Married Life: Not Much Different

We are seven months into our marriage and one question we hear often other than the when-are-you-procreating question is, "Do you love being married?"

Odd question, right? I mean, why would I have gotten married if I didn't think I'd love it? Also, there is only one acceptable answer to this question, especially in small talk. The answer is "of course," and you must answer with a twinkle in your eye otherwise people will think something is wrong in your marriage.

In all seriousness, I love it. But here's the thing - I don't ESPECIALLY love it. I don't love it more than I loved living with Dude and being a part of his life before we got married. I don't love married life more than I loved single life. It's not like we woke up the day after our wedding and it was all sunshine and unicorns and all of our everyday problems went away. It was exactly the same, with just a few differences. It's just the logical progression of our relationship. We love our lives together, married or not.

So, yes, I love it. While some things have changed, most things have stayed exactly the same. And THAT'S what I love about it.

You Stay Classy, Louisiana!

Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell refused to marry an interracial couple out of concern for their kids.

"I'm not a racist. I just don't believe in mixing the races that way," Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. "I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else."

See?! He's not racist, his bathrooms are INTEGRATED!!

Full story here, via Gawker.

30 Republicans Opposed Anti-Rape Bill

Al Franken has wasted no time making his mark in Congress. His amendment won today.

US defence firms are to be barred from lucrative government contracts if they refuse to allow employees access to the courts, after a woman working for a Halliburton subsidiary in Iraq was prevented from taking legal action over an alleged gang rape by fellow workers.

Full story here. Another story here.

Here is the shameful list of 30 who opposed this amendment:
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

I am so fucking glad McCain didn't win the presidency.

Random Health Insurance Thoughts

A few thoughts, in no particular order...

Not only will insurance companies deny your child a needed liver transplant, their employees will taunt you by giving you the finger. HAHA! Protest all you want, your kid is still dead!

Pharmaceutical companies, while jacking up costs of drugs, at least produce something helpful. I mean, sure, they probably should have cured cancer or AIDS or Alzheimer's before they cured baldness and erectile dysfunction, but at least they have a product. What are insurance companies, really? They are middle men who profit off your health.

If you oppose the "socialist" public option you must not be allowed to use other "socialist" publicly funded programs, such as the public school system, fire departments, police departments, the post office, and libraries. You must also give back any financial aid you received from the federal government for higher education and stop using paved roads and highways.

Health reform must include emphasis on wellness. We're not going to cut down costs if people keep eating to the point of gluttony, smoking like chimneys, drink to oblivion, and live on their couches.

Proof that the United States is Truly Sick

Two of the top three most viewed stories on CNN.com is about Facebookers and Jon Gosselin. False rumors about healthcare is second.

I fear for the future.

I Love You Barney Frank

Take note, Democrats, this is how you should respond to crazies.



In case you don't feel like watching, here is the text

Crazy nutjob: Why do you continue to support a Nazi policy as Obama has expressly supported this policy, why are you supporting it?

Barney Frank: ...When you ask me that question I am going to revert to my ethnic heritage and answer your question with a question. On what planet do you spend most of your time?

You stand there with a picture of the President defaced to look like Hitler and compare the effort to increase healthcare to the Nazis by answering you with, as I said before, it is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated. Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table, I have no interest in doing it.

Listen folks, comparison to Nazis is a big fucking deal. You can't just throw that out there, just like you wouldn't just throw out the N word, you can't do it for anything less than genocide. Healthcare reform? Not genocide.

A Letter

Dear Mr. President:

Please grow some fucking balls. You campaigned on healthcare reform and no legitimate reform can be made without a public option. You who are so fond of being on TV should tell everyone absolutely with no preconditions that public option is a necessity and you will not sign a reform bill without it. You've already backed down on end of life counseling, counseling that WAS ALREADY IN PLACE. Why? Because some whiny assholes screamed lies about death panels.

Listen, I like you. I really REALLY like you. I appreciate you wanting bipartisanship, but instead of the dream of singing kumbaya around a campfire, put your fucking foot down and get this thing through. The people elected a Democratic majority. Use it. If you back down, your critics will forever nail you for getting struck down by Sarah Palin's Facebook posts.

Love,
Another One Bites the Dust

Posting About Healthcare is the New Black, at Least on This Blog

This NY Times Op-ed Piece is pretty close to how I feel about healthcare reform, and its comparisons to other countries. It's not long so I'd encourage everybody to read it, if only for the incredibly amusing first three paragraphs. Which, I will now quote here because they are so darn good.

It was the blooper heard round the world. In an editorial denouncing Democratic health reform plans, Investor’s Business Daily tried to frighten its readers by declaring that in Britain, where the government runs health care, the handicapped physicist Stephen Hawking “wouldn’t have a chance,” because the National Health Service would consider his life “essentially worthless.”

Professor Hawking, who was born in Britain, has lived there all his life, and has been well cared for by the National Health Service, was not amused.

Besides being vile and stupid, however, the editorial was beside the point. Investor’s Business Daily would like you to believe that Obamacare would turn America into Britain — or, rather, a dystopian fantasy version of Britain. The screamers on talk radio and Fox News would have you believe that the plan is to turn America into the Soviet Union. But the truth is that the plans on the table would, roughly speaking, turn America into Switzerland — which may be occupied by lederhosen-wearing holey-cheese eaters, but wasn’t a socialist hellhole the last time I looked.

Some anecdotes from my own life to add into the mix. I worked in Toronto for almost a year and during that year I got very sick, multiple times. I also have traveled quite a bit and have been sick in any number of countries. Read below to see the outcome of my experiences. Also note that all my expenses below are out of pocket, full cost, because I was not and had never been a resident of Canada or any other country other than the Philippines and therefore am not covered by any national program.

Anecdote 1: An evening in the emergency room, Toronto

I leave work early on a Tuesday evening and I'm coming down with something. My temperature is rising, I can't breathe, and I have what looks to be pink eye. I wait it out in my apartment until it is unbearable, and so I go across the street to the emergency room. After a five hour wait I got two prescriptions from the doctor, I paid $400 Canadian dollars (at the time still worth less than US dollars), and got my prescriptions at $20 total.

Total cost of emergency room and medicine: $420 Canadian

Verdict: While 5 hours wasn't exactly great, it's still better than any emergency room I've been to in the United States, also cheaper. Also keep in mind that I did what most uninsured people in the US do - wait until the condition was awful and then went straight to the ER. No preventive care.


Anecdote 2: A Pleasant Doctor's Visit, Toronto

I have an eye issue that won't go away. There is redness and pain but no photosensitivity or change in vision. After my evening in the ER I ask my Canadian coworker for the name of her doctor. I call to make an appointment and get one that afternoon. The receptionist asks me for my insurance card at which point I explain that I'm a nonresident and need to pay out of pocket. I get a prescription from the doctor.

Total cost of doctor and medicine: $50 Canadian

Verdict: Are you fucking kidding me? It's fucking awesome! When was the last time the doctor only charged $50 (actually it was $30 and the prescription was $20) TOTAL?! I can't even talk to my doctor on the phone without getting charged!


Anecdote 3, not exactly medical: A Chipped Tooth, Toronto

I chipped my front tooth during an ill-fated St. Patrick's Day in Miami. It wasn't too bad but it was noticeable enough and I wanted to get it fixed right away. My dentist in Manhattan did not have appointments on Fridays (the only day I was in the city at the time). I decided to get it done in Canada.

Total cost of repairing chipped tooth: $80 Canadian

Verdict: There are no words for how awesome this is. I can't even get a cleaning for $80 in the US.

Anecdote 4: Unbearable Eczema, Croatia

While on my honeymoon the eczema on my arms flared up. I stupidly forgot my amazing cream and so I toughed it out for a while until I could no longer handle it and it was waking me up in the middle of the night. Normal cortisone creams or calamine lotions do not work on this eczema, trust me, I've tried everything. I went to a pharmacy. I pointed at the eczema and said please help me. The pharmacist gave me two creams.

Total cost of "visit" plus creams: 60 kuna, or about $12 USD

Verdict: If this were to happen to me in the US, I would have had to visit my doctor, get a prescription, then pay for the prescription, which would have been a lot more than $12 USD.


I am not sharing all this because I think Canada or Croatia is perfect because I don't (no offense to Canada or Croatia but nothing is perfect), nor do I really advocate the Canadian health system. I'm sure it has its problems, as everything does. But the fact that I had three medical issues in Canada that cost me $550 Canadian, TOTAL, not copay, not deductible, not anything else, means that there is something seriously broken in the United States healthcare system. When I look at my Explanation of Benefits, I see that some of my visits cost $800 each. I pay only $25 because I have excellent coverage, but seriously, $800 for an hour's visit?

Still think we don't need reform?

A Change in Direction

I'm not really sure what to do with this blog because I'm sick to death of wedding stuff but I don't necessarily want to give up this space. So I can't really guarantee any direction other than it will no longer be a wedding blog. Well, maybe once in a while it will go back to weddings.

For today, I'm still not done about healthcare reform. So that's what this post will be about.

I was watching President Obama's town hall meeting at Colorado today, and one thing he said really stuck with me:

"I don't want government meddling in your healthcare, but the point is I don't want insurance bureaucrats meddling in your healthcare either."

I think that's something that many people have overlooked in this debate. Today in the United States, doctors are not making healthcare decisions for you. They make medical recommendations that are approved or denied by insurance companies. There are only two big players in healthcare today - insurance and pharmaceutical companies. I am not making that statement out of some study I read or some article that was online. My mother is a nurse and has worked on every aspect of healthcare you can think of, and that statement came out of her mouth. And I see it in my own life. I have my own health issues and when I ask my doctor if something is covered by insurance, he/she has to look at my insurance and their own records before they can answer me. And if it's not covered, which some things are not, I have to actually think about what I want to do.

For example, I got my wisdom teeth taken out six years ago, and my insurance didn't cover anesthesia.

These are the people making medical decisions for us.

So for the people who say that reform will make politicians involved in your healthcare, all I have to say is this... politicians, unlike insurance or pharmaceutical companies, do not stand to make any direct profit from your living or dying or any other medical issue. They may be swayed one way or another, usually by insurance or pharmaceuticals or other corporate interests, but they are elected officials, and if they willingly or unwillingly impose medical sentences, they won't get elected again.

We can look at our politicians and say, if you do such and such we won't elect you again and you will lose your job. When was the last time you could say that to an insurance company, where you could say, if you don't cover this procedure we will just leave you?

The answer is... we can't. Insurance and pharmaceuticals have held us hostage. Is the lack of reform really the solution?

Honest to Goodness Non-Snarky Political Questions

Were the conservatives this batshit crazy when Bill Clinton was President? Or during the Gore vs. Bush election? Or during the Kerry vs. Bush election?

I don't recall this level of batshitness. Granted I was 12 when Bill Clinton was sworn in, but I was 20 by the time Bush came around, so I was well aware of the world around me, and I don't recall this level of... hysteria. Nor do I recall this level of crazy during the 2000 and 2004 elections.

If the conservatives were not this crazy during the Clinton years or during the other elections, what other possible reason could there be for all this craziness other than our current President is black? Why is he being dissected so much more than anybody else before him? He doesn't have particularly original ideas, not much more than his predecessors.

The only thing I might throw out there is that in the Internet age, access to information is so vast, and access to mis-information is even more so.

What's really fascinating is that this hysteria is about the most BORING SUBJECT IN THE WORLD. Healthcare. You don't even have to opt into the public option if you have employer insurance. There are no death panels, that was a stupid lie made up by an executive of a medical equipment company. I find it particularly hysterical that the people screaming against the government taking control over your end of life procedures (which it's not, all the bill does is FUND COUNSELING) are the same people who stopped everything and interfered with Terri Schiavo's next of kin when it was time for her End.

I really, honestly think, that all this nonsense is because Barack Obama is black, and those who say otherwise are really in denial. Defeating healthcare reform, while harmful to the rest of the country and for millions of Americans, would be a huge political blow to Obama, and that's what's important to these protesters.

What is so wrong about giving everyone healthcare? Really. I have yet to hear the protests from the other side, because all they do is scream and yell like 5 year olds. Except all the 5 year olds I know actually know how to listen.

MJ

I am not one to be greatly affected by celebrity deaths. It's sad when a public persona dies, but I don't know them personally and so my reaction is usually to shrug and move on.

But last night, as I heard the news of Michael Jackson's death, I found myself strangely full of conflicting emotions.

Michael Jackson is the reason I started dancing and singing. My parents were very strict when I was growing up, and so my brother and I spent many hours by ourselves, and many of those hours were spent listening to and watching Michael Jackson. We had nightmares over Thriller. We used to sing and dance to Bad and Smooth Criminal in our basement.

In fact, I think one of my very first gender equality arguments was about MJ.

Me: I want to be Michael Jackson!
My brother: You can't be Michael Jackson, you're a girl!
Me: Girls can do that too!

I don't know what evils he may have done when he was alive. Maybe he was a pedophile, I don't know, and if he was then I hope he's paying for it now. But I can't brush aside the fact that so much of my personality was influenced by Michael Jackson.

In tribute, last night I sang myself hoarse to his songs, and danced around the living room while Dude played video games.

MIA and Other Thoughts

I've been MIA because my fantastic friends whisked me off to Las Vegas for a bachelorette party weekend. Which turned into a bachelorette party vacation because the snow all over the eastern seaboard stranded us in Vegas for an extra two days. They kept this a secret from me for months. Best. Friends. Ever.

Now onto other thoughts...

Over the trip I was stressing to one of my bridesmaids about all that I had left to do, and how the extra two days in Vegas was really going to mess with my plan because work is crazy. She responded back to me, "You have to put work on hold. This is the rest of your life."

My response to her was, "It's not the rest of my life. The wedding is one day. My career is the rest of my life."

Do I value my career over my marriage? No way in hell.
Do I value my career over my wedding? Fuck yeah.

I truly believe that I will not be happy in life unless I have a fulfilling career. It's what's gotten me through so far, and though I'm happy to change my mind later in my life, I can't imagine myself not working. I'm the first to admit that I have workaholic tendencies. If I'm a happy person it will make me a better wife and mother. So when people ask me what do I think will change when we marry, I say, nothing. When we have kids, definitely. But for now, aside from the lack of marriage certificate, everything is peachy and we like it that way.

The Best Friends in the World

Our friends have really overwhelmed us (in a really good way) this week.

First, after hearing of our honeymoon plans, two couples who have recently vacationed in Croatia scheduled a dinner for all us to gather with takeout, travel books, and photos to help us plan our itinerary.

Then soon after, my friend Stampin Rachel invited over a few of the ladies for a craft day, where we mooched off her abundant supplies and I made the backgrounds for the day after brunch invitations.



Cute huh?

I didn't want to use up all her silver ink so half the invites have two hearts instead of the stamp shown above.

Finally, my maid of honor just emailed me today with the dates for my bridal shower and bachelorette party!

I think now, it's really becoming real. We have the best. friends. ever.

What a Bad Time to be Planning a Wedding

I feel like every week someone else I know is getting laid off.

My mom just returned from a brief visit to the Philippines, and she told me that my cousin (who is a wedding planner) told her that a really nice wedding in the Philippines for 300 people would cost somewhere in the vicinity of $7K.

I nearly vomited.

This coming from the cousin who used to draw wedding dresses when we were children, so I trust him when he says "really nice."

Sometimes I wonder if I should have just done that and had my cousin plan everything in the Philippines. But then I realize that we made our decision to have it in Manhattan because we wanted attendance to be as easy as possible for as many guests as possible. We literally took a look at our guest list, figured out where everyone lived, and picked the location where most of them were. Did that make things extremely difficult? Yes. Do we have a lot more costs to consider because of the location? Certainly. But the most important part to us, other than getting married of course, was that everyone was there. Not the food, not the photography, not the dress, but the people.

And if we did have it in the Philippines, it would most certainly be a Catholic wedding, which would not be okay with us, and would be all of my side and virtually none of Dude's side. Also, out of the 300 people who would be there, I would probably only know 80, and I don't want to meet people for the first time at our wedding.

So, I'm not really feeling too sad for this. We absolutely made the right decision. But still... saving that extra money would be really helpful right now.

On Siblings

I visited my hometown this weekend, mostly to visit my mom but also to start gathering photos for our wedding slideshow. Our venue has a lot of flat screen TVs and so I want to have the slideshow play in loop throughout the entire evening. I've never been a fan of the stop-everything-and-watch-this kind of slideshow, though I acknowledge that it's an extremely poignant and cherished thing to do. But I didn't want to make anyone watch it, so I think I'll be captioning everything and just leaving it on all night.

But I digress again.

As I searched through boxes and boxes of unorganized photos, it suddenly dawned on me just how much of my personality comes from my brother. Or maybe it's his personality that comes from me, who knows. It's no secret that we are freakishly close and have the same sense of humor and the same taste in movies and get in trouble all in the same way. We look nothing alike but all we have to do is start talking and there's pretty much no mistaking. As I looked through all these photos of us growing up I realized how much of my life has always involved him. We fought like crazy, but we were pals. And I felt this sense of new fondness for him, the only person in the world who knew what it was like when our parents left us in the Philippines to build a new life in America, who knows exactly how lonely that was, who entertained me through our entire childhood since both our parents were workaholics. My fiercely loyal brother who once threatened an ex-boyfriend of mine when another girl started flirting with him.

As I go through the process of wedding planning I am constantly reminded of the role that people play in my life, and I'm truly grateful for each and every one of them.

My brother rocks.

Divorcing Myself From Weddingbee

Weddingbee was at one point my one stop shop of how to do wedding related stuff, and I have to say it helped quite a bit. I'm sad to say that I'll no longer be reading it, because Weddingbee was just recently bought by eHarmony.

In case you are unaware, eHarmony does not allow the gay community to use their services. This is discrimination, pure and simple. They hide this discrimination by saying that they are diverse (look at all the colored people on our diversity section!) but that the gay community is simply a market that their business model is not going to pursue. They say that by allowing the gay community to use their services they would have to "tweak" their special scientific formula for matchmaking. They say that their goal is ultimately marriage, and like it or not, homosexual marriage is still illegal for the most part.

This is horseshit.

If eHarmony were a bus service and had this same policy, we would be back to the pre-civil rights years. If it were any other type of business, there would be riots - what if it were a retail store, or a restaurant? How would the people react to "We won't serve you because you're gay"?

Okay, so it isn't a retail store or a restaurant or a bus service. It's a matchmaking service. But then I'll have to throw back that Jdate caters to the Jewish community specifically, but you don't have to be Jewish to join Jdate. In fact there's a growing number of folks on Jdate who specifically announce that they are non-Jews looking for Jewish partners.

This is discrimination.

That coupled with eHarmony's affiliation with Focus on the Family, ugh, don't even get me started on a group that tries to convert homosexuals, insinuating it is a choice.

This is a wedding planning blog, not a politics blog, but while the government still tells me who I can marry and by whom and what rights I get or don't get because I'm married, it will always be political. Forty years ago it would have been illegal for me to marry Dude. Forty years. My parents would have been in their teenage years... that's frighteningly recent.

I'm hoping that (much) sooner than forty years from now, my gay family and friends will be able to have the same rights as I do. Call it marriage, call it civil union, it doesn't matter, a rose by any other name...

Brides are Crazy, AKA Why I Should Really Really Stop Reading Wedding Blogs

Yesterday the brides of the internet were in a tizzy because someone on Weddingbee decided to post a potentially weekly feature called "Queer Wedding Wednesdays."

Link here.

Now, in case you don't know me and it hasn't been made clear, I fully support gay marriage. I would actually go so far as to say that's my number one political issue. I've been on the record, in my younger years, proclaiming I wouldn't want to get married until everyone were legally able to, but unlucky for my idealism I met Dude.

The Weddingbee post didn't really make me think twice, except that by the time I saw it, there were already 50+ comments on it, and an hour later there were 70, so I had to read. And boy was I in for a treat. Hilario.

Aside from the obvious intial don't-you-dare-suggest-censorship reaction I had, I couldn't believe how these ladies were all, stop writing about being gay, where are all the DIY posts, put your politics elsewhere. I could almost hear their thoughts as they wonder "But, but... princesses can't marry other princesses... can they?!" or "Every wedding should have at least one person wearing a dress, why are they both wearing suits?" Dear Lord how those panties must have been all twisted at reading the post.

And that's part of the reason why I hate weddings so much. I grew up with homosexual aunts and uncles, it's completely accepted in my family and I grew up thinking that's the norm everywhere. I feel like the wedding world is full of Princess Grace wannabes, and if you don't fit that image, then you are outcast and shunned. And I've never wanted to be a princess, even when I was a little girl and my mom dressed me in all lace clothes. I ruined them and trampled them and covered them in dirt. Perhaps I was always supposed to be the jester.

And now I leave you, dear internets, with one of my favorite quotes, from none other than Mr. Chris Rock:

People always say that we can't have gay marriage because marriage is a sacred institution, that happens in the church. It's sacred... no it's not! Marriage ain't sacred! Not in America! Not in the country that watches "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" or "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette" or "Who Wants to Marry a Midget?" Get the fuck outta here! Gay people have as much of a right to be miserable as everybody else!

Another Gag and Complaining Moment

It bugs me how so many wedding articles and blog posts* claim to "swoon" over things. I swoon over these dresses, I swoon over these flowers, swooning... over invitations and centerpieces? I'm sorry, but technically, swooning occurs when there's not enough blood flow to your head. The term came into popularity because women wore corsets too tightly. It's not only that it's not literal (I don't actually have an issue with not being literal), but it's so cutesy and weak. It's almost the same peeve I have with "listen to your heart"... um, the heart is an organ**.

Drool, I could probably deal with. While still being figurative you could actually drool over something you coveted enough.

But swoon? Lest your coveting has gotten to the point where you actually forget to breathe, or you subconsciously are able to restrict your lungs and diaphragm, or perhaps you just forgot to eat or drink anything that day... I don't think so.

I get really annoyed at what I can't really describe any better than language inflation.  "Good" is no longer good enough, it has to be "fabulous" (another word I hate) or "great" or "perfect".  I can't say something is "okay" without offending someone.  Sometimes, things really and truly are just okay, and there is nothing wrong or bad about okay.  It can't all be perfect and fabulous.

End rant.

*So... this is not really just wedding related.  Generally I hate the usage of swoon when it's not literal.
**I totally understand that "listen to your heart" actually means follow your conscience, your gut, your feelings... but I've always preferred the rational over the emotional.  I'm a head over heart kind of girl.

Some Updates

It is really, really hard to think about planning a wedding in these times. I'm not one to really care too much anyway, but especially now, especially in New York, especially when so many of my friends work in banking. It seems so wasteful to think about all this energy and money going towards a single day of my life. And then I think that because this only happens once, that it should be good, because when all these things are going so very badly then we need to find joy wherever it can be had.

I kind of lazed around all summer because "I still have so much time!" and then I woke up one morning and realized it was September. That not only is it September but it's mid-September, and that it's no longer ludicrous to have Halloween candy in the grocery stores.

The invitations are slowly coming. I am unhappy with the paper cutter I ordered, but I'm not going to get another one. I underestimated the thickness of one of the papers I was going to use, but I can live with it. The color of the enclosures is a little too yellow. All small things.

And we have a tentative itinerary for Japan, which is

Tokyo - fly to...
Okinawa - fly to...
Osaka - train to...
Kyoto - train to...
somewhere else? - train to...
Tokyo - fly home.

And Yet Another Thing I'm Undecided About

Videographer.

Neither Dude nor I particularly like home videos and so at first we just said no. But as time passes (stupid one year engagement!) I'm having second thoughts.

I was a singer/dancer in my younger days, and I was always sad that my parents never had copies of my performances, especially because they were good. We always relied on getting copies from my friends who were in the shows with me, and of course that wasn't great because the camera was focused on them.

The one point that really got me thinking was one day a very good friend of mine (whose mother passed away when my friend was 16) copied all of her home videos to DVD and told me that until she watched them, she had completely forgotten what her mother's voice sounded like. That was a really poignant thing to say, and at that moment I thought that maybe, still photos weren't enough.



But then, I look at trailers and clips for wedding videos and I think... CHEESY CHEESY CHEESY. PUKE GAG VOMIT. I have yet to see a wedding video that has not elicited this reaction from me. Yes, I include the artistic ones that my friends have posted about as well.

Sigh. Decisions decisions.