the bride, the groom and the deadhead

so i've been in portland and bend (oregon) this weekend - a fly in / fly out trip for my good friend emily's wedding. it was beautiful and she was a stunning bride. it's so lovely to see people so happy and so in love, and i must admit, i'm becoming a much less cynical spectator at wedding ceremonies. i'd not met her fiance and he seems like a really good guy, so i'm sure they'll be happy. she kindly let us stay in her house in town because she had a room at the resort where the wedding took place. and staying there really made me miss having a place of my own. i've been in temporary accommodation for the last year, and will be for the foreseeable future, and it's getting rather old. i miss my kitchen and my gadgets and having a proper dining room table to eat and sit at. she had the most beautiful dining room table, dark solid wood. i'm beginning to think that the table might be the most important piece of furniture in the house - so much is shared around it.

anyway, the wedding was outside and it was a beautiful day. the reception followed and i met quite a few of her friends. i brought molly and brad and little elliot as my plus 3 (she didn't mind!) though we were minus two when brad took elliot home to sleep, and molly came back for some dancing.

i sat at the table with emily's UK contingent and the highschool coach of the groom. he was a riot. turns out he'd been a navy seal and when he got back his friend from eastern oregon asked him if he would be jerry garcia's personal bodyguard. so he did that for three years. he said he could have as much sex, drugs and rock'n'roll as he wanted. and by the sounds of it, he took advantage of that. he had some great stories, said he was friends with larry bird (a deadhead), don henley, and that he shared a joint with bob dylan when they toured with him one summer. he said bob was a real introvert and not very social. i was sorry the dylan fans were not there to ask more questions, i'm sure you would have loved this guy. he said that being a bodyguard was more like babysitting - they just went crazy all the time.

he told this one story about how another guard and friend of his (apparently all the bodyguards came from this one town in eastern oregon) was obsessed with spending money, just because he could and because he had it, so one day he bought a lasso. at one of the concerts there was a woman on stage scantily clad (which is to say, naked, as i guess was common at these shows) she was standing on the edge of the stage and his friend had the brilliant idea of lassoing her from the wings. and in less than 10 seconds, he had the rope around her (naked) shoulders. she, unfortunately, could not keep her balance and fell crashing off the stage. they thought that was the end and presumed a jail term would follow shortly. but she was back up a second later, never missing a beat. i guess with enough drugs anything's possible.

speaking of drugs, he said that the band would give the roadies an allotted amount before a tour and they'd be responsible for anything else they'd need if they finished that off. weights and measures don't mean much to me, so i can't remember exactly how much he said it was, but i think it's fair to say it was enough.

it was really interesting and i could've listened to his stories the whole night. he was a pretty cool guy. and his wife was lovely as well. she met him AFTER these years, for which she was probably grateful. but he got out after three years, said the lifestyle just wasn't for him. you can only have SO much rock'n'roll. (and cocaine!)

anyhow, back in portland for one more night with molly, brad and elliot. and then tomorrow i'm off to SF to interview a few candidates for the position and to check out some apartments. fingers crossed that one of them works out. and then a redeye back to boston on tuesday night in time for MY BIRTHDAY on wednesday. no real plans yet, probably a casual night with alex and my cousin anna - who also has a september 6th birthday.

get that card in the mail! :)