Wonderemployment

I don't know if favors for friends counts as service, but I'm going to file it there anyways... My coworker/friend recently decided to have a small wedding at San Francisco City Hall. When I heard that she wasn't planning to get anyone to take pictures because of the cost and her short planning time frame, I offered to do it as a gift for her. She wasn't sure about it at first (I think out of fear of inconveniencing me), but I was so happy that she accepted. Photos are by no means the most important part of a wedding, but I know how much I love being able to look at my wedding pictures and get filled with warm fuzzies, and I think everyone should be able to do the same. I warned her, I'm not a professional, so don't expect Pinterest-worthy photos, but I will try my very best! And I did. I really have to hand it to wedding photographers because it's a big responsibility. You only get one chance to get it right. It can be pretty stressful moving around ...

As I've mentioned before I've been involved with RISE Yoga for Youth, an organization that brings yoga into schools. A few weeks ago I was invited to come take pictures of a class at George Washington High School in San Francisco. It was their last class of the year, which was evident by their familiarity with each other and some pretty advanced poses! I met these students all for the first time the day I came, but I still felt proud of them for their dedication to learning yoga and trying something new.  At the end of class, during shivasana, the teacher played Baz Lurhmann's "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen" . When this song/commencement speech ( text originally by columnist Mary Schmich ) first came out, it was played over and over again. I was pretty sick of it, and at the age of 11, I thought I understood it, but I really didn't. When I heard it again so many years later, in this quiet space, with these soon-to-graduate students, i...

I was on vacation when the shooting happened in Isla Vista and intentionally didn't read the news because I didn't want it to burst my happy bubble. Since my return I've been trying to catch up, and I have been both horrified and excited by the conversations that this event has triggered. Though it's disheartening to read account after account of sexism and misogyny, I'm happy and proud to see so many women speaking out about our collective truth, which is that we all feel the threat of gender-based violence. It's good to see both women and men standing up to say THIS IS NOT OKAY. A few months ago I was with my mentee (who I will remind you is fourteen) at a Starbucks by her house. We go there frequently to work on our scrapbook and talk. As we were cutting out pictures, a man, probably in his late twenties or thirties , came up to G and said something like, "Excuse me, uh, I was checking you out from outside and I think you were checking me out too ...