2009, guess it was fine

First of all, I realize that it's already February 2010. But I've been busy already in '10, so it's taken me this long to put together a decent amount of my 2009 review. '09 really wasn't my favourite year overall. I had a pretty rough one. However, part of getting over 2009 and having a great 2010 is focusing on the good things that happened in 2009, and there were really a lot of fun moments. Since I didn't photograph the bad ones, this photographic year-in-review will highlight fun moments. Hooray!

January

In the blustery month of January, it was really really really cold in Chicago. Also I was really really really broke. So I worked as much as I could, tried to avoid going outside, and did my best hermit impression. I did have one photographic moment, as you can see, when Alana came to visit Chicago (again) so she could see Wicked here (again).

Pink goes good with green!

February

Things started picking up in February. I went back to school (second semester of an MFA in creative writing, for those of you who haven't been keeping up) and I got fairly serious about taking photos again via some travel and some skating highlights.

First, I went to the Chinese New Year Parade in Chicago's Chinatown with Adam. In Chicago, we like our Chinese New Year Parades to come with Irish bagpipe bands.

Later that week, I flew to Vancouver for my second trip in three consecutive years. This time, I attended the 2009 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, which is one of the most unique events in the world, because you never quite know who will show up when you plan to go. It's fun to see the variety, and we had everyone from the lesser-known teams from countries not known for figure skating like Brazil and the Philippines, to South Korea's Yu-Na Kim, who won her first world championship a month later. 2009 4CCs was the first ISU Championship level event that I was accredited for, so it was really exciting, plus...it was the test event for the Olympics! Loved being in the Olympic arena and I'm sure that the skaters had a great experience testing out Olympic ice, too. Also, my editor at Ice-Dance.com, said that it was one of my best photography events ever, up to that point. I wasn't crazy about the greyish hue to the ice, but I loved sitting in the balcony and getting some epic angles. There's something magical about a shot with nothing but ice in the background. I could share at least twenty images that I love, but I'll try to stick to just one from each day that I was there. You can always see more on IDC.

Feb 4th: South Korean Kim Yu-Na's short program to "Danse Macabre," which was one of my favourite programs of last season. She won the event.

Feb 5th: Canada's Meagan Duhamel & Craig Buntin's "Tosca" free skate. Not as electric as their short, but I'd been wanting to get this shot all season.

Feb 6th: Canada's Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir in their Pink Floyd free dance. I didn't like these costumes until I saw how beautifully they photographed. This shot is in my portfolio and looks awesome in print at 8x12!

Feb 7th: Jeremy Ten had one of the performances of the day in the men's free skate. He's local to Vancouver and he gave the performance of his life in front of a home crowd. It was awesome to be sitting right above a lot of the Canadian team members. When I looked down after he was done skating, a bunch of them were wiping away tears.

Feb 8th: Sunday was just the gala, which was a really weird final day of the competition. Since Chele had to leave before the gala in order to get back to MA for work on Monday, I sat with Jules on the "wrong" side of the arena, opposite the judges. It's amazing how many programs were still choreographed "for" the judges' side, even in a show setting. I did get some great shots of USA's Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates, though!

In addition to the skating, we also had some fun times sightseeing around the 2010 Olympic city! Although we'd all been to Vancouver together in 2008, the schedule was a lot busier then, so Jules, Chele, and I still had plenty of sights to track down during our 2009 trip. Unfortunately, my camera totally broke on the first day of competition. I was able to borrow a friend's extra body to shoot the event with, but most of my sightseeing was done when I just had a point & shoot. So...not too many "scenic" shots of the city that I'd want to post. I'll do better on my next trip! ;-)

Chele, me, and Jules in front of the "Welcome to Vancouver" sign, better pictured...

...here, with just me in the photo. Haha.

And since I don't have sightseeing photos to share, here's a parting shot, and one of the best bloopers I've ever taken. Yes, she actually is wearing a dress back there.

Two weeks after Four Continents, I went to the Chicago stop of the Stars on Ice tour for even more skating photography. For the second year in a row, I went with Jules and Katie. Katie lives in Madison now, but she came down and spent the weekend with me so we could shoot it together and write a joint blog for IDC, which is always a fun time. A few of my favourite shots:

Jennifer Robinson, 6-time Canadian champion, who is always one of the friendliest people at a skating event. Later in the fall, Jen told me that this was one of her favourite skating photos anyone has ever taken of her and, well, that kinda made me bawl.

John Zimmerman, 3-time U.S. pairs champion, skated on his own this year. I was really glad that the tour kept him and hope he'll be back. He's such a great part of the cast.

Michael Weiss, something-time U.S. champion, and habitual crowd-wower via his back flip. He's really become an awesome show skater all around, but it's the back flip that really gets the American audience. Always has been, probably always will be.

After the show with Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon, 5-time Canadian champions & 2-time world silver medalists, and more importantly, one of my favourite dance teams and providers of the tickets. Thanks again, guys!

March

March was dominated by more Stars on Ice shows, which is how I like my winter and spring months to be. After Chicago, I got in touch with Michael Weiss' family, who were interested in using my photos. Unfortunately, he'd been injured or sick or something and had only skated one of his programs in Chicago. Fortunately, I'd already planned to go to the show in Detroit with some friends. Unfortunately, the folks at the Palace of Auburn Hills were up on the NBA's camera policy and not SOI's, so they wouldn't let me bring my camera in. Fortunately, I'm kind of insane and I decided to go to Grand Rapids a couple of weeks later, too, since it's only a 3-hour drive.

Between the two shows, I had spring break and for a few days, I went on a trip with my mom to Memphis and Alabama. I really wanted to see where my grandma grew up—Gadsden, AL. I'd never been there and my mom hadn't been there since she was a kid. We lost my grandma in 2001, and I felt like I owed it to her and her memory to take this trip with my mom. It's too bad that the rest of the country had gorgeous weather that weekend, and we had freezing temps in Memphis and rain in Alabama, but we made it work. My photos aren't super pretty because it was grey and gloomy, but they mean a lot to me.

At the Somerset Collection in Troy, MI, before Stars on Ice. It's as much a tradition to go shop with the rich people at Somerset as it is to hit Stars on Ice in Detroit/technically Auburn Hills. Here, Christina took a moment to photograph me with one of my truffles from Godiva, which probably cost about $19.

Road trip with Mom: Walking in Memphis, Main Street at night.

Pitman Theatre in Gadsden, where my grandma went to see movies when she was a teen. The town is trying to restore it; the projector currently does not work.

First Baptist Church of Gadsden, where my grandma and her family attended services. This building was completed in 1927, the year my grandma turned 9. She was baptized here.

Christina came back to Michigan (again!) for Stars on Ice: Grand Rapids. The show was on a Sunday, so we spent Saturday in Lansing. Of course, we took a ceremonial self-po before leaving J's house.

Me and Jules at my favourite restaurant in Lansing, Ai Fusion. Fantastic sushi, reasonable price, yummy drinks, and a great atmosphere.

Sasha Cohen's "wings" transition from Stars on Ice in Grand Rapids. One of my best shots of the year, for sure.

Xue Shen & Hongbo Zhao's program to "Ramalama (Bang Bang)." Yes, it was ripped off mostly from So You Think You Can Dance, but it was still terrific.

Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon skated to U2's "Desire" in the second half. Maybe my favourite program they've done since they retired from competition.

After the show, John Zimmerman made me take a picture with him. How could I have said no? I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

April

April was a bit of a slow month, photographically. I didn't have any skating events and I was busy finishing my second semester of grad school. I did get to see Vienna Teng in concert, though, and took some of my best concert photos ever.

My friend Marynia and some finger puppets after one of the public readings for Oyez Review, the lit mag that we worked on first semester.

Ben Sollee, a rad cellist and singer who opened for Vienna Teng on April 17th at Schuba's in Chicago

Ward Williams, one of the members of the Vienna Teng Trio

Favourite shot of the incomparable Vienna Teng

We passed by Vienna on our way out of the bar and told her what a great show she'd done. She was nice enough to let me take a photo with her, even though I was in desperate need of a haircut.

The weather started turning nice in April, so a friend of mine planned a visit to Lincoln Park zoo, where we jumped for joy.

And I marveled at how gorgeous my city looks from Lincoln Park

And I took a photo of a duck that my friend Jenny really loves, for some reason.

2009 Year in Review: Part 1 of 3 is complete! Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3!

Overcoming Shopper's Guilt

So, does anyone read Things I Bought That I Love? It's Mindy Kaling's blog—she plays Kelly on The Office and also writes for the show. Sadly, she doesn't update too often, but I love reading her posts because I like living vicariously through people who have more money than I do. Personally, I have an incredible case of shopper's guilt. I can't buy anything without fretting about the money that I've spent on it. Like I still feel guilty for buying The Sims 2 in 2004. This is five years of guilt, people. I have a real problem.

However, occasionally, I buy something that is so fantastic that I am able to enjoy it freely after only, like, maybe a week of shopper's guilt. This is a huge victory for me, and I feel so awesome about these purchases that I just have to tell people.

Black Corduroy Jacket, Smart Set

First of all, I totally love Smart Set. They have super cute clothes in classic styles, but trendy colours. I can wear things from this season and look fairly fashionable and when I re-wear this season's styles next season, I will still look plenty cute, just maybe not trendy, because it's not the hottest colours. I'm poor, so I can deal with that just fine. And Smart Set is totally affordable and I can't complain about the quality, except the time I tried to iron one of their shiny camis and it melted, but I'm willing to accept full responsibility for that blunder. The major drawback is that it's only in Canada, so I hardly ever buy anything from there. Usually getting to Canada breaks my budget and there's no money for frivolous shopping while I'm there. I don't know why I was feeling so wealthy the last time I went to Toronto and buying this jacket actually wasn't the best idea ever once I got home and checked my bank account, but you know what? I didn't care. Two nights of wearing this jacket and feeling fabulous made me totally forget my shopper's guilt. I'd link to it on the website, but their website is kind of a hot mess and I can't get it to work, so you'll have to believe me that it was less than $50, full price, and you can settle for this photo of me modeling it, instead of an actual model who looks more fabulous than me. Oh, and the shirt under it is also Smart Set and was only $15 or something ridiculous. Fabulous sales.

Photo of me entering the Toronto subway for the first time by Christina!

Green Walnut Masque, Warren Tricomi

OK, so full disclosure: I work for a large beauty retailer, and I've had some training on this brand. But they're not paying me that much, trust me, so I wouldn't just promote the products that we sell without really believing in them. I have fine-textured hair and a scalp that tends to be oily, but I flat iron the ends under and put it up in ponytail holders when it gets longer, so I definitely deal with some breakage. I'd been thinking about trying a reparative conditioner, but I didn't want anything that would weigh my hair down. Enter the Green Walnut Masque by Warren Tricomi to the tune of an angelic chorus. I substitute Green Walnut for my normal volumizing conditioner (the Lemongrass one by MOP) once a week, usually on Saturdays or whenever I want my hair to look and feel extra amazing (usually for the benefit of a boy who doesn't notice), and the difference is fantastic. My hair feels healthier, lays flatter (without being heavy-flat), the breakage is less noticeable, and it's really shiny. Completely awesome product. It's $38, but using it only once a week, I'm expecting it to last a year, maybe even longer, so I think it's completely worth it. For friends with more texture to their hair or a drier scalp, I'm told that their Daily Hair Masque is just as fantastic—and you don't really need to use it daily.

This concludes this blog post. I'll do my best to write about something less frivolous next time.

Keeping Busy

The fall semester is keeping me busy. I like the constant pace and always having something to look forward to, but I also crave sleep and downtime. I like being able to sit at home and work on all of my different projects, but too often, I start something and can't make myself finish. Like unpacking. I haven't successfully unpacked in months. There has been a constant suitcase on my living room floor since August, except when I repack it and take it somewhere else for a few days. I hope my roommate doesn't hate me.

About a month ago, I was in Ottawa for my second figure skating competition as one of the official event photographers. It's stressful, to say the least. When I cover events as part of the media, it's a different vibe. If I get too bogged down, I can skip skaters or certain events. There are usually breaks built into the day when I can sit down for a few minutes, download my photos, maybe even eat a donut. But at the EOS competitions I'm doing this season, it's nonstop. Floods usually don't last more than 15 minutes (less than 10 minutes at Minto!) and if there's a chance for a longer break, I do what I can to help out Rhonda at the sales table. It's exciting, but I think that four days is my limit.

A few weeks ago, I had a completely different sort of skating event to cover. CBC, one of the Canadian TV networks, has a new show this fall called Battle of the Blades. The easiest way to explain it? It's like Dancing with the Stars, but the girls are professional (or retired) figure skaters and the guys are retired hockey players learning how to figure skate. I took photos at the first taping, available for viewing on Ice-Dance.com. The lighting was a little low and they put me on the "wrong" side of the arena, since most of the choreography was done for the judges' side, but the experience was fantastic. It was such a cheerful atmosphere. It's not meant to be taken completely seriously, but the athletes all have a competitive streak, of course, so they're working hard and putting together some fun numbers. I wish I could go every week, but since it's taped in Toronto and I live 10 hours away in Chicago...it's a little difficult. I am planning on going back for the final week of taping, though.

So the photography aspect of my life is going well. I'm looking at upgrading to a Canon 50D (I currently shoot with a 20D) sometime this month, whenever my student loans finally come through. They're only like six weeks late, so it may still be a couple of weeks, if last semester was any indication. The writing aspect of my dual life, however, is another story. The pressure of being in a creative writing program has made me agonize about everything I put on the page. I don't feel very confident in my writing lately, and I'm not having much fun with it either. I'm constantly procrastinating my assignments, which only makes them more stressful, and I feel like I can never catch up. I admit that I'm starting to rethink this duality, but I don't think that changing my situation is a viable option right now. I tried to change my situation over the summer, but it didn't pan out, and now I feel fairly stuck.

But at least I'm keeping busy. No time to sit around and feel stuck for too long. This week, I have a nonfiction workshop piece to submit, an essay to select and prepare for Ecolit, and when the week is over, I get to enjoy a weekend in western Michigan with some new friends. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some beautiful fall foliage.

Resolutions?

I'm so sporadic with this blog. In my defense, shortly after my last post, I embarked on a fantastic adventure. I spent two weeks photographing figure skating events in Ottawa and Lake Placid. I went to Montréal for less than eight hours. I saw friends -- both old and new, took over 50,000 photos (ah, the life of a sports photographer...going to need a new shutter soon!), laughed until the wee hours of the morning most nights, survived attacks from giant spiders and a batlike moth, developed knots in my shoulders from holding my camera that still haven't gone away, and had a marvelous time. Of course, I should have come home and blogged all about it immediately, but it took weeks to catch up from all of those photos. I'm still catching up, actually.

So today, I'm re-resolutioning to blog at least once a week, and I'll certainly try to write more often. It's a good day for resolutions, because tonight is my first class of my third semester of grad school. I'm also resolving (see, I do actually know the word) to do my assignments in a timely manner and manage my time better than I did last semester, so I don't get sick. In addition to my really lame retail job and two grad courses, I also have plans to step up my photography assignments this semester. I have a lot of traveling planned, at least tentatively, and I'm hoping that I can balance everything.

Tonight, I'll begin a course on Ecoliterature. I'm kind of terrified, because I don't especially like nature or reading things that require me to form opinions. I do like pretty descriptions and interesting facts, though, so I'm hoping I can find some common ground. I'm also hoping that no one makes me argue in this course. I hate arguing.

Tomorrow night, I'll switch gears for Creative Nonfiction Writing II. This will be my fourth writing workshop (I'm required to take six for my degree), but my first with this instructor, so I'm not sure what to expect. My emphasis in the program is creative nonfiction, so I'm hoping that I'll feel more comfortable in this class, but I have to admit...I haven't done much writing in the CNF genre since last semester's CNF course which was discouraging at best. I hope I can step up my motivation.

And because I can blog about whatever I want to blog about, since I chose not to go with a theme for this blog, I'm planning to write about Canadian ice dance in my next entry. Shooting events in Ottawa and Lake Placid means that I've seen most of Canada's dance teams for the season, and I feel like sharing my opinions. Plus, I just really like writing about figure skating.

Billy Joel and Elton John

Last Thursday night, I went to the first of two concerts that Billy Joel & Elton John did this month at Wrigley Field in Chicago. As primarily a Sox fan, it was only my third trip to Wrigley, but easily the most memorable. The field provided the perfect backdrop to a fantastic concert—certainly one of the best I have ever attended!

I'd heard people say in the past that Elton and Billy are getting up in years and don't sing as well as they used to, but I didn't find that to be the case at all. Sure, I could hardly understand a word that Elton sang, but I think his lack of enunciation is a stylistic concern, not an aging problem. Both of them sounded strong, spectacularly on-pitch, and their piano playing was just incredible. In a world when live performances on television are often not even in tune (I'm talking about you, So You Think You Can Dance), it's incredible to attend a concert featuring two musicians as talented as these two.

The show was kind of epic, and well worth the price of nosebleed seats! First, Elton and Billy sang and played together, alternating between some of their biggest hits, then Elton did a full set, Billy did a full set, and they closed the show playing together. I only have a few complaints about the set list: Elton didn't play "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" and Billy didn't do "For the Longest Time." "For the Longest Time" is maybe one of my favourite songs in the entire world, and one of his extremely popular ones, so I was surprised that he didn't include it.

I forgave him, though, because his performance of "It's Still Rock & Roll to Me" was completely unexpected in the most awesome way. For that classic, the piano was lowered back under the stage and Billy performed with just the microphone and his band. The energy was incredible, and he even pulled off a few mic tricks! I think it was my favourite solo performance of the show, followed closely by Elton's "Tiny Dancer."

There were some other great moments from their solo sets: Elton's "Crocodile Rock" and "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" and Billy's "Only the Good Die Young" and "She's Always a Woman to Me," to name a few. However, the best moments of the show were the songs that they performed together, including "Your Song" (which opened the show), "Candle in the Wind," "Uptown Girl," and "Piano Man," the concert's fitting finale.

I knew it would be a fantastic experience, but I don't think I anticipated how incredible it would feel to be part of a crowd of 40,000 people, singing along to some of the best songs of the past thirty years.

As far as where this concert ranks among all that I've attended, I think it's a very, very close second. Seeing Céline Dion last December was a moment that was so many years in the making, and she didn't disappoint at all. I'm not sure anything will ever top that. But in terms of production value, I think Billy & Elton was a slightly better show. Céline's show was performed in the round, which meant she could really pack the United Centre, but it was a little distancing at times. Even though my seats were just as bad at Billy & Elton, I never felt as far from the stage as I really was, and something about enjoying their music outdoors on a beautiful summer night was just so magical.

Billy & Elton packed Wrigley Field again tonight, and I happened to be in Wrigleyville/Boystown for a theatre performance this evening. I took the red line home and as I waited for the train at Addison, just half a block from the stadium, Billy was closing his set with "Only the Good Die Young." People on the platform were singing along and two guys standing near me were saying that even though it wasn't their favourite type of music, Billy and Elton really have made some classic songs. Absolutely, I wanted to turn around and say, but I know better than to talk to strange people on the El.

Special thanks to my mom for funding our evening at the concert! I couldn't have gone if she hadn't paid, and I was happy to share the experience with her.

On Surprises

I have this incredible group of friends. There are five of us in the core group: Jules, Christina, Jen, Chele, and me. We sometimes refer to ourselves as "THOSE girls," which is a joke with a complicated backstory that I won't try to explain. But as "THOSE girls," we travel together (often to skating events, but not always), we celebrate birthdays, and we laugh...a lot.

The tradition of surprises began between Jules and Christina, before either of them knew Jen or Chele or me. I think my first surprise was in summer 2005. Jen, Christina, Jules, and I had planned to spend a weekend together in Michigan, where Jules lives, but at the last minute, Chele decided to join us. We surprised Jules with her in the middle of the Gap in Ann Arbor. And so annual birthday weekend began.

Surprising people is so addicting. Over the past few years, Jules and I have surprised Jen and Christina a few times in Toronto, and once, Jen and Christina surprised both of us while I was also living in Michigan. It had been a while since our last surprise, though, and I don't know why I didn't expect something when we weren't busily trying to make plans for a birthday weekend in June.

Jules and I have the same birthday, and since 2003, the first year that we knew each other, we've always managed to celebrate it together within two weeks of June 9. So this year, since she couldn't come for our actual birthday weekend, we settled on June 19-22. I requested time off of work, and since I also just moved into a new condo, I planned a casual wine & cheese party to housewarm the new place, have Jules meet some of my friends here, and celebrate our birthdays.

On that Friday, she was set to arrive at about 9. I was at a concert in Millenium Park with Jamie and Adam, but when it started to rain, we headed back to my place to hang out for a while. And when Jules was about an hour late, I texted her and told her that we were grabbing a bite to eat in the bar at the end of the street, and for her to call when she got here. So Adam, Jamie, and I grabbed some dinner, and we waited. And waited. Two hours late, and I still didn't suspect anything, although I was worried that she'd gotten in an accident or something, so I called to make sure she was okay. She said she was almost there, so we paid our bills and started walking back to my condo.

Jules was turning the corner right in front of the bar and I saw that she was heading for a parking space, so I ran after her car, just because I was excited to see her...not because I'd noticed that there were three other people in the car. And when I got to the car, I've been informed that the look on my face was "priceless." The girls spilled out of the car and into a group hug, and I've never felt quite as speechless as I did in that moment. After about 30 seconds, it started to sink in, and I sat down on the sidewalk and cried.

I've been going through a rough time in the past few months. My job situation isn't what it needs to be, and I've been frustrated and angry and hopeless, at times. I don't let it consume me, and there are just as many laughs as there are days of frustration, but in June, I was really starting to need a pick-me-up.

And of course, the girls came through. They'd planned for a month before they showed up, and I had never guessed they were up to anything. I don't think anything cheers me up like a good surprise, and no memories lasts longer than the ones I make with good friends.

THOSE girls on the Kinzie Street Bridge

Dreaming of Dancing

I dream a lot, and I think a lot about dreams—my dreams, other people's dreams, what a dream does to a person. Not the kinds of dreams that fill your head while you sleep, but the active sort of dreaming. When you want something so badly that the decisions you make in everyday life point you towards that dream—that's the sort of dream that fascinates me.

Of course, there are the silly dreams, too. I'm an only child, and I think that's made me exceptionally imaginative. I was a quiet kid, and I hated playing outside, so when I got tired of Barbies or playing against myself in Monopoly, I read. I read like crazy as a kid, and I read fast. And when I finished a book (usually about an hour after I began), I'd stretch out on my bed and stare up at the ceiling and put myself in the life of the main character. I could stay like that for an hour, just laying on my bed and dreaming about being in someone else's life.

Sometimes, I didn't even need a book. From the comfort of my own room, I could transform from an awkward, uncoordinated kid into an Olympic champion on floor exercise, or a world-class pairs skater, being tossed effortlessly into split triple twists by a strong (and attractive) partner. My most vivid daydreams were all about expression, movement, music—dance.

I took dance lessons when I was very young, and then I quit dance for a few years to take gymnastics classes. After three years of trying (and failing) to master a back walkover, I left gymnastics and returned to dance. For six years, until I finished high school, I took classes in ballet, tap, and jazz. I was in the highest class at my studio, and I was decent. I was actually pretty good in tap, but I never had the flexibility or spring in my jumps to stand out in ballet and jazz. I was also constantly intimidated by the other girls in my classes. I may have referred to them as the "spandex queens," and my best performances were usually left at home while practicing, when I didn't have to worry about what the other girls thought of me.

It's summer now, which means that my favourite competitive reality show is back on. Yes, I'm a So You Think You Can Dance junkie. This season hasn't blown me away yet, save for a few performances, but it still has the same effect on me. When I watch the cast of talented dancers try different styles and work with some of the most well-known choreographers in the business, I can only think of how much I wish I could do that. I wish I had more rhythm, was less awkward, could leap higher and stretch further. Most of all, I wish I could afford to take some classes somewhere. If I ever get a real job, that's going to be on my priority list. Until then, let me just tell you that I can dance a mean tango in my head. You'll have to trust me on that.