Girl Anachronicles

There’s some things money can’t buy
… such as:

Knowing how to comb your hair in your favorite updo.

“Pretty days” in which you look thinner/cuter/of clearer skin in all mirrors available.

Noticing how you have been able to answer calls from your loved ones without feeling miserable because your job has made you hate the phone.

Realizing you have few loved ones, but the ones you love, love you right back.

Puppy breath.

The weight of your sleeping dog on your lap, shoulder or stomach.

Getting good news over the phone on a day that was turning to shit.

An unexpected tunnel of wind on an otherwise sweltering hot day.

Looking to the blue sky and, not only remembering those good ol’ days when you were a carefree kid, but also getting that carefree feeling back, if only for a few minutes.

A sudden kiss that turns out just right and sends you reeling.

Library-like silence in a crowded bookstore.

Fresh ground coffee after weeks of tasting only the machine-dispensed type.

Butterflies in your stomach on a Friday night. Even if you’re going nowhere, the feeling is exhilarating.

Watching the crowded highway at night from the balcony in your very-far-away house… even better if you’re waiting to be picked up to head that way too.

Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings.

… for everything else, there’s credit cards, debit cards, cheques, credit lines, loans, and obviously actual money.

I got a call earlier last week from a friend that had been away for a while. The call in itself was a surprise, then the other shoe dropped: she wanted me as a stand-in for a photography class assignment (again). I had worked with her before. As a matter of fact: those brief incursions into what “being a model” would feel like were interesting at their worst, pretty fun at their best. I’ve always hated to be on the other side of the camera lens, the side that exposes more of my body and less of my mind. But helping her with her projects opened up my curiosity about how is it that people see me from outside myself. I like exploring the possibilities other brains find around my physiognomy.

This photo shoot was considerably simpler than the ones I had worked with her before. She picked me up a little after 9 AM last Saturday and we went to a nice park a few blocks away from my house. The place is wonderfully green and fresh, filled with trees, with a few playground areas, a basketball court, a tennis court, and a walking path all throughout. Add to that the quiet nature of our neighborhood, and the park turns into a small emerald paradise among our homes.

My friend’s idea for the photo shoot was a modern-day Snow White theme, using the blue, red and yellow colors (typical Disney Snow White scheme). She brought two apples, and I was a happy camper. “Apple shoots” get me a free apple after we’re done. I was supposed to lay on the ground and play dead, which was fine by me (despite the prickly grass). We were done quickly, in spite of prickly grass, the pesky sun in my eyes, and territorial mosquitoes. I realized that simpler photo shoots also make for simpler dynamics: less people means less crossed thoughts. It was a fun, sweet time, and the product of it is not half bad either (although the model, a.k.a. me, looks like a beached whale). But I instantly loved the vibrance of the colors. She still hasn’t showed me all the pictures she took. She worked with a digital camera, the picture on top came from that one. But she also used Colorsplash and Holga cameras – which is film – so we still have a few results to view.

Photo by Lyraida M. Caraballo.