Saturday, May 03, 2008

That's MISTER Control Freak to You

Jer's been incredibly supportive of my photography. Besides all of the trips he's accompanied me on, waiting while I take 20 shots of a flower in an acre of identical flowers, he's now pushed his way into bookmark territory.

Last night he stickered 400 bookmarks with my identifying info. Meanwhile I assembled 48 note cards and put four 13x19 prints in 18x24 mats. We worked until 1am at the kitchen table. I said, "Welcome to my Friday night for the last several months."

I really appreciate it whenever someone offers to help, but it's hard for me to accept because I know what I'm like. And that would be: a perfectionist. I don't want to unleash that side of me on another person. It wouldn't be fair. It's better if I just sit quietly and mutter to myself about the angle of a label or the quality of my archival mounting corners. Great for the customer, bad for friendships.

Of course the problem with this approach is that it means I'm a complete control freak. And when I applied for insurance last week I looked up the attendance at some of these festivals I'll be working and I had a lapse in confidence. Jer was great, as always, and got me back in reality. So this weekend is all about making product. If I have too much then I can use it at another festival. If I don't have enough, well, lesson learned for the next festival. It's my first time. I'm allowed to make some mistakes.

In the good timing department, I received another shipment of prints yesterday, so "making product" is my weekend in a nutshell. Once the hashbrowns defrost, I'll cook some potatoes and eggs and pour myself a big mug of coffee. I've got "Constantine" playing in the background -- been on our fake TiVo (MythTV) for a month or two and it seems like a great Saturday morning flick -- and that'll be that.

Happy Saturday.

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