So I was just cleaning out this dresser when I found these cool old photos my mom took, back when she used to do tons of black and white photography and spend hours in a dark room each day. She used to make my father, sister and me sit for her, and we HATED it... and then I had this beautiful beau named Jay in college who would sit for her, uncomplaining, even after I broke up with him. There are still gorgeous, haunting photos of him scattered throughout closets and drawers in my parent's house. And at one point I lived with this punk rock boy named Ross, who wore all manner of collar and stud, and my mom had him pose under the moon in all these spooky black and white shots that made him look menacing and amazing (whereas in real life he was mild and sweet). She could do amazing stuff, and I've always been sorry she stopped. But she's always done creative, wondrous things, and made my sister and me read books and go see David Lynch and Almodovar movies as teenagers when we were more into John Hughes.

Anyway, here are three of yours truly at age 18, by my mama. They're pretty stunning photographs in person, but these are my quick shots of them:





Also: being back in Pennsylvania is LOVELY. Right now I'm sitting at my desk listening to the sounds of birds and lawnmowers, and everything smells like spring. Today I did a bunch of work and now my mom and I are going to see a Romanian movie.

The end.