8.25.2005
wedding
This past weekend, I went to Chicago for the wedding of my two friends, Tacy and Graham. Graham and I lived down the hall from each other in both Freshman and Sophomore years, and we became good friends over conversations ranging from the intellectual to the absurd and classes such as music theory. I remember a fun conversation regarding the relative meanings of “adagio” (walking tempo) in Mozart and Brahms, with the conclusion being that Brahms must have walked slower than Mozart, probably on account of his girth. We joined the same eating club and were both active in the campus a cappella scene. Incidentally, a sad note that our eating club is closing forever. sigh…
So anyway, the two of them got married in Chicago on Saturday in a lovely (and blessedly short) service in a church in Hyde Park where Graham’s grandfather was married by Graham’s great-grandfather, who was the preacher at that church. Tacy and Graham even used his grandmother’s ring. It was touching and eloquent and beautiful. This will be two weddings for me this summer (one down from last year), and the difference is striking. Mike and Doreen’s wedding was huge – it was gorgeous, it was lavish, and it was opulent. Graham and Tacy’s was low-key, it was elegant, and it was understated. I would not be so ignorant to pronounce one as better than the other: rather, these two do reflect the divergent tastes and styles of each couple.
I was staying with Peter, another friend of mine, and former roommate of Graham at Princeton. It was fantastic to see Peter and also to meet his wacky and ridiculous music theory friends. Further explanation may be in order: Peter is a PhD. candidate in Music at the University of Chicago and has comprehensive exams coming up in the next two weeks. A huge study-group convenes every Friday evening to have dinner and talk about anything except music, which is what they talk about every other day of the week when they convene to help each other cram. As a stipulation of my staying at Peter’s, I was to provide meat to grill in Peter’s stead while he was off at the rehearsal dinner. As lovely as it all sounded (and it sounded wonderful), I am convinced that we, on a stoop in Hyde Park, ate just as well as they did on the North Side of Chicago. Certainly, we ate more than they did.
The wedding reception was delicious, with a fantastic salad, steak, and salmon, as well as a delicious lemon-crème wedding cake. Incidentally, Graham and Tacy, rather true to form (at least, as far as Graham is concerned), cut the cake after the appetizer and before the entrée. Unfortunately, they seemed to have run out of cake for one of the tables, but my friends seated there were able to mooch off of me. As an aside, I’d like to state that waiters in the United States are a lot less clued in about silverware positioning during a meal than in the United Kingdom. I had to run out to take a phone call about 2/3rds of the way through my entrée and was dismayed to find that it had been taken in my absence, despite the placement of my knife and fork in the ‘hold’ position. How disappointing.
The following morning, six and a half of us: Ray (banker friend from NYC), Peter, Diane (Peter’s lovely girlfriend, vet student at Ohio State, which I, as a Michigander, find appalling), Peter and Sarah M. and Reina (friends of ours from San Francisco, married and with baby in tow) and myself all gathered for brunch at an interesting restaurant called Orange. Brunch at Orange was weird – their concoctions border on the truly absurd (French Toast Kebab? Pancake Fettuccine?) but their food is outstanding. I had the omelet #3: ham, shallot, aged cheddar and garnished with Dijon mustard. Diane had a sublime ham and cheese crepes served with truffled mushroom cream sauce and parsley oil. And then I got to go to a White Sox game. :)
I should mention that Peter and Diane drove me to US Cellular Field but were prevented from going up the off-ramp from 90/94 to drop me off on 35th street. So I got out in the breakdown lane and walked. About half-way up the ramp, I was threatened never to do that again by a policewoman. Oops. But the game was great – fantastic weather and great people in a ballpark I’d never seen before. Expensive but delicious Polish sausage and onions, and great conversation. Oh right. And Randy Johnson giving up back-to-back-to-back home runs followed by two singles and then a home run in the 4th inning. The Yankees never did recover, and Torre left Johnson in for the rest of the game, which was strange. So I’ve seen the Yankees play live on the road twice and they’ve lost both times. Yee Haw.
Oh, and when I went back to Peter’s, his computer crashed, which kind of jeopardized his studying for comps. I wish him the best of luck. Meanwhile, Graham is still looking for a job (anyone want to hire an absolutely brilliant Princeton grad with a Master’s from North Western in Journalism? Let me know – I’ll pass it on. Peter got his computer to ‘sort of work’ by taking the hard drive out and blowing on the connectors, much akin to what many of us did in the early 90’s with our Nintendo game cartridges. Comparing the two provided a much-needed bit of levity. Until Peter had me playing Katamari Damacy, which is just weird and funky and strange and great.
So anyway, the two of them got married in Chicago on Saturday in a lovely (and blessedly short) service in a church in Hyde Park where Graham’s grandfather was married by Graham’s great-grandfather, who was the preacher at that church. Tacy and Graham even used his grandmother’s ring. It was touching and eloquent and beautiful. This will be two weddings for me this summer (one down from last year), and the difference is striking. Mike and Doreen’s wedding was huge – it was gorgeous, it was lavish, and it was opulent. Graham and Tacy’s was low-key, it was elegant, and it was understated. I would not be so ignorant to pronounce one as better than the other: rather, these two do reflect the divergent tastes and styles of each couple.
I was staying with Peter, another friend of mine, and former roommate of Graham at Princeton. It was fantastic to see Peter and also to meet his wacky and ridiculous music theory friends. Further explanation may be in order: Peter is a PhD. candidate in Music at the University of Chicago and has comprehensive exams coming up in the next two weeks. A huge study-group convenes every Friday evening to have dinner and talk about anything except music, which is what they talk about every other day of the week when they convene to help each other cram. As a stipulation of my staying at Peter’s, I was to provide meat to grill in Peter’s stead while he was off at the rehearsal dinner. As lovely as it all sounded (and it sounded wonderful), I am convinced that we, on a stoop in Hyde Park, ate just as well as they did on the North Side of Chicago. Certainly, we ate more than they did.
The wedding reception was delicious, with a fantastic salad, steak, and salmon, as well as a delicious lemon-crème wedding cake. Incidentally, Graham and Tacy, rather true to form (at least, as far as Graham is concerned), cut the cake after the appetizer and before the entrée. Unfortunately, they seemed to have run out of cake for one of the tables, but my friends seated there were able to mooch off of me. As an aside, I’d like to state that waiters in the United States are a lot less clued in about silverware positioning during a meal than in the United Kingdom. I had to run out to take a phone call about 2/3rds of the way through my entrée and was dismayed to find that it had been taken in my absence, despite the placement of my knife and fork in the ‘hold’ position. How disappointing.
The following morning, six and a half of us: Ray (banker friend from NYC), Peter, Diane (Peter’s lovely girlfriend, vet student at Ohio State, which I, as a Michigander, find appalling), Peter and Sarah M. and Reina (friends of ours from San Francisco, married and with baby in tow) and myself all gathered for brunch at an interesting restaurant called Orange. Brunch at Orange was weird – their concoctions border on the truly absurd (French Toast Kebab? Pancake Fettuccine?) but their food is outstanding. I had the omelet #3: ham, shallot, aged cheddar and garnished with Dijon mustard. Diane had a sublime ham and cheese crepes served with truffled mushroom cream sauce and parsley oil. And then I got to go to a White Sox game. :)
I should mention that Peter and Diane drove me to US Cellular Field but were prevented from going up the off-ramp from 90/94 to drop me off on 35th street. So I got out in the breakdown lane and walked. About half-way up the ramp, I was threatened never to do that again by a policewoman. Oops. But the game was great – fantastic weather and great people in a ballpark I’d never seen before. Expensive but delicious Polish sausage and onions, and great conversation. Oh right. And Randy Johnson giving up back-to-back-to-back home runs followed by two singles and then a home run in the 4th inning. The Yankees never did recover, and Torre left Johnson in for the rest of the game, which was strange. So I’ve seen the Yankees play live on the road twice and they’ve lost both times. Yee Haw.
Oh, and when I went back to Peter’s, his computer crashed, which kind of jeopardized his studying for comps. I wish him the best of luck. Meanwhile, Graham is still looking for a job (anyone want to hire an absolutely brilliant Princeton grad with a Master’s from North Western in Journalism? Let me know – I’ll pass it on. Peter got his computer to ‘sort of work’ by taking the hard drive out and blowing on the connectors, much akin to what many of us did in the early 90’s with our Nintendo game cartridges. Comparing the two provided a much-needed bit of levity. Until Peter had me playing Katamari Damacy, which is just weird and funky and strange and great.
