Marriage = Conversational Lode

As a dog owner living next to Prospect Park, there's a category of acquaintance — dog owners whom I see 3 or 4 times a week, chat with, but still do not know their names. They are called Luna-mom, Bella-mom, Shep-dad, etc. I've noticed that these acquaintances and other small-talk candidates, have for the most part a very genuinely enthusiastic response to the news of me and Bec's engagement. It's absolutely cool to be on the receiving end of this, and it surprises me every time. I mean, most people get married, right? And I don't think I carry myself in such a way that news of my impending wedding makes others pat me on the back in any sort of success-despite-overwhelming-odds manner. But when I tell them I'm getting married soon, they almost all get really bright-eyed and ask a bunch of questions about the wedding. When I talked about it with Bec, she suggested that others' experience and hopes and memories play into their response, which I think must be the case. And this notion is really cool, because added to the excitement of marrying the girl I love, is the suggestion that while we're entering the biggest day of our lives as a couple, we're also joining on to a giant Jungian bunny-hop, with...well, everyone!

Balrog, Orthanc, Lothlorien and Minas Tirith

The last couple of weeks I've been reading The Lord of the Rings series. I'm just about done with The Two Towers at this point. I'd never read them before, but I was a big fan of the movies, despite little interest in the Fantasy genre, prior. What's really enjoyable, having seen the movies first, is that reading them is simultaneously making me appreciate Tolkein's craft, while also validating Peter Jackson's accomplishments in adapting the story to film. At the same time the reading is providing characters' background and purpose missing from the films due to the sheer amount of material that had to be sifted through, the action sequences make me appreciate the staggering scope and pace with which they were presented in the films even more so. They pass by with little fanfare in the text, and I'm thankful, as opposed to regretful, that I have the film sequences already in my head as a reference.

Goodbye, wonderful Sennheiser ear-buds. It is rare that I'm able to see a load of laundry through, start to finish, without making some egregious error. This time however, I think I've really topped past efforts.

Check the pockets...

Check the pockets....

Check the pockets

Great PSA

Getting Legal, Lexington Style

Becky and I drove up to Lexington to take care of some wedding business. On the docket: apply for a marriage license; meet with potential wedding photographer; go to our wedding location for the menu tasting. Compared to the other aspects of planning the wedding, the Happiness-to-Effort ratio of going to town hall for our license was tip-top. The picture here was taken by the clerk that filed the paperwork, and I think it captures our mood - being a little closer to getting married - thrilled, plain and simple. Can't wait. The tasting was a lot of fun, but I don't want to give anything away.

Wait, okay, I will:

The steak was excellent, as were the farm's own veggies and herbs. And dessert...ohhhh baby.

What day is it?

I've been hesitant to post updates lately because most of my time is spent thinking about and planning our wedding, or figuring out my hopeful beginning of a Graduate Degree in Education; both seem to me like the kind of thing I want to keep under-wraps until good and ready. However, the Mets are close to unwatchable and I don't want to wake the sleeping beast that is Michael Jackson coverage, so I might as well write about the other stuff. Bec and I had a solid two week period of making decisions on the wedding ceremony and reception. I created our invitations and we got them all sent out. We've set up a menu tasting that we'll be checking out this coming weekend in Barre, along with meeting a potential picture-taker for the day. Most importantly, we decided on our officiants, Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Louise of our Cousin Rachel. It was really rejuvenating and giddy-feeling to talk about the actual wedding ceremony - the reason we're doing all of this - as opposed to the various party details that have to be addressed. I'm pretty excited to celebrate with friends and relatives, but it's nothing compared to how much I'm looking forward to Bec and I saying We Do, and putting on our wedding rings*. As for school: there's certainly a lot to be considered. The nuts and bolts of tuition, time, work and other functional details are sort of making my head spin. I'm really excited at the thought of being immersed in a learning environment again, working towards an occupation I think will be a better fit for me. This week will be devoted to getting a definitive answer on how my art school transcripts will affect my admission into a program. It's not going to be pretty.

*more on this to come

Bad Thoroughbred Names

I found this list I made of race horse names in my journal the other day. It's from a few years ago, but I figured hey - I've got a blog now!

1. Precocious Sheldon
2. Fat Chance
3. Lazy Susan
4. Paramus Slowdown
5. Fishbelly
6. Herbert Hoofer
7. Glass Half-Empty
8. Napoleon's Bad Winter
9. Mr Coffee-Cups
10. Li'l Pisher