Headstanding August 16, 2007
Posted by KG in Blog, Wedding, Yoga.1 comment so far
The last few weeks have been spent working 60+ hours a week. On your passports, American Traveling Public. And outside of that, on wedding things, packing things, cleaning things… basically, I have been unable to blog substantially for a while. That is not to say that there haven’t been blog-worthy things going on. But when you spend most of the day on your feet answering the question “Is this acceptable?” (document being waved in your face) and short evenings trying to catch up on correspondence, blogging goes to the backburner.
I hope to change this soon, perhaps very soon. Sunday, I leave for Seattle. To see my sweetie for the first time in 3 months, and then marry her. (oh, and to work on your passports more. You’re very welcome, America.)
Completely unrelated: I managed sirsasana with zero wall assistance (as in no kickoffs, no wall support, straight from sitting on my heels to inversion) for the first time Tuesday. It was awesome.
Shriiiiinking July 24, 2007
Posted by KG in Running, Wedding, Yoga, fitness.1 comment so far
Well, that was unexpected. About a week after my near-breakdown over groomly fashions, I found a tie, a vest, and a pair of shoes. The searching was difficult, but it got done, aided significantly by the input of my lovely parents. Deep sigh!
That just leaves a tuxedo shirt and perhaps a cufflink/button cover set, which will be pretty easy. Especially now that I have some new revelations as to my recent, err, shrinkage: it turns out the dress shirt size I’ve been for years is now too large — off on the neck by almost a full inch. Thank goodness I caught this now.
I’ve noted the start of a few of my recent (does 9-10 months count as recent?) lifestyle changes here on this blog — the running, the yoga, that sort of thing. I’ve been fairly cognizant of the physical effects of the new regime, but having a salesman tell me I was looking at the incorrect neck size was a little startling. Waist? Sure, I expect that size to change. But not my neck! I’ve been the same neck size as my father since I’ve been wearing dress shirts, and this is a very surprising turn of events. My neck didn’t feel like it was shrinking
Moreover: neither did my feet. I mentioned having found shoes for the wedding. It was a difficult-ish search, especially with a lovely saleswoman trying to upsell me on a pair of amazing, beautiful, and fabulously expensive shoes that I couldn’t justify buying (yet). The more sensible option won out, but when trying the shoe on I was told my size was one notch smaller than I remember it — a full size smaller than I think I’ve been for a long time. Huh? Does significant weight loss mean your feet get smaller? This I never, ever knew. And wasn’t feeling, apparently, as my shoes were fitting just fine. Now: they feel way too big for me. That’s probably psychosomatic, right? And my watch has been feeling a bit looser than usual…
Some people may like the idea of shrinking down, but I tell you, this is kind of weird.
Cravant July 16, 2007
Posted by KG in Wedding.2 comments
There were a couple wedding issues I thought I could handle with aplomb: the menu, the DJ, and my clothes — clearly linked to my love of things edible, danceable, and wearable. Well, the first two went reasonably well. The last? Sigh.
Unlike the pressure on the bride — to find *the* dress, the one that is just right for her — it seems today’s groom is encouraged to select an outfit from a pre-arranged selection of 20-40 “sateen” vests, pre-tied ties, and standard tuxedos. Its enough to make anyone with an inclination for originality in wardrobe go mad. Thus my search, the last two months, for reasonably priced formalwear that I could buy, not rent, that would look good but unique, and that would allow me to tie my own damn tie. I thought it would be fairly easy in stuffed-shirt DC , filled as it is with a disproportionate number of people who own their own tuxedos.
Yesterday afternoon, I sat on the couch as a broken man. I had been to department stores, formal wear shops, Men’s Wearhouses, malls of all shapes and sizes. Between them: a selection of three different $250 vests at Nordstrom and multiple hideous vest-tie combinations with pre-tied ties. I’m not a bow-tie man (as a man who is short and wide shouldered, I’d like you to not look at how wide my neck is thank you very much) but figured this would be easier, what with standard ties being the rule of the day. Hah! If you had told me last year that it is near impossible to find a matching tuxedo vest and standard issue tie I would have laughed at you. But now I know better: apparently the market has determined that when your average man puts on a tuxedo, he forgets his basic training and is rendered incapable of a four-in-hand (heaven forfend a Windsor!). The process of arriving at this conclusion — a series of responses from befuddled salesmen stating that no, they didn’t sell formal sets with so called “long ties” – has rendered me a frustrated and quivering mess.
So, Plan B. I’ve gone online, bought a vest at a reasonable price from a vendor I know nothing about, and am going to set off trying to find just the right tie to match it. It’s that or surrender to the market and have some pre-tied factory stuff around my neck. And if it comes to that, I’m turning in my pocket squares and calling it a day. Clearly, in the arena of formal wear, the market thinks that we are all idiots.
(Yes, I am aware that my love of wearing ties puts me at odds with many, many men. But seriously, why is it okay that for work occasions, clip on ties are gauche, while for the most formal occasions you’re expected to sport a pre-made knot? I blame prom.)
Cartoon Cats, Humans Share Similar Problems June 19, 2007
Posted by KG in Wedding.3 comments
We figured there would be this great, fun feeling in selecting items for our wedding registry. Finally, a chance to ask for a mandoline, 1000 thread count sheets, and other semi-indulgent items we (as single folks) had never purchased.
Boy were we wrong!
Turns out selecting items for a wedding registry is not only difficult, it’s also a potentially volatile topic. All Clad or Calphalon — or Le Creuset? He wants one brand, she wants another, and there are other voices pushing for options three, four, and five. What kind of wine glasses? What color sheets? Towels? The absurd amount of choice, balancing the desires for quality and practicality, fundamental differences in some aesthetics… basically, what looked at first like planning for the best joint Christmas/Birthday ever turned into something a bit more tricky, and more unexpected: the first real test of patience, compromise, and frankly, conflict we’ve had when thinking as a married couple.
One of the most… heated topics of discussion was on the topic of china. We had a fundamental difference: she wanted it, I didn’t (and still don’t). But I suspect this topic is a subject in which my opinion is wrong.
The latest Achewood plot arc has been pretty scary in terms of prescience. If you’ve not been reading, Roast Beef and Molly are getting married. It hit close to home a couple weeks ago, when Nick and Breinn were hurtling headfirst towards marriage. It hit even closer to home last Friday, quite literally days after we had our highly unpleasant discussion regarding fine dishware. Overall, the comic strip does a good job of portraying our opposing viewpoints, more or less. There’s a winner in this argument, and it’s not the boy cat (or the boy human). And with that, I’m sticking to selecting pots, pans, and kitchen gadgets from now on.
