It's 11:20 an I'm on hour 5 today in the studio with sleep district. Sleeeepy already and we're only on bass. Going to be another long night!

What a fun morning! I spent it at the House of Blues in Hollyweird photographing Mark and Pete as they sold tickets for the Irvine date of the tour. We got word about a half hour into the sale that the show's online sales sold out in 12 minutes! That's insane! So stoked for the guys, this tour is going to be ridiculous.
While I was making my way past the line to the HOB some kid in line yelled out "Hey that's Megan Thompson" and THAT was by far the strangest thing that has ever happened to me. I just looked around really fast and kinda waved... no clue who was talking to me. Anyway I met a lot of cool kids, and had a great time!
Now I'm off to Victorville to do some behind the scenes work with Sleep District. Probably end up sleeping out there too. Long day, but it's going to be a great one!

Today was an awesome day! Got awesome news, had an awesome photoshoot, then saw an awesome concert! Just AWESOME!
Anyway, I'm going to be working for Ultimate Ears on Warped, shooting the bands that are using their top of the line insane in ear monitors. My payment? I get a pair! I am so stoked, basically I'll just end up with a $1,200 pair of headphones, but MAN, my iPod is going to sound awesome! Plus they'll protect my hearing at shows, and I'm in love with anything that can help save my hearing. I'm going to get impressions taken of my ears next week, and then they'll make a custom set for me. You can see Mark's kick butt pair of monitors on his BLOG. I'm going to try to out cool him with mine, but I will probably fail. Mine are going to be Montana themed :)
Check Ultimate Ears out! Great company, especially if you're in a band.

I hate waiting. I hate waiting. I hate waiting...
Tonight was fun! I had a good long pep talk with Levi on the phone, then went out to Slide Bar to assault my ears. Static Lullaby killed tonight and I had so much fun! It was great to see so many friends whom I hadn't seen in forever! Sad to hear some news, but overall a great night. I just got home, and had a handful of happy e-mails waiting for me about Warped! Hopefully everything works out for that. Scheduled to leave on the 26th though the 7th or 9th of July with Breathe Carolina, then who knows. The summer is kind of up in the air as of now. It's a combo of frustration and excitement at not knowing what's going to happen. On one hand I like to have things planned, on the other it's nice to know that I can do whatever and it will most likely work out well. 2009 is the summer of possibilities!

I didn't get any really amazing photos at the rally last night. The dude with the sign that said "I don't want 5 wives, I just want 1 husband" is on my team. Best sign that I saw.

I had a whole blog of substance in my head, then I ate breakfast and forgot the whole thing. Wow. Sometimes my bad memory really worries me. I think I should start to play memory games or something, is that supposed to help?
Anyhoo, Goodnight Sunrise's presale for their new EP starts today. I'm so excited for them! Everyone should go check out their MERCH store which has some of my snazzy photos on it, and pre order the EP at 3:00. First 50 orders get the chance to win some swanky Hide & Seek gear as well as tons of free goodies from the guys.

What did you do today Megan?
Well today I woke up early, made breakfast, and drank coffee.
Then I sent e-mails about invoices, made a map for Thursday's shoot, and checked the news.
Then I left for Palm Springs around 12:30 got there around 2:00 got coffee, and hung out.
Then I set up for the shoot, waited around, shot photos for the album artwork, photographed the band.
Then I cleaned up, got paid, said goodbyes, and drove home.
I got home around 7:15 to pick up my roommate for the rally.
He was drunk, I brought him anyway.
Got about two miles outside of the rally, then walked the rest of the way, lost my roommate, kept going, found the rally, walked two and a half miles with it.
Took lots of photos, then remembered my bad hip, started hating my life, started limping, then broke off and found my car and came home.
My new business cards came, and they have a typo.
I just ate for the second time today and it's 11:52. Now I'm going to bed. Photos from the Rally tomorrow!

Wow California. I'm really disappointed in you. Iowa, Vermont, and Maine are more progressive than you. What's your precious economy going to do when all the homosexuals move out of state to get married? Ok that might be overkill, but I'm so pissed off right now. Screw you Supreme Court of California, and everyone who voted for Prop 8 in the first place.

I'm really really REALLY hoping that Prop 8 is overturned tomorrow. I'm hoping the rally in West Hollywood will be early enough that I can scoot down there with enough time to make it to my shoot in Palm Springs. Down with Prop H8!
Edit: According to Mark it's at 7pm at Santa Monica and San Vincente. If you're in LA come support! I'm going to speed back from Palm Springs and try my hardest to make it out.

Edit #2: We just got #rejectprop8 to #1 in Twitter topics! Small step, but it feels really awesome :)

I bought a Blackberry Curve. I have no idea what half of its functions do, but I'm learning slowly. I think I should just bring the manual everywhere with me for a while. Right now it's serving wonderfully as a Twitter machine. Not going to lie, I really just wanted a phone I could post photos to Twitter with. Oh and e-mail... yeah, e-mail. Still trying to set up my damn e-mail. Someone at Blackberry is going to have to deal with me in technical support tomorrow when I get help setting that up.

It's official! I really need a grown up phone. But this puts me into an odd boat. Do I stick with Verizon and get a Blackberry, or do I switch out and get an iPhone? I'm tempted to just stick with Verizon since I've never really had any issues with them as a company. I even got a free phone once. Plus in the next year or so they'll have the iPhone as well, and I'm definitely holding out for the 3rd generation iPhone. That thing's going to be ridiculous! Today I might go down to the Verizon store and see what they'll let me do. I can't be without internet on Warped. No e-mail would probably kill me. I almost didn't survive my trip to Montana. I literally had to drive two hours out of the way and spend another hour in a coffee shop just to check e-mail and to send an agreement. Space phone would solve this. I'm going to see if there's a way to just stay on my family plan thing and maybe pay my part of it through a kiosk at the store. Ahh technology! So what kind of phone would be best guys?

Carter Hulsey resembles my friend Kyle from Billings a lot. Spooky!

Yesterday was a loooong day! Woke up at 8 to hurry up and wait. Then ended up running late for everything anyway. Madison and I got stuck in gnarly traffic for an hour and a half on the way to Fullerton for his tattoo. So we were almost an hour late, sorry London! While Madison was getting drawn on I ran to Anaheim to photograph Carter Hulsey for Hide & Seek and had a great time! I wish I could have stuck around for the show. In the middle of the shoot he sound checked and played Blue in the Face by Alkaline Trio for me and now we're best friends. He's incredibly talented and you should all check him out. Right after the shoot I scooped up Madison from his tattoo and we sat in traffic again for over an hour and a half. Not fun! I had to get him to the Dodgers game and there were about a million cars trying to get there too. It was insanity. They wouldn't let me take him up to the gate so I had to leave him almost half a mile from the entrance. Then I sped home, dumped my CF card and headed to a benefit party for Plays Well With Others. I was their party photographer, and spent a good part of the night hanging out in a room taking pictures of the moderately wasted party goers. Then came home, and crashed hard. I slept wrong on my neck and it's killing me right now.
Today I'm running some errands, going to another barbecue, and meeting Mr Ryan Russell for some Pinkberry and bear hugs. Should be another good day.

Yesterday I bought a new book (Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk if you're wondering) and a new red moleskine notebook to be my journal. I figure sometimes this summer there will be times I'll be without internet and so I should try this awesome new thing called a journal! It's like a blog, but no one else reads it, so in a way it's the same, but you use a pen. I've heard great things about journals, so I'm excited to give it a whirl. Then when I get back from my two weeks on Warped I can word vomit all over this thing here for you to read the boring parts. Excited? I know I am!

Lately I feel very much in the same boat as Ms. Garofolo about religion. I try to keep my mouth shut, and mind my own business, but as soon as I mention watching a movie like Religulous I get attacked by so called friends who don't respect my beliefs. I'm very much proud to sit in the agnostic boat, and I don't believe it makes me better than or less than any other person. I don't argue my point, because there's no point in arguing, but I'm regularly argued upon. It's recently gotten to me, so I'm voicing it here on my little soap box called my blog. So here it is... You are not better than me because you go to church. I am not better than you because I choose not to. Because I am agnostic I am not a lost soul in need of your savior service, and because you are Christian I do not feel the need to tell you at any given moment that I don't agree with you. I respect your views completely, and only wish that you treat me with the same respect.
Thank you.

Keeping with my theme of nonsense blogging, today's blog is brought to you by things that make me happy...
Intelligentsia coffee.
When my planner is accurate, filled, and organized.
The band Dr. Manhattan.
Being caught up on editing.
Going to bed early, and getting up before 9am.
Having killed all the ants in the house.
Being woken up by birds outside.
Getting hooked up with new stuff from Hide & Seek for tour!
Going on Warped Tour for two weeks. (This might change after the two weeks are over)
New Breathe Carolina songs that make me want to dance! I can't wait for the new record!
Cereal.

I apologize. I lied and didn't post a blog of substance yesterday. I'm not going to post one today either. I just don't have it in me tonight. This past week has been totally incredible and equally draining. I ended up on MTV News three times, and met more incredible people than I can remember. It's all been intense! Things are settling back down for a short while. I'm booked solid all next week, and this weekend I'm shooting a great new songwriter named Carter Hulsey for Hide and Seek. You should check him out, he's great! I'm not going to Portland after all. The ticket price shot up through the roof within four hours of me looking at flights. Life would have been pretty chaotic if I flew out though. I have shoots on Monday, Tuesday, and possibly Thursday next week and Thursday night I'm doing another "musical reward" night and going to see Lydia. It's been about three years since the last time I saw them, and I'm giddy to see the new line up!
Some news I got about an old friend really bummed me out today, so thanks to everyone who twittered me well wishes! It always sucks to learn that someone you used to be close with is in a bad spot.
I think I'm going to try to continue this trend of editing during daylight hours, and go to bed. It's not even 9:30... I must be getting old.

Edit: Ok, there are two car alarms going off down the street... this is lame.

And it continues! My photo of Mark is on Spin.com. Pretty dope, and I'm quite excited! That was a good thing to wake up to in my inbox this morning.

Hey look I'm still awkward!
MTV NEWS
Thank god I didn't wear the same shirt or something...

Just realized that I'm the last person to post this. Sooo... Here's my photo of Mark Hoppus from blink-182 with a fake octopus. Ta da! Also at the party tonight someone brilliant hired a mariachi band to cover blink-182 songs. It is completely possible that I have never been more amused in my entire life. They didn't censor anything either!

Life is incredible and so so good! I think the theme of tomorrow's blog-o-substance will be gasoline theory.
Sleep well, and love life.

I keep listening to this song, it's so good.
Hand of God by Kevin Devine

In the hand of God there's a cattle prod
That keeps shocking us along
'Til we're flung from roofs without parachutes
To fill the patches in his lawn

There's an iron gate where patrolmen wait
To keep the chosen people safe
From the infidels and their terror cells
Rebels blessed with God's good grace

There's a shining half jewel that's shattered glass
Hemmed in with barbed wire
So you can skin your feet but you can't climb free
Oh hallelujah, higher and higher

All your fox-hole prayers full of fear you share
With a bored and distant son
While you held your will, killing time until
Answers came for anyone

You curse their Lord for all he ignored
In his flawed and vengeful plan
Cut yourself some slack against a deck so stacked
I mean come on now, you're just one man

Maybe after all when your conscience calls
You might prove the missing link
And all that white hot air you sprayed around out there
Might have meant more than you think

So when you breathe, breathe deep, breathe in greedily
Like you might never breathe again
Go and tell the truth so all that work you do
Won't be worthless in the end

Yesterday I photographed the amazing Jordan Raths for Glamour Kills Clothing. It was super fun, I wish I had learned to skateboard when I was a kid. I'm always amazed and jealous watching awesome skaeboarders like him. The people at the Vans skate park had no idea who we were or why we were supposed to be there. So we killed the time waiting for the park to open by just shooting normal stand up photos and a few of Jordan doing tricks. I didn't get hit in the face with a skateboard, so it was a winning day!
Last night I rewarded myself for cutting short my vacation by taking in Kevin Devine at the Troubadour. It was such an awesome show! I want to relive it over and over. Kevin met all the expectations I'd built up in my head over the past four years, and it was a great first experience seeing him live. I love a show where everyone on stage is having fun, and this one topped it. He played for at least an hour and a half, and hit on every song I could have wanted to hear. Thanks Kevin!
Another fun shoot opportunity tonight, should be a blast, these things usually are :)

MTV Shows

God Dammit, I'm in another one! UGH.

Most days I go to sleep thinking that when I wake up, I'll be back to doing nothing and hating my life. Every morning I say a little thank you for being able to do what I'm doing, and making a living doing it. I realize more and more every day just how lucky I am, and that I can pinpoint almost every turning point in my life that has led me to where I am today. This is a blog of thank yous and 7degrees of separation... (Part one)
Thank you to...
Jay, Pat, Dave, and John Thanks for loving Blink 182 so much 10 years ago that you started your own band, and let me make a fake Rollingstone cover for an art class assignment. I'll never forget my first band promos and how ridiculous they were.

Titul, the Warmblood to whom I owe everything. If you hadn't thrown me at that jump and broken my ankle I'd be cleaning stalls somewhere in the south. Thanks!

Matt, Doby, Lindsey the Boy, Matt, I spent that semester with a broken ankle and your band and realized I like sitting in the wings taking your pictures and making videos more than riding horses. Thanks for having me around for three months on crutches, and for nicknaming me crazy leg.

Annie Leibovitz, thanks for taking the incredible photo of The White Stripes that made me want to do the same. If I hadn't seen that image, I doubt I'd even be taking photos.

Woke up Falling. I know you guys broke up, but you let me come on "tour" for my first time and that bug bit me and played a major part in me doing what I do now. Thank you do much! I miss you guys.

Montana State University graphic design program. Thanks for thinking that I wasn't good enough to be a graphic designer. You saved me from what probably would have ended up being a soul sucking existence making logos for giant corporations. I owe you one.

Angela, thanks for being the coolest intro to photograph professor ever, and motivating me to not try to make the graphic design gate again. You're the reason I majored in photography. I owe you one too.

The following bands... The Sharktopus, Acadia and the Asteroid, Deny the Dinosaur?, Cagematch to the Death, From Aphony,1090 Club, Bank, Josephine, This Word is Weapon, Mistress and the Misters, and Goodnight Sunrise(times 1000). Thanks for thinking I was good enough at the time to trust me enough to do your promos... looking back, I was terrible, so thanks for letting me practice on you guys.

Thanks Ian, for assigning the book project back in Advanced Digital when it was still Advanced Digital. That assignment turned into a project I can look back on now when I'm homesick. The Forgotten State is one of the things I'm most proud of from college. Thanks!

Kyle, Zach, Trevor, Jon, and Nick... Thank you for letting me live on your couch for an entire month when I moved to LA. I owe you so much... I'm going to get all of your faces tattooed on my back or something.

Levi the Snakeskinner for starting my 7degrees in California. I am the Ocean led to Fear Before led to Lorene Drive led to Vogue in the Movement led to everything else. You're the greatest and I miss you so much!

Chris Anthony thanks for inviting me to show you my work, and sitting there looking unimpressed and telling me to "Just DO the kind of photography you want and put bands in it". Thanks also for not calling the police when the worlds most intimidated and nervous fan showed up and sweated all over your couch.

To be continued.... (I'm going to see Kevin Devine right now!)

Dear Blogger,
I'm sorry that I've been neglecting you lately. Things have been crazy, and I've been dividing my days between driving massive distances and photographing amazing things and people. But I promise you, this Tuesday there WILL be a new blog-o-substance. I'm still trying to think up a good topic, so if there are any prying questions please ask in the comments to this blog.
Love,
Megan

Some behind the scenes fruit baseball with Breathe Carolina today

Breathe Carolina studio update! Some behind the scenes magic from our first shoot. I can't wait for Warped Tour with these guys!

And look, I'm awkwardly in the background on MTV News! It's like, can you tell which one isn't supposed to be on this carpet? Yep, the tall girl!

Tonight might have possibly been one of the best nights of my life. Tonight I stood on the side of a stage, and photographed Blink 182 as they played their first show in over four years. It was unreal, and I think I may have taken the best live photo of my career. I hope those photos look as good full size as they did on the camera.
Mark, if you happen to read this, thank you so much for tonight! It's definitely going down in the book of coolest things to ever happen to me. I had so much fun, I'm deaf, and dead tired, but it was so worth it!
You can see some of my photos HERE on Mark's Blog.

The video you've all been waiting for...I can't post it on here because it's locked. But here's the LINK! Yippee!

Today Mark and Pete are releasing the super secret special Fall Out Boy flash drives! Follow them on twitter to try and win one! I'll be on the road all day, so I doubt I'll be able to, so you should all try.
For those not in the loop, I recently photographed Mark for some special content to be released on this flash drive. It also includes his remix of Fall Out Boy's song America's Suitehearts. You can get the single on iTunes as well if you're not down to twitter stalk all day. I'm really stoked to be a part of this, and I hope at least one of my friends can get their paws on one so I can see the finished product! I should be able to release the photos as soon as they release the drives so you can see them.
Leaving SLC for Montana now, so I'll see you all soon! Pumped for some driving conferences on my dorky bluetooth!

I made it to Salt Lake without any major set backs. I was pretty amazed at how awake I was for the whole drive. Win! Now I'm in the SLC hanging out with my friend Levi and the rest of the I am the Ocean crew for Cinco de Mayo fun before heading out bright and early tomorrow for Montana. The clouds in SLC are unreal today and I think I should go out and shoot some sky and weather to have in my arsenal for composites in the future.

What's there to do in Salt Lake? I'm stealing internet at a Starbucks near downtown. I thought about going to the library for a bit to chill out and read some magazines. Sort of seems like there's not too much to do unless you enjoy smoking massive amounts of pot, something I'm not into. Hopefully going to meet up with Michael Brown and Katy P later today, then caravanning to Montana with them in the morning. Good times. Maybe I'll go find some bargain priced margaritas to celebrate the fifth with.

I just found out that my friend Mike is moving to Dallas because his job got transferred. I'm mega bummed. He was one of my only friends not in a band, and he leaves tomorrow, so I don't even get to say goodbye. Screw real jobs. This is so uncool.

Oh yeah... I'm supposed to leave for Salt Lake today... this drive is going to suck. I did get plenty of sleep. But I just wish i didn't have to get an oil change, and pay for all this gas :( I also still have to order a print for Brittany's benefit show. I hate being poor. I hate people who are super slow on paying me even more.

Of Mice posted their new myspace layout! It looks AMAZING! Phil M did an insane job on it, and I'm so stoked. Check it out.

I feel like I want nothing more than to sleep for a million hours after the shooting shenanigans today. The photo shoot with Breathe Carolina went so well! They are definitely the nicest most down to earth pair I've met in a long time. The shoot was a complete blast, and ended with me in the pool, and jumping off of an eight foot wall with Kyle into said pool. Finished up the day with a yummy veggie burger from Fred 62. It was a great day and makes me almost wish I wasn't leaving in the morning.

Oh yeah, I'm leaving in the morning. I am NOWHERE near ready. Still need an oil change, still need to pack, still need to pay my bills, and send out invoices with threats of knee cap breakage. Uuuughhh. Not stoked. I just want to be there, don't want to deal with the drive. What was I thinking honestly?

One of my photos of Blackhounds from SLC. I miss these guys already!

Ahh Saturday night. In case you were unaware by my absence, but I've been busy this week. Justin pointed out my absence, so this entry is for you Justin. I love proof that people read this blog by the way...
Where was I? Oh yes, Saturday night. In front of me sits a cold fresh can of Tecate cerveza, an empty cereal bowl, and four hundred bucks in cold, hard, cash from today's photoshoot. Second shoot this week in the desert. I have decided that while desert photos ALWAYS look cool, I need to find a closer desert. Driving an hour each way to the middle of nowhere is not conducive to getting more than one thing done in a day. Also, I realized that Lorin from Blackhounds stole my sunglasses thinking we'd see eachother again before they left. We did not see eachother again, and now I have another thing on my list of things to get/ buy before leaving LA on Monday. Need to get a oil change too... ugh. Why is trying to just leave town so expensive? I'd also like to give a big shout out to all the bands who wanted to book a shoot on this trip and then bailed three days before I leave. Thanks! You're really helping me out right now. When you finally get down to LA and book a shoot you're getting a "jerk fee" added on, and no traveling discount. Even better are the bands who just aren't emailing me back to confirm... not cool guys. I can see you're reading my e-mails through the wonders of myspace, so just e-mail me back! Enough work venting though!

Last night I met up with the lovely gents from Breathe Carolinawhom I am photographing tomorrow, hopefully poolside. Still waiting on a callback about said pool. Should be insanely fun, those guys are honestly a couple of the nicest dudes ever. Also doing a shoot with only two bandmembers will be refreshing, and I'll be able to light the crap out of it relatively easily. The shoot is for Umbrella Clothing, and I'm going to be working with them a lot in the coming month or so, so be on the look out for some insanity that borders on me completely selling out my morals to pay rent. WOO! This will also be the first shoot where I blast champagne... wish me luck that I don't get hit in the eye with a cork.

I feel completely sandy and icky right now. I'm going to finish this well deserved beer, take a hot shower, make some calls, and sit down to edit until my fingers bleed. Should be fun!