Lately, I've been thinking a lot about selling Big Red, my 1999 Dodge Dakota Extended Cab 4X4.

It's a good truck, with an engine that's only three years old and less than 100,000 miles on it. It's actually pretty good on gas for what it is (about 18 mpg highway), and it has a kickin' sound system. The bluebook value on it was $5,150.

We're thinking we can probably get along with one car for a while, which would help us save money for the new little one that's on the way. There would be some inconveniences, but it's likely doable.

If I can net $5,000 on the truck, plus save some $250 on parking every year, plus save on gas and insurance, and it all adds up. We'll get another car down the road, something a little more kid-friendly, which Big Red is not.

But on the other hand, Big Red is paid for, it has an engine that will last a long time, and I always find good uses for the truck (moving people, building our patio, etc. etc.).

So I'm still thinking about it. But if you're interested, make me an offer.

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. :)

Here's a short video from Christmas of the family opening their presents. I made this as part of my training this week on Final Cut. Enjoy.

 

A little video I took on my cell phone today:

  

I'm spending a couple of days playing with Final Cut; I only purchased it six months ago, but I finally found some time this week to work through the video tutorial at Lynda.com and actually use the darn thing.

Here's the first video. Hopefully I'll have another one coming over the weekend:

 

So over on Facebook, the big thing is to write 25 random things about yourself, then tag 25 friends to do the same thing.

I wanted to be one of the cool kids, so I did it too. Here's what I wrote about me (self-indulgent, I know):

25 -- The age when I bought my first house. What a great place that was -- lived there for 4 years, and turned a tidy profit when I sold it. Along the way, we threw some crazy parties (New Year's Eve became especially notorious), cooked a lot of tasty food (my old roomies Michelle and Kevin are both great cooks) and, dare I say, created four years of amazing memories.

OK, that was a really cheesy opening. I'll try to do better.

24 -- Never seen one episode. But I hear good things.

23 -- On my 23rd birthday, I broke up with my girlfriend at the time. But she still gave me my birthday present and bought me a drink. 

22 -- I credit two men named George with my love of the English language. George Gladney was my mentor in college and is still someone I look up to today. The other George is George Carlin. I'm glad I got to see him live for my 32nd birthday before he died.

21 -- My 21st birthday started with Ahrey and my dad buying me tequila shots at 4 p.m. and ended with me passing out in the hallway of my apartment at 10 p.m. In between, I became the reason Applebee's in Laramie started having a one-drink-at-a-time rule. I'm no longer proud of that, by the way.

20 -- My best friend has been my best friend for more than 20 years. We became dads at about the same time; I had a girl, he had a boy. We're kind of hoping our kids get married, but we're not going to try to force it. Yet.

19 -- When I was 19, I dropped out of college and worked full time as a DJ at a classic rock station in Casper, Wyo. I went broke within three months and had to move in with my mom for survival (and thanks again for taking me in). You don't know how bad life sucks until your pay checks start bouncing. That's when I decided I was done with radio and was going to try newspapers. The guy I worked for still owes me a couple hundred dollars. 

18 -- When I was 18, my best friend and I schemed a prank for graduation. While the First Lady of Wyoming was speaking, we launched a blow-up doll and batted it around like a beach ball. I had to spend some time in the principal's office after the fact to get my diploma, but it all worked out. I hear now they make the seniors sign a pledge because of that prank. I'm no longer proud of that one either.

17 -- For prom my junior year (when I was 17), my best friend and I decided to boycott it. So the two of us -- along with Meera, our foreign-exchange student friend -- went camping. We drank a lot of rum, and we nearly froze to death camping at Happy Jack in April. But we sure saved money compared to what we spent the next year on prom.

16 -- When I was 16, I I hit a car on my first driving test. I was backing out of a diagonal space and I scraped the car next to me, because I had no idea how to steer my 1963 Cadillac Coup de Ville. Fortunately, the lady I hit didn't really care that I had swapped some paint with her 1978 P.O.S., so it didn't cost me anything except my dignity. My friends weren't exactly merciful mocking me about it. As it turned out, I didn't get my license for another 6 months.

15 -- The number of seniors and grad students whom I will miss terribly after they graduate and leave in May. Little known fact: I get very sad after graduation. I love the celebration that is graduation, getting to meet the parents, getting to see students off to the real world, etc. etc. But afterward, I get really bummed that they're gone and I'll no longer see them on a regular basis. That's going to be especially true of this upcoming bunch.

14 -- The number of months, give or take a year, that I have waited for my promotion to asst. prof. I just found out this past week it's finally happening. Given the congrats I've gotten from colleagues (and that includes students), and the vote of confidence I've received from my superiors, for the first time ever, I feel like I've really arrived as a journalist. Not that there isn't so much more to be learning -- you never master journalism, you can only hope to tame it -- but it's just really nice to feel that validation. In fact, this title for me surpasses my previous No. 2 on the things-I'm-most-proud-of list. It now reads: 1) Audrey and Jenny; 2) Promotion to asst. prof.; 3) Quitting smoking; 4) Thesis; 5) Surviving Jack's bachelor party (see No. 8).

13 -- As in No. 13, a song by my favorite band, the Pixies. I've seen them twice now, both times while on the reunion tour. The first time at the University of Denver was pretty sweet. But the show at Red Rocks was amazing, and I got to spend the show with so many of my nearest and dearest friends. It was also the night I started to first seriously fall for Jenny.

12 -- Speaking of Jenny, her birthday is on the 12th. For her gift this year, I secretly flew her sister in from Colorado so the two of them could hang out this weekend. The look on Jenny's face when she saw that 1) Amber was here, and 2) that I had arranged for her to have a 3-day weekend with her job, was awe-wait for it-some.

11 --One of my favorite sayings for an extremely large amount of money is "eleventy billion." It's something I picked up from Tammy while in grad school.

10 -- I've had my dog Kotie for 10 years now. For those who haven't seen him in a while, he's still pretty much the same -- lovable, hairy, obnoxious, hyper and funny, all in one. Love that damn dog.

9 -- It's been about nine years since I last ate McDonald's.  I had a friend who ate there constantly, and eventually he started to smell like McDonald's. That odor coming out of his ass after knocking back a sixer ruined it for me forever.

8 -- Crazy story for the crazy 8: One of the craziest nights I've ever encountered was Jack Hoffman's bachelor party. About all the restraining order will let me say is this: I was the designated driver; I was in charge of playing the night's theme song over and over (it was Bloudhound Gang's "A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When the Stripper Is Crying."); I may or may not have smoked my first Cuban cigar. Anything more than that, and I'm pretty sure he kills me.

7 -- The number of years I spent in college. For a while, I was a little Van Wilder-like in my approach to school -- I never wanted to leave. I finally did with a bachelor's in journalism and a master's in communications. I missed out on minors in theater and English by one credit each.

6 -- Blossom's best friend! Speaking of Blossom, she went to the prom I boycotted (see No. 17). I have pictures in my yearbook to prove it. That's how life rolls ya sometimes -- from the Laramie High prom, to the heights of Hollywood, to whatever the hell she's doing now.

5 -- I once won a jackpot on a nickel slot in Vegas. I had been down there with some friends for Spring Break, and I was doing OK at the gambling thing. Then I got cocky, lost all my money playing high-stakes roulette, and left Vegas with my head hung in shame. On our way out of Nevada, we stopped in Mesquite to eat and so my buddy Todd could get rid of a few nickels he had left over in a bucket. He gave me some out of pity, and I hit an $80 jackpot with one nickel. That paid for our gas back to Laramie.

4 -- Number of years since my last cigarette. But in the interest of full disclosure, I have contemplated breaking the streak on several occasions. Once an addict, always an addict.

3 -- Total number of dogs we have. Besides Kotie, there are the pugs, Opal and Jewel.

2 -- The number of kids we're pretty sure we're going to have, though we haven't ruled out a third.

1 -- The number of third-nipples I have. No, just kidding. My No. 1 is always Jenny. Fun Fact: The first time she gave me her phone number, she told me 867-5309. And I knew right then I'd found me a cool girl. I was right.

Falcon Editorial, a miserable little piece of software that never delivered all that it was supposed to do, only frustration and heartache, died Monday, Jan. 5, 2009 in the Missourian newsroom. It was 4 1/2.

Originally billed as the content management system that was supposed to allow for such innovations as electronic budgeting and seamless error tracking, Falcon was buggy from the start. It drove many a reporter insane with its ability to freeze on deadline, and the staff of the production desk was constantly asking if another editor or designer had a file open.

Falcon has been replaced by PlanSystem.

A few alums who wanted to pay their respects to Falcon for this story include:

Allison Hull writes via Twitter: "You can thank Falcon for traumatizing the newsroom Sun. and Thu. nights when I would go on a cursing rant because stories/pages disappeared."

Jennifer Amur, also via Twitter, makes reference to old Facebook group "Falcon is a 2-year-old," so named because it threw tantrums without notice, required long naps of inactivity while the server was rebooted for the 400th time that day, and other such acts: "Falcon was the most terrible 2-year-old I have ever met. And generally, I don't like 2-year-olds."

Isabelle Roughol, creator of the aforementioned group, had this to say via Facebook: "Killing a 2-year-old is despicable... but I can't say I'm sorry."

Today was a very good day at the Missouri School of Journalism. My colleagues on the Promotion and Tenure Committee say fit to approve the dean's request that my title be changed to assistant professor on the tenure tract.

The next step is for the Journalism School to get the OK from Jesse Hall.

I'm thrilled with the news and got a little red-faced when the other editors clapped for me and Laura Johnston, the other person in the same boat as me, when Tom announced the news. Katie Steinmetz, Missourian columnist extraordinaire, gets credit for the jazzy blog title of assistant professor-elect. I like it.

Today was also graduation day, and I said goodbye to some really great seniors and grad students. It was a bittersweet moment, as it always is, because I hate to see them go, but yet I'm so proud of them for making it.

The graduation speaker, Brian Storm of MediaStorm, did a great job. As he stressed throughout the speech: Look for new ways to tell stories, new platforms, etc. etc. Don't try to connect with a mass audience, connect with the right audience.

I was particularly struck by that last line.

As Storm also pointed out (did I mention that I tried to Twitter the speech?), everyone has a printing press now in the form of the Web. So, what do we have to do to find the right audience?

That's what I'm going to go sleep on.

OK, want to know why I haven't been posting much lately? Besides being incredibly busy?

It's because all of the upgrades Hotmail and Spaces has undergone lately are 1) Not Mac friendly; 2) Take too damn long to load.

So, I'm thinking about taking JakeSherlock.com to a new domain and giving up my hotmail account, which I've had forever (and truthfully is the reason I haven't made the switch to Gmail yet, although I did reserve myself an address there). Not sure if I'll do that yet, mostly because it's a pain in the ass to move all my e-mail files (I'm a filing packrat) and blog posts to new servers. Boo-urns.

It's days like this I realize just what a lucky guy I am.

My Facebook wall is bursting with birthday wishes. I got calls from my nearest and dearest, and my wife showed once again why she is the sweetest woman ever born to this Earth. Oh, and this election cycle is about to end -- and tomorrow, one of these guys starts planning for a re-election bid in 2012. If we're lucky, we'll get a two-year break before all this starts again.

Some highlights of the day:

• I love hearing from Missourian alums, and I got a ton of wishes from students I worked with here. Thanks everyone, for all the birthday love! See you all next Homecoming, I hope.
  
• My grandparents still put cash in my birthday card. This year, it's going into Audrey's college fund, even though the card specifically states I'm supposed to do something fun with it. I love the sentiment, but I have fun everyday with my wife and little girl. And I wanted nothing more for my birthday this year than to boost that college fund so she can afford to go someday.
  
• ColumbiaMissourian.com was the place to go for news and analysis leading up to the election, and today it continued that domination with constant updates via blog, home page and Twitter. I'm about to go grab a nap before overseeing overnight coverage of the election around 1 a.m. 
• All the phone calls I got from friends and family
• Jenny got me my first piece of Mizzou gear, a hooded sweatshirt and a stocking cap to go with it. I hope it cools off around here soon.
  

Not sure who is going to win tonight. I think Obama will carry the popular vote, but so what. The Electoral College is all that matters, and that is too close to call in states like Missouri. There's a reason I'm preparing to staff overnight, and it's because there is a good chance we won't know until very, very late.

Time to grab that nap ...

Mikey T, my dear friend and an amazing musician, got to play with Weezer the other night at the Broomfield Events Center. Read all about it on his blog.

Here's a group shot of everyone who got to play, including a good look at Mikey for those who don't know him (should help you pick him out in the videos too).






And check out some of the videos from the big event below:

 

 

Did you know that if you're a University of Missouri employee you can save money at Verizon Wireless? Ya, neither did I until recently.

It's not something that's widely advertised, but one of the employees at the store on Stadium told Jenny about it when she went in to buy a new phone recently. So yesterday, I finally found an old pay stub and went in to collect my discount.

We'll save 18 percent off of our primary land, 25 percent on data usage above a certain amount and 25 percent on any accessories we buy. I think we'll mostly save with the 18 percent off the primary line, which should come out to between $10 and $15 a month.

Not a ton of savings, but every little bit helps.

My best friend is a proud new dad.

Jason Liam Mills was born to John and Krysten Mills at 11:15 p.m. Sept. 23. Poor Krysten was in labor for 19 hours before delivering by c-section.

He was 19.5 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces.

When I talked to Johnny this morning, he was totally engulfed in new-dad euphoria. That's where you just want to sit and hold them and stare at them for hours on end.

Congrats to you, John and Krysten. Welcome to the Parents Club.

And welcome to the world, Jason Liam. I can't wait to meet you.

We're having it this Friday and Saturday at 6520 Southwest Way in Columbia.

Items for sale will include:

• Lots of vintage stuff
• Home improvement material
• Housewares
• Missouri Theatre seats
• Women's plus-size clothes
• Baby items
• TV
• Movies
• Books
• Stereo

All of this and more! Hope to see you there.

 Grandma Charlene was the embodiment of the old cliche, "Behind every successful man is a great woman."

The physical differences between the two of them couldn't have been more exaggerated. Grandpa was built like a brick shithouse: Tall, thick as an oak (but mostly muscle) and strong as an ox. Grandma was petite and short, but also toned and healthy, which happens when you and your husband are big golfers.

Grandpa had squinty eyes that often made him appear asleep. Grandma wore glasses, and they accentuated her eyes to be just a little above normal, or they only appeared that way compared to Grandpa's.

Grandpa was the extrovert. He was the authoritarian, the high school principal and football coach (oh, how he was disappointed the day I quit football in 7th grade. And after only 3 days, too). Grandma was the introvert, but she too didn't tolerate any nonsense. But if you were willing to chill out, have a conversation and watch her go about her household chores, she was sweet as pie. She'd listen to my stories of life on the school yard, who was picking on me, which girl I thought was cute, which team I thought would be really good in the NFL that year (I was obsessed when I was a kid), etc. etc.

And she made sure to instill in me the importance of a good education. She and Grandpa gave me savings bonds every year for Christmas and my birthday, and those helped me get through college. They stayed on me about getting good grades and stressed that without a college education, I wouldn't amount to much. And I believed them.

I'll miss her and always remember the good times we had together. Like when you'd take me shopping at Pamida, or how you and Grandpa always drove me to the Shriners Hospital for surgery and regular checkups. I might not be able to walk today without your support.

And then there were the awkward times, like when you were holding Matt's hand and he jumped down the stairs and nearly took you with him. Or the time I swiped the check when we went out to eat and paid. I love how you and Grandpa included the exact amount of the check in my next birthday card.

Charlene Parker was a wonderful grandma, a role model and a helluva golfer. I'll miss you.

Charlene Parker (Caroline Columbine Charlene Manita Baird Brixey Parker) died on July 23 in Greeley, Colo. She was 81.

Charlene was born in Lewis, Colo., on Jan. 6, 1927, to Lloyd Aaron and Doris Eva Baird Brixey. She was one of four children. She married the love of her life, Jerry Parker of Coleman, Texas, on June 1, 1952.

Charlene attended schools around the Cortez area, graduating from Montezuma County High School in Cortez. She went on to further her education graduating from business school in Albuquerque, N.M. She was employed by the State of Colorado Department of Employment Security and a lawyersʼ office in Cortez, before marrying Jerry. She and Jerry owned the Inn Town Motel and managed the Purple Sage Golf Course for several years.

Charlene was an active member of the Purple Sage Golf Club. She participated in the Womenʼs Golf League, Thursday Ladiesʼ Day and won several City and Club Championships. She was also a member of the Uinta County museum board. 

Charlene is preceded in death by her husband, Jerry Parker; her parents and two sisters, Lois Louise Brixey Hayes and Doris Ruth Brixey French. She is also preceded in death by her brother PFC Lloyd Aaron Brixey, Jr. who was killed in the battle of Saipan on June 24, 1944.

Charlene is survived by her family; Bruce Brixey Parker and his wife Becki and their children Jessee, Matthew and Aaron Parker and Michaela, Jacki and Kati Rathbun; Jerri Kim Parker; and Trish Parker Dinnel and her husband Don and their children Dusty and Kaila Dinnel.

Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m., July 29, at the Evanston City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations in her memory to the Shrinersʼ Hospitals for Children, Fairfax Road at Virginia Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84103, would be very appreciated.

Hey folks,

We're coming home in August to visit friends and family in Colorado and Wyoming. Here is a calendar of our itinerary. Drop me a line if you're interested in getting together while we're home.

Lisa Clausen, a dear friend, mentor and teacher, died this week. Here's the e-mail Tom sent around the newsroom:

Lisa Clausen died about 10 a.m this morning of a rare form of cancer she had been battling for more than a year. Lisa was a design editor at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and a member of the '06-'07 group of Knight visiting professionals to our school. She was a terrific editor, and always brought a smile into the newsroom with her.

Indeed, Lisa was pretty awesome. I learned a lot from her in the year she spent here. It was the year I felt I really came into my own as a journalist, and I have Lisa to thank for helping me get there.

The '06-'07 school year was crazy. We relaunched our Saturday publication, changing it from a weekly 8-page broadsheet into our flagship print product, the Weekend Missourian. We also relaunched our Web site and began moving operations for it to the copy desk. And on top of that, we were short handed much of the time, with one editor out with health problems and another with family issues. When you're a staff of 3, losing 2 editors can sure take it out of a department.

Meanwhile, I was in just my second year at the school, and I was still coming to grips with my new profession. I was in such awe of the Missouri School of Journalism the first year, I felt like a fraud. I thought any minute they'll realize they goofed up by hiring this guy from some hick newspaper back west. I was a little more comfortable the second year, but now I had new fears -- I was one of the primary players on the relaunch of ColumbiaMissourian.com, and that was going to be a load of responsibility.

I was overwhelmed. On top of that, Lisa was going to be the other instructor for the beginning design class, and I was scared to work with her. I mean, here is someone who talks about design like I talk about pro wrestling. She was a national leader in her field, and I was a self-taught designer still getting over the fact they had hired me for this gig.

But somehow, I impressed her. Even when I was a grumpy asshole, she was somehow able to get me to snap out of it. She and I had long talks on the weekends about design and how to best teach it, and I gained important new insights. I developed a better appreciation for typography. I learned how to better use white space. I found myself inspired. And I became a better teacher and a better journalist because I spent that time with her.

Lisa was a quiet force in our newsroom. She never got stressed out or upset, never complained about staying late or coming in early. She was able to leave work at work and enjoy her many friends, her interests, and Steve the dog. She was always willing to lend a helping hand, a sympathetic ear or talk through an idea. She inspired grand ideas in our design and in our journalism.

I was sad when she left. I wanted to throw her a goodbye party, but she wouldn't hear of it. When I heard she'd be coming back a month later to help us brainstorm at a week-long editors' retreat, I got very excited to see my friend and mentor again. But she canceled at the last minute, and it was the last time I heard of her potentially coming to town.

Word got out about her cancer last fall, and I sent her a heartfelt e-mail about how sorry I was to hear the prognosis, that I would always appreciate how much she taught me and that if there was anything I could do, to please let me know. She wrote back once, ignoring the any mention of cancer and saying we should keep in touch. It was the last time I heard from her.

I sent a few more e-mails, mostly updates on how things were going with my wife's pregnancy and how things were at the paper. She never wrote back. But I kept e-mailing her up until about six months ago, hoping that reading them would make her happy.


I'll miss you, Lisa. You were a wonderful friend and mentor, not just to me but to an entire army of journalists. You may no longer be of this Earth, but your spirit lives on in many, many people.

I am very ready for a week in the Rockies. The weather in Missouri has turned to Misery the last few days, with temperatures in the 90s and stifling humidity. And it's probably only going to get worse between now and the first of October.

Fortunately, we'll get a week reprieve from the nastiness of hot, hot heat when we come home next month for Amber's wedding.

There will be a lot of people to see and plenty of friends and family are dying to meet Audrianna. Jenny and I will be setting up an itinerary for this trip that I'll post here on the blog. We want to see as many people as possible, but we also need to limit how much we're driving. In the past, we've just driven home and played every day by ear. But with gas at $4 a gallon and an infant in tow, I think a schedule is the way to go.

Our first priority out there will be Amber's wedding and all the wedding-related activities. Second priority is introducing Audrey to family and friends she hasn't met yet, especially Grandma Penni. With any luck, there will be a good Vonnegut show to catch while we're out there too.

We plan to leave on Friday, Aug. 15. The wedding is the following Friday, Aug. 22. After the wedding, we'll probably head out the next day since we both have to be back on Monday for work.