*Happy Birthday to my favorite zany woman! I’ve known Whirlygirl for 5
years and in that time I've come to appreciate her numerous artistic
endeavors. From live theater, to books, plays, concerts, art, and all
forms of antiquity, Whirly has exposed me to a lot and has made me
realize that there is a world outside of Star Wars. It’s impossible
to identify any one reason that I love this girl so much, but if my
hand was forced I would have to say that her photographs sum it up for
me. A while ago Whirly embarked on a personal project to take
pictures of herself jumping in various places. Each year she intends
to change her outfit and continue the theme for the rest of her life.
For those who don’t know, Whirly works at the prestigious Harry Ransom
Center at the University of Texas at Austin as a photo archivist while
she attends school. She is in charge of handling some of the world’s
most famous photography collections. This is where the very first
photograph ever taken is housed (it’s lame).
In early October Whirly came to visit in order to take care of some
banking issues and during her brief stay she suggested that we go to
Boston for an afternoon. Now if there’s one thing I’ve learned over
the years it’s that Whirlygirl doesn’t go on conventional outings. I
knew that there would be more to it. Before I could ask she informed
me that she wanted to do some Whirlyjumps while wearing a creepy mask
that we had picked up in a costume shop.
It was an unusually warm autumn day for New England. Actually, it was
pretty damn hot. In no time flat Whirly set up her camera and started
snapping pictures of herself as she jumped around different areas of
Bean Town. The picture at the top is my favorite of the series and I
have a giant framed print of it in my house. Click on it to see it
better.
When Whirly came home for the holidays we were hit with a blizzard.
Not surprisingly Whirly insisted on running through the snow wearing
only her skimpy dress. As usual I thought she was nuts but I obliged
her wishes because I knew something cool would come of it. Above is
my favorite of that series.
When Whirlygirl visited me in the fall she took pictures of her self
walking through the muck of a new drainage system that is being
created down the street from my house. It was probably about 35
degrees in this creepy picture. The mud oozed through her toes and
the smell briefly had us convinced that she was walking in sewage (a
hot shower followed).
Later she ventured into the forest across the street from my house to
capture this cool image.
This is why I’m crazy about Whirlygirl. She gets me out of my shell
and gets me involved her in her crazy adventures. It's like dating I
Love Lucy. She will be visiting again soon. It’s the dead of winter
here and there’s 2 feet of snow on the ground. I can only imagine
what I’m in store for. Happy Birthday, Whirlygirl, you rock and I
miss you every day!
*The top picture is a candid shot I took with my iPhone while
Whirlygirl was preparing for a shoot.
