Okay, trust me guys, I have been writing, but lately my main writing technique has consisted of staring at the computer screen for ten minutes debating whether “inconsolable” or “distraught” is just the right word to use in a given sentence, then clicking over to Twitter. Also, my bosses were like, hey, go ahead and lay out the product catalog, but OH YEAH YOU HAVE ONE WEEK TO GET THE FINAL FILES TO THE PRINTER AND THAT DOESN’T COUNT REVIEWS AND PROOFREADING. So, that’s been awesome.
That didn’t stop me from attending yet another wedding here in town yesterday. And let me tell you, the amazingly glorious weather last weekend? That was not the case this weekend. At all. I am talking chilly drizzle, all day long. I am also talking the entire wedding was outside. If that was my wedding, I would have been freaking out. But my bride friend wasn’t phased in the least. And you know what? Us guests weren’t, either. We sat there toasting, eating, and laughing; slowly getting damper. And nobody cared. I think that’s key, somehow. I think that’s something to keep in mind: that when you think the bottom is falling out from under your wedding, when your worst nightmares of cold November rain* (or in this case, October) are actually coming true, all is not lost. Guests are surprisingly resilient creatures. Whatever the circumstances people will still, at bottom, just be happy to be there.
So that was nice. But let me tell you, I get tiny little pangs of wistfulness now when I go to weddings. It’s not that I want to go back through that experience again. It’s that we had that one day, you know? And we won’t have it again. But it’s okay. I can revisit those memories in my head at any time of day. Kind of like Wedding On Demand. Or something.
Anyway, I’m going to go back to trying to finish my other posts. Oh, I mean work on the product catalog. That one. In the meantime, I want to leave you with a hilarious Chicago-area Craigslist ad seeking a wedding band that I found via Gin and Tacos. It was apparently yanked down shortly after being posted, which is unfortunate because this is just too good not to spread around. As a bonus, it also serves as a smug reminder of how our weddings are so much more awesome than the weddings of other schmucks. Right?
Terrible band needed for sham of a wedding. 11/6. No pay (any takers?)
As the musician in our family, my Shylock of a half-brother and his parsimonious fiance have passed off to me the job of finding a band for their wedding. I love the kid, but his unique brand of expectant coercion and astonishingly consistent lack of judgment have left me with no recourse but to literally give him what he wants, a band that can “tear up Skynyrd, and won’t cost nothin'”. Since they think music is spontaneously generated via voodoo magic by assemblies of self-promoting philanthropists, I am now on a quest to find the best working band in Chicago interested in “doing it for the exposure”.
If you are a serious musician that values your craft and earns a living from performance, you’re probably thinking “Fuck you. Do you ask your accountant to do your taxes for the exposure?”. You are not who I am looking for. Thanks for looking.
If however, you and your unemployable band of pothead hobbyists are enticed by the prospect of a free open bar stocked with the finest of suburban banquet hall well-liquor and an opportunity to run a train on the most whorish collection of self-entitled bridesmaids this side of a Sex In The City marathon, please contact me. There’s probably dinner in it for you too, if the starched vagina of a “wedding planner” (bride’s bff) can get her 3rd rung caterer to leave a few sandwiches in a storage closet for you at some point in the evening.
What I need from the band:
I don’t care if you are an original Icelandic thrash-raga act featuring steam calliope and backwards Armageddon poetry, but I need you to be able to train wreck your way through a few requests.
Don’t Stop Believing. You provide the high notes, we’ll provide the smell of wine and cheap perfume.
Free Bird. Go nuts with the solo. Really. If this evening was a never-ending cascade of sonic punishment hailing down on Tom at blaringly inconsiderate volumes, it would only serve as apropos karmic revenge for the afternoons I’ve spent listening to Jillian chatter about OHMYGODIDON’TCAREWHAT.
Macarena/Electric Slide/Chicken Dance. It doesn’t matter which one you play, but there has never been a classy party where one these songs has made an appearance. This will not be a classy party.
Do Not Play:
Jessie’s Girl. I used to play weddings, and if I have to hear this song one more time, I’m going to fucking cut someone.
They said they don’t have any preference’s for attire, so I’ll take that to mean you’re ok in a threadbare Megadeth shirt and black jeans.
I will provide the PA (the band and sound system are my wedding present to them).
This is not a joke. Please shoot me an email if this sounds like something you might be interested in.
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* To be sung in your best Axl Rose shriek.
not gonna lie. you’ve been missed. i keep thinking about your wedding day holding hands pic with beau and i’m all… WHERE THE EFF ARE THE REST OF THEM?!
jk <3
but yes, hello again and we've missed you.
I agree with Angie.
But hey that’s a GREAT way to make the wedding “last” longer – only throw one measly picture at us salivating bloggers a week. It will liveon forever!
That is a classic craigslist! Love it!
I’m sorry. I was reading along enjoying your writing until I got to the Craigslist ad (this part in particular: “if the starched vagina of a “wedding planner” (bride’s bff) can get her 3rd rung caterer to leave a few sandwiches in a storage closet for you at some point in the evening.”) when I realized there is someone out there who is as funny as Lyn.
But who will provide the streetlight people?!
don’t expect to see them – they’re on the midnight train goin anywhere.
No one provides the streetlight people. They’re hiding somewhere in the night.
(Sidebar: All I had to do was type in “don’t” and “don’t stop believin’ lyrics” popped up as the fourth option in my browser search autofill list. That is serious, right there.)
um, that post is so amazing. I kinda wish I had a band so I would have a reason to respond to the ad
As a wedding singer myself, let me tell you that this ‘sense of entitlement’ is very common.
I love doing favours but the line between favour and being used is a small one.
Hah-larious.
The one that worried me about auto fill was when I was looking up something about the Foreign Legion and my sentence that started ‘What does the French…..’ automatically became, yes – ‘what does the French in Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance mean?’
Crap.
Nice to have you back.
That was beautiful.