(no subject)

Went to a friend's wedding today. Struck me only after it was done how secular it was: no church, and the person who performed the ceremonies, while clearly an old hand at marriages, wasn't obviously of any particular sect, and used the evening's only religious reference -- the weddingly popular "and the greatest of these is love" passage from Paul's epistle to the Corinthians -- more as a fitting literary reference than a divine invocation.

Now, I like this, in retrospect, and certainly should I ever get married it'll probably go a-little something like that. But I was expecting much more big-G godliness involved, given that the groom is from a Catholic family, and given my own recent wedding experiences involving my brothers, both of whom were wed amid full-on Episcopal services, including Eucharist (the wine-n-wafer business). And these were the only other weddings I've ever been to!

On the other hand, the bride -- my friend -- is an atheist. Not the evangelical kind, but clearly enough to exert her own influence in the spiritual side of their relationship. And if they can continue to find the happy medium, such as they apparently did for tonight's ceremony, I think they'll do quite all right, yes indeed.

For my part, I managed to choose a gift that both has personal significance between me and my friend, and will likely prove useful & happy to the new couple as well. So yeah, go me. (Oh, all right, I'll tell you: it's a copy of Knizia's "Lost Cities" game. Woo, yes, shocker, I know.)

Gave a ride both ways to another of the bride's friends, a fellow from Chicago I had not met before. We passed much of the travel-time talking about Boston and then Chicago, and my managing to keep up the conversation based on various news from that area I have recently read thrilled me in an odd way, as if I were unexpectedly getting the chance to speak a foreign language with a native, or something.