27.06.2002
feeling kinda
oh, the things i do for my friends. alright, alright, i'll admit, there was some selfish motivation. okay, a *lot* of selfish motivation. but really, i did it for my friend. ;)
i went to pick up the photos from Chica Beanie's wedding tonight. and for the second (third, if you count the actual wedding) time, it rained when i was around the photographer. i suppose this deserves a little bit of back story, doesn't it?
Chica Beanie thought she had a photographer all lined up - a friend who had offered to do it as a wedding gift. then, not too long before the wedding, said 'friend' (and that would be the sound of me air quoting my ass off) ungifted. now, who the hell does that kind of thing? and how the hell are you supposed to find a photographer for a June wedding on short notice, especially when you hadn't budgeted for that?
i started asking around to a couple of friends, one of whom used to have a studio. got a couple of references, and headed up to the North Shore to check out the first one. as i got on the highway, the skies opened.
i'm not crazy about highway driving. i don't especially like driving at night (did i mention i'm night blind?), particularly when i'm not sure where i'm going. i truly don't like being surrounded by semis. all three at once? hey, how much more fun can you have? oh, wait - your car could have an engine problem and lose all of her pickup in the rain, and your rear defroster might not be working. that's how much more fun you could have.
truly, i thought i was going to die that night. i had to pry my hands off the steering wheel when i got home. and the photographer wasn't at all what she was looking for.
then it was rainy on the wedding day. not too bad, and i wasn't driving, and it all turned out beautifully, but still.
small segue: i was a bit wigged out the day of the wedding, and when the photographer showed up, i walked out to the car to meet him. pulled open the passenger door and introduced myself. only later did it dawn on me that he was changing in the car, and i very nearly caught him without his pants on. now, wouldn't *that* have been a good first impression? and when we were sitting around the fireplace later, talking, i needed to stretch out my back, so i went into child pose and dropped my hands over my head. aaaand... then i realized a few days later that first i nearly catch him with his pants down, and then spend a good part of the conversation with my ass sticking up in the air. pretty.
okay, enough of that. back to driving: i heard from the photographer that the photos were ready, and did i want to come out and pick them up? sure. saves on postage. so we set a time. he thought he'd be going to a volleyball game, but it looked like it was going to rain - so, why didn't i come out tonight? fine by me.
sure as shit, as soon as i started to head out, the skies opened. it took me nearly a half hour to get to the highway, which is about normal that time of night. but then. the rain was coming down so hard that the highway was flooded. i don't think i got out of second gear the whole way out there. and as if that wasn't bad enough, when the thunderstorms broke a bit, i opened my window to get some air. i didn't see the mother of all puddles. the car coming the other way hit it, and i got shwacked with a face full of water. oh, lovely. first, the ass in the air, and now i show up late, looking like a drowned rat.
on the upside, the photos are gorgeous. he outdid himself, for sure. and driving back was fabulous - coming in over the hills, watching the lightening in front of me. and i learned how the car handles when she hydroplanes.
well, two out of three ain't bad. ;)
