We arrived and easily found parking. Thank goodness! The parking in the lots nearby had gone from $3 to $15 or $20 for the evening. Ouch. Ours, however, ended up being free because we were there for the premier and because we were so early.

We had about an hour standing around greeting people… I got to meet R’s roommate at the shoot, who was the winner of BotB2. He had his wife with him. One of the younger guys had his wife with him, too. The rest of the photographers were either single or stag for the evening.

It was chilly and I didn’t want to wear my rust jacket, because it didn’t match, so I should have been freezing. But I decided I wasn’t going to be that cold and mostly I wasn’t.

I felt a little out of place being there. Laura, one of the other wives, said she had seen the show already and was looking forward to the premier, when I asked her, but there wasn’t a lot of conversation.

After standing around for what seemed like an hour, we got in a car to go to the limo. Then we sat in the limo for half an hour. During that time we met one of the models. She was very personable. She told me she liked my dress. Then she and her boyfriend went into a restaurant to get a drink. After a while two of the judges and their dates got into the limo. They were a lot more chatty. They talked to each other and the group at large. I liked that. I felt less like I didn’t know what I was doing there. Eventually two other women, who were there for the casting call, got in.

I had already met one of them at the MUAs. She said my make-up looked nice. I told her I liked it and said that she looked wonderful. She, however, thought I said I didn’t like my make-up. R thought that is what I said too, so I must be either slurring my words or talking too fast again. I don’t know which, but I have been making more effort to be clear since then.

There was some conversation in the limo that was a little more fun… hands, cheeks, lifts (getting in problems and solutions) and an inspection of one woman’s hands and feet to see if she would make a good parts model. This was Deanna, in case she is in BotB3. The two photographers, one judge and his date, said that she would make a good hand parts model and that she should market herself as both face/body and hands. They said the combination was unusual enough that she would save a photographer work in having to photoshop someone else’s hands into the picture and she would get lots of work.

I tried to talk to the women for the casting call and the wife of a photographer, but they weren’t interested in having normal conversations. Or maybe I don’t know what makes a normal conversation. They would answer my questions, listen for a second, and then turn away. Apparently the closest thing to non-photography conversation that was appropriate was “Where are you from?”

But then the camera guy got in and he started interviewing folks. The judges talked. They asked R a question or two. He answered them. I thought he was going to be a little more negative than he should be, since it wasn’t a great experience for him, but he handled it pretty well.

I was uncomfortable, wondering what he was going to say, but he said he had a lot of fun and enjoyed the idea of being on TV more.

Eventually the limo was full and the driver drove us around to get back to the club. The limo was a hummer limo, with a huge step up or down. When we arrived at the club, we exited to a camera. R stood in front of me so if my dress flew up or I looked especially ungainly, it wouldn’t be filmed.

The first two couples out of the limo were the judges and their dates. That kept the camera folks busy. Then they interviewed R, asking him for any last minute confessions. He told them he hadn’t done anything he was ashamed of and so he was good. I didn’t try to get in the picture and so I wasn’t. That’s probably just as well.

I hope they don’t put footage of me then in. I wasn’t standing up straight so I’m sure my belly was pooching! What a thing to worry about, though.

Related entries, in time order:
The Premier
Getting There
The Hotel
Preparations and Excursions