Dorian

Dorian Gray was my first cat. Adopted when I married my wonderful wife and his loving mother Liz Carbone. I was never much of a cat person – didn’t dislike them so much, but didn’t find much *to like* about them – but Dorian and his brothers were our kitties, and he was exceptional. He warmed my heart over not because he was “like a dog” as most dog lovers often say about cats they have any affection for. In fact, he in many ways wasn’t even the best cat. He had the stinkiest radioactive poops I have ever experienced which he would periodically leave behind in places of his choosing. He had unwarranted aggression for his brothers, Jimmy Page in particular, leading to an almost daily deluge of cat punches and ear bites. And he was the biggest food thief I have ever met, willing to commit breaking and entering crimes in order to get access to his favorite prizes: butter, vegetable oil, and cheese. It was these things, combined with some more adorable quirks in his behavior, which gave him personality and made him unique. His vow of silence broken only by occasional gremlin-like cat noises was funny and endearing. His love hate relationship with Jimmy made for an endless source of Snapchats and illustrated portraits. And his nuzzling, head bumping love for his mom, which was only shown periodically on inexplicable whims, also made him a special and great cat. A cat I will always remember, and a cat I will honestly miss. You were a great little angry guy, Dorian Gray, and you died too soon. I am only happy we caught your illness in time to prepare for it some and put you to your final rest before you became too uncomfortable with life. I can only hope our future cats, and Jimmy and Robert’s future brothers, will be just a little bit like you. Except for the atomic turds perhaps.

RIP little buddy. 

Love always, dad. 

T+100ish Hours: Denouement

After the wedding was, apparently, the picking up of the wedding. Thankfully the Stone House allowed us to complete the majority of this the following morning. It still took a few hours to pack almost as much stuff into our vehicle as we had brought up with us, and another hour and a half to get it all back home. Over the next few weeks we divided our supplies into giveaway, toss, and keep. We managed to reduce a carload of boxes to one small box of wedding keepsakes. And, then, like that we were married.

It went by quick. Although enjoyable, celebratory, and fun it also felt a bit like we were putting on a show. In that sense there was a certain relief to having completed the program the following day, and this feeling combined with the subtle elation of being newlyweds and the fatigued disappointment of maybe having, perhaps inevitably, been so busy we missed out on some of the fun, to create an odd mishmash of feelings. None too strong, and still on the whole superseded by happiness, but nevertheless complicated. A quick transition to a honeymoon could have perhaps returned the feeling of the enterprise to a higher note, but unfortunately our dear Dorian's health declined significantly after our return and we had to put him down just a few days later thus delaying our trip to the Yukon. It was the right decision, though, given our limited time with him, and honeymoons can always wait. There's an excitement to be had in the anticipation anyway. Regardless, the wedding was over, we both had new rings, and, honestly, the only thing that felt substantially different when it was over was a new sense of permanence. A peaceful, enjoyable, serene sense that Liz and I, previously together indefinitely would now be together forever. At least until one of us is eaten by cats.

T+1.5 Hours: First Dances & Fiesta

I danced with my mom to Rascal Flatt's "My Wish" in an act of great love and personal sacrifice.

Liz danced with her dad to Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" in a slow moving, but elegant nightclub two-step.

Liz and I danced together to Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough" in fun, but slightly clunky fashion thanks to Liz's long dress and my robot-like dance moves. The real winners, though, were the three foot long sparklers which provided us with a flaming white circle which to dance in and gave our introductory song "Danger, High Voltage" by Electric Six the relevance it needed to be included in our musical lineup. The sparklers also took some pressure off us, since most guests were completely mesmerized by fire (especially when one of Liz's cousins tried to fashion a combo super-sparkler and instead rendered a torch) and unaware of our performance.

Danger! Danger! High voltage!

Alright it's really friggin' cold out here. Every back inside for some cake smashing, err cutting.

The reception itself went fairly well. The up lights were thankfully changed from their initial rainbow color palette to the requested amber which looked great. The food was enjoyed by most although we heard unsubstantiated reports after the fact that the fish and veggie dishes didn't delight universally. And the dessert options were fabulous with the definite exception of their cutting -- I think Luccah could have cut the cake with more intelligence than the Stone House staff who basically cut the edges off the lower levels of the cake until an inaccessible three-tiered cake cylinder remained -- and the possible exception of the middle passion fruit layer which was a tad dry. Adam, Ashlee, Sara, Dave, John, Jinnie, and my dad all gave toasts of some sort, and although Liz's dad's toast included a fair amount of revisionist history they were all heartfelt and well received. Unfortunately only a small portion of Sara's toast made it onto film. An interactive wedding quiz was bravely put on by Moriah and Gabby, but they didn't have quite enough stage presence to quiet the crowds and our crowds didn't have quite enough consideration to quiet themselves. So, all in all, not the perfect reception, but, all in all, still a great experience I will always happily look back on.

 Because, well, cat butts...

T+30 Mins: Time for a Petting Zoo!

I'm a fairly easy to please guy. A wedding is enough when a wedding is planned. As long as there's cake and a donut castle. :) Liz, on the other hand, is a woman of far greater vision. She is a woman of imagination. Inspiration! Perspiration! She is a woman who knew what she wanted for her wedding, eventually, and what she wanted was goats. So goats we had. As the clock struck 5:30 and we recessioned out to the back of the venue, the goats processioned in. Along with their friends the chickens, the bunnies, the sheep, the miniature horse, and Lenny the llama. Accompanied by a generous supply of handlers, they initially congregated in the parking lot before we were able to usher them in to a section on the back of the patio, where they then proceeded to be adorable for an hour. Only down side? Hard to get people to take family photos when all they wanna do is take animal photos.