10.25.04

Yesterday morning was an adventure in alginate and plaster. Keoni (of Keonicast) hired me to do another bodycast. He did my front this time.

I got to the studio after an obsessive shower. Do I shave off the pubes, or not? Did I get those coupla little hairs around my nipples plucked? Girly moustache--bleach or remove completely? Golly, so many questions. So much maintenance. It ain't easy being dark-haired and fair-skinned. How do some girls do it?

I'm annoyed that I feel compelled to shave, buff, and polish, yet am so well-trained that I'm uncomfortable if I don't. In this case, at least, there's practicality to think of. Hairs make alginate and plaster cling with the single-minded force of bat guano.

Got to the studio, the heater was all ready going full-blast. Keoni and I chatted for a couple of minutes about writing gigs, and other gigs.

I went off to change, after looking at some of the stuff he's working on right now.

I got back into the studio, and checked out the cast we did a month ago. It looks really interesting. The curves of the muscles on my back, and the overall shape...I had no idea that it was so luscious. It's fascinating to see.

I also looked at the outside of a cast of a very pregnant woman (eight months, three weeks). It reminded me of an installation I saw of multiple humanoid forms done in plaster in a kind of beton brut style. It also reminded me of, hmmm, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, but re-interpreted in a more primitive form.

La. Ain't I all intuh-muh-lect-ul an' stuff.

Time to start casting. I leaned against some boxes, and we played with poses. He couldn't decide whether he wanted a straight-on pose, or one with the hips twisted to one side. He went with the twisted hip pose.

Imagine, if you will, me leaning against boxes, one elbow resting on a tripod, the other on the handle of a furniture dolly. Nice, fluffy pillow behind my head, and mint-green alginate oozing down my body. I should have shaved the pubes. Of course, the socks added a certain piquant je ne sais pas.

Keoni put on the first layer of alginate with a brush. Blop, over my mouth. It was chilly. Got some up my nose, but thanks to years of hayfever and sinus hell, I am quite comfortable breathing through one nostril. He brushed on layers of alginate. It felt cold as it dripped down my legs. Towards the end of the bucket, he took handfuls and flung them at my torso. Plop. Fwop. Wap.

He built up the layers of plaster and burlap, creating a scaffolding over my shoulders to carry the weight.

Then, once again before I expected, it was time to take the cast off. There was some tearing below my right breast, but Keoni said that it was repairable. Phew.

I started to go over and check out the cast, but my feet were stuck to the floor. When I looked down my left foot was almost completey covered with alginate and plaster. Thanks to the sock I wore, I was able to slip out of the plaster galosh fairly easily. Of course, that didn't occur to me right away. I had to yank and twist at it like an ant in a Venus Flytrap. Doofus.

I peeled off the larger chunks of alginate before I walked over to the cast. It's so strange seeing a negative of your body.

Had a nice time, all in all, and enjoyed the enforced time in my own head. Something must have clicked, because I've gotten a freelance (paid!) copywriting gig, and prospects for another. Hato-kun called and sounded much more certain about things. Today I got a good return on my bookselling. A check for my medical transcription work was waiting when I got back to the house and...oh, I'm giddy...one of the poems I read last evening is going to be published.

Wubba?

I'm not quite clear on exactly where it's being published, but it's got to be a wider audience than the incestuous (and supportive, thank whatever) Subterranean Beat Revival.

Maybe it was sending an e-mail off to disgruntled boy apologizing for being snippy. First I thanked him for dignifying my opinion as a review. I made fun of my habit of wearing too-low jeans, the size of my ass, and my penchant for blood-red lipstick. I said that I'd check the band out again, and maybe revise my opinion.

Maybe it was that act of humility. I don't know.

Ach, the ebb and flow of it all.

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