• Tomorrow is my last vacation for a little while, I’m off through next Wednesday. I have a wedding to do this weekend, this time the friend I’ve known since 7th grade. I haven’t seen her in like 10 years I think and she now lives in Germany. She is marrying a guy from Germany, I hope I don’t giggle because whenever Manly Man speaks in German I can’t help but laugh.
• This is the last wedding for a while, I don’t have the time to do them and I don’t have the experience. My next wedding is next June and there is no ceremony or formal pictures, which really just makes it a big party, I’m cool with that.
• I’m so sick of reading about professional photographers who knock down people who want to learn portrait photography. It’s one thing to be honest but some are just so unfriendly about it. I love the community aspect of photography, I don’t want to view these people as competition.
• I have so many medical ailments lately I have been keeping a list, just to have it. I’m trying to adjust what I eat and maybe at some point I can make it a habit. Right now I have to remind myself to add protein and veggies. I figure though it’s best to take it slow and make small changes than to just change it all at once.
• More than anything I’m excited to stay in a hotel this weekend, just for one night. I’m treating myself to an inexpensive hotel so I can be nice and rested before the wedding. It’s going to be a long day going from about 1pm to probably 9pm. I may have to be carried out.

One author I’ve come to love like a best buddy who you find really entertaining but doesn’t even know you are alive is David Sedaris. He is actually the brother of the actress Amy Sedaris, which I think should be reason enough to read his books.

I however, like I do with most books these days, listen to his audio books, which I think adds an extra special layer to the enjoyment of his stories. He doesn’t do much fiction, he mostly shares odd stories of his life and something about his voice I think makes everything that much more amusing.

Here are clever remarks of his from different books:

“If you’re looking for sympathy, you’ll find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary.”

“We were not a hugging people. In terms of emotional comfort it was our belief that no amount of physical contact could match the healing powers of a well made cocktail.”
— “Naked”

“Follow seven beers with a couple of scotches and a thimble of good marijuana, and it’s funny how sleep just sort of comes on its own. Often I never even made it to bed. I’d squat down to pet the cat and wake up on the floor eight hours later, having lost a perfectly good excuse to change my clothes. I’m now told that this is not called ‘going to sleep’ but rather ‘passing out,’ a phrase that carries a distinct hint of judgment.”

“It was my friend Frank, a writer in San Francisco, who finally set me straight. When asked about my new look he put down his fork and stared at me for a few moments. “A bow tie announces to the world you can no longer get an erection.”

“I recalled my mother, flushed with wine, pounding on the tabletop one night, saying, ‘Love? I love a good steak cooked rare. I love my cat, and I love… ’ My sisters and I leaned forward, waiting to hear our names. ‘Tums,’ our mother said. ‘I love Tums.’”
— “Me Talk Pretty One Day”

If only he blogged or was on Twitter, then at least someone could amuse me while I’m at work. Instead all I have is you people to amuse me and that’s really sad.

I love television. I’ve always loved television. I think there is something about a tv show and how you get to go along on this journey, for several years, with characters that you grow to love. It’s like they sort of become your friends, like you went through what they went through along with them.

I don’t always watch quality tv but when I really get into a show it has to move me in many different ways. The show has to have characters I grow to love and it has to bring out a strong emotion in me. If it’s a comedy show, I want to laugh, out loud. If it’s a drama I want to get chills or get mad or cry. I want to feel what they are feeling, I want to forget they are actors and get into the story. I think it’s a part of my Pisces escapism, I like to escape into my shows.

I get really excited to get the people I care about to watch the shows that I know is something amazing. It’s part just me wanting to share something I like and part me just not wanting them to miss out on a great show. I don’t recommend every show to every friend, I know some of my friends just won’t get into something like Skins.

Whether it’s silly or not (I’m pretty sure it’s kind of silly) my feelings get hurt when I feel friends of mine brush me off when I suggest a show. So often when a friend suggests a show for me to watch I’ll consider it and usually give it a try. Right now I’m trying out Veronica Mars and kind of liking it I think. I also have Dr. Who in my queue (Netflix that is), which I’m skeptical about but I’m all up for trying something new.

I don’t mean to say everyone has to watch everything I ever suggest but just maybe some people could give back just a little bit of what they get. Maybe once and a while the street could go both ways, I’m just sayin. Some of the best movies and shows I’ve seen were recommended to me by a friend and I think if I just shrugged them off, I never would have seen it.

How are any friendships supposed to work if we don’t share with each other and give a shit about what the other one gives a shit about? It’s a give and take. It’s being involved. It’s once and a while saying “yeah, I think I will give that a gry, thanks!”

• So they had an episode on Mad Men where it was implied in a scene that Sally (who is 10) masterbates. Everyone is up in arms because obviously, sex is wrong. Right? People are freaking out that this actress had to play this scene but they don’t actually show her doing anything but briefly touching her leg and then they show her making a slight face, right after that she’s caught. Sex is not a bad thing, kids need to know masterbation is ok and in fact maybe if more kids knew this less would get pregnant so young. More on this later.
• I had my first meeting with a potential client who wasn’t a friend of mine, it went well, she’s now my client. Yay.
• One of my favorite things is to have a meeting at Starbucks because it means I get some espresso in one form or another.
• Today is 3 years, for those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about just know it’s one of our 3 anniversaries. This is not the one we celebrate as our anniversary, we’ve always celebrated the day we became a couple.
• The saddest part of Labor Day is I can’t wear jeans everyday anymore, I really hate business casual. Luckily I just wear khakis.
• I must go to a Catholic church today, let’s all hope I don’t get set on fire.

I love love. I love man/woman love. I love man/man love and woman/woman love. I also love Guy Love. It’s non-sexual and it’s full of affection despite the way men are supposed to act around each other.

It’s just 2 guys who really love each’s other’s company, are ok with hanging out to watch a movie and aren’t afraid to show their affection for each other. I’m talking about real hugs here, not the mock guy hugs that are 1/2 hand shake 1/2 back pat.

We see a lot of guy love on television. The most notable pair is JD and Turk who coined the phrase with their song Guy Love. Ok so maybe their relationship goes slightly further from the average straight guys who are best friends but I think that’s just because they both have a very strong feminine side. Yeah, that’s it.

There is also House and Wilson. They drive each other crazy, they piss each other off and often Wilson talks as if he wants nothing to do with House but in the end they are always there for each other. They also bicker like they are a couple, which is too adorable for words.

My new favorite pair is Walt and Jesse on Breaking Bad but they have a weird friendship where at times it’s like father and son. In the show it always seems like they are going to “break up” but then somehow they end up together again, which makes me feel so much better. I’m fine with things not working out for Walt and his wife but he has to make it work with Jesse.

Of course there is one of the original guy love couple’s: Chandler and Joey.

So guys, go hug your buddy today and linger a little bit longer, no erections necessary.

1. It’s the best writing and acting on television at the current time.

2. I haven’t loved a show like this since watching Six Feet Under.

3. It’s a very intense show and I found myself both screeming at the tv many times and with an increased heartrate even more times.

4. At first the characters seem extremely unlikable but you grow to love them as time goes on, not Skylar though.

5. It’s really funny, dark funny, but funny.

6. It’s all about meth, who doesn’t like meth?

7. Aaron Paul plays Jesse and you think you’ll never like this obnoxious douchebag but you do, you really do.

8. Also Aaron Paul was on Big Love (he played the eldest daughter’s eventual husband) and I remember finding him utterly unappealing on that show but on this show, I have a bit of a crush.

9. If you ever watched Malcom in the Middle I’ve heard it’s really amusing to watch this show imagining him the same guy.

10. I told you to, so go do it.

• Tonight is my radio show Off Topic with Gwen, we’ll be discussing the newest Star Trek movie that she nearly forced me at gun point to watch. She’s a cruel woman you know.
• Speaking of Star Trek and the manly love between Kirk and Spock, I have realized I just love man love. I’m not even speaking of anything sexual, just when 2 guys really love each other. There is something so sweet about it. Like Turk and JD (see the song Guy Love) or House and Wilson. I think this is something I need to write more about.
• I have a photography session on Sunday with a 4 month old baby. Do babies bite or do their heads spin? Should I wear some sort of padding or a hasmat suit?
• I think the love for my new computer, my GPS and my camera may be higher up on the list than Manly Man. Is that bad?
• Just when I keep thinking that blogging is pointless I find I have something I need to say and if I don’t blog it how does the world know how I feel?
• What do people do when they aren’t using social networks? I don’t get it, is there other stuff to do?

It has been said that we need just three things in life: something to do, something to look forward to and someone to love.
– Unknown

I can honestly say I have all 3 of these.

I have something to do, as in my photography, it keeps me going in a way that excites me. I know I have shoots coming up and editing to do. I think that has always been something that has kept me down, not having some tangible to do other than the basic daily things.

I have something to look forward to and not just my photography shoots that bring both a mixture of excitement and terror everytime. I have a lot of plans with friends to look forward to. I even have a trip to Ireland more than a year away that I can continue to dream about.

I have someone to love and not just my husband and I love him like I’ve never loved another being on this planet. I love him more everyday. Just looking at him I still feel a bit lovesick like a teenager. I also love my babies Aurora and Pilot, they fill me with joy every single day of my life. I have my friends too, who are a huge part of keeping me balanced in this world that seems to try to do the opposite.

I love that quote, it reminds me that despite a lot of things that make me feel like I have next to nothing I really have all that matters.

For many years now I’ve relied on my father to help me with electronic purchases because I’ve never been able to afford them and he has. If you walked around my house almost every piece of electronic equipment we have has been given as a gift to me from my father. It’s been that way my whole life. I think the only things we had not purchased by him was our dvd player (those are so inexpensive these days), the iPod and our cell phones.

What has he gotten for me? My previous tv and the current tv (when the old one broke after 10 years), my camera, my lenses, my VCR (yes we still have one), my laptop and several other things that I can’t think of at the moment. If I needed something I would ask for it for my birthday or for Chanukah, that was how my life worked.

Then I realized I needed a new laptop because of all my photography work I needed one that would make it easier to work on the photos, not harder. I mentioned it to him, as I always have, and he had some ideas. He thought maybe he could give me their old one and some other suggestions. Suddenly it dawned on me, I don’t always need his help. I’m actually making money with my photography right now and I can put that towards a new laptop.

So without his advice or help we went to Best Buy and found just the right laptop. I bought this with my very own money, probably more money than I’ve ever spent on anything electronic, and I feel like I made a big step in the grown up world.

I’m nearly an adult I think, dammit, I really have to put a stop to this.

This weekend I’m having 2 awesome people over and it just so happens the three of us haven’t been together in over a decade. We were friends our first semester in college and one of the three of us didn’t come back for the next semester but that one semester really bonded us for life. I thought I’d take you on a little journey of my college years.

Why go to class when you can make phallic shaped balloon animals?

Unlike all the other nights we go out to basement parties to drink cheap beer this time we’ll do it dresses as The Crow or maybe a mouse or just maybe a Q-tip.

If you try to wash a wool sweater and end up ruining it, cut it into pieces and make a lovely outfit out of it.

Homework? What homework?

Southern Comfort? Sure, I’ll try it. Bra over my shirt? Sounds like a great idea.

Now you know a little more about me and how I became the well adjusted person I am today. Funny thing is my two friends who are coming this weekend, who btw were the ones who introduced me to that SoCo, both have children. This will be, surreal for sure.