I was woken up at 10 by a phone call: it wasn't the photocopier guy like I was hoping. The Punk got called into work. So I was up, and not long after I turned on the computer to check my email, my neighbour started BLASTING the Taylor Swift album. And I mean BLASTING -- levels of volume common only to The Punk. I was pretty tempted to blast them into oblivion with some X-Ray Spex, but by the time I was irritated enough to do it, she turned it off. I think her boyfriend came home.
Don't get me wrong: there's nothing funny about Taylor Swift in the morning. Or sober. The funny thing was that instead of inspiring me to choke the hell out of random passers-by (as it usually would), it reminded me that I've got a lot of work to do on The Antagonist if it's going to be done by next week, and part of that work is laying out the article "They Play These Songs in Hell" in which I outline in no uncertain terms what I think of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" as well as bad covers of Halleluiah, anything by The Feeling, and Toto, as well as others.
Bryony came by yesterday for our photo shoot and brought free goodies from the London Book Fair. There's some travel (?) video from the UAE, a book of plays by Mediterranean women, and a bright yellow t-shirt that says "Knowledge Without Borders" in Arabic that I'm pretty sure would get me shot if I tried to wear it through an American airport. We're giving those away in an as yet undetermined contest for the next issue. The rock, I'm keeping. It's pink, a little melty, and it says "Box of Tricks." Thank you, Jeff Phelps and Tindal Street Press. Thank you.
The photo shoot went really well. Jen came over and we made Bryony up like a pin up and had her posing in a number of sexy dresses on my dining room table. It was awesome. We got about 150 good pictures, and I don't think I've ever had a photo shoot of such consistent quality. I told Bryony she ought to get a portfolio together and try modelling -- she looks great! I'm hoping this cover will be the beginning of a series of even better ULTRA covers -- I'm thinking about calling it the "Babes with Brains" series -- where not only are the models (men and women) totally hot, but they're all also remarkably clever. Bryony has her own (ethical) publishing company (The Chameleon Press), is working on a PhD, regularly does work for charities, and I believe has been a member of Mensa for some time. How hot is THAT?
The pictures came out so well that I'm going to have to use them for everything forever now, and I don't know if I'll be able to come up with enough uses for them. Bryony suggested a calendar; she was joking, but don't think it's such a bad idea. I also like the idea of photographing models as our favourite people -- Bryony would make a fabulous Poison Ivy Rorschach.
Now who can I get for NEXT month?
No comments:
Post a Comment