I majored in English Lit.  I did not study marketing strategies.  So when I made my business cards, I just went with a bright, creative, fun design.  And I included a picture so people would put a face to the business and I wouldn't be left as a mystery.  I also was torn between adding in a few of my favorite recent shots because I don't like the thought that maybe my business would be constrained to just 2-3 shots.  It's hard to sum a business in just a couple shots, you know?

Sounds reasonable, right?  Well....I have gotten so much guff for my business cards!  Mostly from close family and friends commenting on how the picture "doesn't look like the 'real rachel'".  Hey, I'm the photographer - nobody ever said I could be a model!  As you can see, I'm a bit gunshy to make new business cards, but I need to anyway.  So help me out if you'd be so kind......

What do you believe to be the best approach?

1. A simple card with logo & info only

2.  A card with the artist and info

3.  A card with a mini showcase of your portfolio & info

In other [more girly] news, I cut my hair for the first time in 6 years [other than trims]!  And I gotta say it feel so good.  I used to color my hair light blonde although my natural is more of a deeper honey blonde, and then I just got tired of it.  I went in and told my hair lady to just do it.  She was so nervous, seeing as how she'd been doing the same cut on me all these years.  I told her not to worry about it, I wouldn't scream and cry if she butchered it.  With each snip, I felt like she was snipping off the side of me that is a total creature of habit.  I even went darker too!  When I walked out, I had a pep in my step because I literately felt lighter since I'd finally broken a routine.

Here are some pics for my new website [and maybe business cards] which I will debut soon on the blog. I'm hoping these don't leave me victim to being accused of not looking like a "real me" again!! 

 

My husband often jokes that I have a lady crush on Jewel and well....he's basically right.  Of all of her songs, I love the lyrics of this one the most.  They are shockingly direct and let you peer through the looking glass of how you look as a person who is painfully vulnerable.

Back in high school and even the early years of college, I was much more vulnerable in love.  Love was a rollercoaster and most days I wasn't strapped in.  I just got rattled around and it's a wonder I didn't fall completely out of my seat while handling it's twists and turns.  I thrived on the suspense - the inconsistency of crushes or the freshness of a new guy.  I can tell I have grown up a bit because the chase no longer thrills me.  It's no longer acceptable to have to lie awake at night and wonder how someone feels about you.  Now I KNOW.  Isn't that a beautiful blessing?  Count yourself lucky if at any given moment, you can count even one human being that you know will love you regardless.

Glen Hansard, the star of Once, is the lead singer for band called The Frames.  They are just a lyrical powerhouse, man.   This song isn't really for a "certain time" of my life like the last one I posted was.  It's more of a life concept than a situational application.  On the video he says there's never really a balance of love between two people.  I believe him to be right...

Our identity as humans is entirely fluid - it's constantly changing and swinging on a pendulum.  Each day awakens new feelngs and adventures that can often send our hearts into shock.  Then our brain has to come back and combat whatever the heart feels - sifting through it trying to make sense of it all.  With this constant interaction between the mind and the heart, it is impossible for two people to feel the exact same things at all times.  What makes love so beautiful and unique is that it's an allegiance between two people to say "No matter how I feel, I'm making the choice to trust you always."  As a selfish being, that has got to be the hardest vow to ever keep...and also the most precious.

If you go to their site, you can listen to music off their albums for free!

There was a time in college when I was so deliriously lonely.  Friends surrounded me daily and nothing was seemingly out of place in my life, but in my heart there was just this bottomless hole that was inexplainable.

That longing eventually broke my spirit...and a beautiful thing happened.  I drove into the parking lot to go to class and played this song so loud.  It was my prayer when I had no words.  Tears trickled down my cheeks and it was then that I realized that "hole" wasn't going anywhere.  It was the realization that I'm not home yet.  I've merely signed a lease at my temporary home.  And something about that feeling was just a miraculous experience.  I went into my American Sign Language class shortly after and chose to sign this song as my final video project.

Incase it has been evident enough, I'm slightly in love with music.  I have a tendency to fall hard for singers who aren't just equipped with some serious pipes - but also know how to write in a genuine and poetic way.  I've received some e-mails asking about music and songs on my website so I made a tab on the left titled "What I'm listening to."  If you want to check it out!

This week as a therapeutic thing for me, I've decided to post a song a day and write about why it's so close to my heart.  If you thought you knew most of me already, you might just find out more of the dirty grit that lurks underneath :)

I will post the links to the songs on YouTube so you can hear them too.  Maybe they will move you as they have me!