Speaking of uncomfortable-looking photography — which I was doing yesterday — I recently posed awkwardly for some publicity photos. My good friend Kyle Trafton of Trafton Photography (whom I’ve known since he was, like, five years old) did a photo shoot with me for a local magazine profile. He then took a few extras for me to use as publicity stuff for the upcoming books and whatnot.

Kyle’s a great photographer, and has shot portraits of a lot of funky indie bands. I’m probably the least funky of his subjects, and I can absolutely NOT smile on cue without looking like a) I just did something really awful and am trying to hide it; or b) there is squirrel running up my pants leg; or c) I am borderline insane and within seconds of taking off all my clothes and running outside to roll in the leaves.

But Kyle ended up with some cool shots, which I appreciate. (In most of them I’m wearing a Buy Shoes Save Lives t-shirt, because it’s a cool shirt. I’m not sure if those shirts are still available anywhere — maybe Jeremy Courtney can confirm. And if you must know, the jeans are from Target and the shoes are from Kohl’s.)

And the background? Kyle found an old textbook somewhere, ripped the pages out, and attached each one to a big plywood backdrop. Awesome.