Cold Turkey
By Matt Patterson
24 Feb 2009
i am meeting up with a good friend (very cute, she is in a lot of my photos) tonight at the nickel rose around 8:30 if you are in town. i will have the 1D with me.
r.
It all started with that simple invite on Facecrack. R. knows how easy it is to exploit my weakness...cute girls and big cameras. I got Holden to come along as well. The Nickel Rose was fairly empty at such an early hour. I spotted the girls in a corner booth that had a good vantage point of the front door. Introductions were made, drinks ordered, and stories swapped.
R. was true to her word, her friend Naomi was not only cute but artsy and fun as well. I told her about some dates gone wrong and we had a good laugh. She in return told me about spilling a martini on her boyfriends parents couch. Yeah, she did say boyfriend but quickly followed it up with "open relationship"..most people would of been discouraged but I forged ahead. She saw that the B word wasn't working so then she dropped the kid bomb. I have dated plenty of women with kids so I wasn't fazed. Two hours later we were making out in front of her Jetta.
A few dates later we were once again engaged in the fine art of lip-locking. This one was particularly intense...our lips parted and her eyes looked slightly glazed over. She looked at me and said
"I have to quit you cold turkey"
long pause
"I am going to take that as a compliment"
"You should".
Thirty seconds later I got a huge smile on my face.
"What" she said
"Nothing"
And with that my brain started firing off ideas for The Cold Turkey Series. I sketched out different ideas in my journal and started shooting a few days later. After photographing the series, I cooked the turkey and invited her over for dinner. That bird looked beautiful when I took it out of the oven. Golden brown, the thermometer read 165 degrees but alas it wasn't cooked all the way. I had to stick it back in the oven for a few more hours.
Once I got the film back I sent her a single photo in the mail everyday for a little over a week. It was fun to hear the excitement in her voice as she discovered the magic of the postal system.
It doesn't look like it is going to work out. Never the less, I say if a girl inspires art what can you do but smile.
