They Invented Twitter to Avoid This Post

The problem with writing a blog every 2 months is two fold: first, since no one expects you to write anything as the more common fact is the absence of writing, you simply repeat the vicious cycle of not writing, and second, since so much occurs between posts, you cannot possibly give all events their due, and this also leads to a feeling of insurmountability that most often results in more procrastination.

The solutions are also in tandem:
1) stop being such a p/wussy.
2) go Nike/ just do it.

In an effort to get past both lame excuses, I'll try in this one post to catch you up on everything that's happened since the beginning of November. What's that you say? You really aren't that interested, and would prefer to just pick things up as they are now and move forward? Well tough nuggets - you didn't think this was really for the benefit of my audience, did you?

Begin the catharmanacathon:

Shelley was on tour for November and December, and in her absence I flitted between obscene amounts of time at Columbia's Butler library, very poor regular bedtimes, and an almost singular focus on tearing through as many complete cancelled sci-fi series on Hulu during my lunch and dinner breaks as possible. M.A.N.T.I.S., SeaQuest, Total Recall 2070, and 9/10 of Stargate SG-1 (a little less proud of that last one). I also managed to do a good bit of swing dancing, started my own "practice session" for the Columbia swing club, and had occasional good fun with my NYC friends. Notably, this included a Bob Dylan concert - gratis - as part of a buddie's birthday gift.

As I got into mid-November, it became clear that things were not at all well in the kingdom of time allotments. Dancing was put on hold, my radio gigs ended, and even my casual hulu adventures were reduced. I took a temporary leave from my part-time job, and I tired - desperately- to get serious about my research projects.

Shelley returned (permanently!) at exactly the wrong time of course, but I was extremely happy to have her home after 11 months essentially living apart (tour+kyrgyzstan+tour). This might have resulted in some additional lapses in judgement regarding time allotment, but if you can't take a few hours to lavish attention on your fiance, what's the point of getting engaged? We were also extremely fortunate to have a close friend and Shelley's maid of honor visit us in New York for some weekend fun time. What research projects?

As papers were completed (a report on the Kyrgyz July 2009 Presidential election I observed, a paper on Islam as a domestic determinants of Soviet foreign policy, and an analysis of Turkmenbashi as a "sultanistic" dictator), things began to normalize, but not enough that I was able to complete my final paper before getting on the airplane for Oklahoma. So yes, I took a research paper home for the holidays.

And I don't recommend it.

From this point, this turn more and more into a blur, and if you're interested enough to be reading this extremely dry post, odds are good you were on the invite list for our wedding in January, and hopefully I have personally filled in the gaps for you already. If not, here's the super-brief version:

Shelley and I went to Oklahoma to see my friends/family for Christmas. This included not only my lovable parents, but also their new coiterie of stray/domestic cats. Don't get me started... We ate at the first RAW restaurant in the history of Oklahoma city (thanks Tevingtons). Gave Shelley the gift of her first ever Webber Family Musicale, with the benefit of some extra family drama and no aid of alcohol to lubricate the experience. I also learned that my "singing voice" is a shelley panacea. Not that she enjoys it, per se, but when I slide into a false baritone, it always cracks her up. Good to know.

After 2+ days spent almost entirely with my parents, we got hit with a blizzard on Christmas eve. This of course didn't stop my dad from starting his shopping that afternoon - by foot - nor did it overrule his desire to help the neighbors dig out their driveways. I opted to hold off on my good deeds until after the near-whiteout subsided. 2 more days spent in the exclusive company of my parents went surprisingly well, and then Shelley and I were off on a roadtrip to see her parents outside Houston.

Now it was time to get to work. Wedding preparations needed to be made, odds and ends needed to be purchased, hairs needed to be cut, etc. We were very productive, and still managed to spend a good bit of time watching football with Pat and Kathy. While the ladies did some more shopping, Pat and I checked out Avatar 3-D. Surely someone more clever than I has written a good analysis of that giant digital trope, and I don't think the world needs any more of them. On New Years Eve they threw a huge party for friends and neighbors and we had a great time, and were the lucky benificiaries of gifts (christmas ornaments and family recipes) from many of the participants.

Now it was time to get on to San Antonio and get this Hitchin' Ceremony in motion. So that's what we did. Thanks to our wedding planner Maggie, our cool new photographer West Vita, the venue liaison Crystal, and everyone else. We ate breakfast tacos. Lots of them. Margaritas, chips and salsa, and other delictables were constantly on hand.

Apparently not that many people get married in San Antonio in January. Good news for us. I mean really, who wants to get married when the Riverwalk is all beautiful and full of water? It's like that 50 weeks a year. We got to be... different. Sludge, mud buckets, and heavy machinery rather than riverboats and French tourists defined the riverwalk of Jan 2010.

The wedding weekend included a "guys night," rehearsal dinner, a pre-wedding bar night, lunch for the respective wedding parties, the ceremony, a cocktail hour, the reception, and two simultaneous post-reception social gatherings. We capped it all off with a breakfast taco brunch, of course.

Done with SA (for now), we left reluctantly. Kerrville, Austin, back to Oklahoma. More people to see, Thank Yous to write, gifts to unwrap.

In New York, Shelley has a job setup almost instantly. My classes have started, though I'm still working out exactly what my schedule will be. Trying to re-start my part-time job, this blog, my radio blog, my radio volunteering, swing dancing, social time, and just about everything else.

We've been back less than 2 weeks, and we've already eaten at our favorite restaurant, had 2 brunches, been to the Colbert Report, worked on finishing up Stargate, started on the Tudors, hit the Natural History Museum, mailed an umbrella internationally, had dinner with friends, written more thank yous, made a ton of soup - twice - and applied for a post-grad Fellowship.

What more will the future hold? Check in occasionally, and you'll find out.

Or just put it off for 2 months and then try to catch up.

See, doesn't seem like such a bad plan, right?

Weber
::(lame) Texpatriot