the girl behind the camera

So you?re the one.? A beautiful, tanned, blond dude dressed in baggy¹ orange surf shorts, white leather Birkenstock clogs³, and a brown-and-white pony⁴ fur vest with nothing on underneath⁵ smiled at Vanessa with glistening⁶ white teeth. His name was Dork or Duke or something and he claimed to be a producer. ?The genius filmmaker.? ?She?s the next Bertolucci,? Ken² Mogul corrected Duke, or whatever his name was. ?Give me a year and she?s going to be a household name.? Ken was dressed like an urban cowboy in a silver Culture of Humanity down vest over a black Western-style shirt with pearly white snaps instead of buttons. His curly red hair was tucked into a black Stetson hat, and he was even wearing black cowboy boots with his Culture of Humanity boot-cut jeans. He?d flown into New York that night from Utah, where his most recent film had just been introduced at the Sundance Film Festival. It was an ambitious piece about a deaf and mute man who worked in a cannery in Alaska and lived in a trailer with thirty-six cats. The man didn?t talk and spent a lot of time at his computer e-mailing girls on singles Web sites, so Ken had had to be extremely creative with the camera to keep the action going. It was his finest work yet. ?Dude, watching your film was like being born again,? Dork told Vanessa. ?It made my day.? The corners of Vanessa?s mouth turned up in a half-bored, half-amused Mona Lisa smile. She wasn?t sure how she felt about being called ?dude,? but she was glad she?d made Dork?s day. The Culture of Humanity by Jedediah Angel after-party was an even bigger deal than the fashion show itself. Highway 1 had been decorated like a Hindu wedding tent, and bikini-clad models who hadn?t even been in the show were lounging on leather sofas, drinking saffron martinis. or dancing to the live bhangra music. Vanessa tugged⁷ on her tight red top. It was kind of hard not to feel like a porker around so many bony, seven-foot-tall models. ?Okay. Here?s the guy fromEntertainment Weekly ,? Ken Mogul said, wrapping his arm around her waist. ?Smile, it?s a photo op!? Duke stood on the other side of Vanessa and pressed his tanned, angular cheek against her soft, pale one. He smelled like Coppertone. ?Say salami!? It was Vanessa?s policynot to smile when she was being forced to have her picture taken, but why not? There really wasn?t any danger that she?d get swept up in the glow, marry Duke in the Temple of Surf and Sand, and live cheesily ever after in a surf shack⁸?cum?film studio on the beach in Malibu. She was too hard-core New York for that, and besides, she hated the beach. No, tonight would be her one night of cheese and then tomorrow she?d go back to being normal again. ?Salami!? all three of them cried, flashing their cheesiest smiles for the camera. Duke stayed close to Vanessa?s side after the photographer left. ?What hotel are you staying at?? he asked, assuming she was from LA, just like everyone else he knew. Vanessa unscrewed the cap on her bottle of Evian and took a swig. ?Actually, I live here in New York, in Williamsburg, with my sister. I?m still in high school. She plays in a band.? Dork looked excited. ?Dude!? he cried. ?You?re like one of those people screenwriters make up, you know?? He lifted his fingers to make quotations⁹ in the air, ?An ?urban hipster.? Except you?rereal . You?re realer than real. You?re dyno-mite!? For a guy called Dork, he was actually pretty insightful. ?Thanks,? Vanessa said, unsure whether that was the correct response or not. She?d never had a conversation with someone so stupid before. She felt a hand on her elbow and she turned around. A frail¹⁰ older man wearing a purple velvet¹¹ smoking jacket and round black glasses smiled up at her. ?You?re the film-maker, right?? he asked. Vanessa nodded. ?I guess.? The old man waggled a bony finger at her. ?Don?t take your gift too seriously,? he said before wandering away. Duke bent¹² down and spoke¹³ urgently into her ear. ?I?m staying at the Hudson. Wanna go back to my room for a drink or something?? Vanessa knew she should have told him to fuck off, but she?d never been hit on by a gorgeous, dumb surfer dude who could have hit on any one of the models in the room but had chosen to hit on her instead. It was really kind of flattering. And hadn?t that old guy just told her not to take things too seriously? Thank God she?d gone to all the trouble to remove the hair on her legs. ?Maybe later,? she replied, not wanting to shut Dork down completely. ?It?s kind of snowy out right now.? ?Right, duh.? Duke slapped himself on the head with a goofy laugh. ?Want to dance instead?? He held out his hand, his arm muscles rippling¹⁴ invitingly¹⁵. He looked like he never missed a workout and survived on a diet of protein drinks and wheatgrass. Vanessa tugged on her red shirt again and took Duke?s hand, following him out onto the throbbing¹⁶, crowded dance floor. She couldn?t believe herself?shehated to dance! At least no one she knew would be watching.  Oh yeah?

1 baggy   

adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的

参考例句：

• My T-shirt went all baggy in the wash.我的T恤越洗越大了。
• Baggy pants are meant to be stylish,not offensive.松松垮垮的裤子意味着时髦，而不是无礼。

2 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

3 clogs   

木屐； 木底鞋，木屐( clog的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Clogs are part of the Netherlands national costume. 木屐是荷兰民族服装的一部分。
• Clogs are part of the Dutch traditional costume. 木屐是荷兰传统装束的一部分。

4 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

5 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

6 glistening   

adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
• Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》

7 tugged   

v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. 她拽了拽他的袖子引起他的注意。
• A wry smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 他的嘴角带一丝苦笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

9 quotations   

n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价

参考例句：

• The insurance company requires three quotations for repairs to the car. 保险公司要修理这辆汽车的三家修理厂的报价单。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These quotations cannot readily be traced to their sources. 这些引语很难查出出自何处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

11 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

12 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 rippling   

起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的

参考例句：

• I could see the dawn breeze rippling the shining water. 我能看见黎明的微风在波光粼粼的水面上吹出道道涟漪。
• The pool rippling was caused by the waving of the reeds. 池塘里的潺潺声是芦苇摇动时引起的。

15 invitingly   

adv. 动人地

参考例句：

• Her lips pouted invitingly. 她挑逗地撮起双唇。
• The smooth road sloped invitingly before her. 平展的山路诱人地倾斜在她面前。

16 throbbing   

a. 跳动的,悸动的

参考例句：

• My heart is throbbing and I'm shaking. 我的心在猛烈跳动，身子在不住颤抖。
• There was a throbbing in her temples. 她的太阳穴直跳。