Lady Hands

Coming off the high of the festival I thought it would be interesting and appropriate to have some pin up photos taken. Apparently the majority of burlesque dancers also do a lot of modeling--pin up, fetish, artistic nudes, etc. Since I wasn't sure what to do next I figured I'd give it a go.

Luckily, local photographer/musician/artist Tom Storm was available and interested in doing a shoot. He and I went to the same high school.  Our greatest joint endeavor previous to picture making was our school production of Grease---he played Danny and I played Rizzo. He was good. Since those days Tom has been creating some really awesome art and has traveled all over the world!  Somewhere along the way I've misplaced my Pink Ladies jacket....

 That was so awkward to write "doing a shoot". How silly. Other than a simple black and white head shot back in college I've never posed for any kind of professional pictures. I feel awkward in most social situations let alone having my photo taken and trying to exude a certain femininity or sexiness--ugh, it makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little just thinking about having to project sexy--like, on purpose, on cue. I'm really bad at that. What was I thinking?!

I had a plan for that morning. Wardrobe was already packed and ready to go. I had worked out my hair and make up several times and had an approximate idea of how long it was going to take me to complete. Hence, getting up an hour earlier to ready in peace. This way I could drop my son off at daycare and go straight to my session with no complications. The only complication I managed to overlook was what would happen if my three year old decided to wake up an hour early. Which he did. And also what would happen if he woke up an hour early and decided to spend his hour directly under my feet trying to eat hair mousse, put my bobby pins in the toilet and take everything out of my makeup case. Which he did. I had a bit of a meltdown and sent him to his room to play. Which resulted in him having a meltdown.

I also have a phobia about being late for things--allegrophobia, apparently. Ten minutes early is on time for me and anything less than that stresses me out. The unexpected morning chaos was about to make me late--by my own definition--and there would be no way I would ever be able to take a decent picture.  I literally tossed my little boy into daycare, pointed at my head and made a circular motion, "I have a thing today", is what I blurted out to his teacher who was no doubt confused since most of the time I show up in sweat pants and a pony tail. Luckily I made it on time. Five minutes early. Acceptable.

Fortunately, Tom is a sweetheart and one of the nicest people in the world. I came in like a whirlwind and muttered something about having a three year old assistant and being flustered and my hair was bumpy or something like that. Considering the way the day started, I'm very happy with how the pictures turned out. And I found out that I like being in pictures, making pictures, as an experiment or art project or what have you but I'll get more into that in a later post.

I managed to get home in time to take the dog for a quick walk and throw on my T and sweatpants before picking my son up from daycare. I figured I owed an apology or explanation at least for the morning but decided that "I have a thing today" was all that needed to be said. While buckling the car seat, he grabbed my hand and with big blue eyes said "Mommy, you have lady hands. You have hands like the other ladies" referring to my bright red fingernails. I never wear nail polish--ever. How or when my son became aware of "lady hands" I'm not sure; however, after the initial discovery his eyes welled up with tears "Mommy, I don't like those lady hands. Take them off they frustrate me.. I just like plain". I couldn't get him to articulate why he was so put off by it and maybe he didn't know why either. It's what I will remember most about the entire day.

The photos in this post are two of the pictures Tom created and are two of my favorites. I have a few of them on my Facebook page but I think I'm going to try my hand at creating a Flickr account. I have yet to delve much into the world of Flickr other than to snoop at pictures people post of their tattoos--a late night hobby of mine.

Anyhow, I have a lot in my mind that I would like to write here if I can just do a better job of organizing my head and my time. Thank you for reading, as always I appreciate the support.