Here are the musicians I photographed on the street in Santa Fe that I said then that I should have taken my time and made a better picture. I should have gotten closer, taken more than two, made a connection. C'est la vie. I was better at it in 1975, but I think that people didn't smile as much then. We are a nation of smilers now. Smiley motherfuckers. It used to be only the Homecoming King and Queen and their entire court, but now it is everyone with Instagram or Twitter or Facebook. No one loves a frowny face no more.
Maybe its just white people (and their ilk).
I watched the end of the Diva Cup last night. O.K. O.K. I thought that was funny. But I watched jingoistically as the USA beat Japan. We won because we are Americans. That's what makes us better. You could see the superiority in every way.
U-S-A, U-S-A. . . .
It's amazing the amount of money athletics pumps into the American economy. The country would collapse financially without it. Think of all the jobs related to it. It is the Beast.
I have a hard time watching sports now. They just bore the shit out of me. I've lost that lovin' feelin', I guess. Maybe it is just because I can't compete any longer. I am no longer the strongest, prettiest boy in the room. I'll give you an example.
It was my friend's birthday this weekend. I went to dinner with her and her father and mother and two of her sisters and one of the sister's husband. Before dinner, I was sitting with her and the sister/husband couple having a cocktail. The husband/wife are somewhere near thirty and very pretty, indeed, as is my friend. As we drank, I saw this cowboy looking over. He is the kind I admire--thick arms and shoulders and fingers that look like they could break walnuts, one of those kind you can never tell if they lift weights or if they just pick up cows and the back end of trucks all day. He had one of those rugged faces that you don't want to fuck with, the kind that once said "manly" but which is no longer in vogue. He was with his heavyish wife who was probably once pretty, too, and still was but she was about as thick as he. They were probably in their mid-forties. I saw him looking and kept thinking to myself, whoa, how am I going to handle this. And then he walked over and put his big hand on the pretty husband's shoulder and said, "If they was running a contest for the prettiest couple here, you two would place second behind me and my wife." He had a big assed grin. I had one of those uncertain smiles wondering what was going to happen next. The wife then came over and ran her fingers through my hair and said, "If my husband had hair, it would be just like yours." I assumed she meant longish. I held the smile and nodded uncertainly. A little more banter, then they were gone.
The husband/wife team took it all as their due. They had just come from vacationing in Key West and told tales of people buying them drinks, etc. It was implied that this was because they were beautiful. I used to have people buy me drinks in Key West, too, I wanted to tell them. When I was your age, I didn't even know you were supposed to pay for drinks.
But I didn't.
Rather, I just assumed they were wondering why her pretty sister was dating an old guy as ugly as I.
They really are a pretty couple, but I have something else. Smiley emojie here.
The women's soccer team was very pretty and handsome, too. They all deserve money to promote things.
I just want to photograph them. I wouldn't let them smile.
It is hard not being the prettiest woman in the room any more, but as I say, I have always had a Plan B. Let me assure you who are pretty and young, you need a Plan B.
Just remember to keep that orthodontic smile :)
No comments:
Post a Comment