Ailana’s Journal—2026-08-26 (and Island Kids) (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING by Ailana Geven Keller

Good morning. We’re home and off to a… Well, a start of some sort.

Jason and I got up and got busy. We have a shoot tomorrow—more on that at midday—and tons of notes to sort out.

We set up our laptops on the kitchen table and turned our thoughts to breakfast, coffee and this chapter.

“Here…” I said. “Use my iPhone and take a picture.”

He took one, I turned to the Keurig, and then he said, “This looks like the same pose as one from a while back… Should I take another?”

I started to go back and find out what he was reminded of, then I shrugged and said, “There actually are a finite number of distinguishable poses a person can make.”

That surprised him.

Even if you only count changes of 10° or more, there are far too many possibilities to count casually. If you ignore fingers and toes, you still need scientific notation—Gemini came up with about 4.1 × 10^32 combinations!

Limit the model to balanced standing poses, and the estimate still comes out to about 22 sextillion combinations.

Back to this image looking like others… forget the math… Let’s just say my muscle memory took over. So if you think this looks like some other pose, it’s probably more likely that this pose and whatever Jason was referring to are very similar. But the chances of them being exactly the same? Pretty slim!

And… what were we going to talk about? I guess I’ll have to tell you at midday!

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ABOUT TOMORROW by Ailana Geven Keller

If you missed my good-morning chapter, I’d say you’ll probably be fine. What kind of wild ride did my brain go on earlier! I don’t know…

This morning, I did some good work. I moved to the office where Emily and Kel were doing schoolwork. They are being awesome about keeping up with their assignments in a timely way. It is virtual and asynchronous, but there are deadlines, so the adults are urging them to stay on a schedule that keeps them on track to finish on time.

Tomorrow’s photo session should be interesting. The client is a manufacturer of hair devices such as dryers, curling irons, straighteners, brushes, combs, picks, and pretty much anything you might use to change how your hair lies on your head.

The session overview and shot list call for a specific vibe, saying, “Close-up, product-focused composition demonstrating the products in use. Show models without distractions from clothes or jewelry, generally relying on face, hair, shoulders, and arms.”

It also said to “display products in various classy, modern bathroom environments. NOTE: No hair dryers in showers or bathtubs.”

Clay’s guffaw over the NOTE was priceless. “Lawyers having some fun, right?”

There is one word in the instructions that means a lot of work: various.

Jasmine and Sasha spent some time on the plane trying to work out how many different classy, modern bathrooms we could access. They were about to call Evelyn and all the ladies from the clinic and start a schedule but…

…Sasha came up with an idea.

We’re going to a kitchen-and-bath showroom where they have dozens of model bathrooms set up and staged. They’re trying to sell faucets, tile, fixtures and all the other things that make bathrooms look like bathrooms. We got permission to use their store for our shoot.

So, that’s our plan for tomorrow’s session. The challenge now is getting the models there, but everyone says they’ll be able to stop by at some point.

It will be a busy day!

Now, I’m going to work hard and fast for a while. I hope to say good night from the beach, so watch for that!

SLOW DOWN by Geoni Ryan

Emily and I have been talking about Aria coming to stay with us as a placement, with the hope that it leads to adoption. Emily has questions. And a lot of ideas.

“Why,” Emily asked, “does the state make things so hard? Like, even me… I had to wait ages between the judge’s first ruling and the final hearing. Why does Kel have to wait so long? Why does Aria have to go through the same process as Kel and start all over at the beginning?”

The short answer is much simpler than the actual discussion. The state is trying to protect everyone involved. Not every case is as clear as Emily’s was, so the state wants everyone to be sure at all stages of the process.

“What if the state finalized Kel’s adoption and then he realized a month later that things weren’t what he needed? They want to make sure the placement is right.”

If anything, Emily’s ideas about Aria outpace her questions. I was a little surprised at first, but what I think Emily is doing—and what Kel is doing in his own way—is looking back at what each of them went through in foster care and trying to make those things different for Aria.

“She’ll really love having her own room and getting to decorate it!” Emily said.

She asked if she could go with me when I take Aria shopping for clothes. She wants to help with schoolwork.

I edited a journal article once about counselors trying to help people through problems that they themselves had gone through. There was a concept called countertransference—the idea that a therapist’s own experiences and reactions can affect the therapeutic relationship—that challenged the therapist to stay focused on the client’s needs.

I had to remind Emily that Aria would need time to settle in. “None of your ideas are wrong. You just need to make sure she’s ready for them before we try them.”

Then I added one more detail. “You know her favorite color might not be the same as yours, right?”

Emily nodded. “Of course.”

“That,” I said, “applies to everything else. Help her find what’s best for her.”

That’s when I think Emily saw the big picture.

GOOD NIGHT by Ailana Geven Keller

I won’t keep you long. Jason, Emily, Kel, and I are at the beach. I can’t talk them into posing, though, so you’re stuck with me.

I missed Emily. I missed everyone who didn’t go to San Francisco, of course, but I suppose you can understand why I especially missed Emily.

It’s been three months. I went from utter shock and surprise then to being committed now to doing whatever it takes.

She’s starting her junior year. May of 2028, she should graduate. That seems like no time at all, but I hope to make the most of it.

I’ll also say that, before my wedding to Jason, some of you were asking about Jason’s and my plans for children. We agreed that we wouldn’t decide immediately. Medically, we should be safe waiting a few years.

The current agreement is to definitely wait until spring 2028 to decide. After that? Well, you’ll have to wait and find out then. We really haven’t decided.

Now, I’m going to close this chapter. Emily and Kel have already wandered off, hand-in-hand, laughing and sending Snaps to their friend group. Jason and I are going to swim a little.

Tomorrow is the big hair-device shoot, so you can look forward to that. See you then…

May you be blessed by the freedom to make plans that fit your life and the ability to see them carried out when the time comes.

Good night.

Be your best you!

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