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My Kindergartner's have graduated and that means they will be shoved into the nasty, cut-throat world of first grade. A once simple life is now twisted into a complex life full pull-up pants, first loves, nap-less days, life without your sippy cup........... And meeting the lunch ladies! ::shudder:: Oh how I hope they're ready!
Korea welcomed spring with a four letter word..Snow.. Oh Wow, joy! Yippie Aye Yay! Here in Korea, I'm tingling with excitement. Why I'm just as excited as a kid taking a pop quiz while eating brussels sprouts and doing the dishes.. Snow! On March 22, 2010, The day after the first day of S-P-R-I-N-G?? Spring! Do you hear me, Mr. Korean Weather?!?! Spring! That word is supposed to invoke you to grow flowers, to produce too many rabbits, to soak poor children with rain, and welcome back stinging bees to the earth, but SNOW?? Really? Are we serious?Are you amnesic and have you forgot the definition of spring?... Well let me help you. According to Mr. Webster, Spring is "a time or season of growth or development in which one first builds a bonfire, burn all of their socks, boots and turtleneck sweaters; trades them in for flip-flops and pretty dresses and then eats 2 pounds of strawberries a day while jumping in rain puddles." This is Spring. Mr. Webster said so and he is always right, and he said no such thing about snow in spring.So get with the program!! but until you do shape up, I guess I'll just keep taking pictures of your favorite four letter word. sigh... ::Inge crawls into her snuggie and turns off the light:: zzzzzzzzzzzzz........
Today I heard something that I thought I would never hear again.. Birds! Oh the beautiful birds.. The ones that poop on your windshield and your head! The sweet birds, They are alive! They were not killed by the treacheries and debaucheries of winter! Can you believe it? They are alive! I've heard the birds! It's true I tell you.... I don't lie, I am honest. So honest, Like Abe Lincoln Honest... look at my face. I have an honest face. Just look, See!?! ::inge sucks in her cheeks to thin out her face, grabs a black top hat , and gives her best Abe eyes:: Don't you see? I'm practically Honest Abe himself... ok, ok, Honest Abe herself.. but gender is just a piddly detail....:)The Birds, they have told me Spring is here and Winter will be no more... Why today the temperature was a blazing 40 degrees (that's 4.444444444444445 C for all my Fahrenheit challenged friends [tsk..tsk. those poor dears]) and tomorrow my Asian weather man promises 42 and sun! Do you know what that means? Well..... It means I am breaking out lawn chair, my blow-up kiddie pool, and dragging them up to my 20-story apartment rooftop for a little R&R in the blazing sun. But I thought since my dear nemesis winter was with me for ever so long, I would give him at least one last tribute before I shed myself of him completely. I'm done with him, and I mean done. Party Notice: There will be a "Death to Winter" bonfire at my house tonight: please bring any or all of the following for the blaze: turtlenecks, scarves, gloves, long johns, sappy winter novels, bad movies and the Snuggie blanket you are hiding in your closet (you know who you are!).. p.s. you will be denied entrance without these items. But until tonight, here are some photographs taken a few weeks ago when Winter was still tormenting Korea.. For all those still being heckled by Mr. Frosty remember to drink loads of tea and make use of your backwards house robe know as a Snuggie.
Well you see.. I am one of those horrible teachers. The ones who, gulp... has favorites....favorite students. Yes, yes, It's true.. I know, I'm ashamed. I have sinned.. forgive me please. Really, I can barely look at myself in the mirror.. but I tried oh so hard to be like a journalist or judge or something and be unbiased..but I can't help myself, some kids are just so impossibly cool... like the Korean versions of Paul Newman or Hepburn. They're just oh, so cool.So please raise your glasses of hot chocolate and eggnog (or prune juice, for the Mr. Byes of the world) to some of the coolest kids in Asia... more tributes to come when I come back in 3 weeks with an Indonesian tan and Chinese frostbite =) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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So why, you ask, would you ever think about being jealous, of me? Yes, I know what you are thinking. Jealous of her, ha! True there has rarely ever been an occasion for this jealously of Inge, well actually there have probably never been an occasion at all... BUT today is the day to be jealous..Finally it has come! for once in my long, back-breaking 12 and 1/2 years of life as a child laborer in the bitter cold of Southern Africa, this reason to be jealous of me has finally come!Why you ask, are you jealous of me? Well :::cough, cough::: I, Inge Kathleen ::cough, cough:: of the US of A, a lover of sleep and all food, and snob of cheese and Mexican food is ::drum roll please...Inge proceeds thump her sushi-stuffed belly:: I am.....uh...um..well.......Ha! got you! There is actually nothing to be jealous of. That was an empty build-up! I just wanted to see if I could string you along for two paragraphs. And it worked :DYes, I'm a jerk, what's new?But It's almost Christmas so don't hate me too much because poor me can't make it back to the States to stuff my belly with all the beautiful cookies, cakes, and pies of home... Yet, as the overachiever that I am, even though I am not in the USA for Christmas, I am still determined to achieve a food coma and have a food baby for Christmas. A extremely difficult task when there are almost no ovens to be found in all of Korea.How will I manage this food baby, you ask? Mandy and I have schemed, and I think that we have come up with a perfect idea. We will spend Christmas day in the Philippines, our plans? eating our way through Manila.
Then late on Dec 25 we will hop on a plane to the ever tropical Indonesia to start 2 weeks of hiking, beach bumming, hot springs finding, Sumatra-coffee drinking and, of course, EATING! eating mangos, pineapple, bananas and avocados, etc...... yum, yum.. but until then it's 10 degrees outside, and I'm of to put on my fancy Korean long-johns and waiting the weather out with a big ole cup of peppermint tea.. Oh and Mandy says Merry Christmas!... Yes..Yes..She's my roommate. A bit scary, no? :) She will protect me in Manila. She just has to give the creepers the her "look" and no one dares to touch us.
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So I'm officially taken. We met last Wednesday for 3 hours --- blue eyes, blond hair, he's funny, smart, athletic!!! just perfect and we're officially goin' together - unfortunately there's one detail. He currently has 50 other girlfriends.. And I'm number 51.sigh..... Also after 3 hours together, he couldn't remember my name. BUT alas those are such piddly details. I know I'm his favorite... we sat beside each other at the dinner table :)Introducing Reed :)
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Ohhhhh Man this was fun.. Who doesn't love a day full of dog slobber, stale bread, long itchy grass, grungy buildings, trespassing on a warm day, Jesus light, and a very fun couple and their baby Poooooper,..I mean uh... Coooooper... or on his bad days "COOOOOPER!" (either way he's cute) Meet Ashley & Jeff. To quote my friend Elizabeth, "They're the Cutest." And I cannot wait to go to Florida to photograph their ocean side wedding in just a few weeks! Are you jealous? Because you should be.
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Just a few days ago I photographed Katie and Joey's engagement session. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. I think it was the warmest day of the year so far, and everyone knows that if it's warm I am happy. The sky could be falling, but if it's 75 degrees outside, I am going outside to watch that sky fall with a half of a watermelon and a spoon in hand ready to eat my weight in watermelon. (oh and I would definitely bring a bit of Mexican lime chile powder to sprinkle on top of my watermelon because that would make the sky falling experience just perfect. Don't judge. I'm weird.blame Mexico) Anyway the weather was amazing and of course they are so very adorable..And ready to explore where ever I took them..... Here's a few of my favorites :)
Hey ya'll. My sister's engaged! Which one? you may ask. because aren't there about 50 girls in my family?There are actually 51.5 girls in my family get it right. thank-you very much! The one who is engaged??? (drum roll please!) It's Mary Elizabeth. Lydia and I both knew she would be the first to go. How did we know? Well we're just super intelligent much like Albert Einstein, but we have good hair. For our smart prediction, we won some serious, life altering cash. So much money that I'm going out for dinner to blow it all. You guys should come because I'm buying a round of waters for everyone!! Whoot! Whoot!So as the photographer in the family, Josh (the future husband and John Mayer look-a-like) asked me if I would make the treacherous journey from the hills of Bowling Green, Ky to Nashville to take engagement pictures. (the same day as their engagement) Of course, I said "No, no, no, and NO!" because I am way too busy for happy people. I mean seriously, yuck. But then Josh said he would buy me a watermelon and a Mexican hot dog if I came....before he could finish his sentence, I was my little car driving it as fast as its motor could take me (a top notch, 55 mph. don't laugh it's a very "special" car. a little challenged actually). But no matter, the only thoughts in my head were of melted cheese and the red juicy goodness of watermelon. They were disgustingly happy, but the watermelon was oh so sweet! --- Here's the first look at the newly engaged couple: enjoy... and there is more to come. That is as long as I get paid a bonus of a fresh pineapple and ranchero tamales. yum.. Congratulations guys..
Last week when I turned in my plastic camera assignment that I photographed in the graveyard, my teacher was very disturbed by it. :) Finally! it took me almost four years to disturb my teacher. At least I succeeded; some never succeed and some succeed in creeping him out every week. I prefer the shock factor. Much more couth. And we all know classy it exactly what I strive for. Ha!
Besides, I think it's a good way to go out :) But I believe I need to balance out my creepy nature so here's is another plastic camera series that is a little more kosher. (p.s. I was going to insert a smile face here, but I just realized that I have already used two in this short, short post. NO wait, I've used one 3 Times. There is one in the Title too! NO More!!! I have standards even if they are disturbingly low. I MUST control myself!). Never mind I can't, the devil on the left shoulder wins. enjoy :)
Soooo... I'm back to school and according to a doctor my good grades are leading me to stress out which equals a too low body temperature leading to health issues(don't worry nothing major). But my brother's advice to me? just get bad grades. It will solve everything. Yes! perfect. I love you, Micheal. you're so intelligent. Such a sage(and I'm not talking about that little green thing you stuff inside a Turkey on Thanksgiving). So today I am sending a mass email to my teachers explaining why it is necessary for my health performance to do poorly in their class. I'm pumped! This is the Best Day of My life. It is up there with the day that I discovered that if you squeeze a little lime and chile on your Mango your mouth will start to parTY! yum!
Why is the title of this post my environment? Because I got an assignment from my photo professor where our class had to ditch our fancy-smancy cameras and use only plastic cameras instead. I decided to use a pretty blue Diana+ camera, Thanks to my amazing sisters Candace and Anna for that and my equally amazing model Emmy. The assignment theme? Your environment. So apparently this is my environment? Mom, are you worried? My photo professor is. I think the doctor was right. Mom, you should make an executive order and pull me out of school. Enjoy my environment. or be worried about it. it's a free country. Oh and more Plastic Camera fun to come soon as long as my body temperature doesn't lead to hypothermia.
My sister's best friend came to Nashville a few days to take a break from school, and we decided to do a impromptu photo session. She is beautiful, and we just had a blast. :)
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So I sit in bed writing on a Sunday morning way too early I don't think the birds are even up. ::Inge just realizes the birds are in the south because it's so flippin' cold outside. lucky them. i'm packing. Mexico anyone?:: So back to sleep. I would go back to sleep like a normal person but I am pretty sure it is apparent that I am not normal, slightly deformed actually. Mom says I wasn't dropped, but I don't believe it. My body thinks that it is normal to wake up at 5:10 on a Sunday morning when the night before it went to sleep at 1:30. this is definitely a sign of a dropped baby or maybe i was one of those babies that bounced, you know like a ball or, or a pogo stick. They say I was rather fat. Did you know I was born a 11 pd baby? I know. what happened to me? I let myself go. too much bouncing I guess.
So the new year is definitely in full swing, and I hope you know this is post 2 of January. Booyah! 11 months of new years resolutioning to go.. I've started school and also portrait sessions! Yesterday I had a lovely session with some of the greatest girls ever. They were up for anything no matter how cold the day was and they did it so very stylishly. :) Here are some of my favorites from Sarah, Diana, and Kathryn's session!
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