the wedding industrial complex

Quite out of the blue, my friend C. called me about a bridal expo going on today. She was very excited about it and wanted company. Given that my best friend doesn't get married everyday, I said sure! And gloved/hatted to go downtown.

I wasn't sure what to expect - when I got married 10 years ago I tried to avoid the Wedding Industry(TM) as much as possible because I didn't want anything foofy/traditional. That, and frankly I had no idea such things existed.

And I'm kinda glad I didn't go to one when I was engaged, because it would have convinced me to just ditch the plans and go to the courthouse :P It was loud, crowded and overwhelming, and full of vendors trying (IMHO) to take advantage of just that chaotic vibe to get (mostly) women (there were a few grooms there too) to gift register at places they might not like for things they might not need, and generally encourage the spending of large amounts of $ (the questionnaire C. filled out included a "planned wedding budget" question; the options started at $10,000).

Ok, grinchy vent over:

C. has her head tightly screwed on and wisely grabbed the free magazines and business cards so she can make her decisions later after she's had time to think and look at everything. I helped carry the swag and run to throw food garbage away (the caterers do have to provide samples, yanno, so there WAS food).

We did stay for the bridal fashion show and while C. got a few ideas of what's available she still prefers the dress she's already considering to anything else she saw.

Made me very reflective that dotheranon and I got married the way we did - small outdoor ceremony with good friends, music, and food, and an officiant who didn't make us swear to obey God or each other :P Brilliant :)

I'm very happy for C. and her dude A. and offered to help with dress fitting and veil/headdress thingies if needed. I also thought to send her some of the old "bride survival guide" stuff I got when I was engaged, but it's woefully outdated and I can't find it anyway. If anyone's reading who got married in the past ~5 years can recommend something, I'm all ears.

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Side note - on the way there we passed by the Portrait Gallery and had our chance to see this - I'm not sure which was funnier, that Colbert got them to hang it in the first place or that he may have single handedly driven more traffic to the museum - we had to wait in line to get our pictures taken with it (to make the Dems back home jealous, of course :P)

slow, but get there in the end

Happy (belated?) birthday to Tim of timcharmorbien - finally catching up to what I hope was your special day!

bookage: an update

Nicked from idragosani 'cos I just couldn't not do this one:

( OCD reader )

I'm about to finish "On Basilisk Station" and though I'm seeing the truth of curiousangel's observation that the author LOVES to describe tech in hundreds of words when a dozen would do, it's still a cracking read. I think dotheranon may have enjoyed it more than I have - he read it in 2 days and started on the next (available as part of Baen Books' free library - can't believe they offer whole books for free, but I do like their style!).

While D. was getting to know Honor Harrington, I started Ragamuffin and am intrigued. Another strong female protagonist (a free human/pirate on a planet where people are kept as pets) and a future culture based on that of the Caribbean - I'm new to sci fi and from my novice's view it seems like most sci fi books are future projections of Europe/N. America so it sounded different (found out about it when Cover to Cover interviewed the author).

Blood and Roses is also surprisingly good - I say "surprisingly" because, who knew 15th century English property law could be so stimulating? It's the history of the life and times of the Paston family of Norwich, derived largely from their letters and written for a popular audience.

And, almost forgot 'cos I read it so fast: Joss Whedon's Fray, about a future Slayer in NYC. Upon reading this and re-watching Firefly, I reiterate: give Whedon money and an empty room and give him time/space to tell his stories as he sees fit.