Posts Tagged: Vdog
Saturdays Are Perfect for Photowalks & Sushi
My Bliss: Part IX
We were all very slow to move on Saturday morning. We were tired, the week had caught up with us, and, personally, the late nights finally took their toll. Lotus and I got to bed at 4’something, and I didn’t fall asleep until well after 4:30am, due to my poor, achy, throbbing feet. We did have a nice few moments on the floor in front of our room, though. Except we were on the wrong floor. But, I digress… Just looking at Lotus’ boots, on Saturday morning, hurt my feet, as I opted to walk around the Opryland Hotel in my house slippers.
A small group of photogranerds met for the photo-walk. I was so pleased to see each and every one of them.
We stopped at the brick steps so that I could take some portraits of all the walkers. Jennifer even took one of me.
Shab caught me while working. I totally love these pictures because I feel like I’m in a zone when I’m photographing someone, and to actually see myself while in that zone is really interesting.
Then the photo-walk continued…
As my feet were submerged in the cold-cold water of the man-made brook, two men of God approached me. Few words were spoken, but there was an understanding as to why I was so keen to dangle my feet, slipped in, the water like liquid socks. He smiled. I smiled. I almost asked him if he wanted to join me.
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After the walk was over we went up to where Vdog and Jim were waiting for us. Before we headed off to lunch, I got to say “hi”—via video-chat—to my old friend (an OG Cre8buzzer) Mr. Lady. It was so nice to “see” her, too; I only wish she would have been at Blissdom.
We decided to hit the sushi restaurant. And, we indulged in some of the best sushi that I’ve had in a long time. After a little while Leslie and Rachel joined up with us. It was a nice way to spend the final moments of Blissdom together.
Before we said our goodbyes I asked V, Leslie, Rach, and Jim what their favorite part of Blissdom was.
Join me tomorrow when I give my final thoughts about My Bliss.
“Wisdom outweighs any wealth.”—Sophocles
In the beginning, when I first decided to roll into the blogging community, I didn’t get many comments. But, as friendships started to blossom, more interaction took place. One of the first people to comment (and connect with me) was Victoria, aka *Vdog. Back then it was all about the memes. There was Haiku Friday, Wordless Wednesday, Sunday Scribblings, and so on. My people would comment all over mine, and I would comment all over theirs.
Lotus commented on a post after I had commented on one of her posts about her Weekly Winners. Here we are, a few years later, still sharing our photography winners. Here we are a few years later, teaching photography workshops together, cultivating ideas together, sharing, supporting, encouraging, and constantly building upon the friendship started because of our little hobby.
Going around and around the blogosphere you find people that you would never have found in life. Take Mrs. Flinger for example. The first time I ever saw her, I actually saw her, like in a video, but that totally counts. All I remember was that it was “fucking great day”. When I saw that video I knew that I would be great friends with Leslie.
Because of these three women, I met Dawn, and countless others who I have added to my arsenal of friends.
We all got together at the first second Blissdom, where Room 704 was born (today’s their birthday, actually.) Where I led a photo-walk in downtown Nashville with Lotus. Where I spoke on a panel with Leslie. Where our online friendships crossed over into living breathing life.
Photo credit: Malia
*Vdog–Victoria came to our house when we drove to Asheville, NC for Type A Mom Conference. To this day Davey asks if Vdog is going to come over. One day he said, “Can Vdog, with the purple glasses, come over please!”
My Bliss: Part III
After Lotus and I left everyone that was gathered by Stax, we got got back to our room, we talked while I unpacked (to which I came prepared with my own hangers, yo!) We were waiting for Leslie and Victoria to come in, so naturally we sat around on our laptops, munching salt and vinegar almonds, going in and out of conversation, while classical music played in the background.
Soon there was a knock at the door. Our beeshes were finally here, and a love-fest ensued. We delighted in each others company, told each other secrets, shared travel stories, caught up on Tweets, and soon-thereafter tucked into our beds, like the little-old-ladies-in-training that we are.
Our plan was to get up early enough to make it to breakfast.
*Our plan failed when we woke up with fifteen minutes to spare.
We jumped up, put bras on, ran our fingers through our hair, and booked it to the breakfast area. I made one of the worst mistakes ever: I didn’t brush my teeth. And, of course, I ran into tons of people who wanted to hug and talk to me. All I could do was eat breakfast and hope that I wouldn’t offend anyone with my breath. Ask me if I’ll ever not brush me teeth ever again.
I’m sure people thought we had gotten totally drunk the night before, when the fact of the matter was we were sleeping. Hard. Remember? Little-old-ladies-in-training!
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Lotus and I had our Wisdom Workshop at 1:00pm, so we got back to the room and prepared ourselves.
We left after noon to grab some lunch (our lovely friend Rachel’s recipe, FTW!) and met up with our fellow workshop leaders—Amy, Angie, Casey, Dawn, and Deanna.
Photo Credit: Hannah Braboy
We broke all the workshop attendees into groups. Dawn and I took care of covering the basics about how to get off the green square. Lotus and Amy talked about creativity, detail, and composition. Angie covered natural lighting, while Casey and Deanna went into depth about aperture, shutter speed and ISO.
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After the workshop, which was Ahhh-mazing!, we went on a photo-walk in the Delta Atrium. It was an intimate group, and just oh-so-fun! There was lens exchanging, head-shots, group shots, creative shooting, and just a major photogranerd fest.
Afterward Lotus and I went back to our room and greeted our girl, Dawn!
And, Lotus did some cool, feel good, Tai Chi’ish thing. I don’t know, but it made her feel good; that’s all that counts.
Soon we’d be getting ready to go party the night away! [To be continued…]
*Leslie was the only one who got up early because she had a meeting to get to. I’m sure she brushed her teeth!
