August 4, 2009

"Out of curiousity, checking to see where Althouse was blogwise last August 3rd."

Writes XWL in yesterday's comments:
Gender issues
Dowd on Obama
Pics from the SM Pier (and discussion of men in shorts)
A heartfelt plee to judiciously apply some strict originalism to the constitution of sandwiches
Melrose Ave pics (which reminds me, I guess I should take some snaps there myself)
Fred Segals, Fish-Eyed, and not Fish-Eyed

Althouse managed six posts this August 3rd as well as in 2008, even while getting hitched, impressive consistency, that.

Interesting set of posts, though, the Dowd thing is a reminder of how ridiculous the press was with regards to Obama before the election, and the sandwich manifesto is probably something that deserves revisiting.

Again, congratulations to you both, it's a wonderful and daring thing both of you have done.
Thanks for noticing. I was on vacation then too. It was especially funny to me to see that on August 3, 2008, I switched to the fisheye lens: "I realized I had the fisheye in my bag, and this is the first fisheye shot... L.A. crystalized for me in extravagantly bent form at that moment. It was all fisheye from there."

And yesterday, August 3, 2009, our wedding day, I got the old fisheye out after a long while. It was great for arm's-length shots of the 2 of us, including lots of scenery along with the full view of our heads, because the angle is so wide. Unfortunately, most of these shots are too intimate for blog use. You'll have to imagine those. You do have the hands with rings shot below, and I have another I'm going to put up in a separate post, coming soon.

I like looking back to a year ago too. If someone had told me at the time that I would get married a year later, I would have been astounded. I really did not think of myself as the marrying kind. I was very post-married then, very much into being on my own and not being judged or beholden to anybody. My motto — referring quite specifically to marriage — was "I will not serve."

A year passes. Who knows what will happen?

13 comments:

J. Cricket said...

Maybe by next year you'll have stopped posting ad naseum about your personal life.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I got the old fisheye out after a long while. It was great ... because the angle is so wide. Unfortunately, most of these shots are too intimate for blog use.

So intimate shots of Meade require the wide angle lens... I guess he is a keeper.

Ron said...

Maybe a year from now...we invade France!

Meade said...

Nice post.

Funny but I could very easily have had the same marriage-resistant motto for myself one year ago yesterday.

My motto as of 8/3/9: To serve and protect.

And amuse. (If only I could keep up with Ignorance is Bliss and Ron!)

Scott M said...

@Ann

I really did not think of myself as the marrying kind. I was very post-married then, very much into being on my own and not being judged or beholden to anybody. My motto — referring quite specifically to marriage — was "I will not serve."

Hey...if Gloria Steinem can change, anyone can (lol).

Paddy O said...

I think that's the absolute best state to be when a person gets married.

Marriage has such a twisted perspective about it in so much of our culture. It's a sign of relational success. It's a sign of adult normality. It's a symbol of worth.

It's offered up as a remedy to all of life's loneliness and incompleteness. We don't know who we are so we seek to find an identity, to find validation, to find purpose in another. Only there is no other person who can ever satisfy our craving for identity. So, marriage never lives up to these unrealistic goals, and if the people involved don't know how to navigate this existential disappointment, egos clash and all becomes dark and even more empty.

But, if you are already whole, if you already have an identity, if you don't need someone to complete you or make you or submit to you or take charge of you, then you are able to come together in freedom--offering freedom to the other as you walk on a shared journey.

Being single offers one kind of freedom, and being married offers another kind of freedom. I think both are extremely valuable, and indeed I think that until someone has become comfortable and understanding of the first they can't find freedom in the community of marriage. They don't know who they are, who they can be, so will always try to make the other one fit into unreal expectations--which results in either one person being broken or both people becoming increasingly volatile.

Being married because it is a joy is a wonderful experience. You expect only the other to be the other, and can share all that you really are in peace and hope and love.

Enjoy your new freedom to be, and to be with each other!

Anonymous said...

Maybe by next year you'll have stopped posting ad naseum about your personal life.

Tell it no. It might give up hope and go away.

knox said...

XWL. Love those old school commenters.

Scott M said...

Paddy O said...

"It's offered up as a remedy to all of life's loneliness and incompleteness. We don't know who we are so we seek to find an identity, to find validation, to find purpose in another."

Not to be contentious, but are you applying that to society in general, or a small segment of the populace to whom those thoughts belong to? Anyone that goes into marriage thinking it's a cakewalk has:

1) never watched any stand-up
or
2) has no business playing at being an adult

I agree with pretty much everything else you said.

@Ann

Everyone always says that marriage needs a 50/50 effort from both people in order to be successful.

Absolute rubbish. If you subscribe to that, you will quite likely fail.

Marriage is about both people constantly doing 60/40 or better for the other person and the cardinal sin being taking the other for granted in anything, no matter how parochial.

Again...best wished and CONGRATS!!!

chuck b. said...

By next year I guess it will be full-body tattoos. Althouse will have designed a line of men's short shorts. And you'll both get sex changes.

Paddy O said...

Scott, I'm applying that to society in general.

Despite our constant encounter with the realities of other people's marriages... we always think we will be different.

The human ability for self-deception in the face of overwhelming evidence is no where better seen as with our perspectives on romance and marriage.

This is especially true for those, I think, under 30. Which probably means you're exactly right about people having no business playing as an adult. The reality is no one has a choice about looking the part, which often hides the fact that a whole lot of people have never progressed beyond adolescence.

Moose said...

Old Hippie(s) turned lawyer(s).

Glad for you guys, hope its fun.

Find it is amusing that you have faith in the law but not the church (any church/organized religion?).

Anyway - congrats, enjoy...

MamaM said...

Maybe by next year those who find it necessary to tediously post boring and negative comments ad naseum will have stopped doing so in favor of having a personal life of their own?

Maybe this constitutes troll feeding or bacteria perpetuation, but dentists who comment on the condition of other people's mouths without first attending to their own personal hygiene and flossing gross me out.