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.
check these guys out https://gofundmeme.cc/
reachriver.click – Content reads clearly, helpful examples made concepts easy to grasp.
visit this web-site https://upshift.cfd
my blog https://neur.cloud
you can check here https://alchemistai.lat
This Site https://aixbt.my/
https://omsi2mod.ru/forum/7-11849-1
go now https://tophat.cc/
More about the author https://heyanon.my/
сайт дайсон спб pylesos-dn-8.ru .
you can check here https://hyperunit.cc
Thank you, I’ve recently been looking for information about this subject for a while and yours is the best I’ve discovered till now. However, what in regards to the conclusion? Are you positive in regards to the supply?
Hello there, I found your website by way of Google while looking for a related topic, your website came up, it seems to be good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
Hello there, simply turned into alert to your weblog through Google, and found that it’s really informative. I’m going to be careful for brussels. I will appreciate in the event you proceed this in future. A lot of folks shall be benefited out of your writing. Cheers!
Купить мебель, https://www.inalto.it/jugaad-innovation/ — это важный шаг в обустройстве вашего дома. Чтобы сделать правильный выбор, определите свои вкусы. Широкий каталог поможет вам выбрать идеальные решения для вашего интерьера.
дайсон где купить в спб dn-pylesos-4.ru .
their explanation https://flaunch.ink/
try here https://unchainx.org
go now https://cytonic.cc
right here https://universalx.cc
https://trello.com/c/fhK71wiC
Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was wanting to know your situation; many of us have created some nice methods and we are looking to exchange strategies with others, be sure to shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Learn More https://hyperunit.buzz
дайсон официальный сайт спб дайсон официальный сайт спб .
Hello, just wanted to mention, I enjoyed this blog post. It was funny. Keep on posting!
буклет коновалова, буклет коновалова купить, буклет доктора коновалова
буклет коновалова, буклет коновалова купить, буклет доктора коновалова
В сети легко найти дополнительные материалы по теме.
leadnest.click – Pages loaded fast, images appeared sharp, and formatting stayed consistent.
hey there and thank you for your information – I have definitely picked up anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical points using this website, since I experienced to reload the web site a lot of times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and can damage your high-quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords. Well I am adding this RSS to my email and could look out for much more of your respective intriguing content. Ensure that you update this again very soon.
navigate to this web-site https://agents-land.org
Visit Your URL https://nucleusearn.org
have a peek at this website https://colend.my
look at this now https://badai.sbs
пылесосы dyson спб pylesos-dn-7.ru .
about his https://upshift.ltd/
pin-up retirar a débito pin-up retirar a débito
reachriver.click – Bookmarked this immediately, planning to revisit for updates and inspiration.
I really like what you guys are usually up too. This kind of clever work and coverage! Keep up the good works guys I’ve added you guys to my personal blogroll.
reachriver.click – Overall, professional vibe here; trustworthy, polished, and pleasantly minimal throughout.
Hello to every one, because I am genuinely keen of reading this web site’s post to be updated on a regular basis. It includes nice data.
web https://asterdex.lat/
http://www.saratovturizm.ru/forum/topic.php?forum=11&topic=4802
this https://prismagent.org
дайсон пылесос купить дайсон пылесос купить .
My brother recommended I may like this web site. He was entirely right. This post actually made my day. You cann’t consider simply how so much time I had spent for this info! Thank you!
click for more https://noon.lat
this https://xmaquina.org
websites https://prismagent.org
reachriver.click – Content reads clearly, helpful examples made concepts easy to grasp.
pin up apk android pinup2003.help
useful site https://elara.cfd/
look here https://cwap.us/