i want to pee in the woods!

my cousin and his family came to k-town for thanksgiving. the two year old boy was super cute and said/did lots of adorable things, but by far the most entertaining part of the weekend was watching him try to figure out how he was related to my dad. the rest of us were just random people to him, but his grandfather is my dad's identical twin brother, which was just too much for him to comprehend. even though my dad & uncle haven't lived together for the past 40 years, they are disturbingly similar. (years ago one of my cousins spent 3 days thinking my father was his father until his real father showed up. my cousin figured things out enough to call his father "daddy" and my father "uncle daddy", but he was 4)

after being confused for 2 days, i think little drew just gave up and decided that if this man that kept giving him candy wasn't his grandfather, he was close enough. he called my dad "grandpa" for the rest of the weekend.

oh, maybe the people who founded this country were kinda crazy

I realized I had reached adulthood when I started listening to NPR more than Q100 (or DaveFM or whatever). This American Life, described by Summer Roberts as "that show where hipster know-it-alls talk about how fascinating ordinary people are," quickly became my favorite program. One of my all-time favorite episodes is about television (naturally). In the second act, Sarah Vowell talks about how her conception of Thanksgiving was shaped by TV sitcoms. It is hilarious. Enjoy.

I also officially endorse her book, "The Wordy Shipmates." Most entertaining history book ever.

The Final Countdown

those of you who have watched this video know Europe's awesome song is also Boy's theme song (mostly b/c it is Gob Bluth's theme song and Boy is basically a Segway-less Gob Bluth).

on that note, he is coming home in less that 50 days.

not that i am excited or anything.

<-- Boy jumping off a roof in Albania. he was picking olives or stomping on grapes to make wine or something.

true story

i ate lunch with a friend in the past week or two. while he was eating his food, i made him laugh (b/c, let's face it, i'm hilarious). i noticed a smallish piece of food exit his mouth when he laughed, but didn't see where it landed. until i looked in my water cup. needless to say, i was thirsty for the rest of lunch.

true friends 2.0

last summer i wrote this post about how to know if we are true friends. i was reviewing it recently with Rational Thought and The Interrogator & we decided it needed to be revised. some items are the same, but here is the new true friend guide (0-5=friend-ish, 6-10="friend", 11-15=true friend):

1. facebook friends - i stand by my online stalking. if you have a blog, that can substitute.

2. i've stayed up past 2am talking to you one-on-one

3. you've been invited to one of my elite parties

4. i've made you a gift - food, a cd, homemade art project, something i found on the street, etc.

5. you've received random emails from me (often with links)

6. we've hung out in k-town together

7. you've met my little brother & little sister

8. i've come to visit you after one of us moved

9. you have a name on my blog

10. i've mailed you a postcard from one of my travels

11. i am willing to talk to you on the phone for more than 5 minutes

12. we have gone a trip together

13. you know my favorite ways to consume news

14. i have invited you to do something with just me

15. you've seen me cry

wedding bells are ringing in the chapel

the wedding in austin was more of a commitment ceremony as gay marriage is illegal in texas, but it was still hands down the best wedding i've ever been to. it was outside on a warm sunny day in a beautiful garden. it had great food, great company, a great band, and a photo booth with costumes that i was more than a little obsessed with (i may or may not have been called a "photo booth whore"). the brides had thought of every single tiny detail & it came off perfectly. these are the things i have told people when they've asked about the wedding. i think i've focused on the commercial aspects to avoid talking about my ambivalence toward the whole gay marriage part, but i'm going to talk about it now.

i have know both of the brides pretty much since i moved to georgia 3 years ago and they are some of the kindest, more generous people i have ever met. both of them just exude love for life and everyone around them. i love them and i love them being together. i have rarely seen two people that so perfectly match each other. so. with that background, i have never witnessed a marriage ceremony in which the love between the two parties was so palpable. and their love extended out to their families & their friends, whom they were careful to include in every way. it was exactly how a wedding should be - two people completely delighted and trying to share that delight with everyone around them. it was beautiful and natural and completely right.

and the entire time i was watching this display of love and bliss, i was thinking, "how could this be wrong? how could all this caring, love, & unity be something God frowns upon?" i know what the church teaches and i'm a mildly devout christian, but i really struggle with this issue. if i am talking to a gay rights activist, i'll support the church. if i talk to a mormon, i'll support gay rights. i have no idea what i really believe. i believe gay marriage should be legal as an equal rights issue. i know that. but the moral issues, the questions of eternity, those are much more complicated. i could say that i'm not gay so it doesn't matter what i think & i should just love people for whatever their choose. but if i am 100% okay with gay marriage, am i going against my church? and if so, is it really that big of a deal? (i mean, they've been wrong before & it is definitely not a perfect institution). i don't know. so i'm going to go look at my photo booth pictures instead.