More Beachy Goodness. |
I guess I am in work mode. Not a lot of pics.
I should be regaling you with photos and stories of San Diego, but so far it's been about three things: Work, Shopping, and walking the dang dog.
Work is going great. Love it. Worked a couple late nights. Well, one evening was work that turned into dinner, so that hardly counts as work, but still didn't get home till 8 or 9pm.
I have been coming home at lunch to take Kitty! for a walk so that she doesn't have such long periods of being in the apartment. Tedious, but worth it.
Have I mentioned I hate dog walking? I'm not a good daddy. Maybe I need to seek the higher zen relaxing moment that other's must find in the process. Like when I go to Costa Rica and it takes me three days to finally chill and get into the whole “there is a not a thing to do” thang.
Kitty! is kinda funny on the dog walks. Her mission is to find a place to do her business that won't get her feet wet. Secondary to the primary mission is to sniff out other dogs (or see them on the route) and growl and bark furiously at them. The other dogs on leashes also do the same, so I don't feel awkward when the Tasmanian Devil Dog appears. Everyone tells me it's the leash that does it, that she gets protective, but I could do without her frothing snarl.
Everyone keeps telling me I should take her to some of the dog parks here. I hear they have one on the beach too. It might be fun to watch her on the beach, trying to figure out the whole ocean thing. Talk about wet paws! The horror! Hehe…evil streak.
Kitty! sure doesn't like coming back to the apartment. The closer we get to coming back, she begins “herding” me. Plodding along right in front of me, trying to slow me down. Going up the steps to the actual apartment is hysterical. Here is a dog only moments before was gallivanting from bush to bush tugging me along, but now suddenly has no energy and will walk with her butt basically up against my shin.
San Diego is a dog walking culture. No one has lawns here and I see people out walking dogs all the time. Well, at least in the areas that I am in. I do see some occasional largish front yards, but the backyard area seems to be an after thought.
I keep worrying if this thing becomes permanent, how the heck am I gonna find a house that's big enough and has a nice yard for Kitty!, one that is not ONE MILLION DOLLARS! (ur supposed to say that like Dr. Evil!)
Seriously, the houses here are out of control. How can people on everyday salaries afford a home? What kind of payment would I have on a $750,000 loan?!?! Sheesh!
I have been exploring the neighborhoods. So far I like North Park and University Heights. Hillcrest is nice but it's kinda cramped. The area that David lived in is also nice, but I'm not sure what neighborhood that is called.
I'm getting settled into my apartment, which I am now calling my studio. I found three models this week to shoot. I figured I would have most of my models fly in and meet me in Austin to work in the studio there. Made sense since most of the guys were needing to be flown in anyway that I may as well keep flying them into Austin.
I could split the air fare with Robert and 100-150 bucks isn't too much. But air fare is expensive in November and December. All those holidays I guess. I have one model from Connecticut that I want to fly in, but his flight was $380 and mine was about $500. I don't have a lot of flexibility in the times I can fly, so the prices creeped up. How I long for the days when I had 180 hours of vacation to dip into.
The Connecticut model is coming here, and I will put him in a hotel for two nights. That's gotta be cheaper despite the hotel expense.
I guess I am leading to the point that I am turning my apartment into a makeshift cheesy photo studio.
I have my lights with me…well, I had to get another light box. I also got some nice drapes and a smaller but still oversized black cloth for the now standard dramatically lit body shots.
I also re-did my bedroom with all new colors. I figure it will be good for about 5 shoots. Bedding is expensive.
I have scouted some outdoor locations, but a beach is a beach, so will likely keep exploring.
It's Sunday morning, and raining out. Kitty! wouldn't go outside. How aptly I named her. Perhaps I should have called her Seal, and maybe I wouldn't have to deal with the water neurosis.
It's funny cuz she is just a joy most of the time. Calm, quiet, and just wants someone to be around her. The water thing is out of character. Or perhaps not.
I have a shoot at 10am this morning. I guess I will have to cancel the outdoor portion if it keeps raining.
Doesn't the song go, “It never rains in Southern California”? I swear I saw they only get 7-8inches of rain a year. It sure seems wet here to me. A half inch probably fell this morning.
There are quite a few differences between here and Austin. Here is what I've noticed.
- Texas has pawn shops on every corner. Here they seem to be Jamba Juices.
- Postal and do-it-for-you mail shops are not as prevalent. I couldn't find one despite driving up and down three or four main streets. Many of the strip malls in Texas will have a Mail Boxes Etc, Mail Shop, or a Pak Mail. The post office must suck in Texas (and it does) in order for so many postal shops to thrive. Maybe everyone here goes to the post office.
- Motorcycles driving down the center stripe. I have seen this on previous visits and I still find it shocking. I think every time I see some guy on a motorcycle slide between the narrow space of my truck and the car next to me, I will be shocked. Some of those bikes are almost car size, and my truck is big with big mirrors on the side.
It's ironic that they have all these safety signs, including a sign posted under every speed limit that cars towing trailers must not exceed 45 miles per hour. I guess they have a lot of people moving around/in/out of California to warrant the expense of all these extra signs.
Then to allow motorcycles to slide down the center? It's really surprising…and dangerous.
- Gas prices. $2.49 last price I paid. $1.39 when I left Austin. That's killing me. I need to ride my bike to work. Should be an easy ride. Only about 8 miles and not one single hill on the route.
Well, I gotta get ready for my 10am photoshoot with John. I will post a pic or two of him above.
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