white shirts blue jeans.

My photography has given me a chance to get jobs around the area, including doing the photography for events held at a local art gallery. It's a good time, even though it's not as creative as I would want to be. It's more about documenting the events.

I got an offer to do photos for the senior girls in my sorority. Friday morning I woke up bright and early to head out to Bonita Springs to do the shoot. The only thing I knew was that all the girls would wear jeans and a white t-shirt, plus we are going to the beach. Although I love my sisters, I wasn't sure how fun this shoot was going to be. I was notified last minute that a local alumni of my sorority was in the area and she wanted to come out to the shoot. Needless to say, I was not excited to hear someone else would be taking photos, since photographers ideas often clash during a shoot.

We headed up to Barefoot Beach, a place I never saw before. If you have never been there, you should definitely make the trip. It is pretty much a Florida post card. I was getting pretty excited when I was scoping out the area, since the girls all wore blue jeans and white shirts. The contrast was very appealing to the eye.

The other photographer pulled out her camera. Canon Rebel. Now, I know I haven't done much ranting about how I feel about Canon cameras as opposed to Nikons. Let's just say I think Canons are overpriced and overrated. I have also been around some "photographers" with a Canon that have no idea what they are doing, and they tote around a Canon because it's popular.

Therefore, when the woman took her camera out I had an automatic stigma. The shoot began, and we had the girls do some formal group shots. Then, since the overall attitude of these girls is very playful and fun, I wanted to get some shots of them having a good time-candid in a way. When we started this part of the shoot, the other photographer got flustered. The timing was always off with her photos. She leaned over to me and said, "You can do the action shots. I can do portraits?"

The way I see it is that a good photographer can interact with subjects and go a little further than just portraits.

You know what I say about SOME of these Canon photog's....

awkward six: you smell like a ninja.

Incense is a great way to keep your room smelling nice, along with wall plug ins, air fresheners, and febreeze. I feel as if incense is a little bit more natural than the chemicals used in these air fresheners. You can find different scents all over- the flea market being one of those places. But while I was checking out the scents at one stand, something jumped out at me.



How exactly does one smell like a ninja?

change the soil and the pot.

During the holiday weekend, my uncle decided to bestow upon me a bit of advice. He kept wanting to know what I plan on doing after I graduate. I have one more year, and quite frankly, I have been so busy lately that I haven't given it much thought.

He could tell I was nervous about what will happen after graduation, and he gave me better advice than I anticipated.

"When you get out of school, make sure you do things that make you so nervous you feel it in your stomach. If it doesn't make you nervous and excited, it's not worth it."

Then he finished up with advice one of his friends told him. His friend jumped around the job market a little bit after college.

"The only way the flower can flourish is if you change the soil and the pot constantly. Keep yourself on your toes, doing only things that keep you happy. Try new things and keep what you like."

For once, my uncle is right. Even though he spent the entire weekend finding ways to upset almost everyone in the family.

I'm pretty excited to see where I'm going to go after college. I've had some unexpected things thrown at me this year, but things are looking up.

ot: live blog, italian edition.

2PM: Festivities begin. The house is packed with thirty five Italians and my friend Francine. She did the head count.



I'm sort of upset at the fact that my cousins ate all the pigs in a blankets.

2:14PM: My uncle sits me down and asks me how school is going. "Everything is fine; I'm doing really well in school."
His response: "Have fun, Eugenia, you only have one more year left. When I was in college, there were some days I woke up and didn't know what school I went to."

2:20PM: Everyone sits down for the first phase of the meal. Lasagna. I'm twenty years old and I still sit at the kids table. My cousin has a fit because we aren't sitting in the order he wanted us to. I give him a piece of bread and butter and tell him to calm down.

2:30PM: Lasagna has been served. My three year old cousin, Stevie, confides to me that he is Buzz Lightyear.

2:45PM: I'm obsessed with Steven, therefore whenever I see him, I take a million pictures. He has learned to deal with it.




3:15PM: The first food wave is over.

Since Steven is the baby, he is subject to the typical boy roughness. I guess since he is now three, the rough housing begins.





Another uncle of mine says to me, "You have matured alot. You are a lot better than you're cousins."

I said, I know this.

He laughed.

3:35PM: I just snagged my parents for a holiday photo.



3:45PM: While sitting around digesting and waiting for stuffed mushrooms and artichokes, my cousin Vinny decides to speak like Borat.


We are discussing how I love FGCU and my sorority, with his answers not straying very far from the "very nice" line that Borat made famous.

4:15PM: The cousins were whining about playing Nintendo Wii. While they argue about who plays before who, I fell asleep on the couch for a good half an hour.

4:55PM: I just got woken up by Steven yelling "TO INFINITY...AND BEYOND"

4:56PM: I have decided to take him outside to burn off some of the energy. He is running in circles.

5:15PM: I was really afraid "To Infinity and..." was going to end in a broken leg.



5:30PM: I swear, there is not much difference between my cousins who are nineteen and three.






...but I love them all anyway.



6PM: Another course is served. Lamb, pork, asparagus, potatoes, salads. I'm trying to explain to my aunt how wireless internet works. With no success. I wont eat lamb because it makes me think of the show I watched when I was little called Lamb Chop's Play Along.

Francine just leaned over to me and says "I just realized. You are the only girl."

Out of fifteen cousins, I am indeed the only girl.

6:30PM: Chocolate pudding pie, scones, canolies, and chocolate covered strawberries are now on the counter. Fair game. I got in there quick. My cousin Vincent is upset because Steven has resorted to calling him "T-rex" instead of his name. I don't know why.

7PM: An uncle is producing a fine display of debauchery. He is yelling something about politics. It is time for me to go.

awkward five: i love you waldy?

Cookie cake is always a hit. Everyone I know loves it. But there's a line.

Yesterday, while shopping with some friends at Coastland Mall in Naples, we passed a cookie store. I spotted this gem out of the corner of my eye. I don't know who thought to turn a heart shape cake upside down and put a thong on it, but it happened.

When would it seem appropriate to add to a party shopping list "Don't forget thong cookie cake?"

Does someone have a creepy uncle who would love this? Who would be a "Waldy?"

positive shadows.

The picture of a shadow is a positive thing.
-John Locke

An overlooked detail in a photograph might be what caught your eye to begin with.

I was out to dinner with my parents over spring break at a restaurant at home called Rumrunners. Besides the great food, they have a really nice "backyard." I spent the time between eating and receiving the check out on the docks with my camera. My Dad was talking to me as we were watching pelicans swoop into the water when I turned around to be met by an unsuspecting visitor. A huge egret was standing so close to me that I was surprised I didn't startle it when I turned. For one thing, I had never seen an egret that big before, let alone that close to me. I noticed how the bird's shadow fell due to the position of the sun, and something about it caught my eye. I started snapping many pictures until it got tired of me and flew away.

I can't quite put my finger on what exactly the bird's shadow adds to the photo, but it just goes to show that we can get more out of something than what originally meets the eye. You just have to pay attention to catch that detail!

good humour.

Growing up in Cape Coral, Florida rendered me a little less than a city kid. Granted I was born in New York, I moved here when I was in second grade. Therefore I missed the chance of scenario of the "ice cream truck on a hot day" seen in movies. Hearing the ice cream truck music before you can even spot the truck was definitely something I wanted to experience.

Fast forward to being twenty years old, spending time at home during spring break. I was actually sitting at my Grandma's house when I heard the classic ice cream truck tune. I grabbed my car keys and drove around the block until I came upon a Good Humour ice cream truck! Needless to say I had to buy an ice cream. I was so excited that the ice cream truck driver probably thought my enthusiasm was awkward and more than he gets from three little kids combined.

put me in your book.

I haven't attempted a great deal to get any of my photos published, even though it would mean a lot to me. This being said, I got quite the surprise over spring break.

Christine emailed me asking if I would submit any photos for the Mangrove Review. Not just to be IN the book FGCU publishes annually, but the cover! Get excited to see my photo on the 2008 issue of Mangrove Review! This is the picture they picked!

Would you eat a fifty year old gumball?

For a mere ten cents, you can tell me how it is. If it's that great, you can take the antique home for $45.

I found this Toy N' Joy gumball machine at an antique store downtown, and I really wanted to know how long those candies might have been in there. I googled it, and I come to find out this machine was around during the 1950's, meaning these gumballs might be...aged. Not in a good way, like cheese or wine.

What I want to know is what color were these gumballs were originally? Maybe blue.