This is my journal.

The Other Daughter

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:08:24 GMT

The Other Daughter, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

At the Salton Sea

the ground

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:29:44 GMT

the ground, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

(after taking this photo, i realized i had some sort of reaction to some strange LAian plant and it had cut me. cut me like a bitch. on my arms and my back. goddamn. this place is serious.)

I'm sorry lj. I always forget about you these days. I update my tumblr account everyday, but always forget about lj! I'm sorry. :/

Alone Time

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:28:07 GMT

Alone Time, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

Before this trip, I spent all day, every day by myself. I’m a person who really values their alone time. I got to movies by myself, out for dinner by myself, etc. etc.

So, after spending four days without having ANY alone time, I was about to lose my mind. I was irritable and moody. Luckily Jon (who I’m staying with), understood, and so I spent today wandering around on my own. Not talking to anyone. Listening to my iPod, exploring San Francisco. It was really fantastic. But then I ended up doing things like this, up there. Taking pictures of myself with the remote in historic forts. Nerd.

The Handmaid's Tale

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:11:37 GMT

The Handmaid's Tale, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

For some reason, this hat always reminds me of The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, even though they wore white head-dresses, with red habits.

Jenna

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:27:20 GMT

Jenna, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

This is Jenna. She is Tuesday’s best friend.

The first time I met Jenna, I was drunk in Windsor and she drove me to some bar. Apparently we bonded in the car over poetry. However, as I was drunk at the time, I did not remember this at all. It took us awhile to get back to that once-shared familiarity, and now, 3 years later, we’re almost there.

Today I took pictures of Jenna and Tuesday. I would like to take pictures of Jenna again, because I don’t think I caught her yet, and I also think she’s capable of being a kick-ass model.

Dirty

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:57:44 GMT

Dirty, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

But what do you keep of me?
The memory of my bones flying
up into your hands.

-- Anne Sexton

Backyard

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:43:34 GMT

Backyard, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

In the backyard at 2 am, lit by the moon.

NOTE: My book's more than 1/3rd sold out. They're going faster than expected. Thanks to everyone who bought one so far!

Basement

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:15:07 GMT

Basement, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

In my grandparents basement. The light was really nice, but I could't seem to do anything interesting with it. So yeah. That's all really. :)

He said. Then she said.

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:17:09 GMT

He said. Then she said., originally uploaded by Katie West!.

Him: If you ever need somebody -
Her: I need somebody.

Practical Tokens of Affection

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:01:28 GMT

Practical Tokens of Affection, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

News: I have a new book.

Practical Tokens of Affection is my second book. Unlike my last collection, Low Self-Esteem, this new book includes writing along with my self-portraits. The stories deal with sex, love, and relationships; the feelings, the desires, the mistakes. All the stories are based on real people, except when they're not. But even then, they may as well be. This book means more to me than the last one did, I hope you like it as much as I do.

Also all the money from these sales will be going to fund my West Coast Road Trip. On June 28th I am flying out to San Francisco for one week. Then I'm flying to Los Angeles for another 3 weeks. Then I'm going to San Diego.

That's in less than 3 weeks. I've been working on this book for a long while now and it took me longer than I had anticipated. So the time crunch is really on. So, if you are planning to buy the book, um, sooner rather than later would be most beneficial to my cause of Awesome Photo Taking that will include shoots with Lou Noble, Chad Michael Ward, Zoetica Ebb, Laura Taylor, possibly Richard Kadrey and whomever else I come upon in my travels. :)

Funeral

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:09:29 GMT

Funeral, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

At my grandfathers funeral, I may have been the height of funeral fashion. This was due largely to my beret.

It was a lovely service. I cried when my dad spoke. About the measure of a man. My dad’s kind of really amazing.

The almost.

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 23:48:02 GMT

The almost., originally uploaded by Katie West!.

I almost like this photo. Almost. But not quite.

Different

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:32:15 GMT

Different, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

The other day I lost the remote for my camera. And then last night I finally found it. At 2 am. And then felt the need to take pictures.

So here is a picture I took last night at around 3 am. My new thing, is no photoshop. Not on this one, or the last one. Oh, well, I made this image semi-square. I'm such a fucking liar, eh? :)

Red

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:37:54 GMT

Red, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

Tumblr

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:24:07 GMT

Can you please all get Tumblr accounts and move there? It is my favourite blog site and the most fun to use and super versatile. You will love it too. Just try it out. Do it for me. And then tell me what your tumblr site is so I can follow you (but ONLY if I like you.)

REBLOG! HEY-O!

For just a minute

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:11:50 GMT

For just a minute, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

you had to make it complicated and i had to try to prove you wrong.

A Picture and An Announcement

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:06:11 GMT

A Picture and An Announcement, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

Awhile ago Warren Ellis had posted an idea on his site called ROTOR - essentially a rotation of artists generating content for free online. We liked this idea, specifically this part: "tumblr version of same: one writer, one illustrator, one photographer, one musician, one video/filmmaker = five slots." So we decided to make it happen.

The 5Lights Project tells stories. One story a week, told five different ways, in five different mediums, by five different artists. The emphasis is on the creation of the stories; the push to try something new and different each week.

For the month of June our five artists are:
Sam: writing
Traci Matlock: video
Mark Sarmel: illustration
Kay Pettigrew: music
Lou Noble: photographs

Thanks Warren for the idea, and we hope the rest of you like it,

Lou Noble and Katie West

GO NOW!

Torontonians:

Sun, 31 May 2009 22:03:54 GMT

Need a place to live? I'm moving out of my house: http://tinyurl.com/m8qr2v

Craigslist ad: http://tinyurl.com/m8qr2v

Landlord is super awesome. I would live here if I were you.

Sometimes

Fri, 29 May 2009 16:28:19 GMT

Sometimes, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

Remember

Thu, 28 May 2009 16:38:20 GMT

Remember, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

the fear is

Thu, 28 May 2009 04:32:21 GMT

the fear is, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

the fear is, even after we leave them, we'll still feel them inside us. taking up too much space.

(or maybe the fear is we'll never want to let them out. we'll let them take up all the space they want, for as long as they want, and never even charge rent.)

my favourite

Tue, 26 May 2009 22:29:02 GMT

my favourite, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

This is my favourite photo from yesterday. Because we have no pants on. And I can’t remember what was going on, but it looks like fun!

I forgot to mention...

Tue, 26 May 2009 18:25:26 GMT

I forgot to mention..., originally uploaded by Katie West!.

I forgot to mention that Elana is also wonderfully sexy.

Elana

Tue, 26 May 2009 17:41:28 GMT

Elana, originally uploaded by Katie West!.

Yesterday I took photos of a stranger from the internet.

Well, actually, I met her at TCAF and she said “Hey, I follow you on Twitter!” And then we were instant friends! Or if we weren’t then, we are now.

Elana has an honours with distinction from U of T in archaeology and philosophy. She can speak Hebrew and sort of Japanese. She’s Jewanese, you see. She can also sing. She sings in the Varsity Jews, a Jewish a capella group. She also manages a comic book shop. She also has a lot of sex with her boyfriend. She also provides strange women from the internet (me) with alcohol at 1 pm on a Monday afternoon and then gets nearly naked for them.

So, yeah, you could say she is kinda awesome.

Sometimes, I wonder the same thing.

Thu, 21 May 2009 05:32:24 GMT

Sometimes, I wonder the same thing., originally uploaded by Katie West!.