Thursday, June 22, 2006

Career Move

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so, some friends got married, they asked me to do the business of marrying them. they went to a judge that afternoon, and then i made up a service (which is an adaptation of some Rainier Maria Rilke with a dab of Stevie Wonder at the end). the wedding consisted of a 50 or so person procession across the Manhattan bridge, a service at the big plaza/intersection on the Manhattan side, and then a reception at a great little Italian restaurant in Chinatown.


it went like this...
[thanks to my recent mania surrounding the film "Fitzcarraldo" I had a recently purchased white linen suit and tropical-appropriate hat to wear on this day]
[so picture me in a linen suit, reading off a piece of paper which is rattling and folding in the wind, and having to raise my voice over the sound of traffic one hand holding the speech, the other either gesturing or holding my hat on]

"The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of their solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust. A merging of two people is impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development. But once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side by side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky.

[then they said some words, and i followed up with some vows for them]

[NAME REDACTED], do you promise to stand guard over this person’s solitude, and do you vow to set this same person at the gate of your own depths, which he learns of only through what steps forth out of the great darkness.
[at this point I gave them a look like "well? DO YOU?"]

[NAME REDACTED], do you promise to stand guard over this person’s solitude, and do you vow to set this same person at the gate of your own depths, which she learns of only through what steps forth out of the great darkness.
[some rings were exchanged]

[the final two lines were yelled]
May the many sounds that meet your ears and the sights your eyes behold, open up your merging hearts, and feed your empty souls. I now pronounce you married! "[much smooching at this point, and also the crying]
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then we all went and dined for hours. a lot of people thought i was ordained or a minister or something. the feeling of eating and drinking like a lord while being treated with a certain reverence is pretty much exactly the sort of thing i am looking for.