general fuzz

• Jiboo will now grab anything within reach. This can make night time feedings more “fun.” While  I’m totally devoid of chest hair, both nipple and armpit hair are ripe for yanking. Also, my beard is an excellent handle to my face.
  
• J-Nuts thinks an empty mouth is a wasted opportunity. He prefers his maw to be full of, well, anything.
  
• He’s also a rather large little dude. Apparently, he’s 95th percentile in height, 80th in weight, and 65th in capacity to love. Bottom teeth are coming in fast, and he’s taking it better then we expected. Overall, he’s a fairly happy guy, which is the most I can hope for.
  
• He’s super active and crazy strong. He can lift my waterbottle full of water. I have lots of fears about the future, trying to keep up with his antics and tomfoolery. But, damn, he  looks good in yellow.
  

• July was crazy intense. Dave SG organized an executed a giant mural, moved in, and then left the bay area for the east coast with Erin, who’s currently in deep incubate. I reluctantly suspect more of my friends will leave the bay area over time, especially those with growing families.
  
• It seems that every weekend we are going to parties. And by parties, I mean BBQs. Thats how we mid thirties folk like to rage – in the afternoon.
  
• We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a trip to the Marin County Fair.  Tea Leaf Green played a solid afternoon set. It’s such a bargain. $15 gets a day of free rides, a chance to “interact” with a huge amount of live stock, lots of cool art and performances, two concerts, and fireworks. Booze is even free if you sneak it in.
  
• Sometimes I attempt to entertain Jasper in a manic, high energy assault. It turns out this type of interaction tends to freak other babies out. Its nice to leave a room of crying babies in your wake.
  
• As you would expect, a woman in Stina’s mother group is a classmate of mine from high school who’s married to the assistant general manager of the Oakland A’s. This is how I found myself in a luxury box at Oakland coliseum with surrounded by babies on a Sunday afternoon. Babies are indifferent to luxury boxes, which is a shame.
  
• Summer officially arrived with three nights of Phish at the Greek theater.  It was both slightly irresponsible of the band (due to the theater’s small size) and of me to go (what with the baby).  Most importantly, Dave and Keri Patry came in for the weekend. Keri was the true rock star, babysitting the two nights that Stina came. It was surprising to find that we were the median age at the shows. A cool thing about the Greek theater is that you can see the entire audience, and everyone was so very pumped to be at such an “intimate” show. Fortunately, Phish played “Got Jiboo” on Saturday night when Stina was there. They are sounding as good as I remember in recent years. The fun factor was high.
  
• Top Dave Patry quotes from the weekend:

1. “Heyoooo!” (during a silent moment after Trey said something about the magic wood for his new guitar)
2. “Food: it’s, like, nourishing, man” (as a potential slogan for food)
3. “Someone said something about a nap, and I thought ‘cool’” (on why we ended up being late getting in line for a show)
4. “I do not condone wearing sports gear.” (After Stina asked if he had a Red Sox hat, oblivious that he was wearing a 2010 olympic games hat)

I’ve been suprised to discover there is actually something better then falling in love with my son – it’s watching Stina falling madly in love with him.

We’ve had a really fabulous run of awesomeness for the past decade or so. We’ve been super blessed in so many ways. In the last few years though, it sometimes felt like we were going through the motions. After eating so much cake, it became less exciting to partake in life’s chocolaty goodness. Time oozed on and often slipped away.

Time sure got a kick in the pants once the happy circle on the pee stick entered out lives. Since then we sourced a house, moved in, acquired a plethora of baby accessories, threw several parties (housewarming, superbowl, an epic baby shower), formed a small army of doctors, experienced many different styles of yoga, and connected with tons of people. We’ve had visitors stay in our fancy new guest room, built a ton of IKEA furniture, and made the house our home. I got to watch Stina experience life differently every day. The previous pattern of life was obliterated. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve crammed in too many concerts (highlights were Big Organ Trio and Leftover Salmon), toiled down on some serious general fuzz tunage, and started to really venture out in the the east bay (buying relatively high end baby gear on craigslist results in visiting the many suburbs of the east bay). I’ve managed to really savor almost every day for the past 9-10 months. Life has that sparkle again.

We’ve been approaching this whole baby thing fairly non-traditionally, which is true to form. People knew we were pregnant a few days after we did. Fortunately the baby stuck, but we wanted our community to rally around us if it didn’t. Our large scale co-ed baby shower was really a party that was baby shower themed. I’d like to think that our shower takes the prize for amount of alcohol consumed. Our community is having a huge hand in helping us name the baby. I’m really happy when we buck the trend.

On the other hand, OMG WE’RE ABOUT TO HAVE A BABY!!! This is no longer an abstract concept. We’re in the end game now. We just learned that the baby is currently in breech position (feet first). We’re going to attempt an external version (where her doctor attempts to push the baby around) on Tuesday. If that doesn’t work, we’re having a c-section in nine days. Single digits, people.

When we talk about the future with our son, I have no concept what it will be like. Its no fun thinking about letting go of all activities that bring me joy. On the other hand, the concept of not doing these things can only be referenced in a life where everything is exactly the same except I’m not writing music, being social, seeing shows, and being goofy with Stiners. Well that last one will be omni present in our lives, but it will be a more, “I’m so tired, I’m going to vomit” kinda goofing around. I can’t conceptualize what life will be with child. I know there’s going to be a lot of love, challenges, and personal growth, but its all really abstract right now. People say everything will change once you see/hold your baby. I’m curious if thats true. I won’t consider it a failure if its doesn’t happen. I’m wagering the whole process will be a rewarding experience, one way or another. It would be astonishing if everyone was lying. I guess that would be worth finding out too. Then I could expose the great parent conspiracy on this blog.

Life, which seemed to be a little more open to interpretation a few short months ago, has become rather tightly focused of late. The destination of this journey is baby, and there several well defined hoops that we are jumping through. Even though I know its more about the journey then the destination, its hard to lose track of the destination at this point. Of course, life can always throw us a few curve balls, so every morning I tense up, clutch my sweet ass, and shut my eyes as I boldly attack my day.

The good word is that we’ve found our fabulous new home in the east bay. We’re wicked psyched about that. Now we need to move all our stuff from A to B. Fortunately, with Stina at the helm, we’re already ahead of schedule. We’ve already donated and sold all of our excess possessions, and there’s a solid showing of boxes stacked around the house. All the art is down, and this apartment now sucks way more then it did a week ago. As much as I’m sad to leave our amazing neighborhood, this long goodbye is on the verge of dragging on, and I’m beginning to anticipate starting the next chapter of our lives.

We celebrated Halloween in the only way we know how – in a cabin in Yosemite surrounded by hippies and killer music. I really brought my A game for our probable final appearance at Las Tortugas, the best music festival in the universe. Strangers commented on all costume changes. I freaking RAGED all weekend long, while Stina rested comfortably in our sweet sweet love cabin. Unforuntatly our neighbors raged much harder then we did, blasting the tunes till past 6 am. I was too tired to be affected by it, but alas, Stina complete lack of raging rendered her helpless to the onslaught of  ”bonus rock”. I think I’d give top honors to Dumpstafunk, with Umphree’s second, and Tea Leaf Green third. TLG really brought it big this year.

Last friday one of my band dreams came true when Sean Lehe paired up with Asher Fulero in “Mo-Ped“. They were rounded out by Marshall Harrell (New Monsoon) on bass and Dave Brogan (ALO) on kit. I started off the evening right at JP Cutler’s suprise b-day dinner, and then dove deep in the Mo-Ped show. Those guys can freaking jam. I ran into bunches of folks from Los Tortugas, and one person who knew me as the guy with lots of costumes. Booyeah.

My internet love is running at an all time high right now. Craigslist allowed me to trade an office chair for a bike, which is AWESOME. Craigslist did a head fake though with tickets to Widespead Panic, what with the dude bailing on me last minute. So I jumped on the Bart, headed to the GORGEOUS new Fox Theater, and got second row center balcony tickets from the box office! Aww yeah! Then I forced the two folks who had to accompany me in (cause I had a dangerous laptop and might be able to “take pictures” – no lie, this is the reason I was accompanied by TWO security peeps) to wait at the merch booth while I snapped up the LAST killer poster. Booyeah! Then I happily checked my bag + poster, and rocked the fuck out! WSP was awesome. No “Tall Boy” though.

On Friday we went to see Kate and Maggie dance in the Go Go Spectacular, which was surprisingly awesome. Its insane how talented my friends are. Like Tom, who competed in a Championship Triathlon this past weekend. Or Amanda Gean, who ran 20 miles. Or Dave SG, who not only helped clean and pack all our art, but ate all the food in the house.

Words cannot describe how much fun I had at this year at Burning Man.

Some highlights:

• Stepping onto the playa on our first night and the first thing we run into is this 6 ton spider. The ground shakes as it walks.
  
• Hot gluing 28 1 cent stamps to a gifted postcard
• Discovering the amazing beautiful hippie dome that played grateful dead on a stellar sound system. They had old concert posters up and a sweet hanging chair. It was like finding home.
• The people we lured into our amazing enormous dome (that T-bag somehow erected single handedly) with food and good will. Amazing conversation and connections followed.
• Starting a dance party at an awesome camp way down on 10 o’clock plaza, and then being gifted the in-humans cd. Its both groove-alischious and hysterical.
• Camp unity at level I’ve never experienced. I reveled in our collective slobiness. I shared a tent with T-bag, but we only occupied it together for a few scant hours. One morning, upon awaking, I was so surprised to find T-bag that I did a spectacular naked dance. He opened his eyes, yelled out “no!” and then started snoring again.
• The SLIDE! (AKA the wedge) Too much fun. Alternating from dancing to funk from the funk boat (they even played a bumpin old school song called “slide”) and doing another run down the slide. Eventually we boarded the almost empty art car to discover Rachel’s friend Marissa, whom we were supposed to go find earlier in the night. I asked T-bag what the chances of that happening were, and he said “about 1 in 4.” That seems about right for the playa.
• Happening upon the two guys wearing “Ask a mathematician” and “Ask a physicist” tee-shirts out in the deep playa, and peppering them with questions for half an hour. Apparently I’ll never get to beam myself from one place to another in my lifetime. Weak.
• Hanging around the space ship for 2 hrs waiting for it go off, and connecting with some really excellent people during the long delay.
• Meeting pac-man and a ghost at a “fireplace” in a box in the deep playa, and then egging them on in the their high speed pursuit.
• Dancing as hard as I could to some awesome breaks on the two o’clock plaza. Just me and the DJ.
• I asked the playa for a a new tire and a tube for my bike, and was gifted both during my daytime excursion.
• The look at Rachel’s face after she returned from the female ejaculation workshop.

An epic year by all accounts, leaving me with joy in my heart and the fire to return. I’ll be back, one day.

I thought this video did a good job summarizing 09:

Summer goodness rolls on unabated. One night I got to live one my fantasies by seeing bands at both the Connecticut Yankee (A New Monsoon benifit show with extra bonus Lebo) and a block down the road at the Bottom of the Hill (the New Up kicking off their big national tour). It was the hippies vs. the hipsters, and I had great fun bouncing between the diametrically opposite crowds.

On Friday, we went down to Outside Lands to listen to a few bands from outside the perimeter, but then ran into our friend Aaron who hooked us up with ridiculously cheap day passes. Totally bonus Thievery Corp and Pearl Jam. It felt good to roll though one more time while we still live within spitting distance to the festival. We streamed the rest of the festy from the safety of our living room. Thanks youtube.

Stina and Angel just rocked the joint birthday party at chez Krudden. We’re old, and love the afternoon party. People rolled through all day, and now we’re basking in the glow of feeling really connected to our friends. It was a really excellent day, and there’s still three jello shots left.

Life’s been feeling extra poignant lately, what with the impending baby and all. While I’ve been diving head first into a true concert and general fuzz bender, the nagging suspicion that everything’s going to radically change lurks right beneath the surface. My role at work has been shifting for a while, to the point where its almost like I have a new job. So a “new” job, a probable move to a bigger space on the horizen, and then a baby. Hmmm. I’m not so good with change. Tough titties, I guess. Its gonna happen, and in a big, big way. The best thing I can do is have a positive attitude, so lately I’m attempting to rock a “BRING IT ON” front. I’m not really fooling myself though – underneath it all, I’m scared shitless.

Anyhow, tomorrow I boldly head back into the desert to lose my mind.  One last time.

I was pretty stocked when Phish reformed this year. I was fired up enough to follow their initial gigs on twitter. I knew all I had to do was bide my time, and I would get to see them. And see them I did.

The week started insane, as Stiners put on the biggest event of her event planning career – a party for 1500 kids who were participating in the Macabee games (read: the jewlympics). It was an insane party, full of segways, surfboards, more video games then you could imagine, and a giant dance floor. It was logistically massive, and was pulled off with gusto. Big ups to Stina.

I hate going to large amphitheatres at this stage of my concert going life. There are very few bands that motivate to go to them, but Phish is certainly one of them. Going to Shoreline to see Phish on the lawn with a bunch of friends is how I used to know it was summer. It felt so damn good to do it again.

The Shoreline lot scene was alive and kicking, though the food options weren’t plentiful. Everywhere we went, we ran into smiling friends.  Since Phish is the Grateful Dead of my generation, all sorts of friends came  out of the woodwork to gather and boogie / run like antelopes.


Right when the house music stopped, a giant military plane buzzed the crowd as Phish took the stage. Stina freaked out, what with her plane phobia. Then during Divided Sky, one minute into the silent section, a different plane buzzed the theater. It happened again at the end of the song. It was beyond  surreal. If you were on the lawn and tripping, I think you would totally lose your shit. There were a couple other moments, not quite as timed, when different military planes flew over Shoreline. It was odd.

Phish was pretty on. There was some not so exciting, and rather long new songs, and one kick ass new one.  They played a lot of early material, and seemed pretty fired up doing it. We had a blast.

The best part was that it was just the beginning.

On Thursday, Stiners, Rachel and I headed up to Seattle. We were going to accomplish one of my life long goals – to see a Phish show at the Gorge. I thought it might never happen. But it did. Twice.

On the way up, we swung by Tom and Yuko’s place for a very tasty breakfast. Tom decided he was going to bike to the Gorge on Saturday and get a ticket to his first Phish show in the lot. This is a 140 mile bike ride. Tom is crazy, but we knew that already.

The trip up was faster than we imagined. Almost everyone camps at the Gorge. Not us. We booked a Motel/Brothel at the nearest town from the Gorge – a good 30 min drive. The only reviews we found online trashed the place. Stina had many reservations, but we arrived to find out it was only a mild dump, with no mold or ants to speak of. Since it exceeded our expectations, we were rather pleased with our little shitty room. Off the Gorge we went.

I have a hard time believing there is a more beautiful amphitheatre in this country then the Gorge. It’s breath taking.


It’s in the middle of nowhere. Rachel and I went in search of the Shakedown. It turns out to be in the heart of the camping section, a good mile plus hike from the parking lot (which was mostly empty, since everyone camps). I scored one of the best lot posters of my life, and food for the ride home. The shakedown went on for a good half mile. Not as impressive as Bonaroo, but it easily earns top billing.

The show on Friday = epic. All three shows had smatterings of new material and material I wasn’t fond of, but overall they were so good. I was beyond joyous seeing Phish at the Gorge.

Saturday, we went to a beach area on the river that Stina found by scrolling through google earth. We ate more crappy food (the food options in this part of WA are not the finest, as we repeatedly discovered), and eventually made our way back to the show to get dinner at Shakedown. Much finer dining to be found there.

I’ll give the Saturday show the gold medal though. Not necessarily from the song selection, but because Tom freaking biked to the show and joined us. It made the show really special to me. I danced my ass off, when I wasn’t lying down looking at the stars. I kept seeing satellites floating past, but later discovered I was watching a meteor shower. Bonus.


The whole concept of schlepping up to WA and then driving out to the Gorge (and driving to and from our Motel) made me tired just thinking about it. In reality, the whole trip was cake. We hit no traffic at any point. There was no cars in the parking lot at the amphitheater. We even got on earlier flight out via standby. It was so worth it, and I’m still glowing from the experience. You’d think I’d be burned out on Phish, but no, I’ve been blasting it non stop.

Lot shwagg acquired: two killer Kerrigan posters, an epic 3-d summer tour poster, and a new giant green hoodie. Plus an awesome pint glass that Kelly White was amazing enough to send me from an earlier show. She just called to saw that she’s coming to SF this weekend, so I’m beyond pumped. I’m taking her and local celebrity Bobby the Butcher to the Fillmore for some funk on Saturday.

Life is beautiful.

Nothing’s quite like the ‘ole 48 hrs whirlwind Michigan adventure weekend. Life’s been quite a blur, and it was surreal to find ourselves back in Ann Arbor.

I’ve become a big fan of the all-inclusive wedding at the hotel where we’re staying. I had an hour to kill while Stina napped before the rehearsal dinner, so I wandered over to the mall across the street from the hotel. This is something I’d normally avoid at all costs, but I had nothing else to do, and it turned out to be a critical decision. There was a lot to celebrate, and it was also a bit of a SF reunion – Dave and Erin flew directly from their insane Latin American honeymoon to MI, Angel came in from NY, Tom and Yuko flew in, and we haven’t seen Tony in like a MONTH. Tony generously procured crazy amounts of top shelf alcohol. It was a solid way to ease into the main event.

The next morning, I forced everyone to go to Zingerman’s.

As I did the next day as well. Its like a pilgrimage to me. So f’n tasty. There was some walking around Ann Arbor that Tony and I bailed on to go play pool and video games. Then the wedding.

I was dashing. A-Town showed up. Stina gave a reading. A Baby cried. Wedding completed.

I reprised my role of DJ from last weekend. One thing I neglected to do was sound check prior to the wedding, but all I needed to do was plug in my laptop. How difficult was that going to be?

I dash into the grand hall during cocktail hour to discover they only had a mono jack going into the microphone mixer for me to plug into. This was unacceptable. Did they have a mixer? No. I was appalled. A giant hotel with two full PA systems did not have anything besides a mic mixer. The A/V room has nothing useful. I found one cable which would help me along my path. I ran across to radio shack to piece together a hack into the P/A. On my return, I discover that the cable they provided me wasn’t quite right. A second sprint to Radio Shack (everyone staring at me running through Sears in my suit) to gather necessary adapter.

Then its steak time. I’m really not a fan catered food. Married to an event person, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to sample it. The dinner was full on delicious. I was shocked.

Dancing commenced, and the Joyce family LOVES to dance. It was wicked fun. After an hour or two, I went completely rogue. We departed from their song book and took a glorious journey though my ipod. It’s good to be the DJ.

We shut it down around 12:30. I jammed on their piano until the hotel staffed yelled at me. “Only people who are paid to get to play the piano.” Humor. We reveled deep into the night. Tony was deeply in love with his Satellite radio and sweet sound system in his rental Car. He brought the raging Carl Cox party to the mall parking lot at 2am. On our return, Angel and Tony stumbled into a Bachelorette party, and kicked it with the drunk girls from Toledo for another hour. Yes indeed.

Brunch was blurry, Zingerman’s round two was critical, and our trip home was long and uneventful.

Wedding sprint = over.

Good times = had, with gusto even.

The killer wedding shots were done by Nicole Landonne.

Summer is always a densely packed celebratory time for us, but I’m not sure if I can put into words how insane things are right now. I had a rather full 6 day east coast trip. Conveniently enough, work sent me there to top my brain off with knowledge. Saw all the family a bunch and caught up with many friends, and then raced Mike

and Nikki

back to SF. They won. I met up with them and my wife at the house of Krudden. We promptly headed south to participate in the celebration of Dave and Kerri tying the hitch knot.

They chose Big Sur to be their wedding destination, and there was coastal nature everything. Go figure. During the few moments of unplanned activity, the Ducey’s and I headed south without a destination. We happened upon a trail which led us down down down through a tunnel in a mountain and eventually to the ocean. I heart California, even though it’s broke.

The wedding was cause for another mini Newton North High School reunion, now familiarly embellished with all of our significant others.

Dave was not an organized little duder back in high school. Sometime during college, his brain snapped like a glow stick, and he became extremely anal. That was about as predictable as Angel working for the IRS. It means that Dave and Stina connect in terrible ways that frighten me. Of course he tapped Stina for her extensive “knowledge”. Everyone had different jobs, and with each job came a different title. I was the Music Monkey. Dave’s brother was Best Monkey. Stina’s minions were Monkey Bitches. And so forth.

Then they got married.

I know how much Dave dislikes to be the center of attention, so its was more then a little amusing to watch him take it and like it. I was honored to give a short reading and be the appointed DJ for the evening. This meant pressing play on itunes at various points of the night. I was under strict orders not to touch the playlist, but the Music Monkey has a mind of its own. I also appointed myself MC for the evening, which amused me.

Dave’s had a long history with knives in my house.

Dave’s fully responsible for my love of music, and his dance setlist did him justice. I really appreciated the table decorations, since I watched Kerry painstackingly assemble one when I visited for of our Grateful Dead junket. We really had a fabulous time. I’m quite pleased that Dave and Kerry found each other.

Then we headed north, hit the brunch,

and made it back to cold cold Frisco. We wandered around the park until we found the tube fighting championships.

It was pretty Epic.

The Ducey’s had to sadly depart on Monday morning. Stina’s Cousin Carmen and brand spanking new husband Andrew arrived Monday night.

They took of on Wednesday afternoon. That evening we got to hold Jason and Lindsay’s one day old baby. Intense much? Huge congrads to the new parentals!

Now we’ve finished packing our bags for Michigan. Let the celebrations continue.

We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in a three day orgy of gluttony and whatever else you do at orgies. I guess you mostly attend weddings and Broadway shows. Whoohoo for orgies!

We kicked it off on Thursday night with a surprise (to me) evening out to see Spam-a-lot. I’ve really come to terms with my dissatisfaction of the stage adaption of movies, and was only mildly amused during reenacted scenes from the Holy Grail. Fortunately, they added lots of new material and created an amazing stage production which was super funtastical.

Friday, the day of our anniversary, we cruised the coast down to Half Moon Bay for some ritzy lunch and beach time.

Then epic napping, dinner at our new favorite Italian place in the Richmond, and too many hours of Battlestar Galactica. I started rooting for the robots.

Saturday was celebrate other couples day. Lars and Kate had a pre-wedding celebratory BBQ in the park for Bay Area folk.

It was fantastic catching up with so many folks.

Then is was off to Josh Adler’s and Katriene’s wedding celebration in West Portal.

This celebration was the perfect marriage of extraordinarily delicious food (Josh is the wine buyer for BiRite, a high end food store) and a super relaxed environment. They performed the ceremony when they felt like it, and the food kept coming. I sat next to some of Josh’s co-workers, who walked me through endless barrage of delicious offerings. It was a really special wedding – so chill and overflowing with positivity.

Then today, I went to the Fillmore to go pick up tickets for a show to discover that the ticket office was mysteriously closed and the Fillmore street festival was going on. I’ve never been to the Fillmore street festival, and that is a damn shame. It’s enormous, with four or five stages, and stellar jazz, blues, and funk music. I caught at least five bands today, some whom I’ve been meaning to see for a while now. A great, totally unexpected day.

The surreal moment of the weekend award goes to Saturday night post wedding. Around 11pm, still rather under the influence from the aforementioned celebration, I was working on some fuzzy tunes when out of the corner of my eye I think I see a flashlight on our private deck. I take off my headphones to hear someone saying “hello?” from the hallway. Thinking its possibly my downstairs neighbors, I’m surprised to discvoer two police officers peeking into my apartment. Apparently, someone had called saying they had heard someone walking on their roof, and the police though it was me. I explained that I had not called the police, and being the top apartment, had not noticed anyone on my roof. I then go to my deck to discover three additional officers. I explain that I didn’t call the police, and invite them in so they can walk down the stairs (instead of the fire escape). They call up to the roof where there is yet another officer on top of my apartment. The four officers gratefully come in, compliment me on the killer posters, and disappear down the stairs. One asks if I’m a producer and gets a CD, cause WTF just happened?!  That was some seriously random shit. Were there really just 6 cops in my apartment? Was that many officers needed for the call? And how did they get in my building?

For the vast majority of people, planning a wedding does not lead you down the path to your chosen profession. I happened to marry the anomaly, which has worked out real well for me so far. I now get to celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah. After our big day, I secretly harbored the belief that no wedding would ever top the level of personalization and complexity that ours did. Now I know better.

Dave and Erin’s wedding was what happens when extreme creative forces and milestone life changing events decide to party in the woods. The scope of this wedding was insane. The logistics were challenging, to say the least. There was a meeting in the morning where the all days tasks were divvied out those who had been camping on site. Lots of creative problem solving ensued. Every single person who was working the wedding was a friend of theirs. It was a celebration that will never be forgotten. And now, some delicious bullet points:

• The theme was dragonfly. It carried through the enormous dragon fly rice krispie cake that Dave constructed (which  completely lit up in the dark using plasma balls and el wire) all the way to the belt buckle (that Dave also made).



• Nine pies were lovingly made and brought to the ceremony by one of their friends. But this isn’t extraordinary enough. All the ingredients for the pies (except for the flour) were organically grown on the farm where the pie maker lives.



• Best wedding band in the history of wedding bands. Two of their friends are in Albino, the Bay Area afro-cuban sensation that sells out the Great American and the Independent. They hired a couple heavy hitters to round out the band and threw down the funkiest authentic afro-cuban in the woods. Its was SICKNESS. Somehow Dave and Erin have amassed this huge friendbase of total hotties. Amazing music + attractive dancing fiends = yes.
• A talent show run by the most enthusiastic hosts on this planet.
• Their first dance was a sight to behold. Erin’s sister is a dance instructor, and Erin is a serious dancer, so they choreographed a high energy salsa-eque dance that brought the house down. When Dave picked up the morocco’s I nearly pissed my pants.



• They found time to create a entertaining 20 minute slideshow presentation of their incredible 9 month journey through South America where they volunteered at a number of orphanages and organized three large scale community driven murals.
• The setting itself at Ranchno Cicada with the river that ripe for tubing was a scene for constant entertainment. I enjoyed the many hammocks that were setup along the river.



• Their very personal ceremony led by two close friends was very spiritual without any strong religious undercurrents. After Dave read his written vows, Erin made hers by passionately delivering them right into Dave’s eyes. That was the most intensely emotional moment I’ve ever witnessed in someone else’s wedding. I still get shivers when I think about that moment.

My major contribution to wedding was that I composed their processional for piano and guitar. At 5pm, when we were supposed to be providing background music for the arriving guests, Andrzej (the guitarist) hadn’t appeared yet. At 5:15, while I was merrily improvising away, Andrzej shows up out of breath, guitar in hand. Since we had no time to sound check, I plug him in, he tunes up, and then I get the signal to start the processional. That was the most amusing moment of the day for me – I had assumed I was going to do the processional solo at that point.

I spent almost half of my time at the wedding working my butt off with the various tasks at hand, and I performed only a tiny fraction of what needed to be done. It took a lot of their friends giving it their all to pull off this celebration, and because of that, we really got to know each other much more then they would have naturally. We all came together and really felt connected to the celebration at at hand.