Overdue Holiday update
Overall, I'm happy with the way everything went this season. The holiday traffic and christian persecution complex were tiresome, but it only comes once a year. For the two weeks before chrismas, I was working at Lifetouch, helping the studio move. Physical labor is worthwhile and there is a sense of accomplishment, but I admit, I don't enjoy doing it every day. I also had some intermittent work from the papers, Cin Weekly being the most notable. Since Sorcher took the staff photog position, I've been getting all the cin scenes that he used to do when he freelanced. Unfortunately, I've yet to reap a paycheck from them. But the work from Cin led me to get some priceless photo ops.
If you read the latest issue of Cin, then you probably saw my pictures from Kings Island. For those of you who didn't see them, or have talked to Kevin recently, then I will be the bringer of news. Kevin, my best friend since 4th grade, proposed to his girlfriend a few weeks ago. And I caught it all on film. Congrats to he and Erica, another one bites the dust, and all that jazz. I guess I have a speech and a bachelor party to plan.
I kinda let Solstice come and go this year. I didn't really do as much as I wanted. I barely observed the holiday by spending some time outside, welcoming the sun back into the world. I should have been more prepared; done more research on traditions and ritual. I aim to change my ways in the coming year.
Christmas with the folks was inevitable. I was surprised at how pleasant it actually was. The entire time, from 12pm to 11pm, there was not a quip, criticism or guilt-trip. I didn't even care about the presents, I was just elated to spend a whole day there without having a single conflict. I don't think I could have asked for a better holiday.
The real holiday fun began monday the 26th when I entered the embrace of Mother Athens. It's been far too long since the last visit, so this time around I took a week to enjoy everything. It also happened to loosely align with Saturnalia, so the week was spent with much revelry. It was great to see Matt, Christian and the gang again; to game and smoke till our brains were nigh extinguished. Tuesday night was spent drinking with Ali (the birthday girl) Daveed and a whole host of miscreants. Even Jerry and Andrea showed up for the debauchery. Caught up with a bunch of people I didn't expect to see which was awesome. Spent far too much money on comics, ink, herbs and Saturnalia gifts, but it seemed appropriate for a holiday that is celebrated through excess.
Saturday morning was a serendipitous time. After a couple months of searching, I finally found my kitty. I've looked at cats at pet stores and shelters around Cincy, but I never found a cat that I felt belonged with me. When I went to the Adopt-a-thon at the University Mall, the only had two kittens there. One of them was a cute female, but a little too spunky. I figured she would grow out of that eventually and started to fill out the required paperwork. While that was going on, two more fostered cats were brought in. The 6 month old black male, Wemba, immediately caught my eye. He was a little older than I was looking for, but when I opened the cage, he crawled right in my lap and laid down. It was instant love and I knew I wanted to be with that cat. He contently rode in my lap on the way from Athens to Cincy. When I got home; after pondering it in the car, I settled on the new name of Bagheera for my kitty.
New Years Eve proved to be a long night. Upon the arrival in Cincy, my sweet Bagheera bolted when I took him outside. I desparately waited for him until I had to break down and go to work. This is the third time I've had to pull myself together after the loss of a pet so I could go take pictures. When Django and Krauncha died, there was a sense of finality to it. I had known them for their entire lives. When Bagheera ran away, I hadn't even had him for 12 hours. The love I had for him hurt so much when he left. I'd have done anything to have him purring in my lap again, but all I had was an empty litter box.
The shoot at the 20th Century was alright, all things considered. I blazed through at record speed; faking the pleasantries of a socialite photographer and getting the pictures I needed in the span of 45 minutes. I just wanted to get back so I could continue waiting for my kitty. After sobbing for 20 minutes and waiting outside again, I decided that sitting around wasn't going to make him come back any sooner. Went to Will and Chuckie's party, attempting to have the best possible time I could while worrying sick about him.
Alll is not lost though. Matt saw him twice over the past two days, and tonight the two of us almost caught him. We've been leaving food out which he has been pretty good about eating. The weather has also been mild, which is a lot of peace of mind to me. When we saw him tonight, he was meowing like he wanted to come in, but ran from us. All I can do is pray that he'll come back to me and wait for him to trust us enough. I have faith that we will be reunited, but gods, I miss him so...
If you read the latest issue of Cin, then you probably saw my pictures from Kings Island. For those of you who didn't see them, or have talked to Kevin recently, then I will be the bringer of news. Kevin, my best friend since 4th grade, proposed to his girlfriend a few weeks ago. And I caught it all on film. Congrats to he and Erica, another one bites the dust, and all that jazz. I guess I have a speech and a bachelor party to plan.
I kinda let Solstice come and go this year. I didn't really do as much as I wanted. I barely observed the holiday by spending some time outside, welcoming the sun back into the world. I should have been more prepared; done more research on traditions and ritual. I aim to change my ways in the coming year.
Christmas with the folks was inevitable. I was surprised at how pleasant it actually was. The entire time, from 12pm to 11pm, there was not a quip, criticism or guilt-trip. I didn't even care about the presents, I was just elated to spend a whole day there without having a single conflict. I don't think I could have asked for a better holiday.
The real holiday fun began monday the 26th when I entered the embrace of Mother Athens. It's been far too long since the last visit, so this time around I took a week to enjoy everything. It also happened to loosely align with Saturnalia, so the week was spent with much revelry. It was great to see Matt, Christian and the gang again; to game and smoke till our brains were nigh extinguished. Tuesday night was spent drinking with Ali (the birthday girl) Daveed and a whole host of miscreants. Even Jerry and Andrea showed up for the debauchery. Caught up with a bunch of people I didn't expect to see which was awesome. Spent far too much money on comics, ink, herbs and Saturnalia gifts, but it seemed appropriate for a holiday that is celebrated through excess.
Saturday morning was a serendipitous time. After a couple months of searching, I finally found my kitty. I've looked at cats at pet stores and shelters around Cincy, but I never found a cat that I felt belonged with me. When I went to the Adopt-a-thon at the University Mall, the only had two kittens there. One of them was a cute female, but a little too spunky. I figured she would grow out of that eventually and started to fill out the required paperwork. While that was going on, two more fostered cats were brought in. The 6 month old black male, Wemba, immediately caught my eye. He was a little older than I was looking for, but when I opened the cage, he crawled right in my lap and laid down. It was instant love and I knew I wanted to be with that cat. He contently rode in my lap on the way from Athens to Cincy. When I got home; after pondering it in the car, I settled on the new name of Bagheera for my kitty.
New Years Eve proved to be a long night. Upon the arrival in Cincy, my sweet Bagheera bolted when I took him outside. I desparately waited for him until I had to break down and go to work. This is the third time I've had to pull myself together after the loss of a pet so I could go take pictures. When Django and Krauncha died, there was a sense of finality to it. I had known them for their entire lives. When Bagheera ran away, I hadn't even had him for 12 hours. The love I had for him hurt so much when he left. I'd have done anything to have him purring in my lap again, but all I had was an empty litter box.
The shoot at the 20th Century was alright, all things considered. I blazed through at record speed; faking the pleasantries of a socialite photographer and getting the pictures I needed in the span of 45 minutes. I just wanted to get back so I could continue waiting for my kitty. After sobbing for 20 minutes and waiting outside again, I decided that sitting around wasn't going to make him come back any sooner. Went to Will and Chuckie's party, attempting to have the best possible time I could while worrying sick about him.
Alll is not lost though. Matt saw him twice over the past two days, and tonight the two of us almost caught him. We've been leaving food out which he has been pretty good about eating. The weather has also been mild, which is a lot of peace of mind to me. When we saw him tonight, he was meowing like he wanted to come in, but ran from us. All I can do is pray that he'll come back to me and wait for him to trust us enough. I have faith that we will be reunited, but gods, I miss him so...