On Yachts and Books and Photoshoots
I assure you, I am DRY DOCKED!!!!
‘Tis the season for boat selfies. Now, I love still images of happy, sweet or at least hot people on watercraft. However, I reject all video shot on said watercraft, because I know it might be bouncy, and this will make me nauseous. This is also why I do not myself board such vessels unless all other modes of transport are unavailable. The early-seasons Grey’s Anatomy ferry disaster was mainly terrifying to me because it took place on water.
I once went to the IMDb boat at San Diego Comic Con for a fun party. I was nervous ahead of time EVEN THOUGH I KNEW THE YACHT WAS DOCKED. I was like, “If this bitch sways even a little, I will vomit on a Marvel main stable star.” That did not occur. Instead, I think I ate Rice Krispies treats on a stick, or maybe that was at a big Lion King screening (the uncanny valley one from a few years back, AKA the prequel to Blue Ivy Carter’s upcoming first Oscar nom.)
I couldn’t find any pics of me on said boat, but look at our cute little panel that year!
Over on my Patreon, my Diary of a Reluctant Exerciser series continues. It isn’t the only thing I do over there (there’s also a patrons-only podcast, The Audio Letter, that only lives over there) but it has been fun so far. I don’t talk about weight, body fat percentage, BMI (no thanks) or any of that shit, and I don’t try to get YOU to exercise. It just keeps me accountable for actually going to exercise so my heart maybe continues working for awhile I hope, and mostly I talk about anxiety, and then so do other people in the comments.
Here’s an excerpt from this week, when I discovered that three weeks of working out 3 x a week actually helped me avoid a lot of back pain while producing a photoshoot. I’m putting in effort at the gym, but I’m not busting my ass or doing anything I don’t want to do. It’s kind of amazing that it is already helping.
(For context about this excerpt, this is for a nonprofit client. This is different from a big-budget photoshoot with a big crew overseen by, for example, a corporate ad agency. In this case, the photographer works at a nonprofit rate, sometimes without an assistant, and most models either work for the organization OR volunteer for it OR require volunteer hours for school credit. There is no hair and makeup artist, so volunteers do their own hair and makeup.)
[As the photoshoot director/producer/manager] you're probably moving your ass around a lot. Running here and there to straighten a prop, style a product, hair and makeup touch-ups on models […]making sure nobody has a parking ticket, making sure the food arrives, making sure everything gets cleaned up and loaded out effectively, hiding out of frame while holding a prop[…]
When clothespins and other methods just aren't enough, I have lain on the floor and pulled a model's shirt taut so that the logo showed better. I've helped fake the winter outside when it is spring, and the spring outside when it is winter. I've shot in a downpour on the beach where we had to make it look sunny and bright (obviously, a lot of THAT happened in post-production, but getting folks to give blue skies sunny day beach energy is hilarious when they're dodging raindrops.)
It all requires movement, and I noticed that after only 3 weeks of Pilates and weight training, my energy on this photoshoot was better. My back pain was vastly reduced. It was really amazing. I was more flexible. I still got tired, but it wasn't like it has been in my customary sedentary existence.
Join us if ya wish! The Patreon commenters are lovely and often going through the same kind of shit you may be dealing with. Also, writing these diary entries keeps me accountable, so consider your patronage a deeply noble act of service for a couch potato you’ve never met.
This is a photo of some books I found quite worthwhile in the past. BUT what I’m getting into right now is The Bookseller of Florence: The Story of the Manuscripts That Illuminated the Renaissance by Ross King, about Vespasiano da Bisticci. I’ve linked to the Bookshop.org site, and here’s a partial description
Born in 1422, he became what a friend called "the king of the world's booksellers." At a time when all books were made by hand, over four decades Vespasiano produced and sold many hundreds of volumes from his bookshop, which also became a gathering spot for debate and discussion. Besides repositories of ancient wisdom by the likes of Plato, Aristotle, and Quintilian, his books were works of art in their own right, copied by talented scribes and illuminated by the finest miniaturists. His clients included a roll-call of popes, kings, and princes across Europe who wished to burnish their reputations by founding magnificent libraries.
That’s all for me now, my dears. I hope you’re doing well and staying cool.
Love,
Sara
Book a bitch to speak at your club, workplace, school or coven