11.12.2002 Houston Wedding

Everything in Houston went pretty well. Elizabeth and I had a great time. The weather was so so—our first day there was very pleasant, but it pretty much rained every day after that. We did a few things that I would like to write about, but I figure I better just choose one for now. I can write about them all, but if you're anything like me ... well, I have the attention span of a pea.

What was I saying?

Ahem--the wedding banquet went fine. I had left myself pretty much ungroomed and this elicited many comments. I had not had a chance to see most of these people in over two years and all previous times, well, I should really say that within that last four years, I’ve kept myself pretty much clean-shaven and hair kept neatly short.

The comments usually came in the form, “You look different.” Thus, not really meaning I look bad, or I look better. It’s just that I looked so different that it warranted some response. Elizabeth stated that although this metamorphosis was gradual for her and me, it was probably shocking for everyone else. The worst comment that I got was that of a hippie. That is pretty much far-fetched, but I guess that is how some people can relate. The best comment was that I reminded them of Keanu Reeves. Although we were shooting and hoping for Tom Cruise, they are probably closer and I’ll settle for Keanu—it’s a lot better than Jackie Chan, which I have been getting for the past few years (not like anything is wrong with Jackie, he’s the man, but when you got Tom Cruise, c’mon…).

Oh yes, of course, I’m also standing there decked out with my new suit sans cufflinks and all. Mustn’t forget that. I looked so scruffily sharp. What do they call that? There’s a term for it-somewhat of a fashionable contradiction.

I also knew that news spread among the relatives that I had started a new business. And although I had been having a consulting practice in New York for the past few years, its weird that the news spread just within the past few months, and of course, people always cumulatively exaggerate when gossip like this multiplies. Well, we didn’t do too much to downplay this; instead we opted to let people believe what they believe. As it turned out, conversations were more like, “Wow, Peter, you look different … er, your hair is long. So, I heard you started a new business?”

One would think that I could act bold and successful—possibly even slightly pretentious even. But honestly, that’s not my bag. And the point that I was trying to make was that one might think of me as being successful. This is good, and I know that my hair and unshaven face do not match the image. And I know that my hair and face do not match the outfit that I’m wearing, which matches my attitude—its all a circular fauxpas. Anyhow, I wanted to make a point, but at the same time, I didn’t. In all actuality, I wanted to have a little fun with the whole thing and my attitude was the usual—jovial and friendly. And in turn, I had loads of fun.

I can really dig deeper to figure what my motivation was--probably some deep rooted insecurities I guess; inner-child stuff .. yaya brotherhood. Although, if I did have to draw some similarities somewhere, this is probably close to the likes of Andy Kaufman--which in turn is closest to an overgrown teenager who dyes his hair blue and wears an earring in his nose while venturing out to the mall.

Anyhow, the time came during the banquet ceremonies where the bride, groom, and family visited each of the tables. Representatives from each table were chosen to stand, hold the microphone, look deeply passed the bright lights and into the video camera while delivering a traditional marital speech. Well, yours truly was given the microphone. And I did my best interpretation of the pre-canned congratulations-ecetra speeches that lurk on the forefront of my mind at times like these. Now, I know a few. The only problem was that after I gave the speech and was shaking the grooms hand, I had a sudden chill. I realized that I did not know which pre-canned speech I gave. For some reason, it kept running through my mind, something about birthdays, where I would end the speech “…congratulations and I hope many more to come. Cheers!” Probably not the most appropriate thing to say for a congratulations-on-your-marriage speech.

Well, I confirmed that I didn’t say the words happy birthday, so I’m 99% sure that things are alright.

The rest of the evening was a blast, which included yours truly pulling people out onto the dance floor to dance to the likes of senior Ricky Martin.

Ah ... the cup of life.