When I close my eyes and escape reality, I see myself running through a forest, standing on a cliff overlooking the world, with the wind in my hair, the feeling of exhilaration pervading every fiber of my being.. and I am at peace.

*How to be a model in two days*

Since my photoshoot turned out well, and the feedback was so positive, I figured that I did something right. I performed all of the following research and practice over the two days before the shoot: here are the guidelines I used to prepare myself. Some of the tips are my own nuggets of wisdom; the rest were found using a little research via Google searches and Youtube.

*Look good for the camera
These tips work well for photographers directing a model, too.
Body: Angle your hips toward the camera (about 45 degrees), rest your weight on your back leg, and exaggerate your shoulders either hunching them toward the camera or rolling them back away.
Hands: Keep your hands soft in most shots. Try to only show the sides of your hands to the camera, and hide your thumb whenever possible. Hands look best when they are each doing something different.
Face: Learn how to use your eyes to convey emotion. Eyes look more engaged when they are open wide. Learn the different variations of smiling and which suits your face best. Practice how to make a smile look real, not just with your mouth, but with your whole face.

A couple guides which helped me a ton:

Great tutorial for creating a basic frame and pose. Includes advice which I haven't found anywhere else, but I see every model using.

http://digital-photography-school.com/21-sample-poses-photographing-female-models
Lots of examples for poses (you can see which ones I copied in my shoot :P)

*Create model makeup
The idea is that you want a natural but flawless look which emphasizes the attractive contours of the face. This photo served as my guide to makeup:

Contour the dark areas with a color that is several shades darker than your skin tone. Highlight the light areas with a color the same as or slightly brighter than your skin tone. Blend the edges well, and voila, perfect makeup artist effect. (guide: http://theuntrendygirl.com/accentuate-the-good-contour-the-rest.html)

Your makeup should be completely matte except for the highlights on the eyes and glossy lips. A nice tip for keeping my face from getting shiny: I blotted my foundation with a tissue after applying it to remove the oil. I also apply my makeup in downward strokes to go with the direction of hair and look more natural. As for the rest of the body, oil makes your skin glow beautifully. I used almond oil on my arms, collarbone, and legs.

*Create model hair

When I thought of model hair, the first picture that came to mind was Victoria's Secret models. One of the most attractive styles for long hair is the light, gently wavy, tousled look, messily parted in the middle and curled away from the face. There are a bunch of ways to get the same look, and I took bits and pieces from lots of different Youtube videos (including backstage at the VS fashion shows). I washed and curled my hair the night before, slept on it (doing so minimizes frizz and makes it look healthier), then ran a curling iron through it the next day using tons of hairspray. I also backcombed the roots to give my hair more body.

*Practice
Watch videos of models in action. They never stop moving. They cycle through different poses, changing their position and expression every time a flash goes off. Find some poses, and practice them in front of a mirror, noticing how your face and body feel in a certain position.

*Be healthy and happy
The blogs and model interviews all tout the same basic principle: take care of your body and mind. Drink tons of water, get plenty of sleep, and avoid salt for at least two days before the shoot for healthy, radiant, and young skin. Just as importantly, prepare mentally: a happy, confident state of mind will shine in the photos.

It's amazing what just a couple days of work and research can become. I need lots more practice before I get good, but I was happy with my first try. Hopefully I'll be doing more shoots, and I can keep adding tips to this list!

What a weekend. Lovely wedding, great people. It was a privilege to be a bridesmaid, and despite our hard work, I had a blast. I socialized nonstop, meshed beautifully with a group of people I'd never met before, got adopted by families, stole the heart of a married man, promptly broke it the next day, rubbed elbows with and fascinated rich and powerful people, and had an overall wonderful time. All in two days.

You were charming, handsome, and totally enchanted by me. Had I let you keep talking to me, had I agreed to your playful requests to stay in touch, you would have kept asking for more. Your offer to give me a ride was pure in its intentions, but without a doubt, you were falling in love with me. Somewhere along the way I learned a valuable lesson. It took a long time, but somehow, I learned how to say no. Such power is contained in the word "goodbye"....

Before the wedding, I had my first manicure and pedicure ever.. And it was a unique experience, truly. Not many people can say that a philosopher gave them a foot massage. Of all of the fantastic exchanges I had during my trip, the deepest, most emotional, most insightful conversation happened at a nail salon. Further proof that real beauty can be found in the most unlikely places. My shy Vietnamese wise man gave me advice on life, love, marriage, and the secret to eternal happiness. He prophesized about who I am deep down, and about what my future holds, all, he said, based on the quality he saw in my eyes. "Hold on a little while longer," he told me. "Something big is coming for you. You're going to be something great." I wonder how many rich, snobby women have paid him to pamper them and make them beautiful, without ever knowing that the most valuable thing of beauty at that salon lay inside the mind of the man cleaning their feet.. because they would never stoop so low as to talk to him. He said that no one before me had ever bothered. 

Sometimes, when the memories become unbearable, how badly I wish to just close my eyes and forget..

Mind = blown.
Watch until the end, and try it.. totally worth the experience.

Occasionally, in very rare moments of hope and optimism, I like to think that we're all working toward the same path, trying to learn to overcome hate and greed.. and during especially rare moments, I even consider the possibility that eventually we'll even figure it all out.
...then reality sets in again. But, for a short time, I relish the warm, uplifting thoughts. Sometimes they're all that keep me going.

Thank you for being there to breathe a little bit of life and beauty back into my dark world just by being who you are.

I've got a brilliant idea. Let's make Arizona one of the two states to ignore daylight savings time. Yeah! We're cool cowboys! ...well, except when the sun rises at 5:26 a.m., with the rays of the angry inferno of death hitting my eyes and heating up my room to 80 degrees by 6 a.m. Le sigh.
Since I seem unable to sleep more than 4 hours a night without turning the a.c. down to 70 degrees, my summer will surely be filled with caffeinated adrenaline-induced treadmill-enhanced working sessions. Oh joy.

Noble is he who loses everything yet still maintains his dignity and respect.

What are you more angry about, the fact that it was so easy to remove you from my life, or the fact that I barely notice you're gone?

I wished to push my own limits. Harder than ever before. When people ask me why I chose this path, I answer, "because it sounded like a challenge." Now, I stare the ugly reality of my decision in the face. The gut-wrenching feeling of doubt envelops me. The terror of the possibility of failure chokes my breath and cuts down my confidence. It lurks in the back of my mind, pervading every thought, lining the shadows of every smile. I hate the feeling for sucking the joy out of my life; I have not truly enjoyed anything in a while. I can never relax or feel at ease. And yet..... at the same time, I welcome the terror, drawing it closer to me, feeling the warm blood run from fresh wounds as it sinks its teeth into my mind and soul. I watch it rip shreds in my ego and my self-esteem, and I draw the feeling closer still. I see the fibers of my being fray and tear as the terror works its way into the deepest reaches of my subconscious, and still I draw it in, relishing the feeling of my own self-destruction.... standing in awe of what lay ahead for me. For within destruction lies creation, building myself anew from the pieces left behind.. far more beautiful and infinitely stronger than that which came before. Who am I? What am I made of? Am I weak? Am I strong? Will I be tossed aside by the torrential winds, or will I weather this storm? My limits are not just being pushed.. they are about to dissolve in a brilliant cascade of flames.
Eyes and mind open.. To whatever end may come.

To capture and tame something wild.. Oh, how men have sought to lay claim to that which roams free. For therein lay no greater challenge, no conquest more delicious and sweet, than finding something beautiful, and locking her in a cage. If the hunter has a tigress within his grasp, and while forcing her into his cage, she rears her fangs and wounds him deeply, who is to blame? The tigress, or the hunter longing to possess her?
You find me so precious because I am untamed, because I roam free. If you subject me to a cage, blame me not for the wounds you shall bear..