I have no idea what’s going on in this song, or this video, but I fucking love it.

Saturday’s wedding. The groom’s mother bustles past me dancing my ass off taking photos on the dance floor and grins. “I’m going to go get the glow sticks!” she calls over her shoulder.

I think, Awww yeah. Totally kickass photos.

A team of older wedding guests quickly assembles to crack the sticks and pass them to the revelers. The dance floor slowly lights up with colored tubes weaving around. The music is bumping.

I snap a few shots of them and think, “I wish I could get everyone to hold them up in the air at the same time. That would be cool. Maybe the next song will have them waving their hands in the air.”

Then I remember that I have The Gigantic Camera. When you have The Gigantic Camera, people really want to do what you tell them to, especially when they’re drunk and you want them to do something fun.

I drag a chair to the edge of the dance floor, climb up on it, put my camera around my neck and hold up two glowsticks, one in each hand, waving them back and forth in time to the music and singing along to LMFAO at the top of my lungs.

“Hey! You people! Everyone! Do this!”

And they did.

Occasionally the magnitude of how awesome life is for me right now hits me out of the blue, like a fist when my head was turned, and I get really excited. It is an interesting dichotomy.

“I know I never meant no harm to anyone.”

Occasionally the magnitude of how sad everything is for me right now hits me out of the blue, like a fist when my head was turned, and I burst into tears unexpectedly, making me a super-fun party guest… or fellow grocery shopper.

But this song is pretty, and if we live in a world where people have voices this sweet, everything should eventually be ok, right?

via Girls Gone Child

So how you doin’?

Things got bad around here, hence the overwhelming silence, but Matty, sweet Matty, had the decency to get an ear infection so I’d have something other than my sadness to focus on. He’s not doing well, and is unbelievably miserable, so we are heading to the vet this afternoon after the usual home remedies failed. I’m not happy that he’s doing poorly, but it’s nice to have him to take care of and fuss over.

Work is going well, too. People are emailing me consistently, and it seems I am falling into a career as an elopement photographer (it might just be the season, too.) As much as part of me wants to shriek to potential clients, “Why are you getting married that’s so stupid?!”, I don’t actually feel that way, and they bring me joy. And hope. I still believe in love, and marriage, and I still love taking photos of it, too.

For this I am grateful.

I very much like songs with whistling.

I finally got around to taking the yoga class I’ve been telling myself I should try for years, and I went to Bikram, because I like to be sweaty and thought it would be fun. “Fun” isn’t the right word, but it was good.

Bikram yoga – any Bikram class you go to anywhere in the world is the same – is 26 poses performed in a 90 minute class, in a room heated to 105 degrees F with 45% humidity, which leaves you CRAZY drenched in your own sweat by the end. It’s hard, but doable, which is the key for me to doing anything athletic. Still, after the first class, I thought, “all right then, never again BECAUSE I AM SO GROSS RIGHT NOW.”

But I’d paid for the intro week, so I went to another class, and then another, and on Sunday morning I woke up early and did my fourth class of the week, and in THAT class, something slid into place for me. I nailed this one pose that I had allllmost gotten previously. My achy right hip started to feel really good for the first time in a decade, which is huge for me. Epic. I am amazed at how strong I feel, both mentally and physically. It’s incredible.

There’s one weird thing, though: you kind of have to wear skimpy clothing; it’s just way too uncomfortable and hot otherwise. I’ve been doing short, tight shorts and a sports bra which I felt self-conscious in, until I just… didn’t. Because who cares? The class is so intense that no one is looking at anyone but themselves, and no one is judging my love handles. And if they are, you know, eff ‘em. I’ve gone through hell recently; strangers seeing the chubby bits around my middle and stretch marks on my hips don’t matter.

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

And I’m not THAT chubby any more, which I keep forgetting, honestly. The yoga studio has mirrors on two walls, and in my third class, I caught a glimpse of a reflection of a reflection of the lady behind me mid-class. Her arm in the air looked so strong and impressive, and her shoulder was so pretty. I got annoyed; she was wearing the exact same Target sports bra as me but looked so much better in it. Then I realized the double mirrors were distorting my vision, and I was actually seeing my own strong muscles, shapely shoulder, and graceful pose.

Graceful? Amber?

Apparently.

So! If you’re thinking about trying Bikram and needed someone to nudge you, consider this your encouraging words. I’m not sure now if I’m committed to going long-term, but I’m really glad I tried.

It’s time to start think about summer road trip songs again (yay!) Here’s a good track for grooving down the highway with your hand weaving up and down in the wind.

I laughed it off twice, but when the third troll email hit my inbox asking me if the reason Rob and I separated was because of some sort of lesbian relationship going on with Patrice and me, I figured it was worth a blog post, and a big “oh hell no”.

Not that she’s not fab, and totally hawt, but… yeah, no. Not in this lifetime.

I asked Patrice to weigh in on our scandal – we are both really excited to be involved in any sort of internet scandal, so we’re calling it a scandal BECAUSE WE CAN – and she said:

“Well, I’d date me! I’m fun and I like to ‘do it’! I also know all the words to Purple Rain.”

Well then. Gentlemen, she is all yours. I promise.

Have a happy, scandal-free weekend.

In case you missed it, Obama came out in support of same-sex marriage yesterday, marking the first time in our history that a sitting President has done so. So exciting!

This a huge victory for those of us fighting hard for marriage equality, and welcome news after Tuesday night’s blow to civil rights in North Carolina.

We’ll keep fighting until everyone can marry whoever they choose to love. Can I quote a negro spiritual here? I am totally going to:

We shall overcome.

image

I stopped using an iPhone case a while ago even though I know better, and was doing fine keeping it nice for a long time until Sunday, when I dropped it, shattering the glass on both sides to bits. Thankfully, Dr. Brenden in Park Slope is a quick walk from my apartment and I was able to hop in just before they closed and get it replaced. (I showed the repair guy my phone and asked if it was worth fixing. At $120 for everything, it was.)

Since we were replacing the front and back, I paid an extra $20 and had the parts that were black changed to yellow. I especially like that the back is unbranded. Now my phone looks like something Batman would use, and kind of reminds me of my MetroCard.

Isn’t it pretty?