Bell #1: Wedding. Today I was privileged to attend the wedding of Brian and Liz at a lovely church in Holland, Mich. The ceremony began at 11 and started auspiciously: The couple rickrolled their guests by having the string quartet intersperse a few Astley measures after the canonical opening of The Wedding March. Adam leaned forward and said, “Dude, were we just rickrolled?” Yes, Adam. Yes we were.
The pastor was also the bride’s father, which provided both emotional contrast and occasional bouts of levity (like when he ostentatiously switched places with himself to give the bride away). In any case, the ceremony was lovely, Liz’s dress was gorgeous and Brian comported himself well. The post-wedding luncheon included some games, a gorgeous performance of Songbird by Cassidy and excellent sweet tea. (Seriously. As many times as I’ve been served tea at various functions, no one has prepared it as well as the caterer for this wedding.)
Several members of our writer’s group attended the ceremony; the “other” Jason, Mel, Cassidy, Tabby/Richard, Jen, Adam/Ashley, Brittany/Steve and Lianne/person.
Best wishes to Brian and Liz as they begin their life together as husband and wife.
Bell #2: Casino Winnings. Last weekend Tony and I spent two nights at Caesar’s Windsor on a comp; ostensibly, we did our “Best Year Yet” planning but we also found time to enjoy a few authentic Cuban cigars (over-rated), imbibe adult beverages (too expensive for too little alcohol) and enjoy delicious food (Nero’s steakhouse is fantastic). In addition, we managed to run about $10k through on my card one night, at a total net loss of only maybe $60. So it turned out really well. We left on Friday, with a pit stop in Okemos to grab a few Davidoff Maduros from The Corona and a reduced-cost hour-long table massage for me. The trip to Windsor was routine. The Caesar’s Windsor complex is nice — it’d be an upper-middle tier property on the Strip, I think — and the Canadians were unfailingly polite. Mix perfect weather, cigars along the Detroit river, tasty food and some productive work, and the three-day weekend was time well spent.
Bell #3: Workplace Chinese Firedrill. Two weeks ago, my department was unceremoniously dissolved; the nine of us have been scattered to the four winds. ‘Tis a time of great uncertainty, requiring some deep thought about one’s options.
