Playing Catch Up

Hey guys,

Last week was very busy as is this week, but I've noticed my energy levels are revving back up, so I'll try to post more often. Great things have happened in the interim since I last wrote -- firstly, two (more!) of Steve's friends got married up in Healdsburg -- one of the more awesome weddings I've been to. It was a traditional Jewish wedding, and everyone totally got into it, Jewish or not -- singing to get the couple to come out and sign the ketubah (sp??), crying at their vows, laughing at their foibles; at the reception: hoisting them up in chairs, forming a circle and doing goofy little skits and dances to make them laugh, and going even further -- doing the wave during dinner, creating cheers for each individual table (which were named after obscure islands -- we sat at Palau), and everyone in the room squinting one eye and shouting "ARRRRR!" like a pirate at the best man's behest. It was one of the most participatory weddings I have ever seen, and it was awesome.

The second major event was Steve's "3rd annual 29th birthday," as he likes to put it. This past Saturday we threw a little late afternoon barbecue and lots of people came -- the last guest didn't leave until 7 hours later!! We created a new drinking game too, one whose premise is not based on getting smashed, but rather, based on guts. Succinctly, we called it ring toss. Between my birthday and his birthday and people showing up bearing booz,e we had a lot more alcohol than we could have ever anticipated, and people were daunted by what to mix. Rather than maturely suggest common drink combinations, we created three foil rings and willing volunteers threw them until they landed on three different bottles -- which they then combined in a shot and drank.

I know warning bells may be going off in your head, so let me tell you the parameters:
1) no one was forced -- to play you had to volunteer
2) you only mixed 3 things
3) there were lots of standard non-alcoholic mixers on the table, including some wild cards -- rice vinegar, pepper shaker, home-made hot-pepper infused vodka, etc.
4) the ring-tosser got to choose their own quantity of each ingredient, and these only combined to the size of a shot, so no one got ill
5) we only played three rounds

Immature, gross, and hilarious, but by no means a road to getting smashed, which is why it was fun. Actually, the most fun part was coming up with terrible names for the things we had to drink, most of which aren't reproducible here. One of the grossest ones, for example, was named "living death" by its drinker -- lemon juice, beer, and tequila rose -- which for the uninitiated is a creme liqueur that tastes like an ever so slightly alcoholic strawberry milkshake -- the key word involved here is "Curdle."

What really counts though is that Steve had a fabulous time and felt very loved and celebrated. (A shout out to Mom and HerSt for their generous gifts -- S. was tickled pink and especially ecstatic over the slicer, as you well know! We also received the best buy g.c., though it didn't say it was from you so I had to tell him.)

Other than that, I've been working hard, trying to get to the gym at least twice a week, reading some great books (I think you will very much enjoy Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and its sequel Children of God -- read them if you can), and trying to relax when I can. This weekend volunteering starts up again, next week volleyball starts up again -- oh, by the way, we were league champions for our division this past season -- woohoo!! -- and tonight I'm going to an A's game.

Life is good. Hope the same can be said for you.