BKF: Once a bridesmaid...

I know that the post about my trip back to Texas for my friend's wedding is long overdue. However, I have been revitalized (in spite of recent dramatic events in the Quest for Housing 2008) with regard to giving my beloved blog some much-needed attention. Therefore, I would like to discuss my latest BKFs (Big Kid Firsts, for those of you new to Wuthering Life):

1. Being a bridesmaid
2. Catching that oh-so-prophetic bouquet
3. Being a chauffeur for a day

With regard to the first item on the list, I found it almost exactly as I expected it. As the surrogate younger sister to the bride and best friend of the maid of honor, I made mad dashes to various stores for various forgotten items, convinced the bride that she deserved to take a break and get a manicure, and stood at the front of the church to witness her blessed union under the watchful eyes of Jesus and a bunch of people I'd never even seen before.

It felt like what I imagine (as it is all I can do) being in the homecoming court but not receiving the crown must feel like. On the one hand, it was a honor to be nominated, yadda yadda yadda. But the day wasn't about me. So why did I have to get up that damn early to make my hair do things it never ever does in real life? Well, it did give me an excuse to buy an incredibly hot pair of Guess pumps that I would never have allowed myself for everyday use and to wear a fancy gown, with tool and boning and a cute little bow. Oh yeah, and did I mention that it was an honor?

Moving on to item number two... ugh, must I? How about I keep this short and sweet. Oooh. Bullets!

• There were a grand total of SIX single girls at the reception (including the nine-year-old flower girl).
• We left the tossing bouquet (yes, there was a special bouquet made solely for this purpose and we forgot it) in the trunk of the car.
• I was the only bridesmaid to bring her bouquet to the reception.
• My bouquet got tossed.
• It headed right for the very small group of single girls.
• Everyone else leaned away.
• Some stupid, treacherous, traditional (did I mention STUPID?) part of me saw the bouquet falling and felt that it must certainly be horrible bad luck to just let it fall.
• I reached out and caught it.

For all of the reasons listed above, I feel very strongly that catching that bouquet means NOTHING. Strangely, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or nothing.

Finally, I was a chauffeur for a day. I drove the bride and groom around all day. There really isn't much I can say about this BKF other than to pose a question. Have you ever tried climbing in and out of a driver's seat with yards and yards of satin and tool layering your body? It. Is. Not. Fun.

And that, in a nutshell, was my trip. But it was great to see the area again (in the "oh look, I almost forgot about that place/thing/person"). Maybe that's another BKF...

Quickly before I go to Texas...

I know that it is election season and that you've probably been innudated with "VOTE" campaigns, but I have another vote I would like you to participate in.

A friend of my company--Liz McCartney, the co-director/founder of the St. Bernard Project--is a CNN Hero Semi-finalist for 2008. She won $25,000 and is now one of 10 who will be honored in Hollywood on Thanksgiving night at 9:00 p.m. (EST) at a red carpet event. Through a voting campaign, a grand winner will be announced at the November 22 event. This person will win $100,000. Needless to say, Liz has already donated her $25,000 award to the St. Bernard Project and will do the same if she wins the $100,000.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would go check out the CNN Heroes Web site and cast your vote (preferrably for Liz and the great work she is doing to help victims of Hurricane Katrina!)

Character Profile: Kainin Demouban

The character profile series (started by this post) continues with a request from my Kage-chan, to take a look at Kainin, the villain of a fantasy novel, which I worked on several years ago, that is dead (as opposed to shelved like SOC). Sad, no?

About Kainin: Kainin was a genius inventor and scorned ex-cop of the Intergalactic Police Force in his mid-thirties. He was the universe's most wanted criminal, and he had used his evil genius to create a time machine that would take him back to medieval Earth, where he could rule as a God among men because of his superior technical knowledge. His perfect plan was complicated by the tenacious protagonist, but they both wound up in an unknown world had had to forge a very shaky alliance to survive.

a. What initially prompted me to write about him. I needed an antagonist to get my protagonist to this other world. When my protagonist walked into Kainin's laboratory, Kainin was just...there.
b. One of his best traits. He was a genius--one that was capable not only of understanding scientific and technical things, but also of reading and manipulating people. It was a very useful tool in his arsenal.
c. One of his worst traits. He was a self-serving, manipulative jerk. I'd say that was worst.
d. How easy/difficult I find it to write him. I found it difficult, only because I didn't want him to come across as cliched or archetypal. He was easy to understand, but difficult to get across uniquely.
e. The moment where I feel that I truly captured him. I wrote very little of this story. I don't know that I ever truly captured him.
f. My plans to write him in the near future. Unfortunately, Kainin will not be coming back to the world in this form. Kage-chan has adopted him and is using a mutated version of him in her manga. Kainin also served as an unconscious model for the main villain of ANJIDIA. So, I suppose that he will be with us in spirit always.