And now, for one of my best friends and most favorite people in the world: photographer Aimee Aileen, who breathes vivacity into each frame she grabs.

Spanish bullfight through the horns of a spectator

Footage from 2010 US Open of Surfing, Huntington Beach, California

Prince Felipe of Spain greets Basque villagers

The first hour I met Aimee she told me she hadn’t registered for the impacted class we failed to crash, because she’d been stranded in Morocco during enrollment. Rejected, we hit the beach; I didn’t even ask what she’d been doing in North Africa. Over the next few weeks, she told me hundreds of stories: how she traveled with a useless ATM card around the world by herself–snapping photos and dragging a huge suitcase with broken wheels up stairs and mountains–but wasn’t afraid to adventure alone, because her height scared danger away: at 5’11”, Aimee has a clear view of almost everything: Spanish bullfights, professional surfers, her bread and butter–brides and grooms.

She’s the most interesting woman I know.

“Let’s pretend like we’re pirates.” California