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.
view publisher site https://kinetiq.buzz/
клиника наркологическая клиника наркологическая .
click for more info https://kinetiq.lat
our website https://theo.sbs/
read here https://usdai.cloud
soft corner – Clean design and fast-loading pages made shopping enjoyable.
электрические карнизы купить https://www.elektrokarniz98.ru .
anonymous https://navigator-exchange.org
look at this now https://hlp0.online/
my explanation https://beratrax.org
visit this website https://safeglobal.club
электрокарнизы москва http://www.elektrokarniz98.ru .
Discover More https://royco.cc
электрокарнизы для штор купить в москве https://elektrokarniz98.ru/ .
article source https://prjx.online/
Нравится сайт — интуитивно и много
интересного.
онлайн казино
blog link https://d2finance.cc
анонимная наркологическая помощь анонимная наркологическая помощь .
click this over here now https://beratrax.org/
Golden Savanna Home – A well-structured site that made browsing comfortable and items attractive to view.
Golden Savanna Market – The setup was pleasant, and the items looked appealing as I browsed.
Hi there, I check your new stuff daily. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
больница наркологическая https://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-40.ru .
soft collection – Navigation felt natural and products were visually appealing.
harbor selection – Fast-loading pages and neat layout made exploring effortless.
Coastline Corner – Well-laid-out pages and visible items allowed for smooth browsing.
sites https://hlp0.online
наркология москва наркология москва .
Discover More https://hlp0.cloud/
harbor attic – Smooth navigation and well-organized categories made shopping easy.
honestshopcorner – Easy-to-use interface and tidy pages, made finding products quick.
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My blog is in the exact same niche as yours and my visitors would certainly benefit from some of the information you present here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Regards!
best market site – The neat structure made every section easy to explore without confusion.
my favorite shop – The layout made it simple to find what I needed, nothing felt cluttered at all.
click here to read https://terminal.credit
grovecorneremporium – Tidy interface with clearly arranged items, browsing was pleasant.
наркологическая клиника трезвый выбор http://www.narkologicheskaya-klinika-37.ru/ .
через аську связался… дал данные куда сколько отправить, и с киви кошелька оплатил 7700р. на номер который в аське дали https://dvakusneza.ru фарту в бизепока двоих отпустили, в крови ничего не нашли.. ждем результатов экспертизы.
Hi, I read your blog daily. Your writing style is witty, keep it up!
you can try these out https://dexrp.buzz
take a look at the site here https://usdai.cloud/
Ended up stuck outside my car in Tampa late at night and figured I’d share this in case it helps someone else.
I used a local locksmith from this site:
https://tampa24hrlocksmith.com/
They offer round-the-clock mobile service in Tampa for:
– Auto lockouts and lost car keys
– Home lockouts
– Rekeying locks after tenants move out
– Office & store-front locks
The tech showed up fast, gave the price before starting and there were no hidden fees at the end.
If you need a locksmith in a hurry, it’s worth saving this:
**https://tampa24hrlocksmith.com/**
Posting this because it’s hard to tell which locksmiths are real and which are sketchy, and this one actually did the job without turning it into a circus.
Every point you made here resonated with me.
This content stands out from anything else I’ve read on this subject.
This had so much energy — I absolutely loved it!
I’m saving this — too good not to revisit!
This is the kind of content that keeps me coming back.
наркологические услуги в москве narkologicheskaya-klinika-37.ru .
адреса наркологических клиник https://narkologicheskaya-klinika-37.ru .
navigate to these guys https://gluex.io