Oh, MAN!!

Did I miss it?!?! It’s not Saturday yet, right?!? Aw, CRAP, I spaced the date again!!! I was TOTALLY PSYCHED to get loaded and save the earth!! I had it all planned out: sit on my can all day and watch multi-millionaire supermodels, “artists“, and “activists” fly around the world in private jets and hector the drooling masses (ie, everyone else) into downloading their music from iTunes (Al Gore, Apple board member) instead of buying petro-death CDs, dude!! I just hope that whoever’s already killed Mother Gaia a little bit with a Carbon Deathbringer (CD, geddit?!? Oh, dude, I ROKK!!) at least drops some mad cheddar for carbon offsets (score ‘em from Gore, bra!! He’ll totally hook you up !!!). And totally buy a Prius!! Man, those things can do, like a hundred !! But don’t say your dad was the Veep to get out of getting busted for your stash. The friggin’ cops are onto that one…

So, instead of doing my part to drag AmeriKKKa back down to acceptable economic status, I was in Boston for my sister’s wedding and related events. Susan and I are exhausted. We left the house on Friday morning at about 7am to make the ceremony at Cambridge City Hall at 11. After the wedding itself (short and very sweet – the JOP did a very nice job) and a zillion pictures, we changed and went to lunch with both families at Cambridge Brewing Company where we shared a “tower” of Hefe-Weizen. Seth and his brother Aaron are a riot when they get going. At several points, they were reduced to just staring at each other, silently, in utter disbelief of the other’s ability to be such a jackass. Back to the B&B to shower and change again for the evening’s dinner for out-of-town guests. This was a fantastic buffet at Elephant Walk. We sat at the most boisterous table, I’m proud to say, thanks to the combination of a number of childhood and college friends, as well as former roommates. As usual, I was one of the few men at the table, and we easily drowned out Seth’s high school buddies.

Saturday morning Dad and I helped schlep beverages and linens to the Cyclorama, where the real party was going to happen that night. It was mighty muggy, and we worked up a sweat, which was actually nice. I hadn’t gotten to do much for Joy and Seth up to this point, so it was nice to be needed and feel productive. Susan woke up with a whopper headache, and so she and Mom skipped a much anticipated pedicure and we all went to a late lunch at Picco, just around the corner from the Cyclorama, which was really great and leisurely. This also made the second day in a row that I had beer with lunch.

No wedding is complete without running into people you haven’t seen in 20 years, and I ran into plenty of them. We’d been in the building for a good hour before we reached our seats to put down our bags. We didn’t move ten feet without another “This is Your Life” moment. It’s certainly been the summer for it.

As the party wore on, Joy asked me to take Sophie home because…holy crap…Melissa’s two girls (6 and 3) wore her out. She was panting and nearly shaking from exhaustion when she got in the car, and quickly fell asleep. This was good for Susan and me, as the band was really loud and we needed a break. When we got back, dad looked like he was just getting started. “We’re rockin’ ’till midnight!!!” he said as he bounced over to us, all grins. Susan and I, who are old, were ready to collapse. After Seth and Joy were hoisted overhead for the horah (with the Drunk Stuntmen playing Hava Nagila – a tear-worthy moment for the brother of the bride) and a rendition of “Achilles Last Stand”, the band slumped into a long, slow number to get everyone to want to go home, and so we did. Then up for brunch in the morning, and back to Maine.

I’m tired even as I write this, so it’s back to work for me. Hope all of your Independence Day weekends were full of flags, food, friends, family, fair winds, and foam.

Oh, and if you want to drop Joy a line of congratulation, send it here !