I think I should take time, since I've mentioned the rehearsal dinner, to say that the wedding last night was beautiful and very reflecting of Emily and Alex. The secret to a good wedding is do as few of the cliche's as possible. No garters at my wedding. No throwing the bouquet. Pick the ones you like. If you like dancing, do dancing. But you don't need the bubbles.

The Loney wedding was elegant and simple--nothing real complicated and everything seemed to fit well. The music during the ceremony was classical. It was nice to hear John Downer play his trumpet--I hadn't. There was a small orchestra, a quintet? And Ian sang some Handel. The gowns were pretty and also simple. I was impressed with the suits (I think I just like guys in suits. This is weird to acknowledge...) though the poor groomsmen were were too hot, as in temperature, as in sweating, in them.

Ian and I MC'd the reception. We think we are funnier than we are, and this was apparent. We saw early on that our brand of clever wasn't really hitting home with the "audience," so we kept it simple. For instance:

IAN: Many of you have asked us what it meant that we were mistress and master of ceremony tonight. Nora, what does that mean?
NORA: It means that this is a hostile take-over and the wedding is ours.

...dribbles of laughter...

IAN: Just kidding
NORA: We were kidding.

It's weird to see Ian and Nora written and not be talking about Ian Bonner.

The music was provided by the Steve Sharp Quartet--Swing Standards and Jazz music. Very classy as well. Oh, the reception was at Weber's. The Ceremony was at the Methodist Church on the corner of State and Huron.

I danced a little. I'm not too good at that, though I'd like to improve. Toward the end of the night I had a very interesting conversation with one of Alex's groomsmen, who took a lot of playwrighting courses here at UM with Oyamo. The kid looked like John Lennon, which was kind of weird. If you're going to look like a celebrity, though, that celebrity might as well be John Lennon. Anyway, I get such a kick out of talking to writers. I think once I got such a kick out of talking to actors. This is a weird thought.

Nice Wedding though. A nice reminder of God's relationship with the church. I guess marriage is good for SOMEthing... ;)

Some Cat Stevens

Lisa gave me a copy of Footsteps in the Dark. Here is the lyric that is with me today:

"But sometimes you have to moan when nothing seems to suit yer
But nevertheless you know you're locked towards the future

So on and on you go, the seconds tick the time out
There's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to findout"

I have felt like moaning all day. It's an interesting thing to think that sometimes we HAVE to do that. And that we're locked toward the future. No matter what happens or what has happened, we're only moving in one direction: forward. I guess the real question is are we moving on an upward plane or a downward spiral?

Last night I went to Emily Harris and Alex Loney's rehearsal dinner. This was a lovely gathering on the Huron River in one of Ann Arbor's Metro Parks. I don't know really where, Ian Drove. Rivers remind me of the campout or sadly and nostalgically, the roadtrip. Ian and I, as I may have mentioned, have the job of MCing the reception. I felt really honored to be there. The food was lovely and the wine was good--donated by Alex's uncle.
It's hard for me to admit to myself that I am old enough to be married. Maybe I am not, but some people my age are. I still feel very young, as I've said, and don't know what a husband would do with my scheming habit, a habit I am not ready to let go of.

I met with my favorite Irishman, James McNaughton, yesterday for coffee and had a blast chatting about how to get around Europe. Irish citizens have Europe and all its employment opportunities at their disposal. James was very encouraging about me learning French. "Oh, you'll pick it up after living there for a little while. It's easy." Yeah right, Mr. McNaughton. French is going to kick my ass in the challenge, but that's something my first English teacher here at UofM knows all about--kicking my ass in the challenge. This is a man who makes his incoming freshman study James Joyce as soon as they walk in the door. Well, anyway, it was a fun visit.

While I was at the Dinner my friend Tait asked me who I would dedicate my first book to. I said, depends on what that book is about. He said, "Your travels."
I said, "Around the country? Lisa."
He said, "Okay, how about on a private trip to Europe."
"Switzerland?" I said. He nodded. I told him my first book would be called "Neutral" about the land of no political stances. The book would be dedicated to Paul Simon, who has given us the lyric, "I have no opinion about that. I have no opinion about me."

Another Step Closer to Conquering the World

Life is still exciting out here in the big AA. Claudine Mamo called me with some job ideas in mind for my stay in Switzerland. Her brother-in-law owns a theater/jazz singing cafe in Lausanne. Her sister offered to set up a room for me in there. It's in the basement of a building that, apparently, according to Bill Mamo, looks like a castle. And it's in the center of the city, so I would be in walking distance of all the shops, etc. "It's nothing luxurious" says Claudine. To me, it sounds outrageously exciting. In return I would help out with the cafe. There is also a job opportunity for me to help tour youngsters around in the mountains as a teacher's aid type deal. This will require me to learn french phrases such as "not so close to the edge" or "come back" or "no, it's too cold to go swimming." This job would provide lodging for me as well, and food. I would be able to do that for the month of May. So, okay, here's the itinerary for my trip so far:
Jan 4-March 21--L'Abri
End of March, April--live in cafe, meet people and look for job opportunities
May--Hike with the kids
June and beyond--tentative
I believe that I will get a visa for January to November (or, if I have to get a year, a year, but I plan on returning before Christmas 2005), and hopefully opportunities will come up for work. Claudine mentioned I may get tutoring jobs teaching kids English. I am hoping to make some money so I can pay her sister for the place and for much of the food I'll be eating. Her sister has been very gracious in her offers though. I'm pretty excited about this. I should be forced to learn french, which is scary and good for me.

While I'm at L'Abri I will hear about the Fulbright. If I get the scholarship, I may come home earlier than November so I can get a job and make money to spend in South Africa. It's all up in the air about that. But the application process is coming along. I wrote a Fulbright advisor (called the "commission") in South Africa and heard back from him today. His name is Solomon. Hm, thought I. An advisor named Solomon. I made this connection mainly because I'm reading Proverbs. Anyway, Wise Solomon said I will need to apply at the University of Kwazulu-Natal as a Masters student in Theater Studies. The idea of being a grad student as early as 2006 is strange to me, but maybe by then I'll be ready.

Today I met Annette Masson, who is writing a letter of recommendation for my application. She was the dialects teacher for the theater dept. Turns out, she used to be on the Fulbright committee here at UofM, so she is full of good advice herself. Now I just need to continue specifying my proposal. Annette advised me to tell as many people as I can about what I plan to do there, as good practice for knowing what I want to do and sounding like I know what I'm doing for the interview portion of the application.

After seeing Annette, I tutored Paul and Gyu Rie, my two 8 yr old Korean kids. Then I went to see this woman read at Shaman Drum, who is a non-fiction writer. I bought her book (I'm such a splurge) because it sounded so good and interesting. She signed it and asked me if I was a writer and I said yes, fiction and non-fiction. She told me to look into her University where she teaches, in North Carolina, where they have a MFA Non Fiction program. After that I went to the Ann Arbor Brewering Company and saw my friend D. from the theater dept. She is a PhD candidate and she just got a Fulbright for Australia next January. She's going to Sydney tomorrow to work for two weeks with a theater company there. Then she's going to Helsinki for a theater conference. I have gotten to know here a bit in the past few months, and all her graduate student friends, which has been interesting. I still feel so young.

After D's going away party at the bar, I went to my friend Emily's bachelorette party. I had a good time. We played games and ate desserts. It wasn't all that raunchy, which is nice. I still think the bachelorette party would be the most nerve-wracking part about a wedding. I don't know why, it just really makes me uncomfortable to think about.

Okay, I'm going to bed. Sorry these updates are so sparse that they have to be so long.