Photo © 2012 Markus Spiering
Click here for original image.
A hundred geeks with cameras. Yup, and I was buried smack-dab in the middle of ’em. Didn’t want to be there. Didn’t mean to be there.
I remember in a high-school science class, we saw a film of an amoeba eating a paramecium. The amoeba’s body flowed around its prey, and after it had the poor bug surrounded, it just, kinda… digested it, right there, just like that. The paramecium squiggled and squirmed, tried valiantly to escape, but too little, too late. And then—poof!—it shimmered and was absorbed into the predator. It was gone.
That was me, that poor, little paramecium. My goofy boyfriend pulled me in before I knew what was going on. And by the time I realized what was going on, I was surrounded, and being digested by an amoeba, and unable to escape.
Chet had begged me to come along. He said I’d enjoy it. For the record, I didn’t. But I was glad he was finally enjoying something. He’s been so bent out of shape since he lost his job last April. Laid off on April the first, if you can get that joke.
We scaled back on our standard of living. That didn’t bug me so much. But what really surprised me was how much it got him down. He stopped doing anything constructive, spent all day watching TV, wasn’t looking for work, said we’d do fine on his unemployment check.
We’ve been surviving on peanut butter and ramen noodles and pasta and frozen burritos. I don’t remember the last time I had a home-cooked meal.
I started by bugging him about his lack of work. He said he wanted a little vacation. I gave him a little vacation, then asked again. He said he was trying, but that nothing was available. I didn’t believe him, not that much. I asked him what job ads he had responded to each day. Most days, he just ignored me. Some days, yelled at me. I told him we could no longer afford cable TV. He convinced his parents to pay the bill.
I thought of getting ahold of a sledgehammer and having an “accident” with the TV set, but then I thought twice: we might need to sell it someday.
He was partially right, of course. There were no jobs in his field. But what bugged me most was that he was letting it get to him. His mind began wasting away to nothing, nothing at all, all day everyday. And as each day continued, he sank lower into the couch, and further into pity party.
I didn’t know how to snap him out of it. But his birthday gift did. One of his old office buddies sent him a digital camera, along with a really cool-looking book about how to take fun pictures about anything at all.
So when he threw himself into the hobby, and the hobby became an obsession, and a obsession became an endeavor, and when he began studying photography and framing and composition and lighting, and posted photo after photo to Flickr, and when he began hanging out with other camera-heads, and started talking about pursuing it professionally… I wanted to object. But not for the reason you might think. I wanted to object, because I was beginning to feel ignored.
But at least he was smiling again, and I had missed his smile. And the TV remained powered-off, except for the weekly exhibitions of his latest photos, which he would force me to watch, no matter how many hours I had worked that day.
Then, when he begged me to come to this big gathering of camera-heads, I gave in. I didn’t want to at first, but he pushed me and pressed me, and then he cuddled up next to me and told me about how much fun it was going to be to get away and that we hadn’t had a vacation in forever and that I needed a break—which was true. And he kissed me, and I melted and said yes. Sigh.
I hated it, didn’t enjoy it at all. There were no other camera-head-significant-others there. The food was okay, but the guest speaker spoke only camera-ese, and told only stupid camera jokes and camera stories. Then those assembled talked all afternoon about gadgets and techniques and awards, and showed each other the contents of their camera cases. Chet even got some business advice, which may or may not have been good advice, but he was enjoying himself, even though I had no idea what anyone was talking about.
“This is my girlfriend, Katy.”
And I smiled and faded into the background, maybe fondled a drink and tried to look interested in what they were saying while pondering the intricacies of the room’s potted flora. Too much, too far, too long. I was out of it. I so wanted to go home.
We started toward the door, walked out into the afternoon sun. I made a move toward the car, but Chet grabbed my hand and pulled me in the opposite direction. I looked up and saw that we were surrounded by a growing crowd, which was closing in around us on all sides. I was trapped, and one of the geeks with a camera was pointing it right at me. The other targets pointed their cameras back at him, but I was defenseless, hair akimbo, probably with a piece of spinach stuck between my teeth… not that it mattered, as no one could see my teeth.
The geek said, “Alright! Ready everybody?! Cheeeezzze!”
And everyone said, “Cheeeezzze!”
“Hold on!” He interrupted them, futzing with his camera. “Okay…”
“Quick!” said Chet. “Somebody fire before he reloads!” And raised his camera and took aim.
And that’s when the geek pulled the trigger.
индивидуалки транс нижневартовск
кухни на заказ в спб недорого кухни на заказ в спб недорого .
melbet cod cupon http://melbet5013.ru/
go to this site https://prjx.online
Важная деталь — отсутствие полипрагмазии. Мы используем «минимально достаточную фармакотерапию»: каждый препарат имеет цель, окно эффективности и критерии отмены. Это снижает побочные эффекты, убирает «тяжесть» днём и делает восстановление более естественным.
Получить дополнительную информацию – http://narkologicheskaya-klinika-v-spb14.ru/narkolog-sankt-peterburg/
рейтинг лучших seo агентств reiting-seo-kompanii.ru .
купить кухню на заказ в спб kuhni-spb-11.ru .
кухня по индивидуальному заказу спб кухня по индивидуальному заказу спб .
кухни спб http://kuhni-spb-9.ru .
кухня по индивидуальному заказу спб кухня по индивидуальному заказу спб .
кухни под заказ в спб кухни под заказ в спб .
кухни на заказ спб недорого с ценами [url=https://kuhni-spb-12.ru]https://kuhni-spb-12.ru[/url] .
кухни на заказ в спб http://kuhni-spb-9.ru/ .
read more https://hlp0.cloud
рейтинг интернет агентств seo http://www.reiting-seo-kompanii.ru/ .
кухни под заказ спб кухни под заказ спб .
рейтинг seo компаний рейтинг seo компаний .
trendytrove – Found fashionable pieces fast, site navigation and checkout were effortless.
chicdaily – Lots of trendy items available, browsing the pages felt fast.
кухни на заказ в спб http://kuhni-spb-9.ru .
have a peek at this website https://g8keep.org/
seo оптимизация агентство reiting-seo-kompanii.ru .
кухни на заказ в санкт-петербурге кухни на заказ в санкт-петербурге .
рекламное агентство seo рекламное агентство seo .
продвижение сайтов топ агентство продвижение сайтов топ агентство .
кухни под заказ в спб [url=https://kuhni-spb-11.ru/]кухни под заказ в спб[/url] .
кухни от производителя спб http://kuhni-spb-9.ru/ .
seo services company seo services company .
кухни на заказ в спб [url=https://kuhni-spb-9.ru]https://kuhni-spb-9.ru[/url] .
trendbuyhub – Excellent range of deals, ordering process was effortless.
navigate to these guys https://etherealtrade.xyz
seo рейтинг seo рейтинг .
Состав капельницы никогда не «копируется»; он выбирается по доминирующему симптому и соматическому фону. Ниже — клинические профили, которые помогают понять нашу логику. Итоговая схема формируется на месте, а скорость и объём зависят от текущих показателей.
Подробнее – нарколог на дом краснодар
For those looking for information on the topic “Step-by-Step Financial Guides for a Secure Future”, found a lot of useful stuff.
Вот, можете почитать:
https://codefortots.com
геронтологический центр в москве для пожилых людей Геронтологические пансионаты и дома престарелых обеспечивают постоянный уход и проживание для пожилых людей, нуждающихся в посторонней помощи. Здесь созданы комфортные условия для жизни, организован досуг, обеспечивается круглосуточное наблюдение и необходимая медицинская помощь. Выбор геронтологического или гериатрического учреждения – важный шаг, требующий внимательного подхода. Необходимо учитывать репутацию учреждения, квалификацию персонала, спектр предоставляемых услуг, условия проживания и стоимость.
site here https://kinetiq.lat/
More Help https://d2finance.cc
Hey! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out
and say I genuinely enjoy reading your articles.
Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that
deal with the same topics? Thank you so much!
кухни на заказ в спб недорого кухни на заказ в спб недорого .
By the way, if you are interested in Effective Income Allocation and Personal Finance Strategies, check out here.
Вот, можете почитать:
https://histamineeats.com
Ключевая идея «ДонЗдрава» — соединить доказательную медицину и понятную пациенту логистику. Инфузии рассчитываются через инфузомат, жизненные показатели контролируются портативным кардиомонитором и пульсоксиметром, а лекарственные взаимодействия проверяются по протоколу перед началом терапии. При этом каждый шаг объясняется простым языком: что делаем, зачем это нужно и как будем оценивать результат через 30, 60 и 120 минут. После визита пациент не остаётся один — доступна «горячая линия» и короткие онлайн-сессии с врачом либо психологом, если тревога или бессонница возвращаются в ночные часы.
Получить больше информации – помощь вывод из запоя в ростове-на-дону
This clarified so much for me. https://hpmn4i.com/a-rare-batting-failure-for-australia/
Особенно понравился раздел про Вдохновляем на лучший отдых: курорты России и ближнего зарубежья.
Ссылка ниже:
https://infotourism.ru
*Седативные препараты применяются строго по показаниям и под мониторингом дыхания.
Подробнее можно узнать тут – https://vivod-iz-zapoya-rostov14.ru/vyvod-iz-zapoya-na-domu-rostov-na-donu
заказать кухню в спб по индивидуальному проекту kuhni-spb-12.ru .
Hi there, I found your website via Google even as searching for a similar subject, your site got
here up, it looks great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hello there, simply was alert to your weblog through Google, and located that it
is truly informative. I am gonna watch out for brussels.
I’ll be grateful in case you proceed this in future.
Numerous other folks can be benefited out of your writing.
Cheers!
The Gift Market – Plenty of choices; shipping was handled with care and arrived smoothly.
кухни на заказ в санкт-петербурге кухни на заказ в санкт-петербурге .
discover this info here https://defi-money.cc
melbet „verificare documente” https://melbet5013.ru/