so i haven't been posting many of my new photos anywhere. i'm not sure why. but i feel like i must hold on to them for some reason. like they've become very personal to me. i think that is a good thing. i'll share some though. why not, eh? :)

just got back from my charleston sc/savannah ga trip. i really liked savannah. although i'm pretty sure it's just a large-scale truman show. on the same day, i saw the same people at least 5 times. it was very beautiful and i found out that the people are pretty nice too.



my camera is still doing that thing where it chooses when it wants to be broken. but i can't say i mind that much.

developed 3 rolls of film lying around and now realized that #1 my nikon is not broken #2 i did not lose any film. silly girl. much to do on my winter break. already have done so much. i need to work on my invention but i have to plan for my road trip next week and still sell my textbooks back.

finals week. ick. my last final (statistics) is tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. so glad to be done.

hehe. so my digital point and shoot camera is bwoken. and it chooses when to be bwooken too. it started at the black friday art show [which was marvelous btw. i helped sarah gail out all day at the vitale studio set up like a store, selling over 50 amazing local artist's work. (including mine!)] and has continued to on and off not-work ever since.

i kinda like it. it's like i have this new lomo camera built in to my crappy point and shoot that chooses when it wants to work. wait until you see the video from it.






so i have this one dream a lot. and a lot of different ways. but it's always the same. i'm always living in, or visiting this awesome house on the beach. the house changes. sometimes it's facing east or west, painted grey or brown, but they always have at least one pool. and i'm always living there with my mom and my sister. i'm having a great time, enjoying this wealth we've never had before. usually doing different water related sports, and next thing you know, this huge wave is coming. and i can always see it. there, in the distance. everyone starts running and screaming. and my first thought is always, "my sister!" and i set out to protect her/grab her/warn her as much i can with such small warning. i always get her. sometimes i even get my mom. we always survive. but the wave always hits us.

haha. the other night i realized that most (if not every single one) of my dreams is about transportation in some way. every single one i have. action. movement. bridges. airplanes. cars. horses. i'm always going somewhere. or trying to get somewhere. getting things done. phew. talk about my whole life. i am always getting things done. i love getting things done. i love my crossed-off to-do lists. i am working on breaking this habit. i tend to feel that if i am not getting things done, i and/or my life, is pointless or worthless. hey. identifying things is the first movement towards growth. GrOOOOOOOwth.

remember my awesome neighbor i told you about? well here he is:




in the top photo he was drunk at my house, hanging out and telling me about his life and i demanded that he let me take a portrait of him. the first photo (of him crossing his arms with a badass look on his face) never came out. but right afterwards, he said, "naw. i gotta do something cool like face the door and not look at the camera or something. like this."

the second photo is when i came out of my apt in the afternoon and found him wasted in the hallway with blood everywhere. he told me he just woke up and there was blood all in his bed. when the sock came off, his bloody, mashed toe had its toenail sticking straight up at a 95 degree angle. he thought it was hilarious at the time. because he was so wasted when it happened, he didn't go to the doctor until a day or two later. i think he's still limping around waiting to see if the doctor is going to chop it off because he got an infection that started to extend up his leg. the random hand in the photo, is the maintenance guy who lives downstairs in the storage room. he's equally as awesome. i'm shooting him next....hmmm...maybe i'll do a whole building neighbor thing.

in my drawing class on monday we had our (and my) first nude model drawing session.

i arrived a little late for class and readied my materials real quick and jumped right in. she did some varied poses for about 2 minutes each while we did gesture sketches just getting a feel for the form. then we got into the pose where we would spend the rest of class drawing her. my teacher taped her off so when the model took breaks, she could get back into the exact pose. after our first break, the model went up on the stand and was getting herself adjusted. she frowned as she was trying to figure out how to place her arm. i stepped around my easel, walked up to her, and started to place her arm for her in the correct spot.

the whole class gasped and a second later my teacher screamed my name, "AJ! that is the ONE rule that was said at the beginning of class! DO NOT TOUCH the model!"

"i'm so sorry. i was late and i didn't hear you say that. i am so sorry."

so now everyone in class is either jaw dropped or snickering behind their easels in disbelief.

"can i please see you outside, AJ."

crap.

she got outside and started shaking me as i profusely apologized and half giggled because i can't believe i just did the one thing you don't do. "aj. i can't believe you just did that. imagine if it was a boy who touched her. i would def. have to throw him out. and what? just because you're a female and it was innocent, i just let you stay? you've put me in a huge predicament."

then we laughed together. "of course i would be the person to do this. if you have to throw me out, i understand, i'll go home." but she doesn't want me to miss the session because she knows i'm one of the students who enjoy our time in class. "just because you and i come from some happy hippy artist world where being nude is no big deal and we're carefree, doesn't mean we don't have to abide by the rules."

"ok. let's go get a drink from the water fountain. can you keep a straight face when we go back in there and act like i reamed you a good one?"

"i think so. give me a second." laugh.

"do i have to punch you, aj?"

"no. i'm good. let's go."


soooo. yeah. awesome first nude drawing experience. it was totally innocent and i thought nothing of it. when i am shooting females i don't think about it either. i'm just too laid back sometimes. oops.

i have a new hobby. roller skating. well i'm not new to it. in 4th grade i got these awesome white skates with pink wheels and i would roller skate everywhere and all the time. since then i have always enjoyed the little ventures to the roller rink every once in awhile when friends in my life are feeling funky. nerd and i went 2 weeks ago to the adult skate and i have never been so into it. i went again this week...and i plan on going to the lessons on saturday mornings. i just can't get enough of it.

no. i don't want to roller derby. i don't want to speed skate. i don't want to break dance skate. i want to old school quad shuffle rhythm dance roller skate. i realized that this will be interesting. considering i am 6'3''. falling will hurt bad. but i dig it. can't wait to buy a pair of skates!

so i've made a new blog. a tumblr specifically. i always find myself photographing images off the television screen when whatever i am watching shows a super awesome image. i use the camera on my phone and usually pause the tv to get the image. i first starting doing this when i got really into space related programs. i love how gorgeous they portray space. whether its commercials, movies, or shows, i find images that i want to examine more than just a couple seconds. so i figured other people might enjoy some of the images i've captured. click here to view my tumblr: pause tv

i update it frequently and sometimes more than once a day. i made a handy link on the right side of this blog that links directly to my tumblr.

THAT amazing gem was found on my brand new point and shoot camera that Nerd gave me so i wouldn't be camera-less for right now. apparently i got the floor model. im so damn blessed sometimes with the smallest things.

getting myself back on track. i'm having allergy and sinus problems as well as a mysterious, intense pain in my lower abdomen for the past 3 days, but im working through it. had an awesome discussion with mama blackbird at work the other day about living in the moment. i have a problem with getting so hard on myself that im not doing enough, or producing enough. sheesh. im constantly looking forward to the future too. next summer, when im finally out of school, when i move to another city, etc. i forget sometimes that i am living NOW. the weeks have been flying by faster than any time in my life and i have to appreciate the moments in my day now. its rough with school and work.

a had a great dream last night.

it was 1995. the deftones were still trying to gain popularity and were touring. i was 18. i went to see them. the venue was small. the stage even smaller. i think it was a cafeteria in some abandoned school. there was barely anyone filling the floor in front of them. i found myself an empty spot and sat down to watch them set up and sound check. when they played, i loved it. it was visually obvious. i was in another world just dancing, and writhing, and rolling around on the floor. they took a break. i walked out the side entrance into the cool, night air to light a cigarette and catch my breath. i wandered around in the dark, dirt lot filled with cars. there were lights up ahead in the trees so i wandered in to this wood hangout like i was supposed to be there. it was the deftones and their closest friends. i was hoping i could hit a passing joint. everyone was having such a great time they didn't even notice me walk in and take a seat at a table in the back of this large room. it was dark. mostly lit by a string of bulbs. there was graffiti and drawings all over the unfinished, wood walls. everyone was laughing and drinking and smoking. the guy next to me turned around and it was chino moreno. he looked at me and you could tell that he recognized me as the crazy girl on the dance floor. his eyes lit up. he turned and grabbed a spoon and spread honey all over his mouth. then he turned to me and rubbed it all over my mouth and face. then he leaned into me mumbling something about it being a test to see if i am the one for him. we made out. oozing honey all over the place. i woke up myself up moaning. dammit.

i woke up and had tunnel vision on one thought. vitamin water. if i could just stop being drunk real quick i could get on to being hungover. i woke up with a birthday hat on and my best guy friend's t-shirt with a broken watch and wet hair.

thank goodness i could throw a large rock at how close the front door of the gas station is to my front door. i bought 4 and i was just about to open my door and go back to the couch when a little old lady with a red sun umbrella stopped me and asked how close a certain bookstore was to where we were standing. i told her it was far to walk but not a far drive so please hop in my car really quickly and ill drive her there. it took a little convincing because she was worried about inconveniencing me, and not having any money to give me, etc. i nipped all that in the fat butt quick. please come on, my car is right here. im just going to sit on the couch all day anyways and if you try to offer me money again i will be so angry. she told me this was the craziest thing she's ever done in her life and she's done many crazy things.

her name is merl christian and she's from trinidad. she was going to the bookstore to buy her 50 year old son a book on raising children that she saw on tv. she told me her grand kids are unruly. she brought out her wallet and showed me a black and white photo from when her son was 16. they went from trinidad to canada and then down to usa. she lives off a pension from canada and gives half of it to her son every month so she never has extra money. just enough to buy this book. the bookstore was closed so i turned around and drove her home and we talked some more.

we exchanged numbers. she's already called. she's gonna try and take the bus to the bookstore again tomorrow and my house is on the way. she told me she dug around and has a gift for me and wants to bring it to me.

im the happiest girl ever.

i need to shoot. and i need to model. im going crazy. right now my only operational camera is my vivitar pz3105 (35 mm used to take the photos in my previous post). been working on my website some more. hustling in school.

had tickets to go to stone temple pilots last night at the forum and tickets for tonights lightning game against the thrashers but, because of work, i did not and can not go to either. bummer.

so i have a list of things i should do / want to do today in front of me. its says:

- sketch
- practice stats
- model
- shoot
- get some sun
- clean
- edit website
- bicycle

so far i've messed around on one of my favorite new sites: www.studio6.com and stopped by here to procrastinate some more.

i could clean a little bit and then combine: sketch, shoot, get some sun, and bicycle all into one big event.

we'll see.

the art show was amazing last night. everyone i knew and loved was there and shit was wild. ill be sharing photos from it soon.

beginning drawing

midnight carwash

so these are from my newest toy. i love it. i just found out today that sensai got me a cannon digital slr for my birthday. its' just at mike's camera shop in orlando getting fixed. he gives the greatest gifts ever.

so my neighbor came over tonight. he's is very cool. a virgo. an ex-rockstar in a band, metal-head. making tons of money when he was 17. hair past his knees.

he was walking into our apartments when we were just getting home. he came upstairs and told my boyfriend that he wanted one of his beers he was carrying. of course. so he comes in. and we chat about everything. life. his life. jokes. government. art. cameras. he is a stand-up comic now. got kicked out of the band becuase he refused to be a teased-hair leather guy and wanted to stick with bandanas, hair "the same as it was when you got out of the shower", and cotton. and blue jeans. he told me his first stand-up. a poem. i hate poetry. but this is gold. :

adolensce was great...
that's when you learn to masterbate.
its also when you start to date.
and when you learn what it means to strike out at the plate...
luckily you learned to masterbate.

well eventually time goes by and you graduate.
moved out of your mom and dads house get a place of your own
oh...you still masterbate.
but you'd much rather fornicate.
so you go out to just try to associate.
and you find a likely candidate
hey must be fate
cuz shes turned out to be someone you really appreciate
so you debate
you contemplate
hey if you cohabitate, no more masterbate.

well time starts to dissipate
you start to aggitate
she starts to dissociate
you just cant communicate.

you devastate...
your swallowing down bottles of caopectate
cuz that fucking judge gives her 85 percent of your estate.

so, you intoxicate.
which brings us right back to masterbate.
alright now the words are gonna change

you constipate.
oh sure you can deficate, but you need an adult diaper just to urinate.
and at this point fellas, you can cut out the masterbate...
cuz they cut cut out your prostrate
thanks everybody, you've been great!

- chrisopher potts

today i built a colossal picture frame for the art show i am in next saturday at nova 535 in st.petersburg.

right now i am procrastinating aka "taking a break" from doing the 4 large drawing assignments due in beginning drawing early tomorrow morning. im a little over halfway done. i put them off until the last moment because lately i don't feel like drawing. it's not always fun for me. i really gotta be in the drawing mood. i haven't quite figured out how to trigger that lust though. its worse than taking showers.

i haven't been able to see jeffrey, my photo guy at walgreens for awhile so i have about 4 rolls to develop this coming week. should be such a relaxing week compared to this hectic one. i swear. tomorrow evening im having a large glass of wine to celebrate the commencement of this week of craziness.

i just had my birthday. it was amazing. the whole damn 2 weeks of it. i officially stopped celebrating it last night. i got kidnapped to the east coast of florida, went out dancing, went to the beach, hung out with my mom and sister who baked me my birthday cake i've had since i was 5 and cooked me a delicious dinner, i had nerd, blackbird, and rosie all visit me at work and bring me lots of sweets and presents and love, chowed down. got down.







i have a friend of a friend who lives in ybor and rescues dogs, rehabilitates them at her home, and finds new homes for them. she asked if i wanted to take pictures of the new girl who was found. animals love me. animals and little kids. my whole life.

i saw a kid get hit by a car the 2nd day of school. he was skateboarding ahead of me and i was on the phone with my dad. the car didn't stop because of the yield sign and the skateboarder didn't stop because of the cross walk. he flew in the air and landed on his head and neck. i told my dad i had to go and ran towards him. he landed in an awkward position with his backpack still on and pinning him down. there was blood running down his face in different areas and he had this far away look in his eyes like he didn't know where he was and he was trying to get up, in a strange rocking motion and my first thought was, "this is someone's child." i ran up to him and told him to stop moving and trying to get up, just stay still. he didn't listen and got into a sitting position. there was one girl that got to him before i did and she bent down and started putting pressure on his head where he was bleeding. she used a shirt that a girl who was walking by donated to our cause. i was on the phone with 911 screaming at them where we were and what happened. i bent down in front of him and started wiping all the blood off of his face and someone else was asking him questions like what is his name and did he know what day it was. he looked me right in the eye as i was wiping his face and arms off and checking him for any other injuries. i think his name was tyler. he was only 20. majored in biology. the first people to show up were the cops and they made everyone leave who wasn't the driver or us witnesses. i gathered up tyler's broken glasses laying in the middle of the road and tucked them in his backpack. then i remembered his skateboard and inched under the car and laid it next to him. the cops took my witness report as i watched the cop take care of him and as paramedics showed up. then i left and called by dad back. i read our school paper the next day and it said the kid sustained minor injuries so that is good. i prayed that something really awesome would happen to him in the next coming week.

just updated my website again. it's funny. in the world of today there are so many things to do online. it's like our whole life revolves around the computer. these days my to-do lists have 2 columns: things to do out and things to do online. especially now that i am in school.

so my point is, you have to choose your baby. is it going to be twitter? or your blog? or facebook? or your website? or maybe you have a very fancy program that connects them all together?

well mine is my website. i built it myself and figured it out by myself. and pay for it by myself and i love it. it's my love child.

annnnnnd. my walgreens photo boy, mr. jeffrey gave me my favoritest present lately. he gave me a vivatar pz3105. which is the most awesome shit and he is the best photo boy in the entire universe. and shout out to me.... its almost my birthday.... and ive already been kidnapped and given my favorite present to date (besides you sensai , of course. - and the nikon f100 with fixed nikor lense).

go me.

got kidnapped this weekend for my birthday. b thought it was next weekend already and that my b-day was only a couple days away. but it's not until september 14th. :)

it was the greatest weekend ever. we had a room with a jacuzzi in it. as soon as i found out what we were doing i had 2 requests: a one-time-use underwater camera and a mask for going underwater. and really. that was all. i had the best time of my life.

i am back in school now and wow. mixed emotions. going to a large, state college especially in florida means i'm at least 4 years older than everyone and about 90% cooler. i'm in the upper quartial (learned that in stats). stats. psh. don't reeally love math. but my professor is amazing.

i'm taking beginning drawing too. i've never been able to draw anything. ever. nor do i think i've ever attempted to actually observationally draw anything. but on the 2nd day of class, we come in, and she has this whole damn still-life set up in the center of class and she goes, "ok. draw everything. concentrating on line for now. like it's an image in a coloring book." and by gone dammit, i did it! and it looked pretty decent. this week we got into tone and she actually asked me for my drawing after class so that she could display it in the glass display cases around the art department. wtf. stunner. maybe drawing is actually pretty fun.

then, i take sociology. now. i'm pretty sure i was born a damn sociologist. this shit is soooo up my alley. i feel like im in a kindergarten class. and i love it. alyssa jamison: the sociological photographer.

my new job as a bartender is pretty rad too. kinda boring when it is slow, but eh, could be worse. its at a courtyard marriott and i have this beautiful, awesome fancy bar to myself and have regulars and everything. i've only had one dick-hole patron. so far so good.

bask invited me to do an art show that he is curating at the nova 535 in st. petersburg. i was elated and of course said yes. i'm shooting the piece for it sept 19th.

i'm excited to see my soul sister, meagan sample, is back in school too. she's a fucking hell kitten. and i just couldn't say enough good things about that gorgeous ass mother fu@ker.




that is my boyfriend. this is him entranced by his computer playing pc games. he has the best set of lips ever known to man. he cooks food for me all the time.

these are two pictures i shot of people i have seen around, but finally had conversation with and soon after, took portraits of.

first day back to school tomorrow. on the schedule: 8:35 am: beginning drawing. im super excited. the new 70s writing desk i got today sure will come in handy.

icsm@mac.com: love the new photos

me: thanks sensai

good morning

icsm@mac.com: morning

icsm@mac.com: anyway we will talk about your new photos in depth when you get back

Sent at 10:17 AM on Saturday

me: no

now

im k'2d as shit

now.

icsm@mac.com: well ok

me: https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=398271b389&view=att&th=12a92e586520b78a&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_gd3yv1d80&zw

icsm@mac.com: I love that you are shooting again, and you color and composition are great

me: gay

ok

keep talking

icsm@mac.com: but I want to know how these shots are getting you to a place closer to knowing your body of work

right now they are curious and cool hipster shots, not art

me: no fucking way'

fuck hipsters

icsm@mac.com: haha

me: they have no talent

wtf

they all suck

at least 100% times as much as me

gay faggot

icsm@mac.com: you are awesome, but these are not art

if you were just going for some cool snaps

then mission accomplished

very cool snaps

playful and fun

me: my moms in a wheelchair right now

and on her paper

that day she chose to draw a bike

and my sister, writes in her journal and draws on taco tuesday.

i caught her writing about me

icsm@mac.com: ok keep going

me: she said, "everyone always loves alyssa.

"

icsm@mac.com: see now THIS is intereting context

keep going

me: then somewhere else it said, "shes just so ..."

i forgot the word

but basically,

i have NEVEERR seen my sister act the way she did when she thought i might have read what she was writing.

it really scared the fuck outta me

just how her eyes started darting around

and she flushed

and was

all weird

icsm@mac.com: wow crazy

me: yeah

this is them on "taco tuesday"

its this thing at at burrito boarder

where tacos are 1

and its in downtown downtown st pete

so they go there

and everyone knows them

icsm@mac.com: interesting

me: and they sit outside

and draw

and write

icsm@mac.com: now this is interesting stuff

me: all evening long

i was there with them for like 5 hours

icsm@mac.com: you know your next project may just be a family project

me: and they invited me

to their special taco tuesday

icsm@mac.com: it could be fing amazing

me: it was awesome

i sat there with my camera

icsm@mac.com: that is great

me: and they wrote and drawed

my whole family is artists

like every mother fucking semi even related to me person

icsm@mac.com: wonderful.

icsm@mac.com: have to make breakfast for the baby

ok I want to see more shots of the fam soon

icsm@mac.com has taken this chat off the record Learn more Cancel

Sent at 10:30 AM on Saturday

--
-aj

i registered for classes and i start school august 23rd. three quarter time. :) i'm excited.

i updated my website tonight. i like it. check it out.

Click here www.alyssajamison.com