Tag: photography

make me proud

Awhile ago, (a long while now), Tillie had the presence of mind to drop off a porn chessboard at my home, because she didn’t want it anymore, and if anyone was going to know someone who would, it would be me. Since then it’s been taking up space behind my bedroom door, neglected, ignored, and never once used. This is a shame, as she put a lot of work into making it, so to make myself feel better about my recent awful discovery, and because I do not want a lesbian porn chessboard in my house anymore, groovy as it might be, it’s time to prove her right.

Therefore, in the spirit of V-Day and the Internet Being For Porn, I henceforth declare a hilarious and comical contest, as suggested by Lung Liu:

Show Me Your Best “O” Face.

Post your best O-Face in the comments, win a lesbian porn chessboard.

This unique wooden chess board, made of decoupaged lesbian pornography on unfinished plywood with distressed black edges, is approximately a foot and a half by a foot and a half and signed on the back by the artist.

A winner will be chosen next week once I get back from Portland.

from ignorance to a legitimate flare of anger

365: 08.02.09
365: 08.02.09

I’ve just discovered that a photo of twelve year old me walking through the Endowment Lands with my little brother Mark has been used as a life sized cross Canada promotional poster for a pro-logging coalition to promote logging of old-growth forests “by showing that second-growth forests can be enjoyed too”.

I never signed a release and I doubt my mother did either nor did my mother. Does anyone know if there’s anything I can do to fight this?

Leningrad Siege: Now and Then (history like ghosts)

via EnglishRussia:

“The Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade was an unsuccessful military operation by the Axis (Nazi) powers to capture Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) during World War II. The siege lasted from September 9, 1941, to January 27, 1944, when a narrow land corridor to the city was established by the Soviets. The total lifting of the siege occurred on January 27, 1944. The Siege of Leningrad was one of the longest and most destructive sieges of major cities in modern history and it was the second most costly.” – from Wikipedia.

Photos by Sergei Larenkov. More here.

for his sake I hope he was kidnapped by aliens

365 2009: 28.01.09
365 2009: 28.01.09

My lovely friend Mark, who I hold dear like hardly anyone else, has been standing me up this month. Yes. Month. First we ran into each other on the street and decided that Sunday! We will get together Sunday. He will make me dinner and play me music he wrote and it will be a lovely time. Then Sunday came and when I called, he had to cancel. Cousins unexpectedly in from out of town, he said. Ah! I said, that is unfortunate and completely understandable. Wednesday, he said? And I said yes. Then on Wednesday, I did not hear from him and when I called, it went directly to voice mail. Wednesday passed without him. Thursday night I got a call, "Migraine," he said. Ah! I said, again, that is unfortunate and completely understandable. I hope you are doing better. I am, he said, let me make it up to you on Sunday. Alright, I said. Sunday then. When Sunday rolled around, he called again. Jhayne, he said, you are going to hate me. What has happened now? I asked. Band practice. An accidental double-booking. Ah! I said, again, that is unfortunate and completely understandable. Wednesday? Wednesday. Now it is Wednesday and I still have not heard from him, though I have left two messages on his phone. The latest one was very amused, "Now you owe me dinner without question. I am going to put this on my calendar, The Month I Did Not See Mark. Then I will write a short story called The Month I Did Not See Mark and publish it. I think it will sell. It’s a good title."

click the link to look and see how much of the world was watching

“As always, there is an excellent selection of images from the Inauguration over at The Big Picture.” link via mshades


Spectators in Times Square watch President Barack Obama take the oath of office during his inauguration


Residents of Kibera, one of the poorest quarters in Nairobi gather to watch the inauguration ceremony


President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama attend the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center


Guests at the “Biden Home States Ball” record the moment as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama dance

my menorah is broken, so I’m using tea lights. they lack a certain something


More goofy Salton Sea goodness via Lung

From the perpetually delightful brain of Mike Levens:

1. Get born in Mecca.
2. Move to Medina.
3. ???
4. Prophet!

Happy first day of Chanukah, everyone!

Apparently it’s Christmas this week too. Generally I notice a little earlier, reminded by parties with good cheer, but this year, not so much. Parties have been thin on the ground and I’ve barely seen more than ten people in the last week. I’ve been too distracted by my computer slowly imploding at home, the failing bus system, my thinning relationship, maybe not having enough money to successfully cover both rent and utilities, and feeling more trapped as every day New Year’s approaches a little more while I still have no plans to celebrate.

I’ve been trying to get my mind off it by jumping through the snow every chance I get, letting the pure child-like glee of all the cold white shoot in through my eyes and into every cell of my body. It really helps – I only wish I had a sled or a toboggan or even a crazy carpet.

Tonight I’m going to be filming the lighting of the hockey-stick shaped ice menorah downtown at the Denman St. ice-rink. (It’s by donation, you should come! There’s going to be latkes!) Tomorrow, though, I don’t have any plans after work. Would anyone like to come play in the snow with me?

pictures from the south, surfacing

Liontamer at the abandoned bathhouse…

This is the very first photo Lung and I worked together in creating. We’ve never done anything like it before, but I’m pleased to say, looking at the finished product, that our first shot seems to be a winner.

Before, he would always tell me to go over there, stand here, tilt your head that way. Almost invariably we would end up with a result I didn’t like. My accusation, founded very fairly though a bit tongue in cheek, is that he can’t take an attractive portrait of someone he didn’t want to sleep with. He agrees, and so when we found ourselves at the abandoned ruins of the Salton Sea bath-houses, we finally took the next step, and collaborated.

It was a strange experience, as he chose the spot, and I chose the position, peering through his camera and deciding where I should be based on the light, then assembling myself while unidentified animals made chewing noises in the ceiling, trusting as Lung had me look over my shoulder just that little bit more.

I’m glad it worked. More than glad, I’m delighted, as I really wanted it to come out well. Our recent trip South brought us closer together than we’d ever been before, and to have tangible evidence of how our friendship is evolving is comforting. It’s nice that I can look at this photo and point to one of the exact moments we shifted, no matter that it was only one tiny step among many over a process of several months. It’s still a singular moment captured splendidly, and one with enough meaning for me.

An added bonus, too, is feeling completely justified that I dragged my Hallowe’en costume all the way down and back just to cheerfully wear it once or twice in highly inappropriate circumstances. Next had better come the boot pictures, where I dangerously tottered in stiletto heels along a shoreline beach made entirely of bone.