood cape I got from the grocery store’s Halloween section for $10. I’d totally forgotten about that first shoot until writing this post tonight, so I dug out my external drive and MAN do I have a shit-ton of photos. Sadly, all the older ones are poor quality because when I first started editing I didn’t understand about shooting in RAW and not saving a file to a .jpeg until absolutely finished with it; I would literally open and save and close and open a file as many as 15 times, reducing quality every time. Still the creativity was there, and I’m struck by how much cool stuff I’ve been able to do with such a cheap, simple prop:

Original red cape shoot, taken sometime during the summer of 2011

Notice that all these are portraits and no wide shots? That’s because with my old camera and its kit lens I couldn’t get decent photos of my entire body that had any sort of clarity. All I did for the first year of shooting was portraits because of that. As a result I was often only in costume from the waist up, and below that I had on my sweatpants and houseshoes.

Here’s the set I was originally thinking of posting; it’s from October of 2012:

I’ve learned a few things since that first set. And yeah, one of those shots isn’t red. Screwed up the collage but looks better that way as a standalone photo.

In looking over my sets from this past October, I see at least three that stand out as favorites. Since that time, my costumes have gotten more elaborate, and I’ve come to spend more time on my makeup as well; I’m wondering if my creativity has been stifled by some of that rather superficial focus. Perhaps I’ve come to think too much of the costumery and not enough of the photography? Not sure. I did notice in my last shoot, with a costume on that was easier to move around in than my usual, I had a lot more interesting movement and jump shots than I’ve been getting lately. So maybe there’s something to that. Not that my later stuff isn’t worthwhile, or that there isn’t room to focus on the fashion or costume aspect of what I like to do. But I’ve come to believe I have to always have on an elaborate costume and drag makeup, and that’s really not the case. It certainly takes loads more time to prepare for a shoot with all of that (the makeup takes me at least an hour since I’m not very skilled) and often by the time I’m ready to actually take the photos some of enthusiasm and energy has waned. So maybe some less elaborate costumes are in my future. It’s hot outside right now, which makes my studio hot also, so too much makeup or fabric is hard to tolerate anyway.

Now, off to look at Google images of perms. I’m sure mine will make for fascinating photos.

Driving Home

Posted on July 16, 2013 by marey mercy

This is the back entrance to my neighborhood. I’ve always loved this old twisty road. Years ago some local politician ran on a platform that involved re-constructing all these old roads with their hairpin curves to make them straighter and therefore safer for school buses and people on bikes. It was an utter failure. Hell, I think even school bus drivers and bicyclers were against it. To this day, when the weekend weather is nice, this road is swarming with bikers from all the neighborhoods nearby.

Two summers ago, when the drought here was at its worst, a woman’s head and one leg were found in the creek that runs through this area. A couple had killed the woman in North Carolina and driven to this neighborhood with her body in a cooler. They stayed with some relatives along this road, and during that time they cut her body up and dumped it in the creek. For about a year after that, anytime you drove by the area that she was found it would be covered in flowers, signs, and other memorials for the dead woman.

If this little video doesn’t make you motion sick, then nothing will. I am not good at filming with my iPhone while driving, but I did my best. And the fabulous song is from a children’s album recorded in the late 1950’s called “Space Songs” by Tom Glazer and Dottie Evans, and it is awesome. They Might Be Giants recorded one of the songs, “Why Does the Sun Shine?” in the 90’s. I am fairly certain, however, that conservative Republicans banned this album at some point in the past 20 years due to its pro-science, anti-Jesus bias (and yes, the song skips).

7/13/2013: Errands!

Posted on July 13, 2013 by marey mercy

If that title doesn’t draw you in I don’t know what will.

After yesterday’s post about balance, Friday I decided to take care of some items on that lengthy to-do list I’ve got going. I went to get my car inspected since it was due last month, but there wasn’t one photo opportunity in that auto shop that I could find. However, I got more photo opportunities at the Firestone dealer I had to visit when my car failed inspection due to four worn-out tires (I knew they were bad, but I didn’t think they were fail-car-inspection bad). This place provided a few interesting shots (very few), so I thought I’d share them.

They said I needed four, but I’m a rebel so I only got three

This Firestone dealer is in a little old building off of what at one time was a small-town main drag, so it’s all homey and nice, with French doors everywhere, and a wraparound porch with rocking chairs. Of course I didn’t take any photos of that stuff, because I was too busy being fascinated by the bathroom, which was the HUGEST auto shop waiting room bathroom I have ever seen. I tried to get some pics that would accurately represent its scale, but they kinda don’t and they’re boring so I’m not going to post those. But I did get this cool pic of its glass brick window; I love how the light shone through just enough to create that contrast with the wall.:

Those fragrance sticks had no scent left whatsoever. Still, pretty window.

And I liked the pics I took of the overhead fixture in there too – the tungsten light gave the shot a nice warm glow, and I didn’t have to edit it to get this tone (although I did edit a bit, I didn’t change the tone of original):

I know it’s just a light fixture, but in my defense, tires are expensive so my mind was elsewhere

That’s all I got really. Except that I did also listen to a few sessions of a lecture series on treating anxiety that I signed up for back in June and never accessed. Hopefully I learned something I can use tomorrow when I pick up my car and get the bill.

mareymercy.

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Monthly Archives: July 2013