The News of Liza Kate

In short, that isn't happening.

I was informed today by the Associate Director of the Center for Latin American Studies that the verdict is in - I won't be moving back to Gainesville this fall.

He encouraged me to try again next year and I'm sure I will.

So that's it. It's a little relieving because I can make more plans regarding my immediate future without wondering if I'll be here to follow through.

So far, those plans include:

1. A tour in August with these sweet people. It isn't clear yet whether I'll be touring as "Liza Kate The Folk Rock Icon and Legend" and a member of their band, or as JUST a member of their band.

I could care less either way - let's go now!

2. Studio photography. I've spent a little time learning how to be a studio photographer's assistant. Not necessarily an assistant in general, but a perfectly shaped and molded assistant to just one fella. As soon as he gets work that requires an assistant, I'll be that person.

Now that I'm staying in town, helping teach a class this fall at VCU is imminent.

Maybe.

3. Some photography of my own. I'm submitting about 1 million photographs to many different publications, galleries, and contests (see below). I would love to have a CV that is, if not impressive, then really, REALLY long.

Also, I'm completely interested in sharing a space big and cheap enough to set up a studio.

In Richmond, the "cheap" part alone files this under "yeah right!"

4. Amassing a nest egg. Not for forever, mind you - just for a trip that might take me and boo to Portugal and Spain? Mexico? Dominican Republic? Montana? Alabama?

I'll have to focus on the strength and girth of the nest egg first.

5. Recording. I have plans for this. It might even be available by the time number 1 happens. That's all I can say about it now.

6. Writing. Songs, stories, letters, thank you cards to people who never got them a year ago when they should have, apologies along with some presents to some other people who should have gotten those presents in February, etc.

Of course, that could have been happening all along - moving or not, but since I no longer have the "well, I was trying to figure out all this 'moving to Florida' stuff and blah" crap that I should be famous for, I figure I should hop to it.

So, friends - If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of quiet and nice places that could help make #1 a victory for our team, please let me know. We're thinking the East Coast and the Mid-West.

Also, if you read #6 while gritting your teeth and throwing darts at a picture of my face on your wall - I'm working on it, I promise! It's just, y'know, I was almost moving once.

Labels: "yeah right", music, photography

Okay, okay - if you know anything about FILE Magazine, you'll know that being added to their collection is a pretty exciting thing.

Everyday, I believe, they feature a new photo - apparently, today, they've featured two of mine.

I'm glowing.

Here they are:

Labels: photography

A photo by: the life of liza.

Well, the boo is gone for a little bit.

I'll be a little less inspired to cook, clean, and sleep, but mostly him leaving means I'll get to catch up with myself and with our little stinker dogs.

The very first thing that happens almost everytime Curtis leaves with a bag of clothes, is a very curious thing indeed.

His dog Kodi, you see, is about 200 years old and barks and grumbles to himself when a car door closes 2 miles away.

On a normal day, I might try, in vain, to shush him. This isn't exactly because I find it completely annoying after about twenty minutes, mind you.

You may or may not know all of the ways in which our neighbor has terrorized us - the glasstop patio table barracade at the foot of our stairs, the evil "kill your doges" [sp] message scrawled onto our chalkboard, topped with a bit of spit, the murdering of our potted plants, etc.

Basically, the man is erratic and terrifying, and I see no reason to provoke him.

Curtis, on the other hand, does everything but give little Kodi treats when he's having one of his freak attacks. So, when he goes out of town, Kodi knows he has lost a team member.

What I'm expecting to find on the kitchen floor one of these days when I return from work, or, if I'm really lucky, I'll come upon it half asleep one morning, is the strangest pile of dog doo you can imagine.

It won't just a big healthy pile designed to make me feel bad for sleeping in, nor will it be a tiny little "oopsie" that he forgot to get rid of the last time we went out - no, it's much worse.

It will be an intricate and involved pattern made up of many different shapes - stalagmites, "tomb stones," rain drops, flower petals and clogs, to name a few - strewn all about in what looks like a chaotic explosion, but I know better.

He's communicating.

I'm not sure yet what means what, but I'm onto him.

Sometime this week, if my calculations are correct (they are), I'm going to wake up or come home to some sort of message left to me by old man Kodi.

It might be a death threat, it might be a thank you note, who knows?

But it will be the start of my dog doo deciphering. (I bought a new journal for it and everything.)

Soon, the world will know all about the canine ABCs, 123s, F.U.s, and so on.

This isn't just another one of my "get rich quick" schemes. I intend to collect some serious data.

I'll have my findings published in pamphlet form and rock the scientific community at it's core.

Stay tuned.

Labels: boo, friends, music, stories

A photo by: the life of liza.

This photo was a dream to make.

In it, baby bear has grown up.

No longer drooling over strawberries, the kid has progressed and regressed in a million different ways.

Losing and gaining.

My nephew (shown above), is in the middle of this strange purgatory of adolescence.

He's being forced to grow up willingly.

It's a crazy game that I wouldn't wish on anyone, but he's accomplishing a seemingly impossible task with grace and character.

Labels: photography, stories

I received an email from the man in charge of creating a giant Journey Mural to be on permanent display at The New York Columbia Presbyterian Children’s Hospital.

He was asking permission to use this photo for the cause.

Of course, I said yes (even though he could not meet my $500,000 demand - I decided that I could really use the good press in light of my most recent unfortunate situation*).

It's purpose, as I was told, "is to create an environment for the children who will be treated in this facility to feel as if they have traveled to a special place. Our hope is that the imagery will inspire the imagination of children as they cope with an otherwise frightening experience."

Sounds good to me!

The opening is sometime in July.



*I'm trying to start a new blog genre called "Mystery Blogging."
I tell the truth and I also tell some lies and you have to uncover the mysteries of my forbidden past. Okay? Spread the word.

Labels: photography