i got married the other day, june 21st. for a long time, i wasn't sure that it would really happen. even up to the last minute, as i sat in a huge traffic jam on my way to the ceremony. watching as the appointed time crept nearer and nearer, and the cars all around me stood stiller and stiller. i wondered if anyone would still be there.

fortunately, nearly everyone was caught up in the same traffic as i was. my blushing bride, the fair ephelba, got there two hours after i did. but this was due to her having to force her hair to curl, not traffic. there were so many obstacles to overcome: money or lack thereof, parental disgruntlement over the date, parental disgruntlement of the buddhist nature of the ceremony (i think the best comment was from my mother, who asked if it as legal), my brother (whom i'd asked to be my best man) flaking out on me, etc, etc.

we loved the date, ephelba and i. june 21st, the first day of summer, the longest day of the year, and the one place that seemed nice and we could afford was open. so we grabbed it. a really cool pavilion by a lake, very pastoral, open and beautiful. but when we called our families and friends to tell them, almost everyone had a problem with the date. what a pain in the ass. it was never 'oh how cool, we're so happy for you' but 'i going to be out of town that weekend. so could you reschedule?' we persevered, though, and told ourselves that even if the only people there were ourselves and the priestess, our wedding date was picked.

most folks eventually worked things out to be there. best of all was my dad, who simply said. 'sounds great. we'll be there.' worst of all was my mom, who was vacationing in ye merry olde england at the time, and was pissed with me for picking such an inconvenient date. we had no money, so we had to do everything ourselves. have you ever made a wedding cake? well, its not as hard as it looks. we used duncan hines cake mix (devil's food) and it turned out fine. screw martha stewart.

we played our own mix cd's on our stereo (i happen to have a kick ass stereo). who needs a dj? we got tons of help from ephelba's tireless maid of honor, who decorated the cake and ephelba flawlessly. other relatives helped us set up, clean up, and tear down the whole thing.

the weather was perfect sunny sky blue sky and not too hot. everybody had fun, ate too much, talked, visited, drank, flirted on until dark, when the park closed and we all went home.

so i am married, with a gold band on my finger. i am constantly aware of it, playing with it, etc. being married is so weird. it seems like nothing should have changed, but being married changes everything. in subtle inmutable ways, things are different. we've been living together for almost a year now, so what could being married change? its hard to say.

but i am different now, and how i regard ephelba is different. it’s a welcome change. boy also participated in the ceremony, reciting vows along with ephelba and i. we wanted him to be active in this, since our marriage impacts him so much. it was very gratifying to see him want to do this so much. he was all wiggles.

now we are officially a family, and ephelba and i have governmental permission to fuck as much as we want. ah, marriage.