Wedding crap and other stuff

Everyone told me it was a chore, but I didn’t listen.

“It will be different for me,” I said. They just smiled.

“You will be glad when this whole this over,” they warned. I didn’t believe.

Now I believe.

Planning for a wedding just sucks. Here’s the deal, I don’t have to make plans for much of the day, but it still stinks. As Rick Pitino once opined, “It stinks and it sucks.” The minutia of the details are enough to make the guy from “A Beautiful Mind” take a step back and say, “Jesus, calm down a bit.”

I mistakenly thought that the hard part were the big parts: the church, the reception hall, the band, what we are going to eat. Man, was I wrong. The hard parts are the little things, the stuff that shouldn’t make much of a difference, but do. To whom, I have no idea. But they matter.

It’s easy to say that the blame falls on the shoulders of the usual suspects: me or Aly or my parents or Aly’s parents, but that’s not the truth. The truth is that there is some unseen gremlin that gets inside everyone’s head and just rips their logic circuits out. Things that shouldn’t be a huge deal become monster deals. Simple chores, like picking out song listings or finding a babysitter become Herculean tasks.

And then you find out so much about the people you invite: one person is bringing a guest even though she wasn’t invited with one, close friends say no (which is cool) or just don’t return their invites (not cool), one person even asked if there was another menu choice … even though we’re offering three different dishes. It never ends.

The one piece of veteran advice that I am listening to is to picture myself on a beach in Hawaii in mid-October: seas quietly crashing on the beach, a warm air goes by, a cold beer is in my hand and the horizon runs for ever. That’s the tranquility that has been getting me through these long dog days.

The one good thing is that I’m only doing this once … maybe twice. (Just a joke)

* The destruction in New Orleans is so vast that two of our big conferences have been cancelled. The National Association of Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) and the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM) both axed their shows yesterday. While I’m indifferent to AAHAM, I’m actually really pumped about NAHQ because this was a gigantic show and has been causing me a lot of sleepless nights.

Down in the Big Easy, water is rising to an unprecedented level. The entire city is under Marshall Law and people are looting like crazy. It’s unlike anything that I have ever seen. The streets have turned into river ways, people are standing on their roofs hoping to get the attention of rescuers, other people are breaking into nursing homes and hospitals looking for drugs and food.

This tragedy has brought out the best and worst in folks. People from around the country are helping as best they can with their time, their money, even their blood. Some of the people in the city are not doing themselves very proud with the looting though.

It’s easy for me to be in Boston and wag my finger and say, “Looting is wrong, eat your own food and medicine.” The fact is this, they don’t have their own food and medicine. Everything has been washed out to sea. I understand that and do not hold it against the folks that legitimately need food and medicine, but the people who are stealing guns, electronics, video games … these are the people that aren’t wrapping themselves in glory or pity.

In 2001 when the twin towers were struck, people banded together, they didn’t lash out and loot. Where is that spirit?

* I’ve been getting a lot of compliments for my last strip and I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been reading along. I reread my first Blog entry done on the day that I put up my first strip. In it I asked for readers to be patient, I will get better and better as the weeks go by and I think that I have. Sure there are a few bumps here and there, but I’m glad that you all have stuck with me. Thank you.

* Next Friday is my birthday. I’m going to be 31-years-old. I don’t know how I feel about it, I guess I’m just ambivalent about the day. It’s going to come and when it does, big deal. It’s not like time is going to stop and I’m going to be 30 forever and that’s ok. I don’t want to be this age for the rest of my life.

At one point I wanted to forever live in my late teens and early 20s. I raged against aging and it was a useless battle. But after thinking about why I was so mad about growing up I realized that I wasn’t pissed at getting old, I was pissed at getting responsibilities. I have since learned that this isn’t the worst thing in the world.

* The one thing that I’ve always loved about my birthday is that we’re getting into the fall season for television. Monday September 19th begins the new season of “Arrested Development” and I can’t wait. During August FOX ran three mini marathons on consecutive Fridays and I TiVoed them all.

Since FOX isn’t big on reruns, I forgot how funny all of these shows were. They were tremendous. I can’t wait until the next season starts. Charlize Theron is going to be guest starring in five episodes. If that isn’t a reason to watch, then I don’t know what is.

Also starting up in September is a new season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. I think that the last time a new episode was on was back in March 2004. That’s 18 months. Though it was once my favorite, AD has taken over. But a solid number two show.
Add that to the new seasons of “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy”, plus the Patriots and the Sox and it’s going to be a very busy month.

This weekend, probably on Sunday I’m going to try and post a new Aquaman Blog. He’s been bugging me lately, so I figured I’d give him his say. Peace.