Of fireworks and throwbacks

It's been a while since I updated, but a lot has happened. I'm not blogging about Scooter Libby's half-pardon, because other people have written about it better than I can already, but seriously, just how disgusting are we going to let this administration get before we clean house?!?!

I consider Independence Day, not Litha (Summer Solstice), to be my summer celebration, so of course we had tornado threats all over the eastern seaboard. It was so surreal for me to connect the concepts of "tornados" and "big Eastern cities." I'm sure some people will still insist that global warming has nothing to do with it. However, I'll be watching the Pepsi 400 race rather than Live Earth on lucky 7/7/07, so maybe I don't have much room to talk. At least we got to watch fireworks. One condition of the invitation was that I couldn't blog about exactly which wonderfully-located Manhattan office building me and L'Ailee got to watch from, so I'll respect that, but it was soooo awesome!!!!

Last week, we went to Michigan to watch my girl cousin "Eowyn" and her boy cousin "Bilbo" get married. These are the ones who met at our wedding, the girl who moved from Alabama to Michigan to be nearer to him and the boy who will be on his third country, from Russia to Canada to America, for her. We spent a whole week in Michigan and Ontario to do family stuff. We were going to miss the Pride parade (I was a week off *blush*), the Mermaid Parade, and--this made me literally cry--Sinead O'Connor's CD-signing and concert in support of her lovely new CD Theology--but we were so okay with that if it meant watching the happy couple marry.

Well, we came to regret it quickly. The Saturday after we arrived, I heard from a distant cousin, one I hadn't seen in three years. She is *very* enmeshed in her Evangelical church. She said that the upcoming nuptials "sort of redeem what you did" and, while I was stunned from that, expressed her hope that "you two can come out of that lifestyle and know their joy."

I told her she could "take this as an RSVP--we're not coming to [her mom's, my great-aunt's] house" tonight." And then I slammed the phone in her ear. I knew most people there would feel the way she did. Unfortunately, too many of my relatives believe that they have a duty to tell the truth, and that truth-telling means blurting out the meanest thing they can think of without considering trifles like the other person's feelings.

Fortunately, L'Ailee's relatives were far kinder. I much preferred spending time with them. We watched Juan Pablo Montoya win his first NASCAR Nextel Cup race at her uncle's house! That squeal from the direction of Ontario was us! Other people weren't as happy, but we were so thrilled. Denny Hamlin has since brought the Gibbs team their first win, so I have hope for Tony Stewart soon.

My mother and brother came up. I am extremely worried over the state of my brother's marriage. Mrs. Dorkfish was so rude to him, to me, and to our mother. She didn't want to do anything and didn't want him doing anything without her. Like me, Dorkfish is perhaps overly generous with endearments and physical affection. L'Ailee is more reserved, and I used to take Mrs. Dorkfish's reactions as reserve, too, but there was such a difference. For one thing, my wife smiles at me when I come back to the room. I really hope I'm wrong. I really hope that any problems can be fixed.

The wedding itself was awesome, though! They looked *so* happy, which is the very most important thing, all radiant smiles and soft eyes. It was a mad mix of traditional frou-frou and cyberpunk--all of us women, including me and L'Ailee, the matrons of honor, were in fluffy pink, and all of the men, including the groom, wore mohawks and suits that sort of approximated tuxedos. L'Ailee wore her curly shoulder-length wig, and was extremely jealous of the men. There were Star Wars figures on the wedding cake! Eowyn was smart enough to serve both Coke and Pepsi products, because so many of us are loyal to one or the other. (I like to joke that there's too much blood in my Diet Pepsi supply. :-) I abstained from drinking so I wouldn't deck that bitch I'm related to. There were drunken fights at the reception, but I wasn't in any of them! Eowyn and Bilbo thanked us for bringing them together, and L'Ailee and I, among others, toasted them. L'Ailee dreads speaking in public, but she did a good job.

I'm glad to be home, and glad to be with L'Ailee, and glad that there won't be any more weddings for a little while! We might actually get to have some fun in our own city next June!

Links:

Mummy of Pharoah Hatshepsut found!

Ann Powers, LA Times music critic, on being a Sinead fan.

For all those cute and cuddly atheists (including the one I'm married to), How to Deal WIth Religious People if You Are an Atheist. Pretty good, has good advice for Pagans, too.

Don't Look Gay--how homophobia punishes straight men.

Obama's got some Jay-Z and Beyonce on his iPod. I have to say, if I was voting for aesthetic reasons, I'd pick Barack Obama in a heartbeat. I'm still thinking, however.

yet another thing I dearly love is really bad for you--flip-flops!

Finally, something that gave me Jurassic Park fantasies--prehistoric pygmy pandas! Don't tell me you wouldn't want one of those in your house....