One of our graduate students is doing an independent study on Twitter this summer. I'm reading his project paper, and this line really jumped out at me. So I thought I'd share. Sorry if it seems obvious, but it's something that is worthy of repeating over and over again to the folks in the media industry.

I know, obvious, right? But still important to remember.

That's all.

For those who haven't heard, I became an ordained clergyman recently. Seriously. See for yourself:



How did I get ordained? I simply went to the Spiritual Humanist Web site and answered a few short questions: name, address, and e-mail. Voila! I was ordained.

Many states, including Missouri, recognize Spiritual Humanists as able to perform weddings, so I signed the marriage license after the ceremony and dropped it off at the courthouse. In fact, it's what my good friend Rob Weir (and fellow geeky journalist) did for us when Jenny and I got hitched.

How did I do? Well, I started to call the groom "Byron" instead of "Bryon" at one point, which he ribbed me about after the ceremony. The bride, Carla, jokingly calls him that all the time, so he reasoned that was why I had my mini-goof. But he's the only one who noticed.

Otherwise, I think I did OK. I got a few compliments, and the bride and groom were happy with it, which is what mattered to me most.

Here's a copy of the script I wrote for it:

Bryon, Tylee and Jake are in position at the pulpit. Carla makes her entrance.

Jake: Please be seated

Jake: On behalf of Carla, Bryon and Tylee, we’d like to welcome you here this evening to celebrate this joyous occasion. We are here to be witnesses to the joining of this beautiful family as Carla and Bryon pledge their love to each other and to Tylee in front of all of you, the nearest and dearest family and friends.

The love that Bryon and Carla share is best expressed through the classic poem “I Carry Your Heart,” by e.e. Cummings:

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Jake: For those who have spent time with Carla and Bryon, you know them to be fun, light-hearted and not afraid to give each other a good teasing every now and again. You also know them to be caring and supportive of each other through all of life’s challenges. They complement each other well, and together they make quite a team, as evidenced by the beautiful home they’ve invited us into tonight and by their precious daughter who stands here with us.

That underlying connection which makes them such a fun, loving pair is captured in the writings of Voltaire, whom Carla will read now.

Carla: Sensual pleasure passes and vanishes in the twinkling of an eye, but the
friendship between us, the mutual confidence, the delights of the heart, the
enchantment of the soul, these things do not perish and can never be
destroyed. I shall love you until I die.

Carla takes the ring from Jake and slips it on Bryon’s finger.

Jake: Bryon will now read from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

Bryon: My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.

Bryon takes the ring from Jake and slips it on Carla’s finger.

Carla surprises Tylee with her own ring

Jake:
What is a vow,
but an intention
spoken out before the world
so that the world, in hearing,
might take part
in aspirations
of the willing heart?
In our coming here today
to join and bless
the joy of your becoming wed,
may we enter in
the truth of the words you've said,
"I do."
Maureen Tolman Flannery

Jake: I speak for all of us here as we wish you a lifetime of joy and happiness together as husband, wife and daughter. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, and Bryon and Carla Ciolli. You may kiss the bride.

Lip lock, then uncork the champagne.

I am now taking bookings if anyone is interested. :)

This message says it all:

The study is an important look at how consumers read news online and could have big-time ramifications for the way newspapers offer news on the Web. So please, help out if you can. And hey, $10 is nothing to sneeze at. There is a recession on, after all.