Beatrice & the Misogynist (Me)
Last Saturday, we attended the HS graduation for the son of very dear friends of ours, via India, Pakistan (her and him, respectively), and eventually, the UK and America.
Beatrice got 2 of 3 of their sons through 5th grade way better than when they went in, and they have loved her for it every minute since. We have many friends as a result. Too many to recount; but Alain and Didi, from Montreal, are a couple of them introduced to us. We’ve both been to each others’ homes and in fact, they were there for this epic meal on Christmas Eve. Oui, je parle français avec eux.
Alain is a great photographer and set up his equipment (lots of it) to do portraits. Here’s the three he took of us. Click to get higher-res.
What? Do I have to?
OK, could be fun
Yea, yea? Huh?
Ok, so which is best?
BTW, someone asked about Beatrice doing a guest post. Coincidentally, I’d already hit her up for that. She’s agreed, once school is out in a few days so, a coupla weeks and you’ll get to see why she’s so inept as to bed down with a misogynist like me.
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Free The Animal is an eclectic writing project about everything since November 2003. 23 years, 5,500 posts, 5 million words.
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As a photographer: The middle one, because it shows personality, it’s flattering all around, and not stiff like the others.
Nionvox:
That was the photographer’s assessment as well.
“very dead friends” – I assume that’s a typo.
You guys look great! :)
Some type’os need to be fixed… My vote is the the middle one.
I have made some insulting comments on this site concerning your weight. I take those back. You look good, here.
The second photograph’s definitely a keeper.
HP:
Man, no sweat. I hate and love those comments, for obvious reasons. I have more to go but until I get there I want the digs I get.
I like #3, but they’re all keepers for my iPhoto album.
How’s your progress going Lute? Plenty of us would like to know if you’ve got the time to tell the story.
Oh, please. Finally! Bea, we look forward to your wisdom…but wonder how you put up with this man of yours.I know deep down there beats a real heart. You must have found it.
Oh, the middle one. Shows who is boss. Yes, where is this need to “get lean”? Actually you both do look great!
You look fantastic.
And yeah, the second one is the best (though all are good, that one shows the most personality.)
Looking good Richard! Time to update those progress photos. :)
I say the middle one. It definitely has the most personality, and I’d like to believe that your smile is the most sincere of the three. Not to mention that Beatrice looks smashing from the side and her smiling at your smiling face is utterly charming.
All great pics!
The middle picture, for sure! Love them all, though. And, I also don’t believe that you are a misogynist.
“And, I also don’t believe that you are a misogynist. ”
Jeanie. Please don’t try to ruin things for me.
The middle one, though they are all not half bad, if you get what I’m saying here.
Yes, I do, Steve. Please tell that to Beatrice, from whom I just got an OMG email. She doesn’t like herself in any but the second.
I’ll make it up to her, though. She wanted liver for dinner last night and it just wasn’t going to happen so I went for BBQ & slaw at Willy’s. I’m going to head to the pool for a long swim and pick up liver on the way back for her. Enough for her corn tortilla and liver breakfast in the morning.
oh my gosh, i love the second picture of you two!!! i dont know either of you personally, but i have a feeling that it captures your personalities as individuals and your dynamic as a couple to a tee . . . so super adorable!!
2nd pic does seem to be getting the argumentum ad polulum vote (to reference the previous post). :)
Hate to go with the crowd, but yeah, the second one. I think you look very charming in the first — like someone I’d want to talk with, but the second one ‘represents’ you as you come across (across the years).
2nd! Definitely.
+1.
BTW, you’re looking the best I can recall seeing you. I hope you’re going to be ripped like Mark Sisson when you release your next book. It’ll generate a lot more interest in the book if you are.
The gold and blue sub is nice. I can’t really pull off wearing a gold watch. A little flashy for my muted tastes. The blue face is beautiful though.
I have an Omega Seamaster Chrono with blue face (wedding gift)
and an IWC Mark XVI pilot watch
bing.com/images/search?q=iwc+mark+xvi&qs=IM&form=QBIR&pq=iwc+ma&sc=8-6&sp=1…
That Omega is nice. The nice thing about the gold (plated, but quality plating) Tag is that it’s a very thin profile and the chassis is curved, so it sports a very low profile on the wrist and doesn’t look as bulky as something like the gold sub. I got compliments on it all the time.
BTW, Bea’s watch is a stainless Citizen Ecodrive. The band is a very clever design with push buttons on each side of a clamshell clasp. Got it for her years ago as an Xmas gift. No battery replacement yet, so it operates as advertised.
Oh, and it took me months to convince her that it was safe to take in the water. :)
My omega has a similar push button design on the clasp. Really slick. The watch is huge and a complete tank. That’s one reason I love it. You can wear it on the beach or with a suit.
Richard,
sometimes I hate you, especially after the fuck episode with James Krieger.
But this doesn’t stop me to admit that you and your wife look lovely.
All the best,
D
“sometimes I hate you”
Well, sometimes I hate me too. So how could I fault you for that?
I like all three, the middle one is the best of you two together Richard, but I like the third one of Bea. There just is something very direct and honest in her eyes. I have the feeling she is one strong woman.
Here’s a song by Freshly Ground, a South African band – dedicated to all those who love long:
youtube.com/watch?v=nYJTWtT_YVU&feature=related
Pauline, in the states we get a message that “the uploader has not made this video available in your country”. Which song is it? so can look up.
Rich and Bea, here’s another one, it’s what popped into my head when I saw that middle picture – and the video goes for the long-view, like you so beautifully seem to be taking :
youtube.com/watch?v=NGorjBVag0I&ob=av3n
What a pity! Its called ” I’d Like” by Freshly Ground, that particular video is very beautiful. This is a different version, let me know if you can view it:
youtube.com/watch?v=k-5GzjsxGU0
Unfortunately that video is not nearly as good but the sound is fine! Ah well…
Interesting. I just saw mention of this band somewhere and liked the name. Thanks. Now I like their music !!
Funny I am now blocked from seeing that video in the UK? That doesn’t usually happen does it?
My other hobby is watches – what are you sporting in these shots? Looks like an Omega Seamaster..
EF:
I love watches too. My favorite I have is the gold Tag Heuer Sports Elegance, which came out in 1989. I saw it advertised in a magazine and knew I had to get it. $1,300 in 1989 was quite a price to pay. I’ve scuba dived with it down to 80 feet, no problem.
righttime.com/rt/pre-owned/wg1130.htm
A couple of years ago the band broke and I just didn’t get around to sending it in for repair (no local watch repairmen could handle it).
So, I went and picked up a Swiss Army Victorinox. It has a similar form to the stainless submariner. My dream watch? Probably the gold submariner with the blue bezel and face. Or, maybe the stainless and gold.
i’d love to be contrarian because the masses are usually quite wrong, but in this case, they are right. horrible buddhist walking the middle path puns come to mind, but the second one is the winner, hands down.
I like the middle photo. You both look fully alive in all three, but your chest-to-waist ratio in the middle photo definitely makes the FreeTheAnimal.com argument in an inarguable way.
Que pareja mas linda!
Thank you, josef. I’ll make sure Bea sees that.
Or, I should say:
Gracias, José. Me aseguraré de que da cuenta de que Beatriz.
I have known you peronally for about 15 years. I have never seen you look better.
I have always felt that you, for far too long , have left out of you writings , the best thing that has ever happened to you. I mean – your wife.
Hi Sam:
Yea, I probably ought to mention her more, except that as with anyone and particularly her, I always feel that everyone has a right not to be associated with me (in terms of the blog). Writing a comment on one’s own (as Beatrice has done from time to time) is one thing, but when I mention someone in a post, I haul them in whether they want to be or not…and if I only blogged about fluffy cute animals that would probably be fine.
But I don’t. I blog in a way so as to at least scare myself from time to time. …Well, maybe even once or twice per week. Nobody has any idea how many times I’ve read and re-read a post draft only to close my eyes, grit my teeth and hit the “Publish” button anyway—always for better or worse.
That said, there is still about 188 posts in the lot of about 3,000 here that do mention Beatrice.
freetheanimal.com/?s=beatrice
There are two that are all about her.
freetheanimal.com/2007/06/note_of_recogni.html
freetheanimal.com/2009/09/my-beutiful-wife-progresses.html
Aside from the posts, I mention her quite a bit more in comments, which is why the regulars here are very familiar and why, last September at the Ancestral Health Symposium, she got such a recognized warm welcome.
After school gets out she’s going to be doing a guest post on the blog and I’m really looking forward to that. I’m hoping it works out well enough so that it can be a regular deal, maybe every month or something.
I don’t like the second one because it looks like it’s all about you. I like the third one because you both have that “I got my honey” look going on.
“I don’t like the second one because it looks like it’s all about you.”
Ok, you convinced me. Now I like the 2nd one best too. :)
Actually, Beatrice likes the 2nd one best so I don’t believe she feels at all overshadowed of deprecated. It’s a capture. I gaze at her sometimes too. ….But I sure as hell avoid being in front of a camer when I do. We have reps to keep ‘spected, after all.
Hey, if she likes the second one best, it sure beats sleeping on the couch. Now that I’ve said that, I guess I will have to blog about all the truisms my husband says.
I just saw these – what great pictures! you both are very photogenic. I definitly like the second picture.
I like the first (I know I’m a contrarian asshole) a lot, simple, natural and clean, maybe a little bit too stiff though.
The second looks too staged, you stare like a ‘tard and Bea seems to be in awe of your ‘tardness. Doesn’t work for me.
The third is excellent for a personal portrait you put at home, not really for a “publication”. It has an intimate feel of deep love to it and is a bit over the top for public consumption as that love is none of our business (you know, I’m not very communicative and would hate to expose such feelings in public view, but that’s a personal thing).
Is it me or does Beatrice have a bit of Spanish (Latina/Hispanic) in her?
Yep, her grandfather came from Mexico and her dad married a Latina who’s family had settled in Colorado.
Both of you look great. You’ve obviously gotten leaner. Did you have that shirt tailored for your trimmer build? It looks oddly fitted with a sharp angling between the shoulder and the torso. Beatrice looks beautiful in a relaxed and natural sort of way. IMO, the first pic is the best, natural poses and expressions.
Nope, no tailoring. Just a shirt I had on hand.