I don't think i've seen xacto online since he dropped his latest bombshell. So congratulations to him.

I finally wore out my favorite dress shirt today. The collar became brittle (from sweat and oil, i think), and cracked along the top seam. Kind of cool. I bought it the summer before my first MUN conference, so it lasted nearly 10 years. That's pretty good. I'm going to try for 10 with my next one.

I stumbled across this article the other day on being a leader and initiator in the Christian dating process. This is exactly the sort of stuff Clueless is always pitching at me, so i'll just say that it was a good read and leave it at that.

I went to another wedding today-- 2006 was a quiet year for me (just one!). I know Mr. Landlord isn't a big fan of being single (alas, we refer to it as "between girlfriends" for him), but i really like rolling in with the "fellas," as Mr. Hawaii put it. On balance, i suppose i enjoy having a special friend who will try to make me dance, though. Hanging out with the guys makes me a nasty, surly little fellow.

We famously pick apart and analyze the social dynamics of weddings. How people have different tiers of friends and family, and how that influences decisions about where to seat people, whom to ask for help, and how to structure the whole day. We set odds on whether or not the bride will cry during the vows, whether or not there will be a garter toss, and how many people will come in late to the ceremony and be left standing in the aisles. Good times.

I must say (and i would expect no less from this particular bride and groom), this was a particularly God-exalting wedding.

During the cake-cutting, i'd moved over the "young married couples" table (Tier 3!), and i was snidely picking apart the poor emcee. At one level, i really feel for these guys that have to keep things moving and joyful... but sometimes, they just don't get which jokes might be offensive or just fall flat to the Chinese people.

At which point, naturally, i pounce.

At one point, he said, "You can come right up now and get your pictures of the bride and groom cutting the cake."

Mrs. AllThings snarked, "Oh, because they couldn't have done that before you gave them permission."

I looked over at her and said, "Man, i'm so toxic even people around me become jerks." She started laughing, but i suspect there's a grain of truth to that.

Still, i'm working on being a better encourager. Why not, right? I went to a show choir competition today to cheer on one of the kids from church. She's awesome. Arcadia, of course, breaks the format. Darned privileged kids.

SNOW evening service this Sunday at 6 PM at SGVAC. If you can make it, i'd be delighted to see you there. We can snark together! =) No basketball: