Picture time!

Brian and I spent some of last weekend out and about in the lovely Juneau weather (it was only mostly cloudy).  He took a bunch of pictures, some of which even had people in them!  Well, “person”, singular:

(Click picture to significantly embiggen.)

As serene and contemplative as I look, here, you’d probably never guess that there’s an incredibly uncomfortable spine of wood jabbing into my back, just above my tailbone and to the left of my spine.  Ah, well.  Scenic backgrounds always come at a price, especially when they’re actual physical ones.

On a side note, Brian’s camera is really an amazing piece of equipment – in the full-size version, you can see the grit on my pants knee from where I was kneeling in the dirt earlier.

And, in keeping with the “Rose looking thoughtfully out to sea” theme:

(Embiggen the picture, embiggen your world.)

More Rose-contemplates-the-ocean-that-you-can’t-actually-see goodness, although at least this time you can see the line of seaweed from the previous high tide in the background.  Brian said he spent a bunch of time in Photoshop with these photos editing out stray strands of hair that were going everywhere – he must’ve done a good job, because I certainly can’t see any signs.

And now, for a rare B-side acoustic track:  Brian gets the camera aimed at him for once.  He claims to hate having his picture taken, because he is (in his own words) “funny looking”.  I just don’t get that, because I think he’s incredibly handsome, but it’s certainly possible that I’m prejudiced.  So, anyone?  Funny looking or gorgeous?

(Embiggen this photo by up to five inches!)

VICTOR:  …I mean, how many times have you seen Dances with Wolves?  A hundred?  Two hundred times? …Oh, jeez, you have seen it that many times, haven’t you?  Man, do you think that shit is real?  God.  Don’t you even know to how to be a real Indian?

THOMAS:  I guess not.

VICTOR:  [...] First of all, quit grinning like an idiot.  Indians ain’t supposed to smile like that.  Get stoic.  You got to look mean or people won’t respect you.  White people will run all over you if you don’t look mean.  You got to look like a warrior.  You got to look like you just got back from killing a buffalo.

THOMAS:  But our tribe never hunted buffalo.  We were fishermen!

VICTOR:  What?  You want to look like you just came back from catching a fish?  It ain’t Dances with Salmon, you know!  Man, you think a fisherman is tough?  [...]  And second, you can t be talking as much as you do. You got to have some mystery.  You got to look like you have secrets, you know?  Like you’re in a secret conversation with the earth or something.  You don’t talk.  You just nod your head.

–Smoke Signals (1998), screenplay by Sherman Alexie

(Embiggened is always better!)

For the record, Brian is Japanese (not Native American), but trying to get him to smile for a photograph was a rather trying experience, as he seems to belong to the Thomas school of Being a Real Indian.  Fortunately, my talent for coming up with random snark did not fail me:  “Come on, dude.  Think of Christina Ricci naked!”  That got a pretty big smile, as I was hoping it would.

I feel I should also point out that the far-better framing in this second shot is after a good fifteen minutes’ worth of advice.  For all his camera-shyness, Brian’s getting to be quite an excellent photographer.