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.
электрокарнизы цена электрокарнизы цена .
наркологические услуги в москве http://narkologicheskaya-klinika-34.ru/ .
find out https://etherealtrade.rest/
карнизы для штор купить в москве карнизы для штор купить в москве .
наркологическая клиника наркологическая клиника .
автоматические гардины для штор http://www.elektrokarnizy77.ru/ .
электрические гардины электрические гардины .
электрокарниз двухрядный [url=http://www.elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor11.ru]http://www.elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor11.ru[/url] .
электрокарниз двухрядный цена elektrokarnizy77.ru .
карниз с приводом для штор https://elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor15.ru/ .
аренда мебели на выставку москва Экспозиционное оборудование для выставок в Москве. Быстрая сборка и удобная транспортировка.
электрические карнизы для штор в москве [url=https://elektrokarnizy77.ru/]https://elektrokarnizy77.ru/[/url] .
телефон наркологии [url=https://narkologicheskaya-klinika-36.ru/]narkologicheskaya-klinika-36.ru[/url] .
электрокарниз купить электрокарниз купить .
электронный карниз для штор http://www.provorota.su/ .
наркологический диспансер москва http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-34.ru .
latest trends – Good overall experience; categories were easy to navigate and items were displayed attractively.
anchor https://yieldfi.pro/
click for more https://plasma.credit/
автоматические гардины для штор http://www.elektrokarniz2.ru .
карнизы для штор с электроприводом https://provorota.su/ .
электрокарниз двухрядный [url=elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor15.ru]elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor15.ru[/url] .
автоматические гардины для штор elektrokarniz2.ru .
карниз электро provorota.su .
электрокарниз купить электрокарниз купить .
Брал тут тусишку два раза, отменного качества. Магаз работает быстро и чётко, трек кидают на следующий день, товар приходит через два дня. Респект магазу купить Мефедрон, Бошки, Марихуану Про Ам1220 здешний известно что нибудь…?Адрес почты правильный, все проверил не 1 раз, ответьте хоть тут.ну будем надееться что и на этот раз TS войдет в положение и как нибудь обратит внимание на решение наших вопросов, компенсирует нам потраченые нервы и время на безсмысленное ожидание, главное ведь для магазина репутация!
электрические гардины для штор http://www.elektrokarniz2.ru .
автоматические карнизы для штор http://www.provorota.su .
электрокарнизы электрокарнизы .
электрокарнизы для штор цена [url=provorota.su]provorota.su[/url] .
электрокарниз двухрядный https://www.elektrokarniz2.ru .
электрокарнизы для штор купить в москве http://elektrokarniz495.ru/ .
ко ланта на карте краби ко ланта как добраться — одно из самых удобных сочетаний маршрутов: добраться до Krabi Town или Ao Nang по воздуху или по суше, затем отправиться на пароме через пирсы до Saladan на Ко ЛантеЙаи. Поездка занимает примерно 2–3 часа в зависимости от пункта отправления и погодных условий. В высокий сезон расписание паромов может расширяться, поэтому планируйте заблаговременно и учитывайте запас времени на дорогу и возможные задержки. В Ao Nang можно взять пакетный тур с трансфером напрямую до порта и пирса, что упрощает организацию отдыха.
электрокарниз москва [url=http://elektrokarniz2.ru/]http://elektrokarniz2.ru/[/url] .
наркологическая помощь наркологическая помощь .
карнизы с электроприводом карнизы с электроприводом .
Going Here https://yieldfi.pro
go to website https://theo.exchange/
электрокарниз москва elektrokarniz495.ru .
Resources https://unich.icu
клиника наркологическая платная http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-36.ru .
электрокарниз недорого http://www.elektrokarnizy77.ru .
автоматические карнизы автоматические карнизы .
stone store – Well-arranged products and simple interface made browsing easy.
электронный карниз для штор электронный карниз для штор .
visit here https://hlp0.cloud/
автоматические карнизы автоматические карнизы .
автоматический карниз для штор http://www.elektrokarniz-dlya-shtor11.ru/ .
скрытый алкоголизм http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-36.ru/ .
электрокарниз двухрядный http://www.elektrokarnizy77.ru .