nevada Blog and Journals

Thursday night, party night? Are you kidding me? I don't think so, I much prefer the quiet activity and streaming chatter of family to the hustle and bustle that is Nevada on a Thursday night, Thanksgiving weekend, not exactly a New Year's Eve spectacular. What draws people to this state is beyond me, unless you're turning 21, then Mexico is really the place for you, London, Italy, New Zealand... those are places that condone a well respected rank in the polling, not Las Vegas, Nevada. However, the reason I am here tonight, or rather this morning, is to reminisce on my time spent at home. 

I didn't come home this past summer, I usually do, but this past summer I picked up a second job so that my friends and I could all live a little more comfortably as opposed to our paycheck to paycheck living situation during the semester. It actually worked out quite well, and we were able to live more easily throughout the year, with more flexibility, a little more cash usually allows that though, no surprise there. I extended an invitation home, "Come visit me in Los Angeles," but there were no takers, nothing. There are planes that travel from Nevada to California, so why am I the one who always flies in? I understand that a majority are in my hometown, but a familiar face, even just two wouldn't be so hard, now would it? All complaining aside, and back to the reason I'm here, I seem to have a lingering tendency, don't I? I'm home now, sitting on a couch with my laptop, thinking of my departure time. I will soon be on an airplane back to California, back to my new residence, my new home, for all intensive purposes, and I'm flying solo yet again. Luggage in hand, the people in the airport stare, a girl with a single case of luggage in one hand and a guitar case in the other, I must embody the youthful dream, but I am certainly only a sight for sore eyes, though it may seem different at visual appearance, but like the old saying dictates, 'Never judge a book by its cover,' and what an example I am. I spent my Thanksgiving night in my family's living room, more than 20 people gathered around a table playing a game of Cranium, a game of this and a game of that, all avoiding the elephant in the room, no one is ever a winner in this stable home, we're all alone, left to our own devices. My thoughts were on my father, spending a holiday alone in his small apartment because my mother and father choose to lead separate lives, however, he did imply that he wouldn't be alone this Thanksgiving, he'd be working, and I couldn't help but to think of the idea that he may be relieved. He was freed of the constant reminder that while we're all together in our separate worlds while he is all alone in his.

I'm packed up and leave in the morning, leave in 6 hours, leave this all behind, not to be vision to the airport audience until mid December. Get your ticket in advance to the fool's parade. All this time I thought I was being selfish, leaving home early, to spend a few vacation days with California friends, to live a little vacation separate from my family, and to catch a long awaited and hyped show in L.A. during the hours of the night, but I'm not selfish, I am young, I am allowed to make calls like this, make mistakes while I still have the time to learn from them.

The college classes and late night stress as a result of procrastination have ended, until Tuesday at least, so I have a temporary fix for now. After a short plane ride, I am finally home, basking in the glow of pure nothingness. I never realized that leaving home for California would be so trying, but it's become a little bit harder than I'd imagined. Growing up was a bit comfortable for me, in college, it's nothing like that. I was forced to learn how to cook, clean and do my own laundry in less than a month. With the right balance of work, school and play I've managed to find my center here. Working one job throughout the semesters then adding a second during summer is nice, but that also means not going home during break, which in my opinion has helped to ease the homesickness. I like having the freedom I get with living on my own, two friends constantly at my side and in my apartment, sharing a minimal amount of space, living on easy mac and cup of noodles. It's fun, but coming home reminds me of everything I left behind. Sure, my reason for escape is my over protective mother, I mean, I love her to death, but a strict 1am curfew in college would not have sufficed for me, however there are many things that I miss and at times, I am forced to reconsider. My close knit family was not the picture of happiness when I told them about my definite plans to escape the borders of Nevada. All the time I'd spent talking about it before, was left unregarded, suddenly, an acceptance letter to a few good California schools shows up in our mail box and then they begin to worry. I'm sure they all assumed I'd quickly make my decision to join the ranks of the UNLV Rebels, but they were wrong. To their surprise, I hadn't even made the effort to apply, all the schools I'd chosen were in California, Seattle or Washington, all very different from my life in Nevada. I can still remember the day I broke the news, as if it happened just hours ago. The house was bustling, it was New Year's Eve, as we approached 2007, I walked down the stairs from my room to the living room, the music was loud, the stove was burning and the voices were chattering. I came down holding a fistful of letters, everyone was staring at me now, knowing well what I was holding. Their eager faces lit up, my insides were turning, those happy faces would soon turn upside down. I'd been keeping my acceptance letters a secret, opening them, without telling anyone, keeping all the results to myself. The music came to a halt and the chattering soon died down. I could feel my palms begin to sweat as my hands began to shake. My face burned up and the room became a carousel. "Well?" my cousin asked, impatiently, I looked up, swallowed hard, forced a smile and said, "I'm going to California!" Silence.

Things eventually turned around, and now I'm living in California, but moving day, that was hard. For weeks the boxes of stuff were beginning to pile up in my room as things began to disappear from my shelves. I didn't take it in though, it felt as though I was merely tidying up my room, not packing to move almost 300 miles away from home. I spent most of my time with friends and family, no one I knew seemed to be crossing the Nevada state line, only me. The night before the move, I had dinner with my family, then I went out until 3am with friends, knowing well that I could not be grounded anymore. I climbed into bed, looked around my room and suddenly realized that this would be the last night I'd smell house's scent or hear the creaks in the house or sleep in my bed with my mom sleeping only a room away. I felt it, but I did not cry, I just felt scared. I was forced out of bed at noon the next day, I went downstairs and saw my entire family, some were eating at the table, the small kids were playing with various toys, and a few adults were watching television and talking. "Watch out Ashli," my cousin said as he came from behind carrying a box with the words, 'Essentials' strewn across the front, then I realized this was no ordinary Saturday, it was my last Saturday with the people I'd grown up with, the people who cared for and loved me, I realized that the contents of the box were not essential, the moment was. I didn't say anything. I sat down, grabbed some chips and walked outside to help load the truck. My bed was going with me, and so were the rest of my things, I wasn't living in a dorm, I had an apartment, all this stuff would fit. I ran upstairs to take a shower, a little uneasy about the move, but still, I held onto my own, knowing this was the right thing for me. In just a few hours, the van was loaded. I looked around as everyone stood on the front lawn, my entire family and a few close friends. Goodbyes, they were hard. Tears filled almost everyone's eyes, a tight embrace, with a light smile from everyone, "Good luck," "Have fun," "Focus," "Call and visit," "Send pictures," "I'll miss you," "I love you," then finally, "Goodbye." I got into the van with my mom, my cousin following behind in his car, and we were off. What an odd sight to our neighbors, what an odd feeling for me, I'd left in a car before, but this time, I wouldn't be coming back. I'd be living in a one bedroom apartment with two other people, one friend who I'd known from my high school, she moved out here with her aunt when we were sophomores, then went back to live with her parents in California, she was moving into an apartment, so we were going to live together, with another girl. 

Now, I'm happy, living in California, not so happy with school, but without school, I wouldn't be here, it's my only reason for staying, if I dropped out, I'd have to move back to Nevada, so I live here, have my own car, pay my own bills, cook and clean for myself, work two jobs, go to school, and have a social life, which isn't too hard, considering I take four classes and work until 10 or 11 most days, the second job during summer is only part time, so I work mornings at my first job and then nights at my other one, being that it's during summer, my friends and I head out after work. We've maintained a steady income, we're smart about our spending habits, and most days, staying in with friends is more fun than heading out. It's a good life. I have Thanksgivings and two weeks out of winter with my family, who still don't completely condone my move, but have grown to accept it. The first family member to move out of state and go to college, it's a new thing. It's nice to be a trendsetter, but it's better to be home. I've been home since Tuesday night, and I have until Friday morning, then I'm heading back to California. It's good to be my own person, and I love being on my own, but homesickness is inevitable, the first month I was in California I cut my waist length hair up to my chin, hoping for a change, now I just hope it grows back soon.

It's good to be home, but it's best when served in small increments. 

This summer is going to be a kickass one, I have decided. I am so stoked for upcoming things/adventures I have planned.

This weekend I'm going to go watch Jeffree Star perform at the Box Office with Brooke and Derrick. This will be my second time seeing Jeffree Star. The last time I saw him was when he was with Kat Von D during her book signing at Border's in February. This will be my first time seeing him perform live, though.

Then on the 27th, I am FINALLY going to take my driver's permit test. My friend Jourdan just passed his. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pass mine. I listened in driver's ed. and have a copy of driver's handbook that I've been looking at from time to time. After I take that, Brooke and I are gonna head over to Sean's for his 16th birthday pool party so that should be fun. That following Monday, the 29th, will be the Warped Tour Pit Stop music event down on east Fremont Street by the El Cortez Hotel. I'm very excited for this.

It will be a great opportunity to score some street style shots for my street style blog as well as for live music photography since there are going to be several bands performing- I will do my best to get shots of each. It'll be cool to see Saosin live again. I got some fantastic shots of them live when they performed at the Journey's Backyard BBQ tour.

In July, I will be heading out to a little ghost town located in Nelson, Nevada. I came across a site that displays some photographs of some of the villages and old abandoned things that are still there. You can check the link here. I am thrilled to give this town a visit and shoot some things I find interesting with my Polaroid cameras. I have always had a huge love for anything abandoned...buildings, buses, homes, motels, ect. So this will be a blast. First Friday will be on the 3rd of July. Hopefully I can arrange a couple photoshoots. I am now reminding myself to pay a visit to this cool retro laundromat that is on Casino Center Dr. before 1:00 p.m. someday in July as well!!!

Not sure what's gonna go on during the beginning of August... Well, First Friday again, that's for sure. That will be on the 7th. Towards to the end of Aug., I'm going to Los Angeles again like I did last summer for four days and I know that will be amazing. I can almost feel the beach. I don't care what beach it is, I cannot wait to be at one!

What have you done or plan to do this summer?

x Nick

All we did was swim today it was fun since i didnt get to swim the first 4 days since we arrived in vegas ... its safe to say since we swam all day long i blen in with a fire truck if you get my drift haha . oooooh i am going ot be soooo uncomfortable tonight haha. well thats all for today i'll have more tomorrow.

May 18, 2009

My eyes are burning like hell I only got 4 hourse of sleep last night … well more like this morning. Since I fell asleep at 5:31 am. I couldn’t sleep due to me being in a unfamiliar place, when something like that happens I turn the tv on but due to my mom sleeping out in the living room cuz Cecilia and my sister snore to loud I couldn’t turn it on. I was crying I literally had tears streaming down my face. So I tossed and turned all night to morning. I miss my friends. Well on the good side we are going to the strip to see the lights… tonight.. that should be fun. We are going some place else as well I’ll get back to you on that

                                                           Stay tuned,

                                                                 Tru

Alright so a whole day has gone by and OH MY GOD best day ever!

That some place else we were going was Lake mead and Hoover dam… DAM! It was hot! Haha we cruised on our feet up and down the sidewalks next to the dam, so hot, then we seen some shad around the corner of the rock wall that was ahead of us also there was a grave of the dam construction workers mascot hover the dog. Hoover was found as a puppy at the construction worksite when he was a puppy and they started building the Dam. In feburary of 1941 in April the life of Devoted Hoover was taken when he was sleeping under a truck and it rolled over him. I had to feel bad for a moment because I know what its like to lose a dog who is your best friend. After visiting hoovers dam we went to a stupid casino, where we had shrimp cocktails and lost three dollars to a friggen Slut.. I mean Slots machine. I don’t get why adults think gambling is fun I mean it is a complete waste of time and money that’s so valuable. Ugh grown ups you never get them. Anyways, after the casino I fell asleep on the way back to our resort room.

At 7:51 pm we headed down to the strip we parked at Bellagios and walked to the street. I seen this hummer limo and just had to have a picture of it. Haha then we walked on and we seen the “Vegas” Eiffel tower or you know the tower that everyone just has to see when they visit Paris, France? After the tower we stood in front of the Bellagio Hotel and watched the Water show. It was amazing but not as amazing as when we were just about to head home…. I”LL GET BACK TO THAT LOL! Haha after the water show in front of the Bellagio we walked all the way down to in front of the mirage hotel and waited for the Volcano Mirage to erupt. After the Volcano we walked down to the treasure island hotel. I just had to stop and get a picture of Siegfried and Roy with a tiger that was a statue of gold… the whole thing was. I suddenly got a great idea, I gave the camera to my mom and after waiting for my aunt to get her head out of the tigers mouth I bent over and gave the metallic big cat a kiss. ^.^ Then I took a pic of the whole Statue. After seeing the ending of the treasure island pirate play thiny  lol, we decided to go home so we went through the Ventraine.. wait hold on let me look, it’s the Venetian haha and I seen this wax figure of Wolverine from X-men origins. I got a picture of him for my friend steve. NOW here comes the awesomest part :D

I SEEN AND GOT PICTURES AND A VIDEO OF TIM FLIPPY MORRIS!! I couldn’t believe it I was like EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol I got two pictures of him and one video. The video is alright but the first picture wasn’t very good so I asked him if I could get a picture of him. He said yes and I snapped one it was awesome. I’ll be postin him too :D. For those of you who don’t know who Tim Flippy Morris is… check out this video… i couldnt get the embed to work so you'll have to go to the youtube just click the link lol.

http://www.youtube.com/v/M5qAfnMyS6k&hl=en&fs=1

Ok so now you know who he is lol. After seeing Tim Flippy Morris, we continued to the car and and a bunch of guys were handing out a bunch of porn pics, Josh, Jr., Shane, all you porn loving friends of mine im sorry I didn’t get any for you unlike you I think it’s a complete insult to the lady body…. Anywho I gave the guys the hand to the face when they decided to try and hand me one haha :D >: D.  the whole time back to the car my sister was sneezing and I was applauding.. right before we seen Tim some guy was like bless you and I was like applauding then hes like oh yeah and he starts applauding as well HAHA. It was funny but her sneezing stopped when we got back to the hotel and here we are so yeah lol … I wish I could talk to my friends haha I wanna tell them all about this experience. Well I better go dinners done.

                                                           Stay tuned,

                                                                 Tru

May 17, 2009

Still in vegas, last night we got back to the room and had Tacos for dinner bleck, not my most favorite meal but whatever gets me through the wekk here in vegas lol. Right now its is 8:40 am and its warm this morning. Later and soon its going to be 104 degrees. Heat makes me tired I swear if I was in hell id be asleep, satan would have to kill me cuz he aint gonna get me up when there is heart around. Haha im still tired I was woken up 3 times by my mom telling me to get up so we could go to the strip I am sooo tired its pathetic. Well we are headed off to the strip I’ll be taking pictures so I’ll will write more later.

                                                             Stay tuned,

                                                                 Tru

We just got back from the strip and holy hell it was like really really hot. I didn’t expect 104 degrees to come sooner than soon lol. We checked out Bellagio hotel and Caesars palace, also the mirage then we came back to the Resort. I enjoyed checking out Caesars palace. It was filled with greek mythology and I love greek mythology. The statues were amazing the first one we seen was in the front of the hotel. It was a white cement statue of two rearing horses and 2 or 4 men by them. I had to have the pic due to my love for horses. The next one we seen was a fountain statue with three young women. We walked past them and some stores and then we came to a casino. Everyone knows no cameras in the casino… oh well though I had to have a picture of these two statue women holding feather fans that they used to cool off the higher class people in royality with. The woman statues formed an arch over a restaurant with the feather fans. The statues were wearing togas, FEMALE togas, that coverd their private partsand partially one breast while revealing the other. Then we moved on past some more shops and we came to david… The naked statue… I took a picture and suddenly realized the angle was bad LOL. We went down a hall and came to another fountain of the greek goddess, of food and crops, Hera. Then my aunt pointed out a little statue that was just the dearest thing I had ever seen it was of a foal (Baby horse) sniffing a turtle. I had to have a pic of that as well. We walked on and came to Zeus god of the sky, and his brother Poseidon god of the sea. Surrounding them were three pegasus’s and a greek warrior who was either Persues a young man in greek mythology who became a hero at the spite of proving the king of his city that he could slay the Gordon, Medusas, head without being turned to stone. He rescued a young princess and married her as well, or the greek warrior statue was probably Ares god of war. Then there was Artemis the goddess of hunting and animals, and a girl with a golden apple who I believe was either hera or a maiden who was one of the gaurds for the golden apple tree that exsists in the western land of the greek mythology Perseus and the quest for Medusa’s head. I got a picture of all of them and a picture of me in front of a Pegasus. Well my mom is going to wall mart and so is everyone else so I have to go with her. Be back in a bit.

                                                           Stay tuned,

                                                                 Tru

Ok we are back now, Anyways, I got a picture of Zeus, Poseidon, Artemis, The golden apple guardian/hera, Perseus/Ares, and the pegasus’s.

After getting some cappcuino ice cream from the stand next to the statues mentioned above. We went past some more shops and then was came to a statue of Caesar he was surrounded by a woman, a guy, and a harpist. Caesar was moving his glass back and forth. While the lady and the Harpist and the other guy were immobile like the girl in the water kneeling at Caesars feet with a basket of fruit.  Just as we were about to leave we heard thunder and lightening then peaceful music started playing, Caesar started talking and it was awesome I got the whole.. ok just one fourth of the whole entertainment thing. I’ll be posting that soon I’ll put the link here as well.

After the Caesar show we as in my cousin and I went inside this shop that had a whole bunch of collectables. I spotted yoda 3^rd to my cousin mentioning it on a fortune telling zoltar machine. I had to have a pic of him too haha.

We pass a whole lot of other stores my cousin Nate took me into the prank store. There was this guy outside dressed really funny and just as I was walking past him he told me I had ketchup on my shirt. I totally didn’t see the bottle in his hand until he pulled it out and I was like huh? Then he squeezed the bottle and, what I thought was ketchup but wasn’t, a string came out and I thought it was ketchup there for a second I realized that two seconds after I realized that there was nothing on my shirt I laughed and told him that it was a good prank… cuz I was about to clean his plow and literally beat the shit out of him. After that we walked past more stores and literally you just cant get enough, nips, dicks, and nuts. Seriously half of Caesars palace is loaded with Porn LOL. Right below lil miss porno queen was a creature im going to have to look up in my big book of monsters book. Her had wings and he looked like one of those Chinese dragons only he was completely smooth and didn’t have any scales, only feathers around his neck. This creature that was carved out of stone was magnificent.

After seeing the magnificent beast, we walked out some double doors that lead us to another statue of Poseidon on some sort of weed that held the shell he was sitting on. It was a fountain as well.

That was the last of Caesars palace until the end of the Mirage Checkout.

The Mirage had statues as well it had the Dolphins, three of them jumping out of the water but they were attached to rocks. Then a little ways down and right across from the dolphin statues were these dragon creature Chinese statues. Then on the same side as the dolphins there is a turtle/dragon creature, then we walked in past the casino and we seen a huge fish tank we seen the hugest and most beautiful puffer fish ever. After all of that we decided to go back home until nighttime so we could see the lights and we had too walk all the way back to the car. We seen another statue across from the Chinese dragon creatures (not on the dolphin side) then we walked all the way to the front and side of the mirage and Caesars palace. Where there was another greek statue which was three guys and two pegasus’s two fo the guys were trying to captur the winged horses and the other guy was just standing there looking all pretty haha don’t you hate that ROFL. We sat down and I just had to get a picture of Cher’s logo on the Caesars Palace board thing lol.

After sitting down we walked some more and I seen this pretty statue mad of white marble in water it was of an angel that… OMG! The smoke alarms going off hahaha moms making dinner right now, Chicken breasts, hahaha. Anyway back to the angel statue, she had wings how do I know it was a SHE? She had boobs duh LOL. Then we headed to the car and on our way to the hotel. I seen the sign IN-N-OUT burger and I said, “isn’t that kind of  IN- A- Propriate? Haha so I’ll have pictures and maybe videos of tonight im hungry, dinners done so I’ll write more tonight.

                                                           Stay tuned,

                                                                 Tru

Ok so it turns out the Night time Videos are probably going to have to wait until tomorrow unless I can convince my mom to let me and my cousin walk down to the strip but then we have to walk on the highway… high ways are scary lol oh well… three intoxicated adults one responsible adolescent that’s me and one adult asleep while the teen my cousin sits on the couch… so this is what its like being a mom OMG imagine if my mom, Cecilia and my aunt weren’t here … I would be the mom, I could handle it, I could, but I would not let my cousin out that door at night just to take out the trash even though I know he can take care of himself. What can I say he’s my BFF we’ve been by eachothers sides ever since he was born. Now he’s 16 soon to be 17. He’s lucky he got to go to vegas at 16 haha I was still headed to Oregon when I was sixteen. Come to think of it now when I take quizzes  and they ask if I’ve been out of the state I can say yes and yes, Oregon and Las Vegas, Nevada BABY! Lol… Im smiling right now a bit even though I feel like crying… why? Well my mom claims intoxication then she says shes going down to the pool with my cousin, Cecilia and my aunt while I have to stay here with my sister. No one to talk to, I miss my friends, I miss josh I miss me, and my friends Chad and Nate.. I miss talking to them when ever I had a hard time I could talk to them about it and after that id be fine …. But this time I have to face it …. Alone… theres no texting .. or computers for me to contact them with… I hate being alone : ( ….

Im gonna have to think on this alone.

                                                           Stay tuned,

                                                                 Tru

May 16, 2009

We are on our way to Las Vegas, Nevada. We as in My mother, her friend Cecilia, my aunt Cheryl and my cousin Nate. We left at 4 am after going back home two or three times, due to us forgetting something. We picked up my cousin and my Aunt. Then we stopped by Cecilia’s and picked her up. After 4 hours into the drive I fell asleep due to not sleeping all night long because I was excited and I wanted to get going. I woke up on the road… yes in the car haha… around lunch time then I fell asleep again. When I woke up after that I noticed beautiful blue mountains with bits of patches of snow on them. The landscape was soooo beautiful with the little bushes and trees here and there. Those kind of landscapes allow my mind to wonder. We had less than 341 miles and I can’t wait to get there. 

We’ve made it to Vegas. We are staying at the Desert paradise resort, they are providing us with a room that has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and two bathrooms with one laundry room as well. There is like five of us staying in all of that except the bathrooms, kitchen and laundry room… cuz that’s just half of all of that haha.

Im writing this as I sit at a poolside table while everyone else enjoys the cold soothing heat beating water. The reason im not with them is because mother nature just loves to torture me at the most if you get my drift. She stopped by last Tuesday so I cant swim until this upcoming Tuesday… well that’s my only update for right now so I’ll talk about whats on my mind. My friend Nate from the UK,…. Not my cousin Nate cuz thatd be too weird and you’ll see why lol…..confessed that he likes me and not just like like but like four times a lot. I like him four times a lot too and I really want to be with him… I don’t know how this happened. Well maybe I do but hes so far away and he has a GF who loves and repsects him not that I don’t cuz I do a lot probably more than she ever will, but I don’t mean that in a rude way cuz you never know what to expect from life. He even said that he wishes I could e the one he spends the rest of his life with. Same here I wish that too because hes so sweet and nice to me. He makes me feel better when I am down, but I know I cant have him I never have had him and probably never will.

I care about him deeply and I think he knows that but if he doesn’t I wish he did. I wish he knew how every night I look at the moon and think of him. But I guess some things will never be known. I cant help but think of him all the time but hes my friend, my best friend no doubt.

Well maybe we aren’t meant to be… maybe we are just meant to be friends forever. At least I’ll always be by his side… friend or not friend.

Well im lagging on sleep so im gonna hit the hay….

                                                           Stay tuned,

                                                                 Tru

My friend Brooke and I arrived at Borders bookstore at the Townsquare shopping center on Las Vegas Blvd around 9:30 a.m. I picked up Kat's book, High Voltage Tattoo and then we walked on over to the line. If we would have got there a little bit earlier, we could have had the chance to be inside the doors. We were outside the door by three people in front of us. Now, being outside is fine with me, but when it's raining and you have to be outside until 2:00 p.m. it's not so fun. Thankfully, there were big umbrellas the store had put out there and we were under it. I was so glad I didn't wear my slippers that have a couple holes on the bottom that day! My feet did still freeze though. I had to go inside twice for a few minutes, haha. Brooke and I made friends with the people behind us in line. One lady who was in line to meet Kat for the second time while her husband was inside the store, another lady and her daughter. They mostly all chatted together, but we came in the conversation at points.
Once the time came closer for Kat and Jeffree to arrive, a couple of Borders' workers came out serving small cups of hot cocoa. Drank that down fast!

Us in line:

Finally the line started moving and we were inside getting closer to meeting them! I had out my polaroid and digital camera ready to get a photo of both of us with them. Once we got to the table, I'm not gonna lie, I was kind of starstruck because it was actually them in real life! Kat and Jeffree both signed my book and gave me a compliment on my Nikon digital camera that was hanging around my neck. As soon as I was ready to ask if we could get a photo with them, the security made us move on. Brooke and I were furious and were not about to just move on out of the store. So we said bye to them and walked on the other side of the line separater dividing the people in line to still get their book signed from some people who have already got theirs signed/people just taking photos of them. We both stayed on that side of the line and took many photos of them at the table. You could hear a lot of snapping anytime a fan walked away from being in front of them at the table.

Some of my favorite snaps I got of Kat and Jeffree at the table:

We then moved behind CD rack that was behind there table and I took a few shots from back there.
An excited wet fan from the rain.

Models that were at the book signing to promote Kat Von D's Sephora make up line.

I also had to shoot a Polaroid from the front and back. Here's a digital photo of me before I shot the polaroid. (thanks Brooke)

(click here to see larger)

Now, for my favorite shot of the whole day...

It was the end of the signing and Kat began walking out the side door of Borders to the cars outside. Brooke and I were still in the store the whole time after we got our things signed, so as I saw Kat begin to walk out, I kinda raced to the door to get in this polaroid shot that I really, really wanted to get. She was walking pretty fast and thankfully there weren't many people following. So I get in front of her and I just said "Fuck it, let's see what happens.." to myself and hoped as I shot this polaroid while she was walking that I wouldn't cut her head out of something!

I expected it to be a little blurry and her maybe looking the other way or something. But HOLY SHIT, when the polaroid finished developing and I saw that it wasn't blurry and that Kat even looked at the camera as I took it just blew my mind!! Haha.

I really can't tell you how happy I am that I got this shot. Directly after I shot it, she heard the noise of the camera and said "Polaroids rule!" and I yelled "Love you, Kat!"

 
(click here to see larger) Polaroid ♥ forever!

At this point, Kat and Jeffree were outside of the store so I grabbed my digital camera and took some pretty shots of them walking to the cars on the wet street. I love gloomy days.

This was my favorite digital shot of the day. So glad I captured that moment. :)

Done! So that was myself and Brooke's expierence. Definitely worth it. Had a wonderful time and now I have the memories for it.

We left Borders and got on the Deuce and got off at Planet Hollywood. Ate some soft pretzels then went to Urban Outfitters and tried on silly glasses/sunglasses.

What a qt!

We got tired out and caught the buses home. <3

Us on one of the buses. Check out the lady inbetween our heads. She was chomping on some food! Ha.

Saturday February 7, 2009

I'm going down to the Borders book store on Las Vegas Blvd. for Kat Von D's book signing for her new book: High Voltage Tattoo

I'm so stoked! I think I am going to buy the book before I go so that if they ran out, I wouldn't feel dumb. I just asked my friends Jourdan & Brooke if they'd like to come with..hopefully they can. :)

Oh, and Jeffree Star will be with Kat at this signing as well! So I'll get to meet him, too.

Can't wait!

Around the 20th of November, I was at the at the Fashion Show mall shooting photos of models modeling a new line from Macy's.
-These shots are not the best. This was my second time shooting photos of models on runway.