On the tall man's return

Me : You're back!
The tall man fiance : Is it sweaty?
Me : < laughter >
Tall man : Oh ... you meant ...
Me : Yes, you ARE back.


Both of us, immediately afterward : We should tell L and J !

Thanks to our favorite antagonistic Asian/white couple for the inspiration.  This is a tribute to you.  We might need to work on our insults, but after all, we're only just engaged.  There's still time.

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Text font : Savoye LET, with Nueva Condensed for emphasis

[yele] Presidential presence in Yele

"... We commend you for your efforts and we will use this pilot in Yele and see how we will learn from the Yele, Gbonkolenken example for the development in the country."

President Koroma in his speech to the people of Yele on March 9th, 2012 

This is a bit of older news, but although most of eLuma's team members remain State-side, much has been going on in Yele thanks to the able coordination of our on-the-ground manager Laila, with the help of our partner the Lion Heart Foundation.

Back in March, the president of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, paid an important visit to Yele to check out eLuma and the Lion Heart Foundation's development projects.  Check out the full story featured in Cocorioko, Sierra Leone's most widely-read online newspaper.

[the big day] Waterproof mascara and tissues

The (wedding related, semi curious but not most essential) question of the morning:

Will I cry at my wedding?

or even,

Will the tall man cry at our wedding?

Joanna Goddard in her blog, A Cup of Jo, posed that to me as I breezed through my largely-neglected Google Reader subscriptions.  Hm.  My first reaction was, "Of course I will cry!"  I have been the weepy one of our relationship in a way that my normally-composed self has now come to terms with, so it seems a given.  I occasionally will tear up (ever so slightly) during sad or particularly joyful parts of movies, so why wouldn't I cry on one of the happiest of life occasions?

Or so I think now.  We shall see on the day itself.

Then what about Marcus?  It's hard to say.  He's not a stone man by any means, but tears are not his forte.  But who knows?  He will probably read this entry and answer for himself.

Will it matter, in the end?  The blog entry features pictures of weepy brides and grooms.  Somehow there is a happy beauty in these images, but tears aren't the only vehicle for great emotion.  Maybe it's a better to  think about capturing the biggest smile e-v-e-r, and maybe a jump-heel-click of glee?

Regardless, I will certainly be prepared with waterproof mascara and artfully-hidden tissues.  Just in case.

[the big day] The bling and the dress

Sorry for the recent silence, but recent health issues coupled with that thing called "thesis" and that other thing called "wedding planning" have put updates on the life back burner.

But recently, I've come across 2 articles that have made me further question the traditions of the wedding industry.  Before starting to plan my own wedding, I had helped out with the pre-nuptials of family and friends and had my fair share of drama, adrenaline, and the like.  Planning your own wedding, though, really pulls the curtain away to expose what's really going on in that machine called the wedding industry, or what we couples call "the biggest day of our lives."

Don't get me wrong: I really love my fiance and am very much looking forward to tying the knot in November.  However, in this whole process I've been questioning the who/what/when/where/why/how, like ...
Why must I wear white?  Why do brides wear veils?  How is it that a single plate at a dinner banquet is more expensive than a fancy French restaurant dinner, yet the food isn't as good?

Here are two featured links that discuss some of the most critical 'wow' wedding items :

// The economic story behind the bling (outside of DeBeers) //
The Atlantic / thanks to Anne!

// Why that white frock costs so much when you wear it once //
Slate / thanks to Stef!