Yoga Mom [Marcus Hook, PA] 002

I got these sunglasses at a Dollar Store in center city Philadelphia, on Chestnut Street.

The Purple purse is from JCPenny, and the purple tank top is by Old Navy. The Purple Sports Bra is by NIKE.

Makeup:

In 2012 Maybelline came out with these wet/gel eyeshadows called "Color Tattoo". Even tho' orange and pink are my least favorite colors when it comes to makeup I have several times gone totally nuts for them, because they go well with my skin complexion. Needless to say, I got the orange colored one which is called "Fierce & Tangy".
It's supposed to last 24 hours, and when I first got it brand new it would last much longer than that, and even if I went to sleep with it on, it would still be perfectly on when I woke up. It does dry out over time tho' and stops working as well.

I used Urban Decay's NAKED2 palette, with the Natural Eye palette by Too Faced.
I'd just gotten a new orange limited edition blush by MAC at MACY*S in Center City Philadelphia, with some kind of special sales deal from a sales rep.

The eyeliner is just a simple green Rimmel eyeliner from the drugstore, and I think this lipstick was an orange lip balm/lipstick by Revlon.

That's about it. No foundation, no face powders, maybe just a slight concealer by Cover Girl under the eyes. You should still be able to see my pores, sun damage, and fine lines.

My 2012 Mid Summer Philly Commuter Dance Tracklist from BlackUniGryphon on 8tracks Radio.

Yoga Mom [Marcus Hook, PA] 001

The Story of The Vanishing Lens Cap

I shot these in the park in Marcus Hook PA at the border of Delaware state and next to the Delaware River across from New Jersey. This was in Late summer or early Fall of 2012. Some frames were actually shot at my friend's house/yard.

During this shooting experience my lens cap went suddenly missing. Several people kept asking to help my do the photography and kept staring at me and interrupting, which bothered me a lot.

Then, another person helped me look everywhere for my lens cap for at least an hour.

I was so dumbfounded as to what happened to my lens cap that I questioned my eyes, my sanity, and had been under so much pressure with working at the bank that I emptied out my entire purse once downstairs inside my friends house in front of my friend's cousin, and examined each thing from my purse to be sure I wasn't missing anything, and examined each pocket, and even spoke everything I was doing out loud.
After that, I did the same thing with my camera bag, and felt so entirely nonplussed and befuddled. So, I went upstairs and emptied out my purse yet again, examining each item inside my purse, as I pulled it out, and lined up each item, then checked and rechecked every pocket.

I stood there perplexed and bewildered.
"I KNOW I put it right here. Did I put it somewhere else? I made sure to put it RIGHT HERE."

I searched the park the next day, the road, the sidewalk, everything.
Finally, I gave up looking after a few days, and ordered a new lens cap on Amazon with a leash on it, which also got lost in the mail and arrived late, so I never got it before I moved out of my friend's house in October from abruptly loosing my bank job, and my spouse insistent on me going back with him, ruining my Pirate festival plans on that day...

But, THE day before the Pirate festival stuff started (which was a few days of small events) I had gone out doing some miscellaneous photography in Center City Philadelphia. So, that evening I sat in the subway in center City somewhere beneath the ugly Comcast Center skyscraper, and while waiting for my tarin, I went to pull out my notebook, which I'd used every day, several times per day, when right there on top of my notebook was my lens cap!

I was SO FREAKED OUT by it that my nerves were shot the entire night! COULD NOT SLEEP!

WTF! How did this get here?????

First, I was going mental over it vanishing and disappearing, and then it just suddenly re-appeared out of nowhere!

My 2012 Mid Summer Philly Commuter Dance Tracklist from BlackUniGryphon on 8tracks Radio.

Google+ Made Some Photos

Google+ has a program in it that does weird automatic things with the photos that I upload.

Honestly I think they are often weird, ugly, or screwy....

BUT... all my folks in my Google+ circles have gone GAGA over several of them, even ones I personally thought were stinky.

So, I always share them, because people like it. You're welcome.

Here is a sample of some of them.

I photographed the Originals of these last year in the Spring. We had a VERY LATER spring in 2014, and it was also cold on the day I shot these. I had 2 different looks.
I also was incredibly ill, and it took a long time to heal from my 2013 surgery. I'd also had a very bad issue with malnutrition, and government problems, as well as extreme mental & emotional stress. (You have no idea, and I don't even really talk about it because it was so bad.)

I've had many many skin problems, including severe psoriasis, dry skin, and skin sun damage on my face & chest. I also had imbalances in oil in my skin. And, I had a major problem with my hair & finger nails. In many of the photos from these sets I couldn't use because either my hair was too thin and you could see my scalp, or my skin looked very bad. I tried EVERYTHING I could with what limited resources I had.

I have since then improved the look of my skin, and also, my hair has grown back thicker since adding some nutrients from May-September. I've mostly used products with Moroccan Argan oil, and/or biotin. I had to get rid of some shampoos tho' because they were severely burning my scalp.

I was so embarrassed by my hair the rest of the year that I wore a big hat every time I went out.

I still have somewhat thin hair, but nowhere near as thins as it was in May 2014.

Makeup:

I don't know if I just have sensitive skin, because some products that bother other people don't necessarily bother me, or whether many cosmetic products are just full of toxic crud... but, as I've grown older many kinds of makeup I just can't stand... the only high-end makeup brands I have tend to be on the cleaner side. (Altho' some MAC products can sometimes bother me.)

Anyways, Urban decay doesn't bother my skin or eyes. So, I often use the products I have from them on my face.

I did these portraits last year using my ultra new Urban Decay NAKED3 palette, which was something I just HAD TO GET... however, I think it's very powdery, had lots of fall-out, and is kind of sheer.... It's the most expensive price on ANY makeup item EVER. (Altho' my newest NAKED palette was close to that price.) I purchased mine directly FROM Urban decay's website.

Accessories:


The cardigan, the infinity scarves, and the Tribal Silver ethnic earrings, as well as the blouses I'm wearing all came from my ex-job JCPenny. For legal reasons I couldn't discuss anything about the company at the time, because they refused to give me hours for months, which kept me on contract with the company, and even after you finally end employment (which is what they did to me by phasing me out due to lack of hours) there was a blurry/vague issue in my contract preventing me from discussing anything about the company. So, I wasn't sure whether that also included mentioning products I'd purchased while working there, such as insider discount pricing. I also was lead to believe they still wanted me back... possibly...

I have mixed feeling about having worked there... I actually have no hate, nor hateful feelings, however, there were several illegal practices which went on there... and, one could also argue whether some things were immoral. (and that is a whole philosophical debate & a whole other can of worms open to interpenetration)

Altho' there is a part of me that is somewhat resentful, I don't feel resentful as a whole. I honestly feel sorry for several of my ex-coworkers.

However, I KNOW I was an excellent worker, and salesman, as well as customer service professional. I'm incredible with customers, and do incredibly well with suggestive sales, even on days when I really don;t feel like doing it... I'm very proud of that side, effort wise. (As to whether sales and money and manipulating people to purchase things is something to actually be proud of is another philosophical aspect altogether.) I was diligent, punctual, on time, consistent, accountable, flexible, etc. All the attributes a "team player" or "worker" ought. 

Yet, the work was incredibly stressful.  The stress itself was built-in systemically. That might sound like an exaggeration, but it's not. Yet, without getting into that (which would take a long explanation) I had to meditate every day just to be able to cope with being there. 

I have a bad foot, and I have some spinal issues. So, I was often in pain the entire time I was there. And, altho' I'm actually good at managing nasty people or customers, or being systemically prohibited from socializing with my own coworkers even just to talk about a flat tire on my car, or bond with anyone, communication was frowned on among my coworkers other then the "How are you?" even tho' no one actually cared about how you were, how you felt, what you thought, etc. they weren't allowed to be human in any natural way to each other, just to the PAYING CUSTOMERS.

So, I had to meditate mantras, chants, and affirmations (in my head) BEFORE I went to work, during my "recovery" duties, and afterwords. I constantly had my old Buddhist prayer beads (I'm not Buddhist tho') with me. I always wore at least 2 bracelets of them, in case one broke, and I would meditate inside my mind, and breathe, otherwise I couldn't handle the pain, or stress. Some workers just didn't even show up to work, and I was often left alone to handle things I didn't know how to do, and tried to just wing-it right on through.

After a while, I got to a point where I had ZERO feelings, like apathy... and that wasn't good either. I realized many people working there were like that. They just shut off whom they were, and were like empty robots. Ergo, I feel sorry for several of them... and no hate at all...

I did this photo shoot, originally for my Pirate Wench cosplay character Marshall Kändiß The Pyrate on the main blog. 

However, I've found not everyone that likes my Pirate stuff likes Boho Chic stuff like I do... 

Altho' my Bohmeina/Gypset stuff is rather popular on Google, Twitter, and especially on Instagram & Printerest. Hence the creation of THIS blog this year. 

THANK YOU!