Sample 03/06/09 - Tenaya's Debut
Tenaya's First Interview and Photo Shoot
Or It's Just Like Riding a Bike!
[Or We Really Need to have Shorter Titles]
Wow. It had been a long time since I’d been on set. And I really missed it. Capturing tape, dealing with compliance, pulling photos, etc., are all fine jobs, but the face to face connection with performers and crew are what make my job worthwhile! [Right. D.Minion is all about the "face to" ... something or other.]
It had been a year and a half since the Spearmint Rhino decided they didn’t want us to cover their shoots. [Once we decided not to move to Norco and keep working with the michaelninn.com site, they sort of became rather pissy about things. They said they were "uncomfortable" with us being on set, which was pretty darned insulting. We've been doing this web thing for more than ten years. We ought to be able to do a lot better than merely "uncomfortable" .... The despondent dog in the photograph has no actual connection to the Spearmint Rhino, by the way, but it did seem an appropriate illustration.] So when Lucky told me that our buddy Tommy was managing a new girl and would like us to meet her and take some photos, I jumped at the chance! [... and drooled. It was a little embarrassing, actually.]
That is, until I thought about it. It had been a very long time since I’d been on set. Did I remember how to do it? What if I got flustered? What if I couldn’t remember how to use my camera? What if this new girl didn’t like me? [Naturally I was a lot of help. I answered every question with, "Well, then you're fired." Managing is easy.]
Mav told me I’d be fine. It was just like riding a bike! Tommy told me I’d be fine. It was just like riding a bike. I haven’t ridden a bike since I was a kid. I’m not sure I still know how …. [If only they had training wheels for porn stars, this job would be a lot more simple.] However, after traveling south to Tommy’s house and meeting his new management client, Tenaya, I discovered it was just like riding a bike. Or perhaps, in my case, like falling off a log! (I KNOW that I can fall off a log!) [When D.Minion can ride a bike on a log, without falling off, then we'll be impressed.]
Tenaya is an adorable 19 year old blonde, with natural ta-tas and a bubbly personality. She has only been in the business two months, but was completely at ease with me as she got ready for the photo shoot. [Consequently, Tenaya is D.Minion's new best friend. DM had to take a little time away from the shoots, but she hasn't changed that much.]
I’ve heard lots of “how I got into porn” stories, but hers pretty much takes the cake! Until a couple of months ago Tenaya was trying to keep body and soul together by selling Kirby vacuum cleaners door to door. (I had no idea people still did this. It sounds like the premise for an I Love Lucy episode!) She was working six days a week, 14 hours a day, and was making almost no money. Tenaya’s luck changed when she and her Kirby vacuum knocked on Tommy’s door. He’s been behind-the-scenes in the porn biz for years. [Actually, Tommy has been one of the most successful sales managers in the industry for going on 20 years, but we do plan on telling him that sales is apparently just a "behind the scenes" operation. (If you can't taunt your friends, you might as well just eat TV Dinners all the time.)] And after hearing her story (and noticing how beautiful Tenaya is) he told her he’d be happy to represent her. After all, he has lots of contacts in the biz. [And, of course, good sales people are not stupid.]
Tenaya had always fantasized about being in Playboy, and is extremely open and comfortable about sex and nudity, but she isn’t stupid. When Tommy offered to take naked photos of Tenaya to send to studios, magazines, and photographers, Tenaya told him she’d like her sister Megan there with her to chaperone. Tommy sent out her snapshots, and the calls began coming in! [Times like this make me feel really old. I love my brother, but if someone wanted to take naked pictures of me, and I were concerned about my "safety" (or any other issue), he would definitely not be my first choice to accompany me to the set. If anybody understands this reasoning, please feel free to email in and educate the aged ones here.]
Megan, an aspiring artist [as well as the aforementioned sister], touched up Tenaya’s makeup as I asked some of my patented questions. Ahhh, sitting cross-legged on the bathroom floor, talking to a beautiful model. Yes, it was all coming back to me! [Reviews at the office on the topic of D.Minion remembering this group of questions were mixed, truth be told.]
- In the last two months, Tenaya has made seven movies. She is girl/girl only, but enjoys boys as well as girls in her personal life!
- Tenaya laughed when I asked her what her favorite punctuation mark was. “No one has ever asked me that before,” she giggled. But she immediately had an answer for me! An exclamation point, because, “It’s bubbly and loud. It’s as enthusiastic as you can get on paper!”
- My condiments question got a grin, too. “I like all condiments,” Tenaya laughed. “It just depends on what I’m eating!” She did confess an affinity to wasabi since she adores sushi!
- Although Tenaya doesn’t have a computer right now, she is very computer literate, and likes “cursive-ish, princess-type fonts.”
- She has a Monroe piercing just above her lip, and both nipples pierced. Both “hurt so bad.” But Tenaya said it wasn’t a pleasure/pain thing. She likes to be different and thought the piercings would be hot.
Tenaya’s only tattoo is an Arabic word, pronounced “gooah” on her wrist. It means “strength” in English. When I asked why it was in Arabic writing instead of the ubiquitous Chinese characters, she said it was because EVERYONE has Chinese characters [hence their ubiquitous nature, after all], and she likes to be different. Also, she has many Arabic friends, and enjoys the culture, especially the beautiful singing and dancing. [I've mentioned this before, and it comes up in one of the next "Tenaya Installments" on video, but it has always seemed foolish (at best) to me to have a tattoo placed on your body that you cannot read yourself. Don't you just think that every time she shows the tattoo to someone that does speak Arabic, they're probably laughing hysterically on the inside?]
Tenaya says that she does sing, but not if anyone is listening. Her sister Megan has heard her a couple of times and says she has a lovely voice, but usually only the bathroom walls or the inside of a car get to listen to Tenaya’s spontaneous “concerts.” [Speaking of Megan, while we oddly did not get anypictures of the tattoo of alleged "strength" on Tenaya, DM did get a few shots of Megan's rather more elaborate artwork. Just so you know, by the way, although she wouldn't want either for a tattoo personally, D.Minion did make clear that she prefers the "ganosh" to the "Ganesh" — which we all agreed with. OK. So we'll get back to List #2 ...]
Music favorites include “everything except screaming stuff.” She listens mostly to country music now, and Garth Brooks is one of her favorites. No wonder Lucky likes her so much! [Of course I never like women that do not enjoy country music, even if they look great naked. … Uh-Huh. … And the fact that I have clothing older than Tenaya certainly makes no difference at all. (On an ancillary, but interesting, note, we're producing a movie for a new company that starts shooting at the end of this month. We have written in a g/g scene for Tenaya and (hopefully) Shayla where Shayla actually says, "You understand, of course, that I could literally be your mother." … Good thing Shayla's a good sport.)]
Since I was thinking about falling off bikes, I asked Tenaya if she rode. She said she does, but would really like to ride a motorcycle. Manager Tommy ix-nayed the idea immediately. Even a relatively minor fall could cause major damage to a tiny girl like Tenaya! [It would probably also hurt Tommy's bike. That would suck.]
Tenaya’s biggest fear is being alone and lonely. She loves people and she hates going places by herself. [Somehow we're thinking that this isn't really a major issue for Tenaya.]
Although she’s only been in the business a few months, Tenaya already has a “most embarrassing story.” [Well, those are actually much easier to come by early in one's career.] She and Renee Perez were doing a Taboo magazine shoot in the desert. When the photographer asked her if she did anal, Tenaya said that she did, but hadn’t prepared for an anal scene. The photographer said it was fine and a toy was procured. Tenaya told me that she didn’t want to be disgusting, but “the butt plug wasn’t clean when it came out.” Luckily this was porn, and everyone was completely nonplussed by the event! [Maybe, but BLEH just the same. Making porn is sexy, isn't it?]
By this time, Megan had just about completed Tenaya’s makeup. "I love this hairstyle,” Tenaya said of her crimped curls. “It can be messy and you’d never know it!” She says she likes girls with big hair like Dolly Parton! [Have we ever mentioned our favorite Dolly Parton quote? During a Tonight Show appearance (probably back when Tenaya was about three years old), Dolly told Johnny Carson, "You have no idea how expensive it is to look this cheap." … Reminds me of porn.]
As we were getting ready to go to famed photographer “1019’s” house for the photo shoot I gave my new friend some sage advice that I’d heard from Lucky. [You mean I have another kind? Surely she jests.] Even though you are now beginning to make money, at the very least put some of it in a savings account. When you decide to graduate out of porn someday, you’ll want a nest egg. Don’t put your money in your garage, in your closet, or up your nose. [Oh. That is good advice. I was very wise that day.]
Tenaya assured me that since she’d grown up poor, she knows the value of money, knows how to save it, and knows how to stretch a buck. She shops the clearance racks for good, brand name clothes at bargain prices. She isn’t looking to buy a Lamborghini, and has too much respect for her body to muck it up with drugs! [This must be an infectious condition, as the entire office has respect for Tenaya's body now.]
After carpooling to 1019’s house, Megan finished up Tenaya’s makeup and started on her own. Having just turned 18, Megan is thinking about dancing with Tenaya at strip clubs. She’d like to go to art school, and dancing is a great part time job that earns full time money. Besides, Megan is as gorgeous as her sister! Megan showed me the very intricate tattoo that graces her leg from calf to food. It’s an Indian god. The tat is only a few months old, but she’s already having some misgivings. Lucky did suggest that she keep it as least as long as she’s dancing. People love anything different and cool; they’ll throw lots of money at it! [Wow. This turned out to be a very sage day. Good for me.]
While 1019 finished setting up lights and backdrops, Tenaya “shopped” at his ample movie collection and admired his art collections. [Honestly we were pretty impressed with 1019's "action figure" collection until we recently visited director Eli Cross at his home with Kylie Ireland. Eli has more action figures than I have books. I'm not sure what to make of that, but since we're shooting with them soon, I'll have time to think about it — unless Kylie's DP distracts me. That happens even with really, really sage people.]
We played with 1019’s puppy Charlie and talked about animals. Tenaya adores them and would love to live on a ranch someday. She lived in the High Desert as a child, raising baby goats and riding horses. Her mom used to have a pair of miniature Dachshunds. Have I mentioned how much we were bonding? [Yes. It's adorable.]
It was finally time to begin shooting. Tenaya began completely naked, laying on a red velvet drape. 1019 carefully posed her, putting her in the exact position he envisioned. Tenaya smiled brightly as she posed. (I think she’s the smiliest porn star I’ve met since Georgia Adair!) [If somehow you missed the Tenaya debut on risqué, you can VISIT IT HERE (Well, you can't do that on the sample page. Sorry about that.). We'll even open up a new "tab" for you so that you don't lose your place. And if you don't know what a "tab" is, and your machine still opens up a new "window" when we do this, you really need to update your browser. … Just a little friendly geek advice there, as we do try to help.]
That wasn’t 1019’s vision for this shoot, though. He needed a more solemn look. When he suggested that she try not to smile, Tenaya began to giggle uncontrollably. (Hey, she’s still really new at this.) Finally she went upstairs to try to compose herself and think of sad things. [Artists are weird, have we mentioned? On the upside they make geeks look fairly normal, so we try to hang out with them when we can. Life is relative, after all.]
The peanut gallery amused ourselves by playing with a sort of porno-Barbie doll. Megan tried on some ridiculously tall high heels. Then Lucky and I decided that newbie Tenaya didn’t need two extra people mucking up her shoot. So we waved goodbye to her as she thought dark thoughts and posed in the bedroom. (It isn’t easy being a porn star!) [Well, being a porn star is easier than some things, and harder than others. Then again, what isn't? … Too philosophical, right? … Fine. Let's look at pictures of porno barbie.]
Driving up the coast I thought over the day. It was wonderful being on set again. Tenaya is a lovely young lady, and I’m sure she has a great career ahead of her! It’s a lot of fun getting in on the very beginning of a promising porn star’s life. [I don't know. It's pretty interesting getting in on the beginning of a career doomed to failure too, just in a different way. … Perhaps we're a bit jaded, though.] I can’t wait to see what the future will bring for Tenaya!
And, by the way, I think I did OK on set. It was like riding a bicycle. But more naked and more fun! [Women ride bicycles naked? … EEEEW.]
 DM Debuts Tenaya page one |
DM Debuts Tenaya page two |
an illustrated audio interview with tenaya
Obviously all of these links to other places and big pictures work in the members' area, right? We're assuming that if you didn't figure that out, you probably don't want to join us anyway, but we did want to be clear here. Sometimes in life being clear is all we can reasonably hope for.
