On the way to New Jersey (Patreon)

I'm, once again, on a train to New Jersey. That in itself is not at all exciting, but I'm on the way to sign my new apartment lease! I'm pretty excited about that, and perhaps a bit too much because I did not sleep at all last night. I did manage to pack all of my books - all six boxes of them - which has seriously put a crack in my plan of only moving with 15 boxes. Because lingerie took up a whole other box. And then prints and wet plates from shoots took up a couple more. Whenever I move, I have to seriously resist the nagging urge to simply throw everything away.

And I was so caught up in packing and organizing that I got it into my head that my bus left at 10am. I was convinced, then checked, and no. My bus left at 8am. Unfortunately I missed my bus, had to buy a train ticket as the trip is completely unavoidable. 

In any case, I'll be arriving soon in New York, I'll walk to a different train station, get to Jersey, and then I will sign a lease. 

I referred to it a few times in other recent posts, but I was in Richmond, Virginia for the first time this past weekend - well, other than quick drives through or around it. It was the first time I was solidly planted within the city limits, the first time I consumed food there. I worked worked with a photographer for a couple of days creating different images, including in abandoned buildings where I managed to slice my hand a bit on a particle of glass. I am still recovering from bug bites, sunburn, glass, and tea-brined fried chicken (yes, it has a recovery time that is worth it). 

But I was finally home yesterday and gone again today. I'll be back home tomorrow evening and eating pizza with a couple of Canadian models who are currently traveling through the Baltimore and DC area. I get the feeling that Baltimore is not treating models very kindly these days. There's a serious lack of decent hosting options, a lack of artistic photographers who seriously care about their work who will also hire models (personally I tend to feel most serious photographers are at least willing to hire a model even if not many models), and there are a good number of photographers on blacklists in the area. I find this disconcerting and somewhat sad as I do tend to book very beautiful and inspiring shoots in the area. Then again, I'm local to Baltimore, have been for two years, and it was one of my best areas for booking prior to moving into the city. 

I am happy they are coming to visit me though. Once I move to Jersey City, I'm guessing I will have a better chance of seeing models - though I don't plan to host often. I'll be traveling almost constantly until November this year, so any time at home will likely feel like a necessary break.

I posted this image to my story. This is a typical selfie for me that, I believe, demonstrates my innate inability to ever offer "sexy snapchat" services. If photos could be a resume, and you had to have a photo resume to start an account like that, I would be denied entry. Which is, of course, completely fine with me. 

One of my favorite meals in Baltimore - pho! I also checked, and I still have a Vietnamese restaurant close to my new apartment. It's necessary. 

Last night, after dinner, I had gone to the store to buy a kombucha (fermented mushroom tea that is generally made with a variety of tea/fruit for flavor and then carbonated) and was sitting outside reading. There was a woman across the street and I thought she looked homeless. I dislike assuming that though, so I waited a bit before going inside to find some food - like granola bars and canned goods to give to her. After all, it would be rather rude to just run up to a human, assuming they are homeless, and then they aren't. 

In any case, when I gave her the food, she suddenly insisted on giving me something in exchange. I've never had that happen before and tried to express that she didn't need to give me anything at all. But she pulled out a dress from a bag and gave it to me. I'm wearing the dress now - it's really beautiful, some sort of teal sea color with pale, swirling line patterns. It fits perfectly, and she took the food - she tried to not let me give her all of it, but I hid one can in her cart as she found the dress. I'm still a bit stunned that she automatically felt the inclination to give me a gift. It's the first time I've ever had an interaction like that. I think I should have remembered to give her feminine hygiene products, but I tend to not have a decent supply of those things myself as I rarely need to use them.

That is something though, if you see homeless women, that is always needed and hard for them to come by - pads and tampons.  

I also posted some little lens stories here today - feel free to ask questions! I'm going to try to get to them throughout the day while I'm in Jersey City :)

Also, look at that wildness above - that's a window box in the middle of Baltimore City and I absolutely love it. I detest when they tear down shrubs and wild vines. I'm generally aware that the vines and creeping plant life could destroy sidewalks, foundations, and siding on buildings eventually, though over the course of years and years, but it's still sad when it's gone. I hope I'm gone from Baltimore before they rip up this plant, as it is my favorite and I don't want to see it go.