May I admire you?
Fondling cucumbers in Chinatown.***
When did I discover Beth Spotswood and develop my true-blue girl crush? Perhaps it was when I read this quote in the sidebar of her blog:
"I did not get my Spaghetti-O's, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this." ~ Thomas J. Grasso's last words, d. March 20, 1995 ... Executed by injection, Oklahoma.
I still laugh when I read that.
I think what I admire about Beth is that she'll write stuff that I would only admit in my dreams. I love that she's fearless that way. I also know that I can only read her blog if I'm not drinking hot liquids or in a place where I'm not supposed to burst out laughing.
***
When Beth contacted me to be a part of i live here: SF, of course I was flattered but was also a little intimidated. Not because I didn't think she'd be great to hang out with (she was) but on the whole, I'm pretty shy... it's quite a different situation to you meet someone you've only admired from afar.
We had a ball in Chinatown taking photos. This was one instance when all of my hours and photography love of Chinatown really paid off. All of my explorations, favorite little alleys and murals: we used them all for her photo shoot. I made Beth sit on park benches in Portsmouth Square, nested amidst elderly Chinese men and women who alternately smiled, ignored and scowled at us. We got yelled at in a market for taking photos. Beth bought us both barbequed pork buns.
When I asked Beth "Why Chinatown?," she confessed her long-time Pretty in Pink infatuation. That just happens to be the only John Hughes' movie I've never seen so I still don't get the connection with Chinatown, but I'm happy to say that this shoot was just as stupendously fun and cool as Beth is. I hope it lived up to her Pretty in Pink daydreams. I think it did.
I hope you enjoy it too. And I haven't even told you about the story she wrote. But I'll let you read that for yourself.
