So Cenobyte with her writeyness has mentioned this, of course, but a couple of weekends ago was the wedding of my old and dear friend to a lovely woman who I hope will become an old and dear friend. It was a blend of Vedic, Catholic and secular traditions, which provided a constant low-level cognitive dissonance that was really enjoyable. Ganesh was invoked and the sacred fire was kindled under the benevolent gaze of the Christ. I had no idea that Catholics were so ecumenical.* And of course Cenobyte and I still share a brain.**
The reception was in the basement of the Post Office.*** As I believe I said at the time, if someone had told me 28 years ago at a D&D game that one day, I'd be in the basement of the Post Office celebrating the DM marrying a supermodel ninja, I'm not sure I'd have believed it. But there we were, watching the father of the groom in full Highland fig (he had changed from his shalwar kameez), singing an Elvis song to a group of appreciative ladies in saris.
(our friends have the best weddings!)
We got to see many other friends too even though our visit was terribly short. On the bright side, we only had a few days exposure to the mosquitoes, which because of the warm, wet summer are particularly vicious. The event was two weeks ago and my legs still look like a bunch of Smurfs went on a hickey rampage. We've lost all our Saskatchewan-born instincts of self-preservation, as I realized when I paused outside the rental car to text Effigy that we were coming. Silly me.
Still, a great weekend!
* Not meant to be snarky, honestly. I really was pleasantly surprised. Apparently the Catholic Powers That Be, with the close reasoning that I associate with Jesuits, have carefully thought through how mixed marriages will be performed ("mixed" here being Catholic and non-Catholic, so a hard-shell-Baptist/Catholic wedding uses the same rules as a Hindu/Catholic wedding. This pleases me.) I gather the participants still have to be of different sexes, but baby steps.
** I wore a gray dress and decided it needed punching up a bit with a red handknit shawl. Completely independently, she wore a lovely red dress and decided to wear a gray handknit shawl. We looked like the backup singers. And she stole my shoes again!
*** Well, in a jazz club that's in the basement of the downtown building that used to be the main Post Office. To me it will always be the Post Office.
So there was much rejoicing. About the only cogent argument* I've heard is one that unelected judges should not overturn decisions that the majority of people have made. But the question I'd like to ask to that in turn is: Is an unelected judge overturning a majority decision ever right? I think that it is; that judges are supposed to protect the minority from the majority, because no one else can.
I seem to have lowered my writers' block a bit; I actually have a couple of other posts fermenting in my brain-juice. But this just seemed worthy of note.
ETA: A funny yet accurate summary of the debate is here
*Some religious book defines marriage differently? Irrelevant to the law. Marriages must be for producing children? Simply untrue. It's a slippery slope that will lead to paedophilia and bestiality? Demonstrably untrue, any more than giving women the vote led to hamsters and babies voting. It will degrade hetero marriages? Bewilderingly untrue. Children must be raised by one mother and one father? Untrue, with disturbing implications for the legal future of divorce and single parenting.
I don't know what it is; my writing juices have utterly dried up. There are several things I really need to write, including this, and I am just completely at a loss.
It's not as if there aren't things to share; we were back up in S'toon in June (hah!) to see my dad receive an honorary degree from the U. of S. It was really great to see that, as well as to catch up with many old friends and abuse their hospitality. We were able to get out to see R:tAG's parents, too, which is always a pleasure.* There was harness racing going on, so we went to see that (never having seen it before):
I really miss the SK skies.
Their town was very, very wet when we visited (an unusual thing by the standards of the past, oh, 20 years) and later, it got worse. R:tAG's folks, fortunately, live on relatively high ground.
And then Mr. Tall visited, and we all went to Half Moon Bay, to which none of us had ever been and which we found charming. Mr. Tall had the concept of micro-climates vividly illustrated; you go over the ridge and the temperature plunges and the sun disappears. We went to the beach anyway,
and had a meal at the Moss Beach Distillery that was awesometastic even though I was still recovering from a bad cold and mainly appreciated the textures.** Then we drove back, out of the dim, chilly fog, and into the warm golden sunshine of a California evening. The transition is quite startling.
We saw the Last Airbender movie and I'm not even going to link to it. Just watch the original TV series. The movie was really awful. On the other hand, I really enjoyed Despicable Me. Apparent key to me liking a movie; knowing nothing about it beforehand.
And now it's back to work and the never-ending patching and small improvements that are part of building an MMO. I'm finding it's not enough to (finally) learn that hacky shortcuts always come back to bite you, it's being able to persuade everyone else of that that's valuable.
* Best story of that trip; we went with R:tAG's dad to his regular Coffee Row haunt, so that he could show off his son from California, and of course every person we met asked what brought us back to Saskatchewan. I told them that my dad was getting an honorary degree from the U. of S., and on two separate occasions the questioner's eyes got wide and he gasped "You're Gordie Howe's daughter!??!" I did not have the presence of mind to say yes.
** I don't get sick very often, honestly, but it seems that when I do, it's when we have houseguests. It's a good thing I am not a paranoid sort.
So normally I only mention comings and goings (mine, ours or others') after the fact because, as I have said, I have weird privacy issues about putting personal information out on Teh IntarWebz.* But our current houseguest is practically famous for writing about not being home, and I just want to brag about having such a cool friend.
So go read Pam's blog, Go See Run Eat Drink, and enjoy! We have to figure out a Weird Food for her to try here, and I have to think of a short list of must-see sights that will compete with the best Europe, Asia and Africa have to offer.**
* And yes, I just posted my full birthdate a few days ago. But I could have been lying.
** I really need to stock up on guide books; we've been going pretty much completely digital for that sort of thing but there's something about your basic Fodor's Guide that's very reassuring.
Hey there.
Still here, still reasonably content, no large life changes (apart from turning 41, but that's really not a change. Not turning 41 would have been a change. I would have blogged about that).
Also not real reason or explanation for stopping blogging. Sorry about that.
So, what did I miss describing? Visitors,* lots of work, nice weather, a few movies, some really quite good meals. And more work. I need a better class of dream or something.
Oh, and today I saw a Nuttall's Woodpecker, which I had never seen before. My new office** has huge windows that look out onto treetops, since the office borders a creek valley, and I therefore have Wildlife TV on pretty much constantly. It's nice, if distracting. Squirrel!
* Wode and Tox C., and then Mr. Too-Tall. It was great to see them all. Having Tox C. around to go yarn shopping with was especially awesometastic. Am I missing anyone? It seems like there might have been more people. My sincere apologies if I'm forgetting about you.
** Not due to a promotion; I was serious about the "no changes" thing. After STO released there was a big musical-office rearrangement as the team size changed, and I got shuffled around. I think it's an upgrade on the whole, though.
