Journal. April 24, 2018. (Patreon)

I arrived in Ottawa last night and was so exhausted I thought I'd order Chinese food. Normally when I travel, I buy groceries and live off of them for the duration of a trip. Usually this involves getting a bag of some bread-type thing for breakfast with a jar of peanut butter/honey, some yogurt (greek yogurt with no added sugar won't spoil as long as it remains unopened so it's pretty safe to take anywhere), a few vegetables, rice/noodles, a tin of coffee and a bag of trail mix. I pick up meat along the way. 

But, I was not wanting to cook last night, so I ordered Chinese food. And when I received it I was so confused until I realized that it's not Americanized Chinese food! Quite a bit of authentic Chinese food is very simple vegetable dishes stir fried in a bit of oil and small amount of soy or oyster sauce. It's not nearly like the flavor-coma the sweet and sour American sauce is. An ex of mine is Chinese and his parents used to visit and cook food for a few days for us, and it was some of the most amazing food I've ever eaten. Though, I did used to get a bit scared by their leaving the ground pork sitting around unrefrigerated...I still don't think that was safe. In any case, this food reminded me of that. Just simple water spinach and rice. I had been worried about looking horrible after eating Chinese takeout while on tour, but it being traditional food got rid of that worry. I wish it was so easy to find more traditional food in the US. 

Hilariously, quite a bit of the Americanized Chinese food was not created by white people in the US. It was created by immigrants because they knew that was more likely to appeal to a US buyer. There was a documentary I watched a while ago The Search for General Tso which discussed the food that is often served in the US as well as the history. I watch a lot of documentaries and thought that one was really well done.

In any case! I'm now in Ottawa, Ontario. Tomorrow I'm meeting a model for coffee and pastries - Starla - and then heading to my last shoot in Ottawa. I'll be meeting a photographer the next day who is driving me to Quebec City on Friday, where I'll be until next Monday when I head to Montreal (one of my most favorite places). 

Here was a funny thing that happened while I was in Toronto. This is a bit long and convoluted, so bear with me (or don't finish reading, either way). So this photographer had scheduled a 10am-12pm shoot this past Sunday about a month in advance. We reconfirmed prior to my leaving for Canada. The night before the shoot, he tells me we will be shooting outside, nude, in a public park for the duration of the shoot. Now, it was supposed to be 30-40 degrees Sunday morning, and in addition to that, the last thing you want to do while nude is shooting in a public space, in an urban area, on a weekend day. Bad. That right there is exactly how you get arrested. 

But, he wanted to shoot outside. He said it was the main concept of the entire shoot. I stated I would not shoot outdoors for the reasons listed above and that he should have informed me of this plan so I could have let him know in advance that it was not an appropriate plan. He then stated "Okay." Then he sent me a text about a half hour later to argue about the conversions between fahrenheit and celsius and how he does not know what fahrenheit temperatures mean. So I explained myself again for why it was too cold - this time using the degrees in celsius. My limit is that I will not pose for any extended period nude in temperatures below 60 degrees (15 degrees celsius) because I have poor circulation and get way too cold. I also have, as I've gotten older, started to get very bad colds everytime I'm cold outdoors for a long time. He then argued I shouldn't mind 12 degrees. I do mind 12 degrees. I told him I would not model outside. He said "Okay."

Now, normally you'd think I could follow up and ask whether he planned to shoot with me, if he wanted to change plans, what "okay" means, etc. But, I didn't. From previous experience, any time this seems to happen, it's a bad sign. I've always, in the past, regretted following up on shoots like this to make sure they happen. Always. Sending ill-advised shoot plans last minute while being argumentative regarding a model's comfort is a red flag for me. And I have posted in my limits (publicly online in multiple places) that I won't model outdoors in cold temperatures for any extended period and that I won't model in locations that are not safe for nudity. So instead I didn't answer. He also didn't send any information. 

And then of course, the next day he asked me if I was driving there. No. And I explained again that I wouldn't shoot outside. He stated we'd shoot inside because he didn't know he was "allowed" to cancel. So I just brushed that off because I didn't have a reliable address to go to for a shoot anyway. He didn't provide a studio address either...he just expected me to show up to some random place I do not know about. I'm not sure how that would have worked, and that doesn't seem very safe. So that was a fun thing to deal with.

But that is fine - otherwise my shoots have gone very well.

I have a few impromptu photo sets to post, though they are not as high quality simply because I did not bring my camera on this tour. I was adamant that I would only bring one carry on rolling backpack and a purse on this trip. I succeeded. It is worth noting, however, that I am running out of clothes. It is a very good thing the weather has been chilly and I am not generally a very sweaty person. So, the clothes are clean enough still. Thankfully. For now.

But I'm going to do a test with photos soon to see how many I can upload into one posting. I'll be doing that right after this is posted :)