2002-04-08 - 11:49 a.m.

Toast Master

Aaaaah, what a weekend.

Friday night I took RockGirl to see the show at CowPlace. It was good to see the gang, as I hadn't had a chance to hang out with them in close to three weeks. (I tried to see the show last Sunday, not realizing that it was Easter and there *was* not show. D'oh.) RockGirl was not exactly her usual exhuberant self, but seemed to enjoy herself pretty well. I heard a rumor from the director that there is a possibility of the show extending and if it happens, he might want me to take over as a cast member (one of the guys is moving to LA in June). That would be pretty cool.

So, of course, the big thing was jo3 and Ng's wedding. Which was splendid. The setting was incredible, being the Catholic cathredral here in town. Which is a beautiful building, and if you haven't been inside, you really must check it out. jo3 looked very dapper and completely calm. Ng was gorgeous in this great classy dress (that managed to be understated and classy, yet still have four bazillion pearls sewn on it). (Hmmm...commenting on a wedding dress. I need to hang out with the guys some more. Excuse me while I burp in a vain effort to reclaim my masculinity.)

The ceremony itself was...um...I hate to say this...boring. For those of you not in the know, I am not a religious dude. I go to church for weddings and funerals (and about once a year Mom will talk me into going for one of the big holidays, but that's just to humor Mom). I personally believe that a wedding should be mostly about the people getting married, and secondarily about God. This ceremony was pretty much your regular Catholic Mass (which I have witnessed in the past year), including Homily and Communion, with a short little thing where they did vows and exchanged rings. It was, for all the Catholics present, I'm sure a very nice wedding. From my perspective it gave short shrift to the real point of the thing. But that's just my agnostic/athiestic/whatever I am-istic point of view.

I drove jo3's car from the cathedral to the reception (and hid it so that no one would smear it with shaving cream or anything). The reception was very nice. It was joyous and exhuberant without being wild. This was a wedding of two Wisconsonites, so the alchohol certainly flowed freely. I myself had planned on taking a cab home, but found that I was in such a good mood that alchohol was actually superfluous. I had two glasses of wine and that was more than enough.

The high point of the evening for me was my toast. I was one of three people that jo3 and Ng asked to give toasts. I got to be first, and I was a bit nervous going up there. I'd had all week to prepare for it and had it fairly well mapped out in my head. I've gotten to be pretty good at public speaking, and I managed to get through it without breaking up (which I was concerned about). I have to say that it was a damned good toast. I got two or three moments of spontaneous applause during the toast, and many people congratulated me on it afterwards. jo3's Mom told me that she hadn't cried during the wedding, but she did during my toast (jo3's Dad piped in at that point with "I didn't cry."). I don't want to get too full of myself here, but I was really proud of that toast. It was eloquent without being flowery, and while I praised jo3 and Ng very highly, I did so without hyperbole or reservation. I love them both dearly, and it was very easy to sing their praises.

Anyhoo, there was more to the reception, and then some of us went out for a few drinks. Yesterday we went over to jo3 and Ng's house for the opening of presents. Then Rudy, RockGirl and I hung out, ate pizza and watched a movie. It was a pretty relaxed weekend overall, for which I am grateful.

Today. Today I feel like Hell. I had nasty sinus things going on all night, which left me with very little sleep. My entire head feels swollen up and disgusting things continue to drip from my nose. I should have called in sick today. I may call in sick tomorrow.

Let's see, what else? I just found out about two classes in Stage Combat (starting tomorrow night and in three weeks). I really want to do them, but if I do that'll mean that Monday through Thursday nights will be booked for close to three months. Besides wearing me out, it's sure to cause conflict with RockGirl. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do it, but damn I'm going to be busy.

Alright, I think that's about enough for now. Have a groovy Monday, kiddies.

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