This is Halloween, this is Halloween...

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

Sorry. Got caught up singing the Halloween song from A Nightmare Before Christmas--a movie I love to watch both at Halloween and Christmas. I watch it on VHS. Word.

Here is a preview of the awesomeness that is to come tonight:

I coveted this costume. COVETED. This year I relented and bought the darn thing. No sexy bee for me, my friends. I'm gonna be a big 'ol bumble bee! Mike's going to be a wolf. Full recap tomorrow.

Some other news around Lainey Land...

I found a Polariod Camera, y'all. Seriously. I was hanging around Navarro Pharmacy (only people from Miami can get a full grasp of this place), waiting for Abuela to finish her shopping when I decided to scope out the photo center. I don't know why but I got it in my head that they would still be selling Polaroid cameras. Sure enough, they had two. I don't know when was the last time that I saw one of these bad boys for sale. And for only 35 bucks! I ought to buy the other one and then sell it on ebay because you can't find them now for under $50, if that. So if anyone is interested, just let me know in the comments and i'll go get it for you. All you would have to do is pay shipping if I have to ship it to you.

In other news, I have the cutest dog in the world. My office is tiny (it's a closet we converted into an office) and my dog is an Akita, i.e. Big. For some reason she just wanted to be near me so planted herself right at the door. Check her out and my onestars:

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everybody! Don't take candy from strangers!

What are you going to be this Halloween? Seen any good costumes already?

Getting My Write On

My life isn't complicated enough. I'm going to make it a little harder just to see if I can crack. This may seem a little crazy but if I don't try it now, who knows when I'll get the chance? What is she rambling about now, you're wondering. Only the fact that I've signed up for  NaNoWriMo. What, now?

National Writing Month.

I'll let them tell you: "It's a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30."

Yup. Things just got interesting.

Now, I know that I'm in the middle of the school year, applying for my MFA and also in the middle of trying to kick start my photography business, if that's what you call it. These are still huge priorities, but I'd be denying who I've always been if I say that I'm no longer a writer or an aspiring one at that.

You can ask anyone who really knows me, I've always been a writer. It seems like I've been writing the same "novel" for over a decade. Well, different variations of the same story. (BTW, I hate saying that I'm writing a novel. It sounds so pretentious, no?)  I think I've been writing it since I was 14. Yani, when did I start blathering about this thing? Anyway, this summer, thanks to my wonderful Morning Pages, I was able to get up to 19,742 words. That's a whole lotta words. But I'm not nearly done. I think participating in NaNoWriMo is going to be the thing that brings it all home.

I post this, not just because it's my blog and I do what I want, but because I need to be held accountable. As they so aptly put it in my welcome letter:

 "Tell everyone you know that you're writing a novel in November. This will pay big dividends in Week Two, when the only thing keeping you from quitting is the fear of looking pathetic in front of all the people who've had to hear about your novel for the past month. Seriously. Email them now about your awesome new book. The looming specter of personal humiliation is a very reliable muse."

Consider this my email. You all need to be my muse. I won't post about this everyday, or if I do, it'll be little snippets here and there. Maybe some excerpts of what I'm writing. Either way, I just need to put this out there so that I don't cop out mid-month when I'm two steps from swan-diving off my balcony.

Oh, and incase you're wondering about my story and want to read an excerpt, check out my page here or you can keep track of my progress via the Writing Project links on the sidebar.

What do you think? Am I coo coo for cocoa puffs? Do you think I can do it?

What's Awesome? Longfellow Serenade, That's What.

Ever since I wrote my post on my definition of what is awesome, I've encountered wonderful examples of awesome things that defy logic or reason; they just exist to make me air high-five myself. So I'm going to do things up right and post those things that exemplify the word awesome according my dictionary. I'll have a link at the top of the home page. Here is entry number one:

Yani, my brilliant sister who can also be a treasure chest of randomness, added another gem to her resume when she emailed me the following picture with this in the subject line: "It's Neil Diamond!!"

Picture found on the internets via this site

That picture right there is nothing if not awesome. The hair! The chest! The look that says, "Yes, I will love you up and own you!"

And if you are wondering about the title of this post, yeah, totally a Diamond golden classic. I was just going to link to this but I'll embed it just to make this post that much better.

Polaroids

I'm still in the middle of my grades-are-due-this-week panicked haze though it'll be over by this afternoon so help me.

I've got tons of fun coming your way, but for now I'll leave you with a couple of "polaroids" I took this weekend thanks to the Shake It app on my ipopple. Coolest. Thing. Ever. It turns any picture you take into a polaroid, giving it that awesome contrast and coloring. Thanks to Naomi over at Rockstar Diaries for the heads up!

I ache for my Polaroid camera that I got for my birthday as a kid. Anyone want to get me one because you love me? (UPDATE: Totally, found one! Now you can just find me film.)

My awesome yellow shoes

Story of my life.

Yani giving me the side-eye.

The bejeweled vest I should have gotten if only to look awesome on a regular basis. Let's not forget the "myspace" face.

Cool motorcycle dude.

Cool motorcyle gang. There were others not pictured.

What's great is that you can "polorize" older pictures like this one of me and Mike.

What do you think? Cool, No?

Little Divas

About three weeks ago I went to take pictures at Sammie's 5th birthday party. Y'all remember her from my Tutu Couture post, right? Well, I was not prepared for the cuteness of this party. Amazing. It was basically a spa for little girls. They had a manicure and pedicure station, an area for facials and a salon for hair and make up. I also heard the Hannah Montana live CD on loop for about an hour, but that didn't bother me so much. Seeing these Little Divas was enough to keel over and die, they were so cute. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Allow me a moment

Grubby, germy students: 2

Elaine and her immune system: 0

This is the second time this year that I've had to stay home because of some bug or another. Crap. I hate it. I hate feeling like crap. I hate looking like crap. I hate having to run out of my first period so that I can get acquainted with one of the toilets in the girl's bathroom. I'm feeling better and so am making my way to school this wonderful Friday morning. Crap.

Here are a couple of things that I realized during my week with the germs:

1. Apollo 13 is a great movie. I mean, seriously, a great movie. From Ed Harris' beautiful white vest to the part where they make the geeky science guys figure out how to fit the square filter into the round one. I just have to say that I will follow Tom Hanks anywhere, especially in that movie. He was just amazing. I love his voice, too. That's why in The Simpsons Movie, they had him talk about the "new" Grand Canyon that was going to take the place of Springfield. I mean, I'd buy anything he's selling. Any day.

2. Eff, Marley and Me. I hate that movie. There is absolutely no reason for a movie like that to be made. Why did I just fall in love with  that dog only to see him (spoiler alert) die in the end? Here I was, sick on the couch, having just woke up and I see that it's on. Oh, this is good. I never got to see it, I tell myself. Fast foward an hour later when I'm bawling on said couch. Screw. That. It hits a little too close to home when you've got a dog nearing her 12th year, who is having some health issues. I huged Akira for a while. She was confused.

3. When I'm sick and disoriented, I walk into things. Big things. I walked into a door and have a nice bruise to capture the moment. I also walked into the world's biggest desk and almost tumbled over it. That was a nice, embarrassing keepsake.

4. I was a little bummed for no particular reason on Tuesday when I was heading to work. Maybe it's the stress of the 1,000 different things I'm trying to do all at once. All I know is that I was just not having it. That was until Scandal's "The Warrior" came on my ipod. Remember when I was talking about what defines awesome? Well, this video falls under that category and then some:

Forget my bee costume (to be revealed soon), I should have gotten an idea from this video. People are dressed as God-knows-what and it's seven kinds of awesome. I'll tell you, I definately was "shootin' at the walls of heartache," Tuesday. It was a great day and all because I heard that song.

Anyone feeling sick lately? Thoughts. Comments. Now! (or whenever you damn well please)

My Weekend With the Fisheye

I felt like I didn't stop for a second this weekend. I had to chaperone the Homecoming dance Friday night, spent most of Saturday planning my friend Lissette's bridal shower, visited my family, went to a Diwali party, watched the Giants play horribly and went to a book store. Through it all I carried my camera with me. Here is why:

A few weeks ago I purchased two lenses to try and build my repertoire:  a portrait and a fisheye lense. This weekend, in my neverending quest to become a better photographer, I decided give myself a personal project: to take pictures using only the fisheye. Can I just say it's the coolest? It is wierd looking and rather intimidating but it's seven kinds of awesome. Here is my weekend as seen through the fisheye lense I will heretofore call Berny:

What do you think? Pretty cool, eh? What's your favorite picture? Sound off in the comments!

Love Bug

Yesterday I was driving home in the cool, air conditioned (thanks, papi!) confines of my sweet ride, when The Drifters' "Lonliness or Happiness" came on my ipod. I had that bad boy on shuffle and what a glorious thing to have that song come on instead of 5,000+ others. It's such a simple love song. Sweet. Pleading. My favorite line, and the one that goes with a project I've been working on for a ridiculously long time (more on that later), is: "Don't you know my world begins and ends with you." You can't go wrong with a line like that. I've been feeling the love lately. I realized recently that I can make my life taking wedding pictures and die a happy person.

About two weeks ago I had my first engagement shoot ever. My beautiful friend Nuria and her darling fiance Anthony were my guinea pigs and what good sports they were. They are that line from The Drifters; so in love, laid back and plain fun to be around. I could not ask for a better couple to photograph. It also helped that they had a sense of humor and didn't have a problem wading into Biscayne Bay in their jeans.

I'm the lucky person that gets to take pictures of these beautiful people on their wedding day. In Spain. In a castle. Typing it, I still can't believe it.

These are my favorite from their session:

Phase I

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm not a restful person. I exhaust people. In fact, I exhaust myself. I don't know why I always have this constant need to be moving and doing things, but I do. Take this blog, for instance. I love this blog. I started it in the summer because I have a little hamster in my brain working overtime with all of all the thoughts that are spinning around in there. It all has to go someplace. Why not here? Though I love this blog, it's hard work to make something enjoyable to read (I hope). It's also hard work to be a good teacher, wife, photographer, writer, in-shape person (not that I am. I just threw that out there to see if it sticks). The point is that I'm just about to make things a little harder (that's what she said). This afternoon, before sitting down to write this, I submitted my application for my masters in photography. I kissed 100 bucks good bye, said a little prayer and began the process of a new future. Gah.

What school, you ask? Academy of Art University. My wonderful, so-talented-it-makes-my-head-spin sister-in-law Kris is getting her MFA in Illustration there as I write this. She is living the life in San Francisco. I'm totally stealing her thunder by applying there, but she is loving that school and I can take the whole thing online. How great is that?

I can't just be content running around like a lunatic. I need to add school to the mix so that I can really go insane. The thing is that if I want to take this whole photography thing to the next level (how cliche is that phrase? Seriously?), I know that I need to learn a whole lot more than what I know. Will I stress out? Absolutely. Does this have the potential of pushing me over the edge? Without a doubt. Is it something that I want to do? No question 'bout it!

Now commences Phase II: Portfolio and  Letter of intent submisson as well as that little thing called Tuition. How the flip am I going to pay for this? Future Elaine will have to worry about that.

Can I just be an insecure girl for a second?  You guys, what if I don't get accepted? What if I do? What if I completely suck and they hate my pictures? What if people are so much more advanced than me and I feel like I'm back in middle school taking pictures with my neon pink camera like this one?

I'm not saying this for reassurance. These are just things that I'm thinking. Maybe if I get these worries out in this forum, I don't have to carry them around with me and they won't ruin my mojo.

So what do you think? Am I crazy? That's a dumb question. Am I crazier than normal for doing this? Sound off in the comments.

Today's picture of the day is one that will probably earn me a stern lecture but makes me happy to no end. If someone were ever to ask me to define my relationship with Mike, all I would have to do is show them this picture. This is the perfect snapshot of who were are:

Awesome

In the latest installment of Lainey's Terms, we're going to talk about the word Awesome. This might seem obvious but really it's not. Urban Dictionary pretty much sums up this Awesome dilemma when they define the word as "Something Americans use to describe everything." Well, I don't. I only use awesome to describe things that are awe inspiring, mouth-open-where-is-my-camera-spectacular.

Let me explain.

I have created this comparison to give you an example of what I mean. Yeah, the tattoo on the right has a dolphin with its own tattoo sitting on a recliner but the dolphin is smoking a bong, which just doesn't make sense and is also stupid (Say no to drugs, kids). The tattoo on the left, however, is all things awesome. Alone tattoos of My Little Pony and Wolverine can be cheesy but together they make magic happen.

Likewise, this dude is awesome because he's brave enough to walk outside looking like this. And he owns this look!  I mean, he's out and proud. The glasses! The hair!

Then there's this picture. It speaks for itself. Han is playing with so much conviction that you can't call it anything less than AWESOME in all caps.

So now you know. Whenever you see me calling something awesome, you know that I'm not just tossing that word around because I have a limited vocabulary. On the contrary, I've got a great vocabulary--I'm an english teacher for crying out loud! Bottom line, if I say awesome, then it's awesome. No doubt.

Random Thought Friday

* Can I just tell you I cried yesterday watching Jim and Pam get married? (Scott, stop rolling your eyes) The whole episode was hilarious but the last ten minutes or so did me in. Especially the very last part where Jim said:

“I bought those boat tickets the day I saw that YouTube video. I knew we’d need a back up plan. The boat was actually Plan C. The church was Plan B. And Plan A was marrying her a long, long time ago. Pretty much the day I met her.”

Give Me My Remote has a great recap of the whole episode here. Also, because who doesn't love Jim Halpert in his underwear?:

~

* Text conversation I had with Scott today (I do NOT text and drive!):
   
    Elaine: Does it make me fat that I just drove through a KFC for a soda and two biscuits?
    Scott: Ha. No. I ate two breakfasts yesterday.
    Elaine: No AC in my car. Stuck in traffic. Hottest day ever. Awesome.
    Scott: Get out, rip off the lone hupcap and fan yourself with it.
    Elaine: I really drive around with one hubcap. I feel so ghetto.
    Elaine: I got a free extra biscuit!
    Scott: Three?
    Elaine: No, five. I ordered four because it was two for $.99 and I felt bad just charging two bucks. If I eat all five I will jump off my balcony.
   
* Erin Brockavich is stirring up some shiz in West Palm Beach! I hope that I never live near a "cancer cluster." Thanks NPR, for freaking us out while you keep us informed. 

* Thanks to the lack of air conditioning in the hoopty I drive and the atrocious heat, I looked like I was rockin' some dreads this afternoon. Great.

* Just looked up the definition for Hoopty. From Urban Dictionary: Basically, a piece of shit car. Yup, about sums it up.

* Why do people like Two and a Half Men? Is it funny? I just don't get it. It's like the No. 1 sitcom in America. Look at this picture. Is there something I'm just not getting?

* Is it normal to crack yourself up? I mean, I seriously laugh at my own jokes.

* So while I was toasting in my car on my way home stuffing my face with KFC biscuits (I only ate one!), this girl was driving next to me on a yellow Vespa. She looked super cute with her long blond hair, white shorts and nice legs. I gave a little fist pump, though, when I drove past her and noticed she had an ugly nose. Is that mean? I'm a hater, right? Don't you hate finding out that you kind of suck?


*Just got these texts from my bro-in-law AJ:
 

"I just witnessed the most amazing police escape ever. Cops & pedestrians are on road adjacent to the highway. Dude gets away & runs across highway frogger style"

"I realize now that if I left work 14 seconds earlier I probably would have clipped this Houdini during his daring escape going 65 mph."

* There is nothing like coming home to a nice, steamy pile of poo. Our puppy is still having her senior moments, but we found out from the vet that it's just her knee that's messed up. Now we just have to fix it. Anyone know how?

I haven't posted a picture of the day recently so here is my return to all things normal. This picture was taken last Sunday during my first engagement photo shoot. This is my friend Nuria and her fiance Anthony cracking up. It's my favorite of the entire session:

Pop the Bubbly!

You guys, today is a national holiday (at least in my planet)--the wedding of Jim and Pam. They are getting married today and I can absolutely lose it right now. It's not even one in the afternoon and I'm jumping out of my skin. This isn't normal. My buddy Scott is probably rolling his eyes, but I don't care. We've got an hour filled with JAM goodness tonight!

Jim and Pam are the reason why I love The Office as much as I do and, if I'm honest, they are the reason why I got into the show in the first place.

I wish that I could say I was a fan from the very first season. In truth, I didn't know about the show until the season finale of Season 2 when Jim finally confessed his feelings for Pam. I was working at a job I hated, tooling around the internet when I stumbled upon a video of the whole scene. That night I came home and watched everything up to that point. I've been completely hooked ever sense. I've mentioned before why I love this show so much. This wedding is only going to increase my obsession.

I think what I love so much is how honest Jenna Fisher and John Krasinski are in their portrayal of the two best friends/lovers. The looks! The inside jokes! THE KISS! I live for stuff like this.

There will be tears and laughter tonight, for sure, as well as me jumping on the couch like a lunatic. The one- hour episode airs tonight at 9/8c on NBC.

Tanster over at Officetally posted this video of the whole Jim/Pam courtship through the end of Season 5. I thought I'd include it here incase you need to catch up or want to look at something awesome:



What about you, dear readers? Are you as excited as I am? Am I just a crazy fangirl? Thoughts. Comments. Now.

Are We Human Or Are We Dancers?

The night of The Killers concert, Yani and I were definately dancers. Our husband's went but this was the Yani and Elaine show--fo' sho'. I was excited for this concert. More excited, I have to admit, than I was for the Metallica concert. I can't quite compare my excitement to that of my sister's, however, given that she had a running countdown and will be naming her future first born Brandon (I think even if the baby is a girl), in honor of her "Boo" Brandon Flowers--the front man with the excellent vocals and adorable face.

Here were are pre-show. I look like I have horse teeth in this picture, but that is neither here nor there.

Though I was psyched to see this band and knew how great they were, I was not prepared to be as floored by their performance as I was. To say that they sound better live is an understatement. Also, I'm a sucker for crowds; they can either make or break a show. The sold out crowd at the Triple A did not disappoint.

I can't talk about the crowd, though, without mentioning the ridiculous difference between the Metallica concert goers and those there to see The Killers. Apparently, our little group of four didn't get the memo that we had to dress like skanks. I've never see so many non-practical stilettos in  my life. Seriously? How are you supposed to jump around and dance in those? Case in point:

I don't know how someone didn't twist an ankle or completely fall on their face.

The opening act was a random band call Chairlift. I'm not going to bash their music, because I listen to some pretty random stuff and so shouldn't talk. I'm only going to note the positives like how the lead singer was really into playing her keyboard. You could just tell that she rocked the Casio as a kid. She did this sick windmill move before hitting the keys that had mimicking it the whole night. She also wore mom jeans and played a wicked cowbell. We had Cowbell Interpretive Dancing!

I will say this about Chairlift, Brandon called them up on stage to perform "Under the Milky Way" by The Church. It was a great cover that prompted me to download the original the next day. I only hope that I can somehow find the version they did somewhere and get that sucker onto my ipod. In the meantime, here is the live version for your listening pleasure (note the mom jeans):



Besides this song, they played a wonderful combination of new and old tracks that had everyone jumping out of their seat. My sister's face was priceless the whole night:

When they played "Bling (Confessions of a King)", the song the makes me feel like FloJo, I about lost it. I almost fell over in my seat. It's that every songs elicited the same response because they were all equally stupendous. They played three songs for the encore...three! When they played "Mr. Brightside" and "All These Things that I've Done," the crowd went completely insane. It was great to be in the middle of all that. Check it out:



I'm still on a such a high from this concert and have been listening to their new album Day and Age on loop since Sunday. Great stuff. I even made a t-shirt to commemorate this event that I'm going to surprise my sister with. Surprise, sister! They are already ordered!

I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience two excellent concerts with two amazing fans. Music is such a part of my life. I'm so happy to have been so surrounded by it this weekend.

Here's a parting shot, because life ain't worth living without an awesome husband, great music and some cotton candy. Forgive the face, it's the only one I've got.

Up next: Pictures from my photo sessions this weekend and my thoughts on National Public Radio.