Progress shot of the Hiawatha shawl is coming tomorrow. I'm up to repeat six and am beginning to reconsider - I may do the full 10 after all, even though it says then the finished shawl will be 110".

Planted the from-seed plants this weekend. The tomatoes still look droopy; hopefully the rain and cooler temperatures these next few days will perk them up.

And, I must comment on the "big" news of the weekend ("runaway bride"): Who on EARTH invites 600 people to a wedding, unless they're, like, royalty or something? There are not 600 people in the world I know and like well enough to stare at me when I stand up and make important and binding vows. And 14 bridesmaids and groomsmen? No wonder the bride-to-be ankled it - that's way way way too much pressure. (I would not be at ALL surprised if it comes out that the giant wedding was the desire of someone else *cough*her mother*cough* in the family.). That said, I think she should be in some way culpable for what she did (I mean, she could have CALLED her family and said, "seriously, this is freaking me out. I need a couple days to get my head together"). But I think the news-channels are also partly culpable, for going all vulture on this whole situation and playing up the "OMG, here's a new kidnapping" angle.

But still. Six hundred guests and twenty-eight people "standing up" for you. Just thinking of that makes my skin crawl.

My standard disclaimer stands: If I ever wind up in a position to get married (increasingly unlikely with each passing year), I will either elope, or do the v. small (either just witnesses, or just immediate family + witnesses) wedding, and then throw a big barbecue for my friends in lieu of a reception. I mean, these giant princess-wedding things are just a nightmare. I know that we (American women) are supposedly trained since birth to want such a thing, what with "Wedding Pretend Barbie" and all the Disney movies where "happily ever after" if you're female means you live in the prince's castle, look pretty, maybe play lip-service to charities about helping orphans and widows, and pop out heirs for the family (Though Disney never approached the Henry VIII situation, where what would happen if the princess-now-queen failed to produce a suitable son).