Month: May 2015

Congratulations to my dear, dear friend Saket who married an absolutely lovely lady this past weekend.

It took a lot of convincing to get Micky comfortable with me going, and I’m so glad I pulled it off.  You see, Micky and I lay claim to convincing Saket to ask Chrissy out. There was this one night in August of 2011. Saket was heading to Chicago to go to a music festival with his sister Sapana (who I finally met by the way). We were talking about life, obligation, happiness, collateral damage, and risks worth taking. Our lives parallel in so many ways, and so if there were ever a mirror in which I could talk and hear my reflection give me sound advice it would be in Saket. I hope I do the same thing for him.

And so Saket started his adventure that night. I’ll leave the details between those who know, but that journey led to a cross country red-eye, a great Southern lunch with my amazing brother, this genuine, honest, and beautiful cross-cultural wedding ceremony, a quietly amazing musical performance, and a tired flight home to my babies (who by the way wanted to know why they weren’t allowed to come to Uncle Saket’s wedding).

Photo gallery here:

Beyond just being present in the ceremony, Saket asked me to give a toast as well. I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but it took me most of the dinner to write it down, practice it in my head, and not screw it up when I was in front of the crowd. Some tears made it out, but they were genuinely tears of joy.

Congratulations Saket. I hope as your journey continues it’s as wonderful as the moments you created for us this lovely weekend past.

I’m in Nashville for the next two days for Doruk’s graduation. It’s been a quick three years of law school, and now he’s getting ready for a big adventure in Brooklyn as a real estate lawyer. I’m incredibly proud of him. I’ll do a larger Nashville post Friday night/Saturday morning (with appropriate food shots of course).

But I realized tonight just how polarizing my love/hate relationship is with the South.

I love the food. It’s not good for your health, but it’s great for your soul. It’s made with love, and it may shorten your life, but it fills it with joy.

I love the kindness. People treat each other well. Please and thank you are standard. You say sir and ma’m where it’s appropriate.

I hate the racism. It’s rampant, and it’s everywhere. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

I hate the narrow mindedness. Folks are proud to be ignorant; proud to be backwards; and proud of their inability to change.

I love the music. I love country music. The instruments are played exceptionally. The lyrics are stories about real life.

I hate the religious fervor. It’s the most false form of Christianity possible.

But when the siren sings her song I come back. I chase my sweet tea. I eat my BBQ brisket and chicken. Then look across the railroad tracks and see all the things that are broken. And it’s as if the siren has crashed me against the rocks leaving me to drown at sea.

I love gambling.

I love gambling on horses. I think it’s a ton of fun. And the babies are pretty into it too. I think Micky likes it as well, but she won’t admit that she likes it 🙂

And so we headed over to Golden Gate Fields today to get our Kentucky Derby on. We swung by Berkeley Hats first to get the right attire, and then ran smack into a crazy mass of humanity all there to dress up fancy, wear cool headgear, and enjoy the races.

The food was decadent.

The gambling wasn’t so good 🙂 But Amelia did have a winner, and she was so excited! She turned $2 into $4. I turned more than that into less than that 🙂 Oh well, we had a wonderful time, and I look forward to doing it again next year.

Amelia winning!