Wedding Daydreaming

As if I'm not totally wedding crazy already, today I went to a bridal shower for an old friend. Random side note: my high school boyfriend and I set the couple up when we were 16. Maybe I'm meant to be a matchmaker? Anyway, after being surrounded by wedding-ness, I was thrust back into crazed wedding obsession. Oh well -- there are worse things to be obsessed with, I guess!

Comparative Politics Humor

My major is Political Science, but inside that I have focused on Comparative Politics, which means I have a kind of weird sense of humor. For example, today in my Russian Foreign Policy class, my teacher said, "While in power, Boris Yeltsin was many things . . . Sober wasn't one of them." Personally, I found this hilarious. So, in keeping with that theme (dorky political anecdotes at the expense of the Russians) here are two videos I found especially enjoyable. The first features highlights of Yeltsin's drunkenness in public. And the other is from a press conference he held with Bill Clinton. It is Yeltsin's response to a reporter calling him a "disaster" and Bill Clinton's reaction. Pretty priceless, if you're into that kinda thing. (Hint: I am.)

Best Part of Spring

Far and away, the best part of Spring is the influx of delicious strawberries. They have been on sale lately at the grocery store, and I've been able to stock up on them. When I move, I thoroughly intend on trying to grow them myself, despite the warnings of how difficult it can be. So wonderful!

1st Location Visit!

This morning, Katie and I went to check out a potential location for the ceremony! It's the first place I've gone to see, and it blew me away! The Reddick Mansion is gorgeous -- just unbelievable. While my photos are not that impressive (did them hurriedly) you can get an idea of how beautiful this old house is. Just amazing!

Spring Reading

Spring is always when I get back into my habit of reading a lot. For some reason, in the Winter, I can't do anything but lounge around. But Springtime and I -- we like reading. As I recently explained to Ben, after reading everything I could get my hands on as a kid, I've become very, very picky in the fiction authors I enjoy. Evelyn Waugh is one, "The Lost Generation" writers are always great, but Jack Kerouac is my favorite writer far and away. I adore him enough, in fact, that I got "mad to live", a line from his book On The Road, tattooed on my wrist.

A few months ago I picked up a copy of the fabled book And The Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by Kerouac and William Burroughs, a book that has been talked about for years but was only published following the death of Lucien Carr, one of the people the book is based on. It tells the story of the murder of David Kammerer by Lucien Carr, an event both Burroughs and Kerouac were involved with indirectly through their friendship with both men. They were in New York at the time of the murder, and relay what happened in the days leading up to and the day of the murder from their own perspectives in alternating chapters.

The book is sitting at Ben's apartment now (figured I'd leave it there after Ben finished reading it, since I'm moving there soon anyway) and I'm dying to read it again! It's just a wonderful, well written story, and a real gem from the early years of the Beats, before they were thrust into the limelight. If you haven't yet, check it out!

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Lately, I've been in a Wristcutters mood. Such an original story, with wonderful dialogue and a great soundtrack! And the fact that one of the central characters was inspired by Eugene Hutz is pretty awesome, too!

Reception Inspiration: Lighting

Ben and I started delving a little more into planning last week (ie, ceremony locations and preliminary guest list) and talked more about our reception, which we're having in a park outside of town. I LOVE this picture -- the lights are just amazing! I have to go check out our location, to see if we can do something like this with the trees on site.