Being able to relax. To just have a drink, sit a bit and enjoy the happiness of bringing two families and sets of friends together to share the joy; that's my favorite part.

Every wedding I've been to I've had a major part to play in getting the thing off the ground. In the last wedding - two weeks ago - I was a bridesmaid, sister of the groom, calligrapher, lighting director, event planner and invitation printer. Flew in before the bride and groom, had two days of actual setup, but it was a year and a half and $1000 of my own money in the making. And did I have a staff? Hells no! Just me and my poor suffering parents and godmother. But it was worth it for them to walk in and have a beautiful place to celebrate. I only wish they had been able to see all the details I had put in, they missed some of my favorite parts.

The one before it, I was the 'on call maid of honor' we weren't sure she would need one - very her, she had planned (to the last detail) the trip for 100 of us to Thailand for the wedding, but the details of the wedding itself she left to the whims and fancies of her family. So, consequently we weren't sure if her mother was going to make her have a maid of honor or not, but I was there to bring drinks, the handheld steamer for the dress, and possibly fill in as a honorable maid. The one before that, I was maid of honor, calligrapher, and event coordinator (she planned, I executed).

It's kind of a compulsion, I see an event that may need some help, I offer my services. And I enjoy it. I do! But it means that I spend so much time worrying about what happens in the next 20 minutes (after the toast, but before the first dance, gotta find the right CD, make sure it's cued up, oh shit, it doesn't play in the CD player, gotta run and get my computer, import track so there's no delay, find 1/8" to 1/8" cable to connect to mixer, set levels, etc.) that I forget to relax and enjoy the event.

My godmother - the nicest woman you'll ever meet who spent 40 years teaching 11 year olds - cornered me at the last wedding and told me that she was going to follow me around until I finished at least 1 drink. As it was, I got a 1/4 way thru and had to deal with something - firepit or somesuch - and never finished a whole drink all night. But it was totally worth it to look over and the bride and groom are smiling like they don't have a care in the world and are just enjoying the night and each other. THAT moment is my favorite. Now, could someone get me a drink? I think I get to sit down for 10 minutes.

Something old, something new, something borrowed and some seriously rocking piano work.

Don't mind the constant visuals, I'm a lighting designer who would like nothing more than to kick their designer off the stage. Boring and totally underwhelming work. Always depressing to see your fave band - who are totally out there in terms of what could be done - fail to live up to their potential.

IGNORE!
When I found that you could remove your birthday from Facebook, I did so immediately. There's no need for anyone to know about my birthday, there's no reason for celebration, or acknowledgment for anyone but my poor mother who went thru all of the pain of childbearing and raising me.

For years I would give as many of my friends as I could a small gift to show that I really appreciated them, and was pleased I never received any gifts in return. I still hate gifts, and no longer have the cash to be able to treat my friends (tho few) anymore. So it's just much more pleasant to be able to deny having a birthday than trying to explain why I can't gift them like I usually had been doing.

Stop trying to set my apartment on fire.
This years birthday was particularly fun since I tried to hang a ceiling fan by myself. If you ever think that it's possible - it's not. There are just not enough hands in a human body to be able to hold the damn thing up in the air AND connect it all together. The bitch of it was that when I finally got it up the first time, it didn't turn on, and I couldn't figure out why. I took the whole thing apart only to find that I HAD installed it correctly the first time, I had just not turned on the remote control properly. How stupid I felt!

After taking it apart, I couldn't get it back together properly the next 3 times. It's 110˚ in my apartment, I'm standing on top of a step stool on top of my dresser and I just can't get it all together without either shocking myself (I don't have access to the breaker, so the light switch was just off) or having the 60 yr. old insulation fall off and short the entire apartment out (which is on one breaker btw.)

After shocking myself twice -no electrocution- (shocking is when you can still let go and where all your limbs just seem to fall asleep on you - always in my case accompanied by a "wooooooo" sound - whereas electrocution requires someone to separate you from the electricity via a wood object, say a board or bat) and shorting out the apartment twice - complete with massive sparks and the refrigerator dying - I gave up. I left the electrical bits and pieces dangling in the ceiling until I could persuade a friend (with the promise of beer and cash) to come and help me out. Truly awful. Never again.