Special times with Greg and AJ...

Happy Birthday Carlos...

Last night was insane. I honestly don't remember a lot of it thanks to whatever was in that drink Christian made me. Strongest thing ever. Anyway, that's why man invented the digital camera. So you can be reminded the next morning of what a jackass you are when you're drunk.




Yes we had people crowd surfing in the limo...

United Healthcare Death Panel Experience - By Eric Victorino

My friend Eric posted this very insightful and saddening blog a little bit ago. In this health care debate I feel exactly the same way. This is worth reading, and taking every bit into consideration.

I know a lot of younger people who think this health care debate doesn’t concern them. Why should they care? For the most part they are healthy - in their minds they are practically invincible. They aren’t thinking about high premiums, co-pays, deductibles, bills or paperwork - they are worried about more important things like where the party’s at or who to try and have casual oral sex with next. (I can’t say I’m not a little jealous, in this case ignorance is bliss.)

I posted here earlier this year my story of how my long lost father sent me a letter in the mail - A letter that changed my life in more ways than one. He said in his letter that he had ordered my books from Amazon, that he enjoyed them, although he wished to defend himself and that he was not the monster I had made him out to be in my writings - at this point in the letter I felt the emotions you’d expect - lots of anger and resentment, some sadness, lots of questions - but as I continued reading the subject matter took a strange turn…

“One of your young cousins you never met just died of an embolism… He had a rare but sometimes fatal blood disorder called Factor V Leiden. You and your brother should get tested immediately”

Oh.

Thanks, dad.

Factor V Leiden causes hypercoagulability in the blood. There’s a protein whose job is to tell the blood when it’s time to stop clotting - but that protein, with Factor V Leiden, does not work properly. So the blood clots into a bump on an artery, then a long string starts to form, anchored to the wall of the vein - blood continues streaming by and along the string form little bulbs of clots - much like a string of kelp - swaying in the sea - until one day the entire mass snaps off and goes with the flow… Ultimately ending up in the heart or the lungs.

So I got tested for this thing the week I got the letter and the results came back positive.

After a tiny bit of crying and a lot of self pitty, I ordered a medic-alert necklace online and tried to go about the business of being my normal scatterbrained multitasking dreamer self.

I have to look at it like this, nothing has changed aside from my knowledge of the situation. But I’e made it this far just fine…

So now I live with grossly increased risks of stroke, heart attack, pulmonary embolisms and deep vein thrombosis complications. Or, to be more clear, I am now aware of the fact that I have always been living with these time bombs ticking inside of my body.

I could get on blood thinning medication, but the list of side effects and the possibilities of non-stop-bleed-to-death car accidents and bar fights mean, for now, sitting around and waiting for the blood clots is my best bet.

Ultimately the diagnosis has not changed me much - I eat right, exercise, I don’t smoke anymore - I’m healthier than I have been since grade school. Besides, I’ve always tried to live my whole life like I could get hit by a bus at any time - Only thing that’s different now is there are now a few more buses out to get me.

My doctor says I should be very paranoid and vigilant with my body, especially my legs and that I should see a specialist or go to the emergency room if I feel anything strange, any weird pains deep in my legs or my arms. If there are any bruised or reddened areas, warm to the touch… All duly noted. Thanks Doc.

A couple of months pass without incident until one weekend, after returning home from a trip to Kansas City where I played a show, I found myself rubbing my right calf a lot - the area was warm and achey - I had taken a total of four plane rides on that trip but I did my leg stretching and exercises mid-flight like I was told to - but there was this dull pain deep inside my leg that would not go away no matter how much I tried to ignore it.

Eventually my wife noticed my slight limp and how I was absentmindedly stroking my leg while we sat on the couch watching movies…

“I’m taking you to the doctor, let’s go,” she said.

“What? It’s eleven at night, we can’t go to the emergency room for this.”

“I’ll grab your phone for you, get your shoes on.”

I can’t argue with her when she’s like that - Not that I should, she only gets like that when she’s right.

We arrived at the hospital at 11:15 and checked in.

Then we waited for two hours with the bruised and the bleeding before a nurse took me into what looked like a trauma room, complete with leather restraining straps on the bed and an operation mirror lamp.

For the following two hours my wife and I played a game of “Spot the Spot” - finding tiny blood spatters on the floor-runners, the handles of cabinets and on the ceiling…

Making what could be a much more tedious story a little shorter; By 6:30 am I was discharged from the hospital having had one ultrasound procedure done, to listen to the blood flow in my leg. They found nothing out of the ordinary and we went home.

Less than a month later I received a letter from United Healthcare’s DEATH PANEL just letting me know that they wouldn’t be covering me for anything that might happen to me having to do with my blood disorder because it is a pre-existing condition. In other words, if I were to have a heart attack or a stroke or anything even remotely having to do with blood clots, I’m shit out of luck. Not like they’d pay fifty percent instead of eighty percent, not like they’d send me to a doctor of their choosing instead of mine, not like they’d recommend a less expensive method of treatment, just NO. Sorry. United will not cover a penny of my expenses.

I understand, I can see their point - It’s my fault I was born with a blood disorder less than %5 of Eurasians of carry.

It’s my fault I’ve been paying my hard earned cash every month to this gang of white collar racketeers, all the while thinking I was buying some sort of peace of mind. It’ my fault I’ve been dumb enough to think “If anything goes wrong, I have health insurance to take care of me.”

My doctor said to take any abnormality seriously - go in whenever I notice something weird in my limbs - Now I have bill collectors coming after me for three thousand dollars for my little emergency room visit. Calls to attorneys unreturned.

I watch the arguments on TV and wonder how much these right wing assholes must be getting paid by the Healthcare Industry to take their side. Maybe they don’t get money though, maybe they just get to be on some “No small print” list - Maybe they just get the premium treatment where if they need medical attention they’ll get it. Lucky elitists.

People like Sarah Palin are spreading lies about the coming government death panels who’ll decide the fate of our citizens. They have obviously never been told by their private insurance companies, “Now that we know there’s a good chance you’ll need medical attention in the near future, we’ve decided to cut you off.” I wonder if her special-needs baby will ever have to deal with this regarding his pre-existing condition.

They talk on TV about how a government run health care program would mean government people getting between you and your doctor, as though having a bunch of people at United Healthcare working around the clock to find new ways to fuck people out of the treatment they think they’ve paid for is any better.

These congressmen and governors, these government employees suddenly think it’s a good thing for us to be afraid of our elected officials and their ‘marxist’ ways. (meanwhile they’ve forgotten about the 700 billion dollars stolen from the public as a final kick in the ass from the Bush administration.) These people probably couldn’t define Socialism if they were asked to.

If they think it means big government, they’re only partly right.

In a lot of ways I think the government is too small. I want more.

I want it to be illegal for insurance companies to exclude patients for pre-existing conditions. I want there to be health care options that I can afford. I want to know there will be a doctor cutting me open or stitching me up when I need one, regardless of whether some prick at a desk somewhere thinks I’m worth the money or not.

I want laws in place to protect me from corporations in the health care industry - not the other way around.

I want it to be mandatory that people buy health insurance, private or public, just like it’s mandatory that we all have car insurance. People without car insurance drive up the premiums for all of us, so much that government now requires all drivers to have car insurance. Is that Socialism?

I want the electricity and the water that magically come straight into my house to keep on coming, safe and reliable as always. I want the roads I drive on to be smooth, I want the cops to come when I need them and the firemen too - I want the mailman to bring those checks to my PO box - I want the airlines to be monitored and regulated, I want the food I by at restaurants and grocery stores to not make me sick.

If that’s socialism, then sign me up.

Eric Victorino, Campbell, California.

Good god...

It horrifies me that these people have the right to vote.

Christian

Here is a portrait I snapped of Christian Heuer while I was testing lights for my shoot on Monday with We the Kings. Christian is an insanely talented producer and I'm lucky to call him my friend. We have plans for world domination, but I can't really get into that here.

So, we almost killed AJ last night....

In case there was any question about how much fun we have at Saint Motel shows, here's some proof. My favorite part is Michael Brown and Christian nearly pitching AJ off the stage.

Now taking deposits!

I am now taking deposits for October and November shoots! If you, your band, or your friends are interested please email me at megan@meganthompsonphotography.com.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Hello all! I'm trying to get some money together to enter a few competitions and to do so I'm forced to sell some equipment. If anyone is interested in the following, please email me at megan@meganthompsonphotography.com

I am selling...

Hasselblad 500c with 80mm 2.8 Zeiss lens and speed focus. Perfect working condition. I hate to part with it, but can't afford to shoot film, and it deserves a better home. Parting with it for $500 plus shipping or best offer. I bought it about two years ago for about $800.

Canon Rebel XT 8mp with kit lens. I upgraded and haven't used this camera since. But it was the same one I used to shoot both thesis projects, as well as lots of the work I did as soon as I moved to LA. It's a great little camera. It would be perfect for a sophomore looking for a cheap camera to start out with in digital to avoid having to check one out from the school. I'd recommend a lens upgrade. The kit lens is the only piece that's a little worse for wear. Selling for $200 or best offer.

If anyone was interested in both cameras I'd bundle them for $600.

Sierra is my favorite.

Sierra Kusterbeck of Versa Emerge. Photographed in Denver, CO on the Vans Warped Tour.

I'm broke and selling my shit!

I'd love if someone would buy the crap I don't need, starting with this guitar!

I received it in trade for a shoot, and have given up any hope of learning to play it. Sad I know, but I feel my real musical calling is to play the tambourine in a hardcore band. So if you know of any hardcore bands needing a tambourineist, send them my way. Also if you need a guitar, please buy this damn thing!

I finally found the goddamn email address!!!

For as long as I've had my current phone number at least once a week I've received this or some variation of this phone call...
"Uh yeah... is this J S R Set-Up? The trailer house movers?"
"No, you have the wrong number"
"Well this is the right number listed."
"Ok, yeah, so techically they have the wrong number then."
"Well do you know where the hell I can get a hold of them?!"
"Nope, sorry."

Well today I finally had enough after another person woke me up from my blissful slumber. I spent about 30 minutes picking through google trying to find a website or anything. Finally found a couple listings, and low and behold, there was my number! Oh and also an address and email so I made contact. We'll see if this does anything, but I'm guessing that they lost so much business by people calling me and getting mad, that they've gone under. However in this economy the phone calls have increased so maybe more people are into reusing and recycling their mobile living compartments.

Dear Sir,
I am writing in regards to your published phone number being my actual phone number. Websites, and listings for your business list your number as 406-461-xxxx which is my current number. I would greatly appreciate it, (and I'm sure your business would soar) if you remedied this issue. I've been getting calls for well over two years, but haven't been able to find your email contact until just now.
Sincerely,
Megan Thompson

Update: Just received an email from delivery systems. "Account no longer active" AGHHHHHHH!!!!! It's things like this that cause people to shoot up a McDonalds!

Cory and Kyle

This is one of my favorite candids from Warped Tour. My friend Kyle (Breathe Carolina) was about to jump on stage to perform when Cory (A Skylit Drive) stopped in to share a cigarette with David, and shoot the shit before taking the stage to watch. This photo pretty much sums up what I loved most about Warped Tour. You'd see the strangest people backstage watching bands you'd never have expected them to be a fan of.

fun.

Another song hit home...


fun. - Be Calm

As I walk through the streets of my new city
my back feeling much better, I suppose
I've reclaimed the use of my imagination
for better or for worse, I've yet to know
but I always knew you'd be the one to understand me,
I guess that's why it took so long to get things right.
Suddenly I'm lost
On my street
On my block

Oh why, Oh why
Oh why haven't you been there for me?
Can't you see, I'm losing my mind this time?
This time I think it's for real, I can see

The tops of trees are turning red
The beggars near bodegas grin at me
I think they want something
I close my eyes, I tell myself to breathe

and be calm.
Be calm.
I know you feel like you are breaking down.
I know that it gets so hard sometimes.
Be calm.

I'm scared that everyone is out to get me.
"These days before you speak to me you pause."
"I always see you looking out your window."
"After all, you lost your band, you left your mom."
Now every single crack, every penny that I pass,
says I should either leave or pick it up
But with every single buck I've made
I'm saddled with bad luck that came

the moment I was baptized
or when I found out one day I'm gonna die
if only I could find my people or my place in life
a when they come a'carolin'
so loud, so bright, the theremin
will lead us to a chorus
where we'll all rejoice and sing a song that goes:

Oh be calm.
Be calm.
I know you feel like you are breaking down.
I know that it gets so hard sometimes,
Be calm.
Take it from me, I've been there a thousand times.
You hate your pulse because it thinks you're still alive
and everything's wrong
It just gets so hard sometimes
Be calm.

I don't remember much that night,
Just walking, thinking fondly of you
Thinking that worst is yet to come
When from that street corner came a song
And I can't remember the man,
The panhandler or his melody.
The words exchanged had far exceeded any change I'd given thee.

Oh be calm.
Be calm.
I know you feel like you are breaking down.
I know that it gets so hard sometimes,
Be calm.
Take it from me, I've been there a thousand times.
You hate your pulse because it still thinks you're alive
and everything's wrong
It just gets so hard sometimes
Be calm.

It's Kevin!

It's been over a week and my house is actually silent. Keaton and Paulo moved on, Eileen flew out yesterday and Kevin went back to his island this morning. My house has been so non stop that I'm kind of at a loss for what to do with myself now. I guess I should start to go through and catalog all my Warped Tour photographs, maybe make some more phone calls, and print new work for my portfolio. But I'm kind of enjoying the eerie silence, and the dim light that the death plume from the Station fire is creating. I'm guessing since I can no longer see the plume over the hill, it's moved and I'm now residing inside of it. There's ash on my car, and it's kind of freaking me out.

Things are kinda good

There's nothing like spending time with a long lost friend when you've been having a bad week. Recently my good friend Kevin moved to Ventura from New York. He drove through LA yesterday on his way out to the wilderness and treated me to a Ted Leo and the Pharmacists show. We decided to walk to the venue a good two miles away, and after a few beers and the show we walked back. It was a ridiculous amount of fun catching up and listening to good music. I hadn't seen him in well over a year and so much has changed for the both of us. I'm pretty stoked that he's living on the left coast for a while. Monday we're going to see Fun play at Spaceland

Week two of 3oh!3's campaign...

Vote for my boys!

When it rains it pours.

It's raining friends this week. Keaton Andrew was on the couch Sunday and Monday, Eileen's inhabiting the living room currently, and I just got off the phone with my long lost amazing friend Kevin Barnes who is in LA for a week. He's taking me to see Matt and Kim! It's been about two years since the last time I saw him, and I am so damn stoked to catch up! He's one of my favorite people.
That all being said having so many people around is making it difficult to get any editing work done. But I guess having too many friends around is kind of a good problem to have when it's all said and done.
MATT AND KIM!!!

3oh!3 Campaign Ad

This is AWESOME!

Exactly one year ago today...

I was in Salt Lake on my way to LA...
"So I should be in LA right now. My car however had other plans and blew a piston. Which according to my father hasn't happened to a car since 1978. I'm stranded in Salt Lake while I await the $3,500 repair bill from the lovely gentlemen at Ken Garf Saab.
It's looking more and more like I'm never going to get to LA. I spent most of today walking between the Salt Lake Public Library and some odd outdoor mall a mile away. I just wanted to see Tropic Thunder and I really didn't think that "Up two blocks and over a bit" could be that far. I got hopelessly lost and had to ask directions twice but I arrived at the theater five minutes before the 2:35 showing of the movie. It took up a nice 2 hour chunk of my time wasting. However walking the 2 miles with my laptop and 30 pound backpack made me want to punch the dude who stopped me to say "Smile it could be worse". I suppose my car could have destroyed itself by bursting into flames and taking all of my photo and computer gear with it while simultaneously getting me pregnant, and spreading a rumor that I have herpes. That would have been worse I guess. I still wanted to punch that haggard old hippie in his three teeth though.
I'm back at the library where it's air conditioned, waiting for Michael Brown to get off work so I can go and live off of his family's amazing charity some more. Thank god for them. Without them I'd probably have to mooch off of some Morman family who would try to brain wash me into a pair of chinos. "

Amazing what can happen in a year eh?

More 3oh!3 Promos

Yippee! The boys released their new promos today, so that means I get to share them here with you. I can't say enough how nice these guys were to work with. It was such a smooth and fun shoot. I hope to work with them more in the future.

3oh!3 for Best New Artist

Here's a couple photos from my shoot with 3oh!3 in Salt Lake City. More will be released in the near future.

There's Mark Again...

I'm always amused when one of the photos from the Mark Hoppus shoot pops up. This one is on an auction site where celebrities made Lego mosaics and are auctioning them for charity. It's really great, so check it out HERE.

Jaxin and the Raccoon

My friend Jaxin's dream came true and he got to finally meet his spirit animal.

Bayside...

... has been my favorite band for the last five years. So that being said Bayside has been my favorite band since I started to develop a decent taste in music. Here's a photo of Nick from Boise, Idaho's Warped Tour. I doubt I'd be a photographer if it weren't for their Sirens and Condolences album. That record was my fuel as I entered the photo program at MSU.

My last name is Thompson...

... Not "Picturetaker", but because of the internet and myspace bloggers around the world apparently believe it is.
Checkout "Design we Trust" and "Grafitti"

Google translation from the French Blog "Grafitti"Here are beautiful photos of Megan Picturetaker to present the new collection of Hide and Seek Clothing. Hide and Seek Clothing is a dozen tee shirts, hoodies, ... You will also find T-shirts V-neck very fashionable at the moment. The tee shirts are sold $ 20 (€ 14) and resulted in some $ 12 (€ 8.5). Another photo in the following

Boise, Idaho

Chiodos
After some apparent confusion which I had no idea about because I was without internet, my photos from Boise's Warped Tour are now up on AltPress.com. They left out a bunch of my favorites, but oh well, still happy to be part of it!

So... this just happened...

A couple days ago in Salt Lake I photographed 3oh!3 for their upcoming VMA campaign to win Best New Artist. Michael Brown was my wonder assistant, and I couldn't have hoped for a smoother shoot. We started about 2:10 and were done by 2:40. We had 20 minutes to spare by the end and the boys got to hit up catering before going on to a bunch of interviews and autograph signings. Weird how nine months ago I was assisting on their AP cover shoot. I had a ton of fun, these guys are just hilarious to work with. I had trouble holding my camera at times because I was laughing so hard.
Make sure you go to MTV.com and vote for them for Best New Artist!

Dead Bodies and Rock and Roll

Bert did a sidebar story for AltPress.com. I did a screenshot because I'm a nerd.

FINALLY!

So a little over a month ago I photographed a little band called The Used for a little magazine called Alternative Press. It's finally in circulation to subscribers. Of course I'm in Montana, my copy was sent to LA, and I have yet to actually see it in person. This photo comes from my friend Laura. Thanks Laura!



When I got the call that I'd be photographing The Used I literally thought someone was playing a joke on me. The Used were part of the neverending soundtrack when I switched from Graphic Design to photography. It was kind of amazing to work with them as my first AP subjects. Such a great group of guys. I hope to get the chance to work with them again.

What goes in this space?

At some point tonight while watching Blink 182, I think it was during Man Overboard, I was slapped hard by the insane amount my life has changed since moving to LA. If anyone had told me 10 years ago, when I was photographing Jay, Pat, and John's little basement band for a fake Rolling Stone cover for art class, that I'd be standing where I was tonight, I would have laughed in their face. A little extra effort goes a long way, and I'm really happy that I avoided slacking off in school. I'm happy I drove those extra hours around California to make connections with every band I could. I'm amazed every day I'm down here how fast life moves. I honestly can't believe it's been nearly a year already. It's been the hardest yet most rewarding year of my life. I wanted to give up so many times, but didn't because life is a rollercoaster, and it always puts you back on the ground safely. I'm looking forward to finally going home for a while to enjoy being in Montana. I'm making this trip a vacation even though I'm working for most of it. It's going to be fun work, and going out on Warped with Byron and Hide & Seek will be such a blast. I can't wait to meet even more amazing people, and see more amazing places. The next year is going to be an even bigger change, and I hope I'm ready for it!

It Might Get Loud

I can't wait to see this movie...

3/4 of Goodnight Sunrise and some bikes. I miss them already!

In This City

This song sums up LA for me so well. It's almost spooky.

Iglu & Hartly - In This City

You came in to my life
You cannot separate yourself
You came in to my life
You cannot separate yourself

And I found that round here
In this city
That I wont disappear
In this city
I got nothing to fear
In this city,
In this city

Close those doors
Close those doors
Now, now, just keep em open
Keep em open
Yea, keep em open
Ill keep on, keep keep on going
Taking it in so, so heavy
Take it easy son, this ain't so deadly
Got keep on, gotta go on, gotta go on
Take it all with what we've done
Gotta push it push it push it
To the top of the building
Even when no one is feeling
It might bother you
Don't let it
If these people just don't get it
They cant express it
They wont accept it
She said its okay that they may never give you that credit.

And I found that round here
In this city
That I wont disappear
In this city
I got nothing to fear
In this city,
In this city

I've been down here
Down these roads
People pass through
Some stay some go
Standing here broke
Not a penny to my name
But she says she loves me all the same
I try my best
And you do to
And all you want is something you can move to
Everybody's gotta get their kicks somewhere
Everybody gotta fit in somewhere
There's, an open road
And I'm traveling down
Don't know where to go
But I lock and load
Shoot that sky till the moon explode
Moon explode
Now were laying in a field
White flowers on our backs
Talking bout home
But we can't go back
I guess that's why we left
So we could take a step
Keep moving and forget the rest.

You came in to my life
You cannot separate yourself
You came in to my life
You cannot separate yourself

And I found that round here
In this city
That I wont disappear
In this city
I got nothing to fear
In this city,
In this city

Life is good...

Tonight was one of those kind of nights where things go wrong, but everything works out in the end. Shooting promos at the Key Club didn't work out so well, but just getting to relax for a night and have fun with my goof ball friends was very much needed. Joe Simpson was at the show. Yes, Jessica Simpson's father Joe Simpson. He dug Goodnight's cover of Jessica's song "With You", but proceeded to tell Dan that he "wasn't as hot as his daughter" after the show... okay? Todd from Ultimate Ears flew in for the show, and took us out for some diner grub after the boys played. We made sure to take advantage of the photobooth we found downstairs in the Key Club and we should have some new Twitter profiles soon haha. I love photobooths! Tomorrow I'm taking the guys to the Ultimate Ears lab to try out some monitors and hopefully get them set up with some in ears.
I'm ridiculously tired, but today was one of those days that just left me really happy for no real reason except for the fact that I have the greatest friends in the world. I love living in this city.

Na, na, na, na, na, na, Na, na, na, BAT CAVE!

The After Party in the Bat Cave from the original Batman TV series. Spooky scary!I'm so stoked on how my monsters came out. :)

"Dos"

Chris #2 from Anti-Flag at the Ventura Warped Tour. He has to be one of the nicest guys ever.
I know I say that about everyone, but with Dos I mean it. Out of this world friendly!

I'm just going to keep posting these...

More fun time Hide & Seek action. I love how Lenay looks in this photo. She looks like she's going to turn you down at a high school dance because she's the popular girl who's so out of your league... er something. Funny because she's super bubbly and hopped up on Red Bull because she works for them.


Today's photoshoot with The After Party went really well after we climbed a bunch of mountains disguised as speed bumps. The band got here 30 minutes early, so I wasn't really prepared. Usually if I say 10am the band rolls in at 11 at the earliest, but they were on top of it. They also drove in from Vegas, and were going on zero sleep since yesterday morning. Yippee! Once my new fantastic assistant Kris Ross got to my apartment we loaded up the car and started our caravan out to the super cool location we had picked out. Unfortunately once we hit Hollywood Kris and I noticed our caravan was missing, just as Nico called to inform us that one of their cars had broken down. We backtracked to find the third car stranded off of Hollywood, in a red zone. After about 30 minutes of head scratching, and me looking under the hood pretending like I know anything about cars, we called a tow truck and had the car moved to Pep Boys. We spent some time hanging out in the Pep Boys parking lot while they diagnosed the car, and we all got mildly sunburned. It turned out to be a timing belt, which had potentially destroyed the engine in its mission to ruin the day. We decided to cut our losses and everyone piled into the two cars as we went off in search of the location. What we didn't know was that on the way to Pep Boys we had passed the street we were supposed to turn on. We took a 20 minute detour along Mulholland Drive before we got back into Hollywood and were able to find the street which was disturbingly close to my neighborhood. Finally, three hours behind schedule, we made it to our location... the BAT CAVE from the original Batman series! We didn't waste time in setting up after hiking to the cave, and the whole shoot took about 45 minutes. During the session a group of the worlds laziest tourists rode up on a fleet of Segway scooters. I think the tour leader might have reported us, but either way they didn't make it up there in time to bust us for not having a permit. We bid them farewell after all seven of them piled into the drummer's Jetta for the hour drive to the studio where they are recording. Hopefully they get the other car fixed without too much financial hardship. That must have been a huge bummer.
After going to hell and back it turned out to be a very successful day! Many thanks to Kris for all his help, and to The After Party for being so great to work with. I can't wait to start on their images. The theme is pretty ridiculous, and it's going to be a lot of fun!

Without Fail.

It's safe to say that if I tell a band to meet me at my house before we go to our shoot, there will inevitably be someone passed out on our couch. Today it's Zach. The band and my assistant get here in 45 minutes and the kitchen is completely trashed (because I refuse to do anyone's dishes other than my own), so basically I'll meet them outside on the steps and try to figure out where to shoot after I regroup and collect my brain together into a pile. I'm not annoyed by the Zach on the couch, but this kitchen mess is getting ridiculous. If I so much as see one cockroach, I'm moving out.

I suck at updating this...

Sorry I'm such a blogging failure lately. Last week was a complete blur of things going wrong for the sake of things going wrong. I hate blogging when I'm in a terrible mood because it always ends up reading like I hate my life. So today I'm in a fantastic mood for no particular reason, and it seemed like a good day to update.

I spent Thursday, Friday, and Sunday at Warped Tours in Pomona and Ventura. Ventura was lovely, and the temperature couldn't have been more pleasant. I got a lot of photos that I'm pretty happy with, and that I think Ultimate Ears and Todd will like as well. I'm actually kind of happy I didn't end up going on Warped for the first week because from everyone's blogs and Twitters it sounds like it's been an oven out there. I've been content to sit at my computer with the windows open eating popsicles. I'm all caught up on editing, and booking as much work for July as I can. On the 21st I fly into Billings, and then make my way to Helena for my best friend Claire's wedding on the 25th. I still have to find a dress. I wish I was four inches shorter, it would be a lot easier on me. On the 29th I fly from Bozeman to Minneapolis to photograph my friend Matt's wedding on the 31st. It will be my first wedding in a couple years, but I'm really excited to do my first "Trash the Dress" shoot the day after with Katie. It's going to be a really rock and roll wedding, and the theme is old Hollywood, so everyone will look amazing.

After the wedding I fly back to Montana and head out with Byron and Hide & Seek for more Warped Tour madness! I'll be hanging out in the booth when I'm not shooting, so come by and say hi and buy a shirt from me if you'll be in Boise, SLC, Denver, Portland, or the Gorge. It's going to be a long haul, but I'm really excited to hang out with some old friends and all my the new friends I made when I was out the first couple days. I'm also doing some promos for a band that many of you may have heard of, so keep posted. I'm ridiculously excited for that craziness!

Here's another one from Hide & Seek's shoot...

AND THE WINNER IS!!!

Dr. Greg Graffin of Bad Religion very well may be the smartest man on the entire Warped Tour. I always have an intense respect for any touring musicians with a college degree, and Graffin is a college professor at UCLA in his spare time. Bad Religion is one of those bands that I get overly moved watching. They have some of the most profound lyrics. I think if Greg Graffin was president the world would be a better place.

Edit:... Golly check out those fancy Ultimate Ears Greg is rockin', gee wiz!

Fat Mike from NoFX ran onto stage during Bad Religion's set to sing along. This might be my favorite photo from the day, but I'm only on my first batch of images, so I could be wrong.

Hide & Seek Sneek Peek!
Here's a sneeker of the Peace tank top being released on Saturday. Brittany Flickinger and Lenay Olsen were two of our lovely models...

Sometimes just getting a late night phone call from a great friend relating how awesome they are doing can make you feel better. Cheered me up so much hearing how happy he is. On that note, BYRON GIVE ME MY LUCK BACK YOU LUCK STEALER!

Here are the entries! Awesome work guys! This is going to be tough...

I was recently told that I'll be given an Octodrive to give away. I've decided that the fairest way for me to make this an international competition (in my twisted brain) is to conduct a 24 hour film festival!
For those of you who don't know what a 24 hour film festival is, it's fairly self explanatory. You will have 24 hours from a given start time (8am Pacific time on Saturday June 20th!) to write, shoot, and edit a short film. The non self explanatory rules are that you will be given a prompt for the film via my twitter (twitter.com/meganthompson). You will also have an assortment of film themes to choose from which will be given at the end of this blog entry. Another requirement will be that you have to include lines in your script that have come directly from Mark Hoppus, Pete Wentz, and my Twitter. At the end of your film please let us know what lines were from our twitters, and the date we posted them, as it might not be obvious. I'll be checking, so no fudging!

Here is a good example from a friend's 3 hour film festival.



You have quite a bit more creative freedom than most 24 hour film festivals. So get ready and have a lot of fun with it!

RULES
All films MUST be submitted and uploaded to Youtube or Vimeo by 8am Sunday June 21st. If they are not uploaded, they will be disqualified.
All films must be under five minutes in length.
FILMS MUST BE SHOT USING NON PROFESSIONAL GEAR! Point and Shoot cameras like the Canon Powershot, or Sony Cybershot, Flip Cameras, and iSight Cameras only!
Films must include one line taken from Mark Hoppus' twitter (twitter.com/markhoppus)
Films must include one line taken from Pete Wentz's twitter (twitter.com/petewentz)
Films must include one line taken from Megan Thompson's twitter (twitter.com/meganthompson)
Films must include the random character/object/word to be given at the kick off at 8am Saturday June 20th.
Films must be made in one of the following Genres...
Western, Sci Fi, Horror, Action Adventure, or Slapstick Comedy
If films are not in English, please include subtitles, or a link to where I can read the script in English.
At the end of your film please include a slate of the chosen lines, the chosen genre, and your twitter URL so we can announce if you are the winner!

Remember kids have fun, be fair, be safe, and be legal!

ACK! LOOKIT!!! Those are my ultimate ears! I LOVE THEM! Thank you Todd!

Whoa what a weekend! Byron left Saturday, then Sunday morning I drove 6 hours to Sacramento for the Bidwell music video shoot. The show was a lot of fun and I'm once again amazed by how awesome video on my camera looks! I got home late Monday and still don't feel I'm 100% back to awesome.
Yesterday I found out from Todd at Ultimate Ears that A. My in ears are finished! and B. I'm being given an octodrive to give away! I'm so excited, and plan on making the kids work really hard to get this one. I'm thinking a 24 hour film festival with rules to be given out in a few days. I figure if my friends who are good at making a shorts can make one in 3 hours 24 hours is plenty of time for the novice filmmakers out there who want a drive. The catch is that to level the playing field, everyone will have to shoot on either a point and shoot camera or an iChat camera on their Mac. No professional video equipment allowed! Mwuahahaha!
Ok back to work.

Byron from Hide & Seek Clothing came down to shoot their summer line. I dragged him around to The Viper Room to assist with a shoot for the band Saint Motel.

Today was pretty incredible. It's always amazing meeting a band that you love when they turn out to be really great guys. We shot in a sketchy hotel, and before the shoot began we noticed cops outside a room down the hall. They didn't mind us milling around, but we were getting curious, and someone went to investigate why they were down there. It turned out that there was a dead guy in the room, and they were waiting for the coroner! By far the most memorable shoot of my career thus far. We somehow kept it together to finish up the shoot in the hallway, with all of this going on next door.
Another "Welcome to LA" moment.

I was there...

Tonight I survived the crowd at Jimmy Kimmel and watched those Blink-182 rascals play an awesome set of nine or ten songs. I haven't had that much fun since we went to Six Flags on Tuesday!... no seriously, this has been the most fun week ever. I don't really know how I'm going to top it.
How about topping it with my first feature shoot for Alternative Press Magazine tomorrow? Oh, ok, that sounds pretty good actually...

Stay tuned!

Woo! Today is Hide & Seek Clothing Day! Byron's asleep on the couch, and I'm inhaling coffee. We're doing the white backdrop photos for the website here, then cruising up to Van Nuys for the outdoors Huck Finn stuff. Today I'm rocking the new peach deep V from the summer line. Everything feels so good! Too many clothing companies just use the cheapest American Apparel option, but Hide & Seek seriously make sure each shirt feels amazing. Before I start to sound like an advertisement...
We saw Up last night and it was so great! Such a great story, and really cute. Strangely enough the character, Doug, made me want a dog even more than I already do. Blah.

And now for something completely different...

John Denver was pretty cool. I think that Fearless should put together a Punk Goes John Denver compilation. I'd buy it!

Anthony Raneri is hands down my favorite singer. Sorrow by Bad Religion is one of my all time favorite songs. Put the two together and you have me watching this video on a loop all day. Warped Tour, I WILL be watching Bayside every single day, that is a fact.

Tomorrow Byron from Hide & Seek gets here for a few days of photoshoot madness, and ridiculous fun. I'm going to see if I can find us a way into Six Flags on Monday, and we're going to see blink-182 play on Jimmy Kimmel on Tuesday. Sunday we're shooting the new line, and I'm so excited for the shoot. I love being this busy! It's so nice to always look forward to something, as opposed to dreading time passing because nothing is happening. Not going to lie, I'm still very broke, but less so, and I can actually pay my bills and then go get a coffee without hating myself or using my credit card! Woo hoo! Wednesday's shoot is shaping up to be really fun. I have a crew assembled already. Cale's going to come help with lights, Jenni is coming to do hair and makeup again, and I even think I've wrangled a studio. All I need now is to know which idea the band liked. Then I'll know if I need to wrangle a favor and find a stylist, or book a room in a seedy hotel.
Tonight I'm going out to Anaheim to film Sleep District play at the House of Blues, and photograph Bidwell at the same show. It will be so fun to see Bidwell again, and it will be my first time seeing my friends in Sleep District live, so I'm all around stoked!
Tomorrow Byron and I are going to see Up in 3D! I'm giddy!

It's kind of ironic that the cooler my shoots get, the less I'm allowed to talk about them. All I really want to do is tell everyone that I'm doing a shoot with________ for _______ Magazine.

I will tell you that I'm rewatching Suicide Kings and Reservoir Dogs for research. This shoot is going to be a lot of fun, and involve a lot of duct tape, some metal snippers, and my awesome green arm chair.

I'm going to be shooting a band a few of you may have heard of next week... I AM SO STOKED!

Twitter is an amazing tool. I barely even open Myspace anymore. Maybe this is the slow transition back into actually talking to people. Who knows.
I've spent the entire morning opening and responding to emails, and on the phone with managers, and setting up shoots for June. I love being this busy! Today is going to be an edit-a-thon. Tomorrow I'm filming Sleep District at the House of Blues in Anaheim, and photographing Bidwell at the same show. Should be very fun, that venue is amazing.
Saturday Byron from Hide and Seek flies in for our shoot. The summer line is amazing! I am SO excited for some new clothes to rock this summer. New gear is the best way to start the summer. We're shooting on Sunday and I have a rockstar lineup of models! It's going to be a very fun day. Then we'll head up to Bakersfield for the Rockin Roots Festival. Of Mice and Men are debuting and I'm going to take some live photos for them. Monday I want to take Byron to Six Flags... anyone have a hookup to get us in for cheap?
Yesterday I went down to Irvine and had impressions taken of my ear canal for Warped Tour. My Ultimate Ears should be here in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait to unveil them for you all! The shop was really incredible, and everyone I met was so nice. I met with the president and I'm going to have a ton of creative freedom on Warped which will be so great. I'm really stoked to be working for such a sweet company. Thanks to Mark for hooking me up with the job!
In other news, here's the first video update with footage from my FlipHD...

One day these will make sense...

Here's a few photos from the last week. This past weekend I was hanging out in the studio with Sleep District as they recorded a new song. The bottom two images are of Slade from Anarbor backstage before his set at Chain Reaction. Anarbor are super nice guys, and we share a manager, who is also a super great guy, so we're like super great siblings kinda... or something.

Glamour Kills has released the Jordan Raths photos! I'm stoked :) They'll be used on posters for the Zumiez Couch Tour. So keep an eye out. I'm excited to work with them again soon.

Since I moved to LA I've been really good about not making frivolous purchases. I've tried to be better with money and not impulse buy stuff I don't need. I was even talking to my mom on the phone yesterday about how I was putting everything into a savings account to prepare for a rainy day. That being said I have been wanting to get a camcorder ever since my old Mini DV camcorder bit the dust a few years ago. The desire to do behind the scenes footage from my shoots has been growing exponentially ever since I got to LA. Today I went to Best Buy to get a new CF card for my 5D and walked out with an 8gig card and this...

So prepare yourselves for a lot of video updates, behind the scenes, and random videos of rock stars being dumb.

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!