Gila Monster in My Bathtub

So I woke at 3 this morning because I heard something in my bathtub.  It's a very distinctive sound when something's moving in your bathtub...you know what I mean...that hollow-ish sound, and the scrapey-scratchy sound of the textured bottom. 

I lay there wondering what it could be.  A mouse?  A rattlesnake?  A GILA MONSTER?  (This is my brain at 3 a.m.)

Finally around 4, seeing that sleep had no plans of returning to finish out it's shift, I carefully approached the bathroom and turned on the light.  No mouse.  No rattlesnake.  No gila monster. 

Just a random sound (so I'm telling myself), my imagination, and 3-a.m. brain.

But it could've been a gila moster.  You just never know.

Happy Happy Happy November! New Moon, Thanksgiving, Mooliki, Happy Things!

Can you believe 2009 is almost over?  I have to say, I'm glad.  It's been a weird year.  Lots and lots of things happened this year.  It's definitely been one of those times for reevaluation and change.  I shed a lot, and I mean a LOT of tears this year.  Yet here I sit, exactly on the path I know I'm supposed to be on.  When the haze of chaos clears and the view is sharp and in focus and it's good, that is a happy thing. 

18 days 'til NEW MOON.  Can you STAND IT? 

24 days 'til Thanksgiving Dinner!  I'm salivating already!

And now, as a treat for you, you should go check out my Irish friend, Barry's art.  He is amazing amazing amazing.  Click this > http://mooliki.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween?! Random!

Halloween completely snuck up on me this year; I didn't even decorate my blog. I've just been quite busy. Lots of print orders coming in for Christmas...lots of Temple prints being requested, some prints from the "art for your wall" section of our site, and apparently a big hit for Christmas this year will be boudoir books from wives to hubbies. Great idea! It sure beats a new tie! 

We have nothing spooky planned for Halloween night, but today we are attending an ASU graduation luncheon at My Florist Cafe (I browsed the menu online and it looks sooooo yummmy!).  A client we did grad shots for earlier this month invited us and we are also doing her family's photos this weekend while they are in town.  To top it off, they've invited us to stay at their 7-bedroom house (holy moly!) in Maryland when we go back East in May.  I love it when clients become friends! 

Have the BEST HALLOWEEN!

Running In the Hood

Would it be retarded of me to drive back to my old neighborhood to run? I ran Tuesday and today through this new place we call "home(ish)" and it's just not a happy place to run. Too closed-in, tight-cornered or something. Or, it could be the rottweiler around the corner that's never on a leash and always sitting by the sidewalk. Who knows. But at least i'm running again. I promised myself i wouldn't do what i did last year and only give myself 30 days to train for the 10K at London's Run. Last year's 10K went well (and by well, I mean I didn't have a heart attack), but I'm sure it will go better with a little more preparation. So, here I am. Preparing. Oooh-rah (don't tell the Air Force I just said that).

The End.

Coin-operated Boy [Not That I Want One...]

...but really, you just have to love The Dresden Dolls!

Photography Thoughts and Rants

Rants can sometimes be offensive (and sometimes people will TATTLE on you) so if you don't like rants, divert your eyes, because here it comes!

Oh my holy freaking crapstain are there ENOUGH untrained photographers saturating the market to make you flipping throw up, or what? Their pics all look the same, so you may be confused about the actual number of them out there. THERE ARE FREAKING GAZILLIONS. But you don't know this, because all their photos LOOK THE SAME! They are all shooting the same consumer (not pro) level camera. They all edit the same way (dull and lifeless). They all. Look. the Same. You can find them pretty easily, because they will give you your digital files on a disc! For no extra charge! That may sound appealing to you as a consumer, but that very ethically WRONG and unprofessional practice is HURTING the photography industry. BADLY! It's taking a centuries-old profession and turning it into a freaking circus. Ohhhh I could just pop a vein over it!

Note added Nov. 2:  Not only is it hurting the photographer's market, it's also hurting business for professional print houses.  One of them (I won't say who, but you know who you are!) has even stooped so low as to start selling to end-users under a new name.  It's what they have to do to survive, I know, but guess who forced them into that corner?  That's right! 

And now, on a happier note, I have a lot of portrait sessions on my calendar and a couple of weddings booked as well and this makes me happy.  Just busy enough to not feel guilty about the time taken from my little guy, and busy enough to have the things I want.  I am on the right track, doing it the right way.  People have been saying wonderful things about my work, like, "Sandi, you are the best around, seriously!" and "OMG! So beautiful!" and the like. And this makes me happy. I work my ever-loving BUTT off to make sure my work is unique and high-quality. Let me tell you. And so it just BURNS that very same butt when I see all the untrained, lame photographers out there screwing around with what I hold dear and sacred. Oops, guess I wasn't quite done ranting. 

Okay, another happy note to end this post: I used the pic below on my new business cards. Isn't that the cutest photo ever?

Miller&Miller Photography

Swimming Toward the Shore

There's an analogy I use re: getting through difficult times.

Picture yourself far out in the ocean. The waves are ginormously huge and they pull you under and toss you for loops. Just when you think you're going to drown, there's a moment's break in the turmoil and you swim like mad toward the shore. You get a little distance, then the waves build again, pulling you under once more. You have moments when you just let the violence carry you under, but those little moments of resurfacing keep coming, and each time, you swim a little further toward the shore. Eventually, you arrive on land: exhausted, spent, tattered and worn. But you're there! You made it. Despite the waves tossing and pulling you repeatedly along the way, you survived the turbulent journey.

I am on shore. I may be draped in seaweed, but I have arrived. I'm a different person. Not sure yet if that's good or not, but like the Chinese leader of that cult I hung out with for year always used to say: "Not good, not bad. Just IS."

And here. I. Am.

Napping at 7 p.m.

is not a good thing. Just so you know. Because then you could wake up at 10:30 p.m. and be wide awake the entire night and wind up a tad Zombified the next day.

I'm just saying.