Awesome with a side of great
Apr. 6th, 2010 02:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
batskeetsI just fell upon yet another awesome costume idea that I want to do. This is becoming a problem, because Halloween is still a good 6 months away, and I already have no idea how I'll be able to choose my eventual getup! And I'm sure that, given that much time, I'll think of even more ideas in the months to come. Halloween needs to happen at least 5 times a year. :p
Anyhoo, yes, things are awesome. And I'll tell you why!
First off: STUDIO. It already sounded like a great space just from hearing Ben's verbal description. And he also sketched a diagram of the floor plan, which was good because I basically can't grok spatial relations without a visual. But, I got to actually see the place on Saturday morning, and just, WOW. The space was used by a now-retiring commercial photographer for ~20 years, so it's *really* well-outfitted. The shooting space is probably double the size of our old studio, there's already a cyclorama built in, not one but TWO gigantic softboxes to make use of, and a garage entry. Yes, so you can bring car-sized things in to shoot. :O And, outside of the shooting space, there's be a reception area, offices, a kitchen, stylists' room, waiting area... blagh, I can't even remember all of it, but it was great.
Anyhoo, we would be sharing with one other photographer, maybe two, but with a space this extensive, it's *really* not going to be a problem. The idea is to update some of the non-studio areas to look more modern--there's some *very* 1970s-ish linoleum and color in the place--and the other details of the agreement are still being worked out, and starting things off at the outset will certainly be tough. But, we already have some good ideas on the table, and sweet hairy jesus, it would be amazing if this space worked out.
After the studio meeting was a breakfast sandwich at Meat Cheese Bread, which I'd heard good things about, and which happened to be close by the studio. Sausage, shaved fennel, and some spicy variety of cheddar, all between two slices of bread pudding. That place definitely passes inspection, because that was one hell of a sandwich.
Then, it was my first Saturday wushu practice in a while, and it went shockingly well. The combined powers of the week off due to Spring Break, and my continuing efforts to beat the hell out of myself in the gym made it pretty painful, but my tornado kicks are starting to feel more floaty again. I've also figured out how to stop hitting myself in the face with my chain whip, which should at least last until Master Chen shows us more new moves. And I appear to be slowly winning the battle against my post-holiday gut! And I've also signed up for nanquan and nandao at Berkeley, so there's no bitching out on it now.
I really look forward to May 2, because then the constant soreness can end. Until I do it again next year. Because I secretly enjoy pain. :p
Friday karaoke was fun. We got to sing quite a few times, and through the powers of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
marykae and myself combined, I finally did a RENT song. It's rather silly that it took me this long to work that in, considering how completely obsessed with the soundtrack I was years ago. The karaoke track they had us use was kind of ghetto--a duet with no color-coded lyrics? Seriously?--but it was still fun and I want to do it again. I apparently make a pretty kick-ass Joanne.
I also enjoyed some good tea and quality one-on-one friend time on Sunday afternoon, and I don't think I will ever get tired of that. Hyper-socialness has been happening for me quite a bit, as I challenge a lot of preconceived notions and old patterns, and you know? It's good to have people I can actually, you know, TALK to about my problems. Most people don't frequently fall under my Trust umbrella, so to have even a couple of Actually-Good People around me who do? Just, wow. I've been pretty exhausted these past couple of days, so I might need to think about slowing down a bit on the social things, if that continues. But for now, it's really, really good.
Okay, um, back to Saturday. It's vitally important that I tell you to go listen to Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, because they're (wait for it) AWESOME. I think I love their album a little bit more each time I listen to it. They played at Berbati's Pan this past Saturday night, and the crowd was on the small side, but it was SUCH a treat to be there. I enjoyed their set A LOT and I wanted to give them more of my money. I was hoping they'd have albums for sale, but I had to settle for giving them five of my dollars for a t-shirt.
AND I got to enjoy the show with Really Good Company, before, during, and after. Going into it, I expected the evening to be equal parts Exciting and Terrifying, but Terrifying surprised me by not even making an appearance. Looking back on the evening, or hell, the entire day, I can't think of a single bad thing. Even under the best of circumstances, you never expect it to be that easy, but sometimes it just... happens.
I let up on my beer embargo a little bit that evening, but I kind of don't care. It was completely worth it. If you spend 6+ hours with the same person, and find yourself smiling on the ride home, you must be doing *something* right.
I don't know what I did to deserve all the good things that have transpired over the past month or so, but if there's more ahead, I'm so, so ready for it.
Anyhoo, yes, things are awesome. And I'll tell you why!
First off: STUDIO. It already sounded like a great space just from hearing Ben's verbal description. And he also sketched a diagram of the floor plan, which was good because I basically can't grok spatial relations without a visual. But, I got to actually see the place on Saturday morning, and just, WOW. The space was used by a now-retiring commercial photographer for ~20 years, so it's *really* well-outfitted. The shooting space is probably double the size of our old studio, there's already a cyclorama built in, not one but TWO gigantic softboxes to make use of, and a garage entry. Yes, so you can bring car-sized things in to shoot. :O And, outside of the shooting space, there's be a reception area, offices, a kitchen, stylists' room, waiting area... blagh, I can't even remember all of it, but it was great.
Anyhoo, we would be sharing with one other photographer, maybe two, but with a space this extensive, it's *really* not going to be a problem. The idea is to update some of the non-studio areas to look more modern--there's some *very* 1970s-ish linoleum and color in the place--and the other details of the agreement are still being worked out, and starting things off at the outset will certainly be tough. But, we already have some good ideas on the table, and sweet hairy jesus, it would be amazing if this space worked out.
After the studio meeting was a breakfast sandwich at Meat Cheese Bread, which I'd heard good things about, and which happened to be close by the studio. Sausage, shaved fennel, and some spicy variety of cheddar, all between two slices of bread pudding. That place definitely passes inspection, because that was one hell of a sandwich.
Then, it was my first Saturday wushu practice in a while, and it went shockingly well. The combined powers of the week off due to Spring Break, and my continuing efforts to beat the hell out of myself in the gym made it pretty painful, but my tornado kicks are starting to feel more floaty again. I've also figured out how to stop hitting myself in the face with my chain whip, which should at least last until Master Chen shows us more new moves. And I appear to be slowly winning the battle against my post-holiday gut! And I've also signed up for nanquan and nandao at Berkeley, so there's no bitching out on it now.
I really look forward to May 2, because then the constant soreness can end. Until I do it again next year. Because I secretly enjoy pain. :p
Friday karaoke was fun. We got to sing quite a few times, and through the powers of
marykae and myself combined, I finally did a RENT song. It's rather silly that it took me this long to work that in, considering how completely obsessed with the soundtrack I was years ago. The karaoke track they had us use was kind of ghetto--a duet with no color-coded lyrics? Seriously?--but it was still fun and I want to do it again. I apparently make a pretty kick-ass Joanne.I also enjoyed some good tea and quality one-on-one friend time on Sunday afternoon, and I don't think I will ever get tired of that. Hyper-socialness has been happening for me quite a bit, as I challenge a lot of preconceived notions and old patterns, and you know? It's good to have people I can actually, you know, TALK to about my problems. Most people don't frequently fall under my Trust umbrella, so to have even a couple of Actually-Good People around me who do? Just, wow. I've been pretty exhausted these past couple of days, so I might need to think about slowing down a bit on the social things, if that continues. But for now, it's really, really good.
Okay, um, back to Saturday. It's vitally important that I tell you to go listen to Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, because they're (wait for it) AWESOME. I think I love their album a little bit more each time I listen to it. They played at Berbati's Pan this past Saturday night, and the crowd was on the small side, but it was SUCH a treat to be there. I enjoyed their set A LOT and I wanted to give them more of my money. I was hoping they'd have albums for sale, but I had to settle for giving them five of my dollars for a t-shirt.
AND I got to enjoy the show with Really Good Company, before, during, and after. Going into it, I expected the evening to be equal parts Exciting and Terrifying, but Terrifying surprised me by not even making an appearance. Looking back on the evening, or hell, the entire day, I can't think of a single bad thing. Even under the best of circumstances, you never expect it to be that easy, but sometimes it just... happens.
I let up on my beer embargo a little bit that evening, but I kind of don't care. It was completely worth it. If you spend 6+ hours with the same person, and find yourself smiling on the ride home, you must be doing *something* right.
I don't know what I did to deserve all the good things that have transpired over the past month or so, but if there's more ahead, I'm so, so ready for it.
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Date: 2010-04-07 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-07 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 02:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-08 05:46 pm (UTC)Although, I guess there also aren't any ideas on my costume spool that are Robots or Sea Monsters... YET.