One year

Last night my husband and I shared a piece of the top of our wedding cake and watched our reception video, for the first time (I'm still not ready to watch the ceremony). As I had already concluded from still pictures, my bridesmaids' bouquets and my hair were twice the size I wanted them to be, and I probably should have told the groom to have the groomsmen wear black vests instead of green so they weren't so matchy-matchy weddingy (since renting tuxes was cheaper than having the boys buy suits, even if tuxes were more formal than we wanted). And I'd do the invitations differently. That's what I'd change about the day, a year later--well, except for maybe eloping in the French Quarter as was my original plan.

We realized the best way to include our friends and family would be to have a traditional wedding. In a church (ruling out informal wedding party attire, we felt, out of respect). With a reception at a place where others did the work (ruling out the backyard picnic idea). Even our honeymoon plans changed from "hop in the car and just drive" to "stay in one spot all week," because by the time it was all said and done, the less decisions that had to be made the better.

I didn't give a crap about anything, really, on the wedding day itself: I just wanted to get married and then go have a party with my friends and family. It bothers me that I'm bothered now by the hair and flowers and formality, but I think this is because it's the wedding that everyone else reviews and scrutinizes and holds for posterity. The wedding does not matter. The vows very much matter, the promises very much matter, thanking your friends and family for their support very much matters; all the other stuff is just expensive fluff (on which conversations will be had forever).

And the pictures are nice, even if your hair is way too stiff and poofy. And even if everyone looks too much like they are in a wedding.

Happy birthday Henry!

Today is Henry David Thoreau's (190th) birthday. It was at my age, 27, that Thoreau began his stay at Walden pond. After a week away at camp, I can see the appeal.

So happy birthday Henry.
Everyone celebrate it well: Plant a bean field, watch ants, play with loons, take a walk, write in a journal, babysit for a famous writer, have your aunt bail you out of jail, make a pun, sit alone on a pumpkin, live deliberately.

Spicy

I spent all of last week counseling junior high camp at Sky Lake. This camp was Reality Camp, with each day's theme and evening competition relating to (1) a reality television show and (2) a real-life reality, such as poverty, hunger, immigration, war, slavery, etc. (Side note: Don't worry, this is not an attempt at a profound diatribe; it's okay to keep reading.) During our rendition of America's Got Talent, my group sang their camp version of the Spice Girls' "Wannabe." They did such a great job with this song that I'm posting their lyrics here. (Another side note: Many camp-specific references are made in the song, but those of you who haven't been to camp at Sky Lake will get the gist I'm sure...and you can ask me--I'll gladly share.)

So you want my pigtails?
Remember your bag.
We don’t lose our points
’cause we got our tags.
Now don’t go wastin’ my swim time.
Send Methusala to East Shore and we’ll be just fine

So tell me whatcha want whatcha really, really want.
I’ll tell you what I want what I really, really want:
I wanna huh! I wanna huh! I wanna huh! I wanna huh!
I wanna really, really, really wanna zoomy zoomy ahh.

Chorus
If you wanna be a raspberry,
you gotta become a spice.
We live in cabin A5,
and it is wicked nice!
(Repeat)

So whatcha think about horders?
Orange knows how it feels.
You say that salt warms butter—
are you for real?
Now do be hasty; get to breakfast on time.
’Cause if you don’t then two points will say good-bye.

So tell me whatcha want whatcha really, really want.
I’ll tell you what I want what I really, really want:
I wanna huh! I wanna huh! I wanna huh! I wanna huh!
I wanna really, really, really wanna zoomy zoomy ahh.
(Chorus)

Now here’s a story from West to East.
You wanna be a raz you gotta listen carefully.
We got J by the can who loves Superman.
We got R who doesn’t stop ’cause she wants her lemon drops.
We got T by the lake who is afraid of snakes.
We got K in the sand filling up the can.
We got A in the path making everybody laugh.
(Pause)
Uhh, I’m T, and I like tots. ’Cause they’re Amurican.

Grab your buddy’s hand and raise it in the air!
It’s a buddy check so wave ’em everywhere!
(Chorus)

P.S. We won the talent show.
P.P.S. During huh! the girls made the huh! game arm movements. It was awesome.
P.P.P.S. The only lyrics I contributed were "We live in cabin A5, and it is wicked nice." Moving, I know. The girls did all of the rest. Cheers to them.

My College on a Hill

This is a simple story, really, in which nobody was seriously hurt, thankfully. It does concern my college that is set on a hill. I've been trying to come up with something funny regarding "higher learning" for about the past minute and a half, but I could not. Let me know if you do.

My college is currently renovating parts of the library, involving work that requires a wrecking ball. Well, the wrecking ball cable snapped, and the huge, round chunk of metal pinballed down North Main Street, hitting parked cars and eventually landing in the trunk of an Allegheny junior. The domino effect turned this into a four-car accident. As I said, everyone is so far okay.

I have not included a link to this story, because I want you to look it up on Google News. Type in "Meadville, PA," then click on "see all stories." Here are some of the headlines:

"Escaped Wrecking Ball at Allegheny College Goes to Town"
"Wrecking Ball Wreck"
"Wrecking Ball Comes Loose and Does What It's Designed to Do"
"Meadville Mishap Defines Wrecking Ball"

The third one listed is my favorite. Notice too how many Australian news outlets covered the story. I have no theories regarding this...I just thought it was interesting. Enjoy your Google.