spread thin

As if Lindsay and I don't see each other enough i've been cast in a show. Working is awesome, even if it's for no money, but having the equivalent of two jobs is tough. Especially when both of them take away from the little time I already have to spend in the company of my lovely Bride-To-Be. But tomorrow we are moving heaven and earth to carve out an hour of time to go here and pick up lbh's new engagement bling.

Also, I've been asked to contribute to my show's blog. When I told Lindsay that tonight I finally had something to post she said, "Did you tell them you have prior blog obligations?"

in case you are wondering,

i photographed this wedding.*







*i did not take that picture; the times sent their own guy. but still! and they were really nice, relaxed people who talked shop with me and were very concerned that i got enough pasta.

as if i don't spend enough time gazing at it.

we'regettingmarriedgettingmarriedgettingmarried!

occasionally i bliss out over this at home for no reason. i mean, no reason other than how glorious it is that this is happening. i am so thrilled. i don't even care about the state of the living room. it's just that good.

so. engagement ring? not finished yet. in fact, the shop hasn't been returning my emails, so i gotta call them and figure out what's what. however, you'll be happy to know that the commemorative 30th birthday navel jewelry is fully on board.

birthday!

the day after birthday dinner at 'inoteca and drinks at the back room, i was told to pack my bike togs and spirited off to a guest house in the village (canopy bed!). the next morning we took the train to fire island. bikes are, sadly, no longer allowed on the fire island ferries, so we chained them up and boarded on foot. fire island is sort of like a faux beach town where the cheeseburgers are twelve dollars, but with the requisite splendid beaches and handmade ice cream.

it was wonderful. i'm thirty.

reuters says:

Feeling blue, say 'I do'
Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:24 AM ET

By Helen Chernikoff

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lonely? Feeling low? Try taking a walk -- down
the aisle. Getting married enhances mental health, especially if
you're depressed, according to a new U.S. study.

The benefits of marriage for the depressed are particularly dramatic,
a finding that surprised the professor-student team behind the study.

"We actually found the opposite of what we expected," said Adrianne
Frech, a PhD sociology student at Ohio State University who conducted
the study with Kristi Williams, an assistant professor of sociology.

They expected to find that one spouse's depression weighed too much
on the marriage, but "just mattering to someone else can help
alleviate symptoms of depression," Frech said.

Frech will present their findings at the American Sociological
Association's annual meeting in Montreal on Sunday.

The researchers used a 3,066 person sample that measured symptoms of
depression -- such as an inability to sleep, or persistent sadness --
in the same people both before and after their first marriage.

They found that depressed people experienced a much more extreme
decrease in the incidence of those symptoms.

"Depressed people may be just especially in need of the intimacy, the
emotional closeness and the social support that marriage can
provide ... if you start out happy, you don't have as far to go,"
Williams said.

On the other hand, if you're not depressed, marriage could have the
opposite effect, Frech said.

People who were happy before getting married and end up in a marriage
plagued by distance or conflict -- qualities associated with a
depressed spouse -- might be better off single.

"It seems right to say that people who are not depressed are at risk,
that if they marry a depressed person this could be a bad deal for
them," Frech said.

heat has subsided; heat is on.

it's the last week of my twenties.

the weather has cooled off, and school has gotten a lot harder. we'll see if it's just a rough start to the summer's third class, or what, but i'm feeling a little undone in class. words fly by fast and furious, and while some people seem to be able to ride the wave, i'm feeling a little drowny.

birthday does not make me feel drowny. jeremy is coming in for the evening, and if the fates align i'll be in a bar with all sorts of new york types. i have a drawer full of postcards, too--thanks to those of you who played along.

so, daunted, but unconquered. for the time being.

jay and mama, you know what i mean

when i say i would cut someone for a kinder bueno right now.

heat is my PMS.

i am cranky, swollen, and all i want to eat are ice cream bars.

why do people even live in places where this heat happens? if we keep cooling it down to comfortable temperatures we're going to turn the planet into a giant sauna.

cranky.