Wannabe

Well I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want... (for those of you wondering, those are the lyrics to Wannabe, by none other than the Spice Girls, that's right, I'm quoting spice girls lyrics!). =)

I want to understand why a random person ("Kimi" is what she posted as, but who knows), that I don't know would write a very angry, mean comment about a)me being an idiot (?), b) me being unkind to an animal and c) my photography skills. Here's what she wrote. It was about a picture I posted for photo friday a long time ago. It looks like she googled 'cat' on google image, the romanian (.ro?) version. If you want to read what I wrote about the cat, you can see the post here.

And here's her comment:
your an idiot
instead of finding the cat FASCINATING you could have put it in your car and to tak>e it to a vet. your guilt was the one that was drowing your atention to the picture. the fact is that you are just a small superficial bitch that wants to LOOK like she is somekind of good photographer. face it honney you're just a wannabe...

Hence the 'wannabe' title of this post. It's actually pretty rare for me to get crazy comments like this (all spam aside), and my first reaction was laughter. My second was, 'what the heck?' And the third was, 'nice grammar.' And the fourth was, 'what the heck?'

Here's this person, apparently from Romania, writing really unkind, hateful things to me, a person she doesnt' know, about a situation she knows nothing about. First of all, let me state, I am an animal lover; I grew up with cats my entire life (as well as dogs, sometimes hamsters, mice, birds and any other animal we could talk mom and dad into allowing us). I don't feel like I need to explain myself, but I will. I answered this girl in email, but here's the gist of what I sent her (besides asking her what would bring her to comment randomly something so full of vitriol and anger on somebody's site that she doesn't know...but I digress.

When I shot that cat, I was shooting a wedding. I couldn't 'hop in my car and bring the cat to a vet,' however, I did ask the owner of the property about the cat, and she assured me the cat was being taken care of. Now I'm not sure what brought about the 'idiot' comment, but idiot is defined in this way:

idiot, noun.
A foolish or stupid person.
A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

I think I can safely assure you, given my grades in school, success in life and friendships (and I think those in my life would agree), I may be a lot of things, but an idiot is not one of them. I may have done foolish things in my past, but it's not a defining characteristic, and I certainly don't think not jumping into a car with a beat up cat when I was on a job would necessarily lead one to the conviction that I'm an idiot. I think if I had done what she suggested, the bride and groom who were paying me might find me to be an idiot, however.

And now the final point. I can't say that my photography style is necessarily everyone's cup of tea. And while I've been a photographer (professionally) for only four years, I don't think I would categorize myself as a wannabe, given my career has been booming lately (so much so that I don't have much time to blog anymore). I'm not sure how she would surmise that I want to 'look' like a good photographer. I'm not entirely sure what that would look like. I can't say I'm necessarily happy with my post-surgical weight gain, but I can safely say I'm fairly content with how I look. And if she was indeed trying to be metaphorical, I can also safely say that I'm secure with my professional reputation, and I think my clients would back me up and say that they are completely happy with the work I've done for them, and (not to toot my own horn), that I am a good photographer, and don't need to merely try to 'look' like one. I don't think I'm good enough to fool that many people were I not at least proficient in my trade. Do I still have things to learn? Most defenitely, I hope I'll ALWAYS have things to learn, otherwise I'd be bored.

Also, how can looking at one (or maybe some) photos and posts on my blog lead her to believe I'm a 'small, superficial bitch.' This is the one I really don't get. Maybe she can explain it to me, but I'm a little confused by that part.

Anyhow, all that weidness aside, we had a great time at Disneyland. Bella was a super-star and went on her first big girl ride, "Splash Mountain." She was a total trooper, given that it was 11pm, cold outside and aside from shooting down a total vertical at extreme speeds, we got completely soaked. I included a picture of her, so you can see the proof. And Kimi, I'm sorry if this doesn't live up to your photographic expectations, but my husband took it. ;)

Comments

[ross]

Kimi, you ignorant slut.
(Dan Akroyd, SNL, Weekend Update)

First of all, if you decide to insult someone, learn how to spell. It's a real pity to call someone and idiot when you lack the ability to spell correctly, or form logical and grammatical sentences. Granted, english is obviously not your first language, but as your country knows, in order to succeed in this world, you better speak english. Keep your insults in your own damn country!

Also, I see wierd looking stuff all the time. Stuff that is broken or out of place. Next time I see someone in a wheelchair, I'm going to throw 'em in my car and rush 'em to the hospital. If I see someone with a jacked-up eye, I'll do the same thing - throw 'em in my car and drive them to the hospital. Nevermind that I know nothing about them or their situation, I'll just assume I know everything, like you Kimi, and put whatever thing I find in the back of the car and drive it to the vet.

Finally, it is foolish to speak so boldly into a situation which you now nothing about. Kimi, you're an idiot!

Finally finally, don't you ever talk to my wife that way you romanian wacko!

[Kier]

Here, here Ross... and Kimi, next time you insult such a beautiful and talented woman like Kelly - "go pound sand" (per my husband) and realize that you are dealing with a posse - a posse TOTALLY devoted to Kelly and all that she stands for - oh yeah and did I mention to "go pound sand?" - I just LOVE that my husband says that!! I really do :)

[wes]

Ross, you the man.

Kelly, I think anyone who took 10 seconds to read your blog woudl realize you are a really nifty person. Some people are just bound and determined to be jerks.

The inetrnet turns village idoits into global village idiots.:) Kimi seems to fit that mold.

[Edie]

How weird! I just Googled "cat" myself and came across that pic and came to your blog to check things out and there was your most recent post about Kimi. I however do not think you're an idiot or a superficial bitch :-) Kimi you must be rich eh? to be able to afford to take stray animals to the vet? Must be nice! Hey Ross, I got me an grizzly bear here with a sprained ankle, will ya come help me load him up in the ole jalopy? HA!

[ross]

Thanks for the support on my comment. But just so everyone knows, Kelly has already edited out all the bad words. "wacko" wasn't exactly the phrasing I used.

[Rae]

Oh, Kelly, I so know about vitriol in the last four weeks. There are some weird people out there with nothing better to do than to spew hateful, poorly dictated, syntactically lacking, ungrammatical crud. If they can't criticize directly, they sometimes makeup lies. I wish I could receive it in hard copy so I could whip out my red ink pen, mark all the mistakes, and send it back. Good for you for fighting back and not taking the crap.

And, Ross, a virtual toast to you.

[Rae]

P.S. A small confession: I like Wannabe :D

[MIsty]

Ugggh! How awful. I hate those kinds of comments. I got one a while back. It does hurt a little even when a person is way off. The truth is, they don't know you or they would know that you aren't superficial at all and you care very deeply for people. Please don't let a cheap shot make you feel cheap because you are wonderful-and no one can take that from you, especially someone who doesn't know or care about you.

It's really not right to care more about animals than poeple. It really isn't fair to say that because a person doesn't react in a situation the way you would that they were being cruel or are a bad person and what ever comments you can think of. Like Edie said above it would be too expensive for most people to pay vet bills for animals who get hurt. It would be cruel to put my family in that kind of financial situation. Priorities are important. Kelly handled that appropriately. She had a responsibility to do her job. She asked who the owner was, who is really the one who needed to take the animal to the vet, if they choose to do so. No one should be required to act irresponsibly in order to save an animal. People have been run over and killed trying to get hit animals off the freeway. Now that's being an idiot!

Also, I love your pictures Kelly. I would have you take my pictures over anyone else in the whole world! And I mean that.

[Amanda]

Gnarly! So did the lady email you back?

[Madison]

Ooooh, that kitty looks scary what happened to it??

[m]

ROCKON ROSS!!! Kel there is no reason to even begin to give Romanian-retard a minute of your day..... (but it was a great response posting if I must say so:)

anywho......sorry I havent been by in a while perusing your blogdom......Ive been buried in school stuff. :) Minta

[Davy]

Kimi, your a dumb bitch...you mess with the bean your gettin the whole burrito...Thats my family your insulting...stupid, jealous woman....GET A LIFE

[Dezi]

Just wanna say I think its sweet that you care so much about the cats. Hopefully the rest of the people that find that picture on the net read what you wrote about the cat before they get their knickers in a twist.

Very good Photography aswell.

[melissa]

Ah yes... Well this little "explination" that is supposed to clear everything up is even more proof of my point. It's not a matter of the cat's well being or paying the vet bill. No, its about the fact that you took an image of this creature, you froze him/her in time and (by the way I have no problem with your photography, as a matter of fact I think your pretty talented.) that is beautiful. But the context, the self appraisal, against the back drop of this cat, obviously not as lucky as you are, was slightly maddening. The fact that you went to SUCH legnths to defend/redeeme youself drives my point home, infact... around the bases a few times, slowly, with a strut. Kimi is the idiot. But someone else might need to work on their ego.

P.S. I don't need an email from you, (or your hypocrit husband, calling Kimi a "slut"). I already know what you have to say, and obviously, I still don't agree.

[Kelly]

aye carumba. I emaled 'melissa' my response to her comments. hopefully she will stay away.