Friday, September 11: Working but Not Much. The Blues at 7:22pm

Morning. I got up @ 6:35 am. I went to bed at a decent hour which was very helpful to me. I found

Here it Comes

myself distracted at the meeting this morning. I got a disturbing text from a friend of mine who might

Coffee and the Phone

lose his job. Another friend of mine has been having issues w his sobriety it appears to be a time of

Cute Dog at La Colombe

change. I would not know it by how hot it has been for the last 3 weeks. Well it work it was crazy busy.

Cold-Looking

I had crazy phone calls and demands. Got more work and I still have to clean up the stuff I wanted to clean

It's September Again

up today. Is now 1:19 PM I got a really nice photo from Amy. It's not raining but it it's overcast. I had the

I am NOT There Right Now. It is Daunting

best egg sausage and cheese bagel sandwich ever. It really filled me up good!

After lunch I continued

Workin it 4 Da Hood

to plug away at work and got rid of the award that I got. I definitely don't have an excuse not to do my

Taking The EL to Downtown

packets on Monday. Tuesday is my supervisor interview downtown @ 3 PM and then when you go

My Fave Shot of City Hall

to shop Monday. Well apparently when I mentioned portable boyfriends I hadn't realized that being portable is in in with the millennials that dominate Fairmount and parts of Center City. 636 I'm sitting at the

St. Marks

Starbucks people watching and being very tired drinking an ice coffee.

I HAD to MOVE!

 I don't know I feel like not doing very much.

My Mood

It's a nice day and it's not hot here. I don't even feel like calling the 2 women I really don't feel like making

A Forgone Figure in the World

a big effort. One of them said to me this week that she didn't want to be packing now but would like to go

Are You watching

to events with her. I meet all kinds. When having one of my parties but I am not up for renting a car driving

A Bright Spot in My World

all the way down there. I just keep doing that same stuff over again. I feel good for a while & then I get in a

mood. I know I just have to let it be and it will go away. I have to accept it and let it pass. it's really  a pain and a bore😣 I think this point that I found on

My Route Home

Instagram pretty much sez it all. While I was moping? the 

48 came very quickly to my bus stop. I jumped

Market Street

in the bus and I must've looked pretty scary with my grumpy face going on😟! When looking forward

to going home and talking with Sharon. She takes my mind off my inner sanctum. I suppose I could invite somebody to want to go to want to events listed on

On the 48

the WHYY  newsworks website hopefull she will like them. I'll just send

Arriving Home

him the link shortened by Bitly!! http://bit.ly/1FCO6yO

Bit.ly really shorten tha link that must've been fine wines long.

I  came home and chilled out with Sharon. We both decided that we go out and we went to

Sharon and Customer

Rembrandts. I had a portobello steak. It was good  Phillies are

Walmart Delivery

losing to the Chicago Cubs 6-2 in the 6th inning. Sharon's bed order came in in 2 days. She is waiting for the frame to come in.

Matt and Tanya Get Married!!

Saturday May 18th. It was time for Matt and Tanya to get married.

Matt Signing the Ketubah

It was planned and now was the time.I never been to a Jewish wedding before. The wedding was very nice. It was a traditional Jewish marriage with the wedding canopy of silken cloth above the bride and groom.

This is called the Chuppah. This is symbolic of the new home the couple will make. I will let a better authority called the Jewish Wedding Glossary describe it for you:

The Chuppah, or wedding canopy, is a covering, often cloth, held aloft on four poles. The Chuppah is symbolic of the first roof the bride and groom share together, representing their new home. That there are no walls in this new home, encourages the couple to follow in the ways of Abraham and Sarah, whose tent was always open to guests.

I was one of the 2 witness to sign the  Ketubah (literally the marriage contract). Cindy and I signed the Ketubah just before  wedding

the ceremony. That was really very solemn and I was touched that I was chosen to sign it. Here is a description from the Jewish Wedding Glossary:

Traditionally spells out the husband’s obligation to his wife, everything from sustaining her with basic necessities to honoring and cherishing her. Additionally, the traditional Ketubah discusses how the husband must support his wife during their lives together

The ceremony was direct and to the point with the Cantor reading in Hebrew and English. I was up on Seven Circles I have heard about this but had never seen it before. It was nice to see Tanya circle around Matt. Again, I will turn to the Jewish Wedding Glossary for the symbolism of this tradition.

Where the Wedding Took Place 

the platform with Cindy and her daughter as well as Matt's younger son. One of the unique parts of the wedding is where the bide circles the groom 7 times. This is called the Seven Circles 

The custom of the bride circling the groom seven times is rich with symbolism. The following is a sampling of the meaningful interpretations that have been ascribed to this custom :
1) This parallels the seven days of creation, and symbolizes the fact that the bride and groom are about to create their own “new world” together.
2) Seven circles correspond to the seven times in the Torah where it is written “…and when a man takes a wife.”
3) When Joshua led the Children of Israel in the battle for the city of Jericho, he was instructed to circle the city seven times, resulting in the walls of the city crumbling. As two people enter into marriage, they face the challenge of breaking down the “walls” that may exist between them.

Witness Signature

 Last but NOT least there is The Breaking of the Glass. This is in my mind that the marriage is How Stuff Works. Its a pretty good description of what I witnessed at the wedding.

Tanya and her Father.

official and the celebration for the couple begins.  Here is a good description from a site called

Matt and Sons!

After the groom places a ring on the finger of his bride, he stomps on a glass wrapped in a napkin or cloth.breaking the glass is extremely symbolic. It echoes the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and reminds the newlyweds and all the guests of the commandment in Psalms 137:6 to "set Jerusalem above my highest joy," even in the happiest of times

There were about 40 people there. When Matt stomped on the glass the assembled exclaimed MAZEL TOV! That was way fun! Here is the meaning of Mazel Tov!

Congratulations!!! :)

It's a blessing and congratulatory statement that essentially means good luck. It can be given at any time, but most non-Jews are familiar with its role in weddings.

Fun After the Wedding

They have some nice friends and the people were nice to me.  It Siouxie and the Banshees in the synagogue that's pretty funky. In my case finding myself dancing to their song "Kiss Them for Me" with a nice

Stepping Lively

was interesting  to listen to the likes of New Order and

Having fun with Patricia

woman having fun while negative thoughts of WXPN playing this son TO DEATH. Also being fired from a volunteer position with the station. Geez.. hearing Michela Majoun still makes me gag! Umm... resentment much? So, enough about my issues back to the wedding!

Reception!!

It was a nice fun wedding and the first one I have been in YEARS! Its the first time I have seen Matt since he was last married in the year 2000!!

 I put up photos on Facebook that I hope folks will like. I was bummed that I had to leave early in the morning yesterday at 8 am. Matt dropped  me off on his way to work to work. The ride home

The DJ

was not bad since I got to sleep and well that is a new entry for this blogger. Good luck Matt and Tanya, I will see you in NYC later this Summer!!

"Steane"r and her Son

Prelude to a Wedding!

Matt and I at His Job.

This is the blog entry about this weekend just before the wedding of Matt Strobel and Tanya Kelly which is today at 8 PM

Matt and Tanya

I've landed in Portland Maine at the Portland Maine Greyhound bus terminal. Its located on St. John Street and some other intersection. It is at least 15° colder  than in Philly I am really glad  I brought my warm clothes and not my shorts!! I must say the bus trip was long and kind of miserable because I was ill. I had to blow my nose all the time and 2 out of the 3  Read more here.)  At least the last bus wasn't packed!! I had all this room in the bus  and it was just cool man.

Goth Night

buses were PACKED!! On the bus from New York to Boston, I was the LAST person on the bus and the driver left 6 minutes EARLY.(

Tanya and her friend Cindy are picked me up and we grabbed a bite to eat and coffee at a coffee place in town.  Cindy drove us though downtown and then we met up with Matt who was working. He was in the middle of mowing the church lawn.  the adventure begins hope you get some coffee
Joke of the day-

Thai Tea!

and some food    I am for now in the land of lobsters.

What is the difference b/t a hillbilly wedding and a hillbilly funeral?

One less drunk at the funeral.

OK. The bride and groom are getting last minute stuff for the wedding. I am in the Jewish ceremony. We had a fun nite at this

nightclub's Goth night. It was not hard-core so I could mix in a bit. I did do some dancing around like a white man can do. Some of the folks had some funny costumes..eh clothes on! One woman was dressed

in a 50's country outfit doing the Rockabilly look and some dude had HUGE  aviator

Wadsworth Statue in Downtown Portland

goggles on and hitting on various women including the Rockabilly woman. I was the old dude at this gig. My friend could not believe I had fun there w/o drinking. I just said it was practice! 

Arnold Palmer Iced Tea!

We all crashed at 2:30 and I slept in till 11:30 this morning. If I get this blog done I am going to walk to downtown Portland or I might nap for awhile. You know what?? I did NEITHER! Ha!!! Ha!! I am listening to the Beatles, lying on a couch, charging my phone and computer. I am writing this blog as well. Of course I am checking out the email and the Facebook. It is a cool sunny day in Yarmouth Maine today. 

How are you this weekend in Philadelphia?  You know something. It's pretty chilly here this early afternoon. It's already 4 Pm and Matt and Tanya are

The synagogue

My Blogging Station

going to be back in 20 minutes.  Its been a long time since I have been to a wedding. In 1994 I went to 5 weddings including my very own. Boy life has changed. I mean I was at Matt's first wedding back in the year 2000 and now they expect 40-50 people there and all (except a few of us) are friends that Tanya and Matt know in Maine. Well got to fly now and shower cause they are going to running around and showering and getting wedding nerves.