Fellow photogs!!! Check it out!

Just wanted to share with you that I love Tom Anderson.  Not only for being a pioneer in the virtual world but also for introducing me to cinemagraphs.  I just subscribed to him using Facebook's new feature and he promoted this new trend in photography.  I haven't seen .gifs of this caliber ever and what I'm about to show you is just plain jaw-dropping. If you love photography and digital animation, check THIS out!!

Sally, That Girl!

Have you ever heard that old skool hip sop song called Sally (That Girl) by 2 Live Crew, the creators of the 80s hit "Me So Horny?"

Hit play and take a listen.



A couple of years back, during one epic excursion to a group camping trip in Morrow Bay, CA, my friend, E, introduced me to this jam.  For shame that I had not heard it until then because once it passed through my ears, I wondered how this great hip hop classic did not yet cross my musical path.

So, during the ride after much hip hop talk, E said to me:"You haven't heard of Sally, that girl?!!!!"
Me (very shyly): "No."
E: "Joy, you don't even know.  If you know a girl named Sally, you MUST introduce me to her.  Cuz I gotta meet a gal named Sally. I just gotta. "

I didn't quite get it at the time but 8 jello shots, a couple of beers and some car-ride shenanigans later, the song could not be more any more than a hit to me and a pivotal part of me and E's friendship. It's a bit crude, but a good song. Especially if you dig old skool jams. We haven't met a real Sally yet.  But E and I began calling each other Sally (who's a total slut, btw, and in no way indicative of who we really are - or so we think) and the nicknames just stuck.

So, millions of kudos and besos to my dear friend for introducing that song to me.  Sally, aka E, just happened to be my latest model for a recent photo/fashion editorial type shoot I conjured up. I, myself, have modeled for amateur shots before, but wanted to focus on being behind the camera so I decided to just shoot E alone. You can check out my first ever solo-shoot as model here.  Come on, you know you wanna. :)

E's session yielded some killer shots. I played a little with the editing in post, so it may not look altogether cohesive and her skin tone changes from pic to pic. But they still turned out pretty decent and I'm happy with the results.

And although a bit nervous at first, E did a great job modeling.  How could she not with all that beauty?! (E, don't hate me for blowin' ya up).

Check em' out! I hope you dig em' as much as I enjoyed shooting them.

 

 

  

 

 

The work is indeed basic. I am still an amateur and lack Photoshop. But they turned out pretty good considering I used iPhoto. Plus, I had such a stunning model, so I didn't have to do much.

Also, many kudos to one of my oldest and best friends, Jessi, for letting me use her adorable house.  She spent the whole day cleaning her beautiful home and garden and I didn't get to utilize much of the space. Believe me, her home is much more than what's shown in the pics. Littered with bright color, vintage pieces and homemade art, Jessi's apartment is the one of most awesomely decorated spaces in any of the slums on the Westside. :(  Next time, I will have to use more of her space.  We just were running very late, so we kept the shoot very simple.

I hope you guys enjoy the pics.  E did her own make-up using killer lashes from Sephora (she's a pro make-up artist AND scuba instructor).  And me, E and Jessi all collaborated on styling her outfits.

E's Wardrobe: Leotard underneath mesh by American Apparel
                       Mesh dress by Lulu's
                       Black shoes by Aldo
                       Top Part of Tutu by Torrid


                   

Squarepants has had a lot of negative press lately.

What's up with that?

First, his show was shown to yield short-attention spans in 4-year-old children (they study only tested  sixty kids for the case) and now hoodrat girls are just tryin' beat him up. Poor Spongebob. 

And just as I posted of cute little picture of him in my last post, too.

5 Things Gals Say That Bug Me by Chelsea Fagan

I recently ranted about how many of us on the Internet and also in real life shorten so many words. It makes us look like valley girls. And not the cool kind from Clueless (although they are more appropriately Beverly Hills girls), but the lame kind from the 80s that features a semi-hot Nicholas Cage (I can't believe I just said that).

Well, one of my new favorite daily reads is called Thought Catalog. And today, an article called 5 Things Gals Say That Bug Me was published talking about a little more than the same subject. Writer Chelsea Fagan lists her 5 all-time worst word peeves with good ol' satire and it just reaffirms my views on our generation's butchering of a language. Isn't English so effed up already? Well, we've effed it up even more and some of us (the smart ones) are annoyed with it. I'll admit, I've been a repeat offender to some of these crimes (like using virtual hearts all the time) but some of these crimes are just plain unacceptable. What do you think?

Happy Birthday, Amy!

                                          We all miss you and your incredibly sultry voice.

Here's a Valerie cover I did last night with my Uke.  Thanks to my sister for being such a great videographer. :) Ignore my ridiculously cheesy, yet somehow hideously scary face in the very beginning.

Is fat the new black???

I think so! America, slowly but surely, has come along way and is now more than ever accepting of certain civil liberties. Maybe not as much as some of us would like, but blacks, gays and now fatties have come along way. Luckily for many of us, companies like ASOS and The Limited have extended their lines to the plus-sized market. The newest to join this fat venture is American Apparel and today I read a wonderful article by lovely ladybird and witty writer, Nancy Upton, who recently turned in some fabulous photos to American Apparel's "The Next Big Thing" campaign as a spoof, by taking seductive but crude photographs of herself stuffing her face like a pig. In true AA fashion, her photos made the cute, making her a front runner.  Though AA has offended much of the plus-size market, I think her shots were satirically genius photographs.

Finding it derogatory, many people have been turned off American Apparel's campaign.  But people have also been rubbed the wrong way by her lowbrow approach to it. Nancy even got some hate-mail from a real plus model, who took her work very seriously and thought that Nancy was actually giving the plus model world a bad name.  Tomato. To-mah-to.

I think her spoof has given well-needed exposure to plus-size markets. We will always have someone to hate what we are doing and have someone make fun of our size.  But we'll just have to roll with the punches and occasionally knock someone out with a good response like Nancy's, even if it is to mock our own selves. I happen to LOVE what she has done (albeit a spoof gone right) and think she looks beautiful and sexy in the photos.  Her cherry pie-eating/foodie concepts are totally indicative of American Apparel's edgy/unrefined/stripped style. And I am just plain old happy that companies like AA are extending their lines. Women like Nancy and "XLent" (as coined by AA) gals like us have been squeezing our fat asses into their clothes for years and it's about time they show a beautiful fatty, in all her glory, fat rolls and all, in their ads. Ya, they have ignored our market for years and probably were hesitant about what sort of image they would portray to their target skinny consumers, but it's about time they have made room for us chub chubs...even if only for extended revenue and profit reasoning.

So, with all that in mind, I give a double kudos to ladybird Nancy! Though you made it a joke, you have proved once again that fatties can be sexy too...even with a whole rotisserie chicken stuffed in your face, and a pie covering up your cookie! We deserve clothes from any major label in our size!

One of my fave concepts.

All photos of Nancy were taken by her photographer friend, Shannon Skloss, who did a killer job shooting this kickass editorial.  To read Nancy's article, click here.

How do you feel about Nancy's spoof shoot? I'd love to hear from you.

Peace, love and muscle-powered cars,

Joy*

Always Remember....

Couldn't figure out the photographer's name that took this photo, but it is just beautiful.

I can't believe it's already been a decade.  But remembering today reminds me to have faith and pride in my community, in my country and in human beings in general. That in mind, I hope I'm not the only one that thinks this is a good idea. I encourage everyone to take the time to know your community. In good and bad, it is so amazing to know that people who don't even know each other can bond together become a strong force. Hence, we should all celebrate each other with love, compassion, hard work, vigilance, the sharing of knowledge and wisdom within each other as a community no matter what our differences are.

Anyone with me? And do you remember where you were that day?

It may be just me...

...but I hate the shortening of certain words. These days, every sort of word or phrase is shortened. As we live in this technological age, it is apparent that our vocabulary and knowledge is not only filled to the brim with too much information but includes strong shots of indolence. As a result, we can't help but LOL, BTW, STFU and EGBDF (bet you can't figure that acronym out).

But more recently, we have strayed away from using letters as statements and have now just shamelessly butchered words into smaller versions of themselves. As a writer and self-proclaimed "vocalizer," I will say that using the term "adorbs" to replace the word "adorable" and "obvs" to replace "obviously" and even "hilar" to replace "hilarious" is ridiculously sickening. It's almost as revolting as Lindsay Lohan's role in Herbie the VW bug movie, or when Heidi Montag decided that her boobs should be a size H....for Heidi.

Anyway, for my sanity (since that's all that matters), please stop minimizing our words to the lowest level. :( We are smarter that that! At least make up a word. Add to Oxford Dictionary....like Beyonce and the word, "bootylicious." Don't cut words so short...they do, in the long run, have great meaning.

<3 Hope you all are in good spirits.

I'm obsessed.

Pick-up lines.  Gotta love 'em.  I don't hear them a lot from my long line of suiters (heavy sarcasm). But when I'm presented with a good one, I can't help but chuckle. 

As you may now have figured out due to my latest posts, I've become mildly obsessed with the show Mad Men.  That in mind, I found this excellent vid featuring all the wonderful pick-up lines used in the show.  Yes, it's super chauvinist but quite genius and (I assume) pretty indicative of the times. :)



One of my fave quotes----
Woman: "What are we drinkin'?
Ken Cosgrove: "More of whatever's makin' you the way you are."

Oh, and in case you have not seen the Mad Men SNL skit, here's Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women. Oh so good!

Old Fashioneds, Vintage Threads and a Couple of Mad Men.

I came across some photos from the Mad Men party that I talked about in my last post, and totally stole them. So glad that I did as you guys know how bummed I was for not bringing my camera.

Enjoy!

Are you a Mad Men fan? Tell me what you enjoy about the show. :)

Calling all Mad Men fans!!!

Hello everyone! Hope you guys are enjoying this wonderful Labor Day weekend.  Mine has been good so far. Sorry about the infrequent posts.  Blogging can be so demanding! But so can watching reality television, hanging out with boys, developing relationships and living life!

After being super lazy and not working out for a while, I finally took an exercise class last week called Burn 60 (intervals of cardio and strength and circuit training), which totally kicked my butt.  The good hurt was a hurt that lasted 3 days and has finally subsided, but it was super motivating and got me back into the swing of being active.

Apart from that, I've been on the hunt for work, playing/learning more music and just enjoying the time that I have had off. Perhaps enjoying it a little too much.  Last night I went to a Mad Men (EFF YA!) party with a friend, and it was just plain lovely. It's a shame I didn't bring my camera, because I would have gotten some great shots.  But it was a party where I didn't know anyone but the person that invited me, so I didn't want to be the awkward/random person taking photos.  Next time, I should just not have a care and bring it anyway.  Challenge accepted!

The fun shindig was in a decent-sized apartment with dark crimson walls that gave the home a speakeasy vibe.  As soon as me and the boy walked in, everyone was so dapperly and classically dressed I felt like I walked into another time zone.  It was indeed Mad Men-esque.  Had the room been filled with smoke, I wouldn't have mistaken it for a beatnik party scene from the show.

A lovely small group of ladies and gentlemen were finely dressed in their best suits and fabulous vintage finds sipping on Martinis and Old Fashioneds.

I was particularly impressed with the ladies.  Most of them were small-framed and had beautiful, real retro finds. The kinds that are usually hard for me to purchase. Damn, these huge tatas of mine. Seriously, I wish I had documented the night so you could see.  Most of the ladies also had "bumps" or bobbed hair, full of volume as well as vintage jewelry to complete their looks. I went for the Christina Hendrinks/Joanie look, wearing a black pencil skirt, black and white striped top, thick white high-wasted belt and some classic looking ankle-strapped heels. I topped the look off with some pearls (borrowed from mom) and a very high bun.  Darn, I wish I took photos of myself! Ok, I'll stop with the photo thing. :p

The men were also very handsome.  Dressed to the nine with 3-peiced black and grey suits, topped with black fedora hats. They were not far from Don Draper or Roger Sterling.  Hubba, hubba!

Apart of the old-time drinks with recipes to make them, the apartment was decorated with old match books, liquid candy wax bottles, and printed Mad Men ads (including a copy of Don Draper's press release/newspaper letter on giving up on Tobacco/Lucky Strike). The show was also playing on the telly, while a Mad Men playlist was pleasantly streaming through the stereo.  It was just all too awesome. The bathroom was even labeled "Don Draper," indicating it as his office.  How good it as that?! The only thing missing was Scotch.  None of the men were drinking it (as it wasn't available) but rather, more sugary drinks like the "Don Draper" aka an Old Fashioned or some make of whatever ingredients were left.

To top it off, after a lovely pink-lemonade shot thingy made by one of the guests, the group of us did a fully-committed Conga line (like from the Christmas episode). It was just too cute and super fun. We even did the twist, where the boy was explaining how he taught a German friend how to do the classic dance by mimicking putting out cigarettes with your foot. LOL.

For the last time, it really was a shame...well, you know.  Oh, but wait! I do have some iPhone photos.  A gal there took some awesome Instagram shots.  Hopefully I can steal a few. Here are some of mine...

All the ingredients to make an Old Fashioned and other classic drinks.

Meena the kitten and some Mad Men ads.

Guess she was thirsty. That's my hot ass vintage purse, embelleshed with cutout fabric.

Like I said, if I brought my camera, I would've come out with some epic shots.  All good though. The memories will never leave me head. Here's a vid featuring many a favorite, Screamin' Jay Hawkins with "I Put a Spell on You." I've known of this song for so long but never watched Screamin' do a performance and me and the boy were getting such a kick outta it at the party.  Such good voodoo magic music, right thurrrr....



Keep a watching eye at 3:00, as it gets really magical there! His voice is dramatic and dynamic! This is some good, pre-Lady Gaga tunage.

Well, my weekend is far from over and I'm going to do a bit more damage and dance to some kickass Cumbia tonight! Hope you all are having a beautiful, safe weekend!

One more thing! Just realized that the Mad Men intro song is by RJD2! Gosh, it makes the show that much cooler!