catch up
It has been much too long since I last wrote. Five months, mon dieu. But what a five months it has been. And what a summer. People continue to amaze and befuddle me. I’ve seen the best and the worst and I’m making a real conscious effort to learn from them all. I can’t really catch up on everything that happened so I’ll do a quick round-up of the past month.
Saturday August 6th: This was the BACHELORALL. Mostly it was for Nathan. Stephan, our great friend and Nathan’s best man, planned a whole day of surprises for him. First he was blindfolded and put into a ridiculous outfit (zebra tights which, to be fair, Nathan already owned and has worn frequently at shows, a tiny pink shirt that read ‘the bachelor boi’, and a Maggie Simpson facemask). He was then taken to a jam space and the big reveal was that all of his favourite musicians were waiting for him to learn and actualize a song that he’d written. I’d gone on his garageband earlier in the week and sent the demo to Stephan. After an initial moment of panic Nathan had a great time and they polished the song and have played it live twice since. Then we all met up at karaoke at the Buff (Buffalo club-very much like a legion). The place is a favourite of ours, Stephan’s dad Kenny is the president of the Buff and we frequently show up on Saturday afternoons to sing with all the amazing working-class oldsters of Dartmouth. They are just the best people ever. While there Nathan was surprised by his parents who showed up and sang. A few tears may have been shed when his dad, who Nathan hadn’t heard sing since they were both in church choir many years ago, did a beautiful rendition of Desperado. Then his parents did “I got you babe.” It was amazing. After that most of the crew went out to laser tag. I went home with Hayley to prep for “stage four” and we visited and drank wine and I started my slow descent into drunkenness. We all met up at Stephan’s for a BBQ and had a blast and then off to the second karaoke of the day, and final “stage” of the event. I only lasted about 30 minutes before deciding I needed bed immediately but most people stayed on until 2 and sang the night away. That was an epic day. Epically epic.
Saturday August 13th: Nathan and I got married. It was the best day of my life. We had a flawless sunny day in my parents’ back yard. My whole family pitched in to get the yard ready, raise the sails we used overhead for cover, decorate with potted mums and bunting and lanterns and colour everywhere. I had twenty Lents fly in and stick around for some great visits, countless friends fly, train, and drive in, all of our amazing friends here and so much love it was almost crippling. We did it our way (justice of the peace, dancing to irreverent music, flower girl in a Disney princess dress) and we did it on a budget that we can pay off by October. I got to wear hot pink. There were songs about Judge Joe Brown and why marriage is like Canadian football (you don't get too many chances but there is a lot of room to move around). I still feel too close to the day to say too much about it. I’ll have to write a much more detailed remembrance when I have the time to do so. Bottom line: blamazing.
Saturday August 20th: Okay. There is a Saturday August trend here. Last week we rented a car with friends and headed out to Moncton where we experienced Magnetic Hill (eerie!), played laser tag (we lost, magnificently), and then spent the day at Magic Mountain water park. There was this one slide that looked like a pneumatic tube. You step inside the “pod” at the top, the attendant closes the door, counts you down from three, and then pushes a button while the FLOOR DROPS OUT FROM UNDER YOU and you shoot down to the bottom in a second or less after one brief moment of free fall. It was terrifying and I wish I could do it everyday. After the park closed we did some go-karting and then found Moncton’s “only good restaurant”-a vegetarian place with phenomenal pizza and salads and sangria.
Saturday August 27th: We spent the morning brunching on French toast and fresh berries at our friend Josh’s place and then hit the market for groceries. Then, in advance of hurricane (now tropical storm) Irene we spent yesterday at Crystal Crescent beach soaking in the sun and riding the slightly-larger-than-usual waves. Then we headed back home, showered the sea out of us-I brought home more than my fair share of marine life that got shoved in my suit as we rode waves and repeatedly crashed into the sand. We napped, supped, and then went to Alison’s end-of-summer party that got shut down by the police shortly after we sneaked away to a shirts-off dub step dance party two doors down. All of that and in bed by 3! Marvelous and exhausting and perfect.
There’s so much more, of course. Not the least of which was Sappyfest at the tail end of July/first days of August. I will leave you with my new favourite artist who played the most unbelievable show. Charles Bradley. He cried. We cried. We hugged. We got very sweaty. He cried some more as he yelled “I LOVE you! I love YOU!”
Saturday August 6th: This was the BACHELORALL. Mostly it was for Nathan. Stephan, our great friend and Nathan’s best man, planned a whole day of surprises for him. First he was blindfolded and put into a ridiculous outfit (zebra tights which, to be fair, Nathan already owned and has worn frequently at shows, a tiny pink shirt that read ‘the bachelor boi’, and a Maggie Simpson facemask). He was then taken to a jam space and the big reveal was that all of his favourite musicians were waiting for him to learn and actualize a song that he’d written. I’d gone on his garageband earlier in the week and sent the demo to Stephan. After an initial moment of panic Nathan had a great time and they polished the song and have played it live twice since. Then we all met up at karaoke at the Buff (Buffalo club-very much like a legion). The place is a favourite of ours, Stephan’s dad Kenny is the president of the Buff and we frequently show up on Saturday afternoons to sing with all the amazing working-class oldsters of Dartmouth. They are just the best people ever. While there Nathan was surprised by his parents who showed up and sang. A few tears may have been shed when his dad, who Nathan hadn’t heard sing since they were both in church choir many years ago, did a beautiful rendition of Desperado. Then his parents did “I got you babe.” It was amazing. After that most of the crew went out to laser tag. I went home with Hayley to prep for “stage four” and we visited and drank wine and I started my slow descent into drunkenness. We all met up at Stephan’s for a BBQ and had a blast and then off to the second karaoke of the day, and final “stage” of the event. I only lasted about 30 minutes before deciding I needed bed immediately but most people stayed on until 2 and sang the night away. That was an epic day. Epically epic.
Saturday August 13th: Nathan and I got married. It was the best day of my life. We had a flawless sunny day in my parents’ back yard. My whole family pitched in to get the yard ready, raise the sails we used overhead for cover, decorate with potted mums and bunting and lanterns and colour everywhere. I had twenty Lents fly in and stick around for some great visits, countless friends fly, train, and drive in, all of our amazing friends here and so much love it was almost crippling. We did it our way (justice of the peace, dancing to irreverent music, flower girl in a Disney princess dress) and we did it on a budget that we can pay off by October. I got to wear hot pink. There were songs about Judge Joe Brown and why marriage is like Canadian football (you don't get too many chances but there is a lot of room to move around). I still feel too close to the day to say too much about it. I’ll have to write a much more detailed remembrance when I have the time to do so. Bottom line: blamazing.
Saturday August 20th: Okay. There is a Saturday August trend here. Last week we rented a car with friends and headed out to Moncton where we experienced Magnetic Hill (eerie!), played laser tag (we lost, magnificently), and then spent the day at Magic Mountain water park. There was this one slide that looked like a pneumatic tube. You step inside the “pod” at the top, the attendant closes the door, counts you down from three, and then pushes a button while the FLOOR DROPS OUT FROM UNDER YOU and you shoot down to the bottom in a second or less after one brief moment of free fall. It was terrifying and I wish I could do it everyday. After the park closed we did some go-karting and then found Moncton’s “only good restaurant”-a vegetarian place with phenomenal pizza and salads and sangria.
Saturday August 27th: We spent the morning brunching on French toast and fresh berries at our friend Josh’s place and then hit the market for groceries. Then, in advance of hurricane (now tropical storm) Irene we spent yesterday at Crystal Crescent beach soaking in the sun and riding the slightly-larger-than-usual waves. Then we headed back home, showered the sea out of us-I brought home more than my fair share of marine life that got shoved in my suit as we rode waves and repeatedly crashed into the sand. We napped, supped, and then went to Alison’s end-of-summer party that got shut down by the police shortly after we sneaked away to a shirts-off dub step dance party two doors down. All of that and in bed by 3! Marvelous and exhausting and perfect.
There’s so much more, of course. Not the least of which was Sappyfest at the tail end of July/first days of August. I will leave you with my new favourite artist who played the most unbelievable show. Charles Bradley. He cried. We cried. We hugged. We got very sweaty. He cried some more as he yelled “I LOVE you! I love YOU!”
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