A new Standard

And finally, the day comes round where Alison and I get our first class in the brand new venue - today we welcomed a class to the Standard on Howe Street. I got there early so that I could have time to arrange the tables and chairs to best effect and sectioned off a part of the room where the class could be held comfortably. Alison arrived shortly after that and we settled down to chill out and wait for the girls to turn up.

I always get a little nervous at this point. I start to worry about the things that could go wrong - the potential breakdowns in communication. Had I updated all the relevant people about the new venue or were the girls en route to the Beehive as we waited? I worried about the times as well and kept double-checking the emails to make sure I had that right as well. So, when the girls arrived as planned and nothing went wrong, there was the usual sigh of relief.

The first pose was a swine. The girls asked for a "star" pose - legs spread wide and arms in the air. Alison said it was a difficult pose, so we should make it a short one. I could feel the strain in my arms almost immediately, but was able to maintain it until Alison called time on it.

Later, Alison introduced the "question session" - something she had come up with a few classes back. We worked from right to left and the girls took turns asking questions. Someone asked what the weirdest pose was that I had ever been asked for and I thought about suggesting the "Brucey Bonus" one which is often put forward. I changed my mind, though - because I hate that pose too and didn't want to suggest it. I told them that the worst pose I'd ever had was the "star" pose.

Someone also asked where the weirdest place was that I'd ever modelled. I wasn't sure, so I looked to Alison and she reminded me of the first time we met - I had her guarding one of the doorways at Craigmillar Castle while I set up my camera to take some self-portraits for my art work. That's probably not the weirdest, but it was a good suggestion.

At the end, I picked out the best and worst pictures from the gallery. I couldn't make up my mind about the worst one though, so I narrowed it down to two, then held them up for the "applause-o-meter". Then got into a debate about whether loud applause meant one picture was better than the other - and so wasn't the worst. Started to confuse myself and gave up on that one when the girls all insisted that the worst was the one with the loudest applause.

Another fun class. A shame three people didn't show up. But there were enough drawings and enough photos taken to show off.