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.
ванна с гидромассажем недорого ванна с гидромассажем недорого .
Asian4d
Новостной региональный сайт “Скай Пост” https://sky-post.odesa.ua/tag/korisno/ – новости Одессы и Одесской области. Читайте на сайте sky-post.odesa.ua полезные советы, интересные факты и лайфхаки. Актуально и интересно про Одесский регион.
Российско-китайская компания «BETEREX» упрощает ваше взаимодействие с Китаем. Работаем с физическими и юридическими лицами. Предлагаем вам выгодные цены на доставку грузов. Гарантируем взятые на себя обязательства. https://mybeterex.com – здесь заполните форму, и мы в ближайшее время свяжемся с вами. Бэтэрэкс предлагает полный комплекс услуг для ведения бизнеса с Китаем. Осуществляем на популярных площадках выкуп товаров. Проконтролируем качество. Готовы заказ любой сложности выполнить. К сотрудничеству всегда открыты!
I do not even understand how I ended up here, however I assumed this post used to be great.
I don’t understand who you might be however definitely
you are going to a famous blogger should you aren’t already.
Cheers!
When I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from
now on whenever a comment is added I get 4 emails with the exact same comment.
Perhaps there is an easy method you can remove me
from that service? Kudos!
Сайт для женщин https://gratransymas.com о красоте, моде, здоровье и стиле жизни. Полезные советы, рецепты, тренды, отношения и карьера.
Таиланд
Сайт для женщин https://gratransymas.com о красоте, моде, здоровье и стиле жизни. Полезные советы, рецепты, тренды, отношения и карьера.
Сайт для женщин https://gratransymas.com о красоте, моде, здоровье и стиле жизни. Полезные советы, рецепты, тренды, отношения и карьера.
Корисна інформація в блозі сайту “Українська хата” xata.od.ua розкриває цікаві теми про будівництво і ремонт, домашній затишок і комфорт для сім’ї. Читайте останні новини щодня https://xata.od.ua/tag/new/ , щоб бути в курсі актуальних подій.
Pokerace99
купить водительские права
Эссен
Linetogel
Aktivniy-otdykh.ru – сайт об активном отдыхе. Мы уникальные туры в Азербайджане разрабатываем. Верим, что истинное путешествие начинается с искренности и заботы. У нас своя команда гидов и водителей. С нами путешествия обходятся на 30% выгоднее. Ищете активный отдых в Грузии? Aktivniy-otdykh.ru – здесь представлена полезная и актуальная информация. Тажке на ресурсе вы отыщите отзывы гостей об отдыхе в Грузии и Азербайджане. Мы с вниманием и душой к каждой детали все организуем, отдых ваш незабываемым будет. Будем рады новым знакомствам и совместным открытиям!
мостбет ком мостбет ком
https://adalat24store.shop
Pokerace99
Pokerace99
кашпо с автополивом для комнатных растений кашпо с автополивом для комнатных растений .
cialis free trial voucher: Tadalify – cialis sample request form
Goltogel
https://minskdiesel.by/remont-turbiny-daf-106
Ищете полезную информацию как получить визу «цифровой кочевник Испании или digital nomad»? Посетите страницу https://vc.ru/migration/1171130-vnzh-ispanii-kak-poluchit-vizu-cifrovoi-kochevnik-ispanii-ili-digital-nomad-spisok-dokumentov-i-kakie-nalogi-platyat и вы найдете полный список необходимых, для оформления, документов и какие налоги платятся в дальнейшем. Подробный обзор.
Pokerace99
Жердевка
mostbet. com https://mostbet11070.ru
Эйлат
Pokerace99
Pokerace99
mostbet ckachat mostbet ckachat
plaquenil
Drug information for patients. Long-Term Effects.
can you buy generic rogaine pills
Best news about drugs. Read information now.
https://minskdiesel.by/remont-forsunok-mersedes
I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your website.
It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it
much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you
hire out a developer to create your theme? Superb work!
shiokambing2
https://paper.wf/kogabyiuud/toledo-kupit-gashish-boshki-marikhuanu
I think the admin of this web page is in fact working hard for his web page, because here every data is quality based stuff.
Pretty part of content. I just stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to claim that I acquire in fact enjoyed account your weblog posts.
Anyway I’ll be subscribing to your augment or
even I success you access persistently fast.
https://hoo.be/payugebuohgu
Greetings! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering
which blog platform are you using for this website?
I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Сайт обо всём https://vybir.kiev.ua энциклопедия для повседневной жизни. Красота, здоровье, дом, путешествия, карьера, семья и полезные советы для всех.
Сайт обо всём https://vybir.kiev.ua энциклопедия для повседневной жизни. Красота, здоровье, дом, путешествия, карьера, семья и полезные советы для всех.
Hi, I want to subscribe for this webpage to take most up-to-date updates,
thus where can i do it please help out.
Сайт обо всём https://vybir.kiev.ua энциклопедия для повседневной жизни. Красота, здоровье, дом, путешествия, карьера, семья и полезные советы для всех.
Студия дизайна https://lbook.com.ua интерьера и архитектуры. Создаём стильные проекты квартир, домов и офисов. Индивидуальный подход, современные решения и полный контроль реализации.
https://www.themeqx.com/forums/users/ghifigouy/
Студия дизайна https://lbook.com.ua интерьера и архитектуры. Создаём стильные проекты квартир, домов и офисов. Индивидуальный подход, современные решения и полный контроль реализации.
Студия дизайна https://lbook.com.ua интерьера и архитектуры. Создаём стильные проекты квартир, домов и офисов. Индивидуальный подход, современные решения и полный контроль реализации.