...aside from my generally uneven temper lately, that is - which is likely to become more uneven, alas. I've been involved in deep and secret plans for the last month, you see. I've been plotting, scheming, conniving, making furtive calls, marshalling my forces, and weaving a web of innuendo and artifice - and it all came to fruition tonight.
She said Yes.
Still, now that my girlfriend has decided to be my fiancee, my life gets still more hectic; God only knows when I'm going to have time to blog, although I intend to be here for Election Night coverage. I forsee being even more of a big knot o'stress until the holidays.
So it goes; I still ouldn't have it any other way. Well, any other way that didn't have her saying yes.
Moe
PS: No, the wedding will not be liveblogged. I ain't even gonna ask.
Fucking awesome. Congratulations, Moe.
Posted by: Iron Lungfish | September 24, 2004 at 10:12 PM
Yay! Congratulations.
Posted by: hilzoy | September 24, 2004 at 10:12 PM
Ah. My apologies for accidentally violating posting rules.
Posted by: Iron Lungfish | September 24, 2004 at 10:13 PM
congratulations.
spouses make politics seem stupid.
Posted by: cleek | September 24, 2004 at 10:15 PM
Way to go, moe!
Posted by: mac | September 24, 2004 at 10:23 PM
Congratulations, Moe!
Posted by: Slartibartfast | September 24, 2004 at 10:35 PM
As soon as you made the hiatus official, I was pretty sure I knew what you were up to. And you know what? Iron Lungfish is right: F***ing A!
Or, in more refined terms, congratulations!
Posted by: Anarch | September 24, 2004 at 10:38 PM
Congratulations, Moe.
Posted by: Bernard Yomtov | September 24, 2004 at 10:47 PM
Thanks for the kind words, everybody. Here's hoping that I'll be less stressed - and thus, less grumbly - now... :)
Posted by: Moe Lane | September 24, 2004 at 10:55 PM
From the far-from-restful maelstrom of my own hiatus, I just have to drop in and say congrats. That's a lucky lady.
Posted by: Jordan | September 24, 2004 at 11:00 PM
That's awesome, Moe, all the best.
(I'd been hoping it was the Redskins thing, tho...)
Posted by: kenB | September 24, 2004 at 11:11 PM
Mazel Tov Moe and ...er...the future Mrs. Moe!
Posted by: Edward | September 24, 2004 at 11:15 PM
Congratulations, Moe. :)
Posted by: Chris Anthony | September 24, 2004 at 11:19 PM
I have to really question your priorities here, Moe. Engagement and married life over blogging? What's up with that?
;-)
P.S.: the obvious sentiment, and mazel tov, besides.
Posted by: Gary Farber | September 24, 2004 at 11:19 PM
Congratulations!
The remainder of my heavy drinking tonight will be in your honor.
Posted by: sidereal | September 25, 2004 at 12:12 AM
Congratulations!
I forsee being even more of a big knot o'stress until the holidays.
Heh. Three of my friends have gotten engaged recently, so I can say this from direct observation: Unless you're getting married this winter, you're gonna be a big knot o' stress until the wedding day.
Posted by: Josh | September 25, 2004 at 12:37 AM
Congratulations.
I hope I won't be giving anything away if I say "good deal" that Britney has already made it clear she is a republican. Also, I bet you were sweating some bullets until that US magazine article saying she wasn't really already married. (The parents wouldn't have looked too kindly on polygamy I'm guessing.)
Is "Spears" a northern Irish name?
Again, congratulations.
ps. when's the baby due?
Posted by: carsick | September 25, 2004 at 01:24 AM
Congratulations! Everything you've said about her makes her seem wonderful, which is a testament both to her and to your love. Way to go.
Posted by: carpeicthus | September 25, 2004 at 01:26 AM
Congratulations. I wish for everything for the both of you to be better than you could possibly imagine.
Posted by: Sebastian Holsclaw | September 25, 2004 at 02:45 AM
Congrats to you both.
So I'm thinking of asking my gf, who seems likely to be receptive; but she doesn't (I happen to know) want a diamond engagement ring. Are there any good and fashionable alternatives out there which are affordable on a poet's salary?
Posted by: rilkefan | September 25, 2004 at 02:49 AM
Oh, that's so exciting. Congratulations.
rilkefan, mine was about two weeks salary for a grad student and is be-yooty-ful. Emerald cut sapphire, two diamond chips (if those are all right), white gold band. I also know some folks who have been quite pleased with antique rings, if conflict diamonds etc. are the issue.
Posted by: Katherine | September 25, 2004 at 02:57 AM
Congratulations!
May you both live as long as you love, and love as long as you live.
Posted by: Jesurgislac | September 25, 2004 at 03:26 AM
Katherine Regina speaks sooth when it comes to sapphire; I went with one on white gold (we were already saving up for a house, so most of the ring money went into that, at her insistence), and she loved it. If you live in the DC area, rilkefan, I probably have the business card around here somewhere...
Posted by: Moe Lane | September 25, 2004 at 05:53 AM
Oh, yes: a second round of thank yous from us for the kind thoughts and wishes. A picture of the - I believe that the word is bling-bling? - will be available for your delectation and assessment just as soon as we get one taken and scanned.
Posted by: Moe Lane | September 25, 2004 at 06:05 AM
Congratulations Moe! My weddingday was so beautifull that ever since I cry at every wedding ;-). Hope yours will be as wonderfull - though you might want to skip the crying bit ;-)
Posted by: dutchmarbel | September 25, 2004 at 06:24 AM
I know this is highly unoriginal, but congratulations, Moe. Does this make your fiancee a member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy or does that require a secret ballot?
Posted by: Backword Dave | September 25, 2004 at 07:49 AM
I know this is highly unoriginal, but congratulations, Moe. Does this make your fiancee a member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy or does that require a secret ballot?
Posted by: Backword Dave | September 25, 2004 at 07:51 AM
Bravo!!!! Vive les mariés!!
Posted by: loulou | September 25, 2004 at 10:12 AM
Moe, I'm in the Bay area, or I'd stand you a drink.
Katherine, she doesn't own a single ring, so I already have the difficulty of determining the right size without spoiling the surprise - but I'll take a look at some sapphires when I manage to sneak off.
Posted by: rilkefan | September 25, 2004 at 11:27 AM
Congrats, Moe. That's one fine GM you've snagged.
Posted by: Jennifer | September 25, 2004 at 11:36 AM
Congratulations to the both of you -- she did pretty well in the deal, too, I think. :)
Posted by: Michael N. | September 25, 2004 at 12:03 PM
PS: No, the wedding will not be liveblogged. I ain't even gonna ask.
Oh come on, don't let that stop you. I'm sure She Who May Already Be Being Obeyed But Who It Will Become Necessary To Obey won't object to 30-odd strangers offering their services out of the blue. Just tell her it's a quaint local custom that goes back hundreds of days and be done with it.
Posted by: Anarch | September 25, 2004 at 12:36 PM
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Best wishes to both of you.
Posted by: Opus | September 25, 2004 at 12:47 PM
Congratulations, Moe. Thanks for letting us in on it.
Someone set up a ObWi blogger wedding present PayPal account?
Posted by: double-plus-ungood | September 25, 2004 at 12:55 PM
Congratulations!
May your joint life be long and happy.
Posted by: Tony Zbaraschuk | September 25, 2004 at 02:18 PM
Great stuff, Moe. When's she starting blogging?
Posted by: James Casey | September 25, 2004 at 04:51 PM
Congratulations and best wishes to you and your fiancee.
Posted by: JKC | September 25, 2004 at 05:58 PM
Good show, Moe!
How many guests can I bring to the weddin'?:)
Posted by: Navy Davy | September 25, 2004 at 06:51 PM
Congratulations, Moe! It couldn't have happened to a nicer fella.
Posted by: Dave Schuler | September 25, 2004 at 09:16 PM
Congratulations Moe, and best wishes.
but she doesn't (I happen to know) want a diamond engagement ring. Are there any good and fashionable alternatives out there which are affordable on a poet's salary?
Try a ruby. They were the standard engagement stone (at least before DeBeers got involved).
Posted by: crionna | September 25, 2004 at 10:18 PM
"Are there any good and fashionable alternatives out there which are affordable on a poet's salary?"
Simple gold bands are the classic answer I'm familiar with.
Posted by: Gary Farber | September 25, 2004 at 10:26 PM
Yay! Yahoo! and Congratulations!
I'll save up for plane tickets for both of you when the topic of eloping comes up.
Posted by: Cameron | September 25, 2004 at 11:11 PM
Congatulations Moe.
A few tips:
1) It will cost more than you think.
1a) No, more than that.
2) You'll plot it all out in painstaking detail, work out every single thing that can happen and come up with ingenious contingency plans to cope with it all, and you'll still be running around like a crazy person a week before the event. So don't stress out about it until then, because it won't save you stress on the day. Just relax and let whatever is going to happen, happen.
3) Generally speaking, sex makes up for in-laws.
4) It's a big party celebrating a new shared future, not an obligation. Also, it's day one, and therefore pretty damn unimportant compared to days two->infinity. Have a drink, relax, enjoy yourself.
5) Never listen to advice you read on the internet.
All that being said, more power to your elbow, and I wish you and the soon-to-be Mrs Lane (assuming you're taking that route) all possible happiness in the future.
Posted by: McDuff | September 26, 2004 at 03:31 PM
Congratulations, Moe!
Posted by: Matt Weiner | September 26, 2004 at 04:49 PM
Oh, damn. And here I thought I was being...I dunno, maybe not original, but perhaps novel.
Nearly twelve years ago I decided that the incredibly beautiful and intelligent redhead I was dating was, amazingly (and despite my recent decision to the effect that no such thing existed) my ideal mate. Not being one to latch on to the ads professing that you should part with N months' salary in buying the engagement ring (N being some number greater than three), and being generally disdainful of the Great Diamond Fraud, I thought: hey! sapphires are beautiful!
So I started looking. Nothing looked even remotely right. Then, one day, I walked into a local jeweler and asked to see what they had in sapphires, and they happened to have some unmounted stones. I don't recall whether they showed me any other stones that day; all I recall is The One. The 1.75 marquis-cut Ceylon sapphire, gorgeous in color and clarity. It looked way too big, at first. But then I got to thinking, and I pretty much designed a ring to spec on the spot. The result: I paid more money than I'd imagined I would pay for the diamond solitaire, but wow. That's what she said, too: wow.
And wow it ought to have been. The sapphire wasn't all that dear, but I thought: gold is too soft to keep a stone like that from falling out; let's use platinum. Oh, and a triangular-cut diamond on each side would be nice, too. Wound up spending as much as I would on a solitaire. The effect was much better, though.
After I picked up the ring, I walked around with it in my pocket for weeks, waiting for the proper moment to arrive. We were invited to a wedding, and I thought: sure. Sure, we'll be dancing and it'll be all romantic, and I'll just sort of lay it on her. Oops. Not that kind of wedding. The bridesmaids were all wearing different dresses, and I swear they were all professionals of some unromantic art or other. I despaired.
Then, on the way home, I thought: let's have dinner at our favorite restaurant, which was also the place of our first date. Even after I ordered champagne, I was able to achieve surprise. She cried, the waitress cried, and gave us a copy of the menu with our booth number and date written on it. A dozen years and two kids later, I wouldn't have done it any other way.
Again, congrats Moe.
Oh, and please petition President Bush to stop with the hurricanes already. It's getting old.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | September 26, 2004 at 10:36 PM
Slarti, that story is lovely. Thanks for sharing. (I've got tears in my eyes now: don't tell anyone!) I've got the plain gold ring that was my great-grandmother's, left to me for the future Mrs Jesurgislac, and *that's* what I plan to use if I ever meet my ideal mate, but I can't imagine a better beginning to a long family tradition than yours.
Moe, congratulations again, to you and to your fiance.
Posted by: Jesurgislac | September 27, 2004 at 05:01 AM
Oh, and please petition President Bush to stop with the hurricanes already. It's getting old.
You have had much much more than your share already.
Glad to see you have the electricity to blog though Slarti.
e
Posted by: Edward | September 27, 2004 at 09:13 AM
Slart, I don't run my life anything like that successfully - I no longer even aspire to. But maybe I'll take a shot in the general direction.
Posted by: rilkefan | September 27, 2004 at 02:34 PM
Jesurgislac:
Thanks. Sometimes I think I'm one of two people who appreciated it. I think there's a lot to be said for tradition (although not to the Fiddler on a Roof extent).
Edward:
Check the date. I posted that before the hurricane hit. We were, fortunately, only without power for about fourteen hours. And I spent most of yesterday cleaning up and removing the top of my remaining oak tree, which was prevented from falling through my roof only by the gentle support of the branches underneath. Thirty-plus feet up, no harness, with a chainsaw.
rilkefan:
I can only claim dumb luck. My life has been a series of near disasters, punctuated by the best of possible circumstances. Planning and forethought have had next to nothing to do with it. Actually, the wife is the planning type. Come to think of it, she's fully capable of dropping some subliminally suggestive hints. Well, it's the result that counts.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | September 28, 2004 at 08:42 AM
Yikes, Slarti.
Again, glad to hear you're OK...let's hope that's it for this season, eh?
I hear Wyoming is lovely.
Posted by: Edward | September 28, 2004 at 08:58 AM
Idaho. Nothing ever happens in Idaho.
Right now, there's far too many people saying they'll move out of state, and far too few actually doing so.
Posted by: Slartibartfast | September 28, 2004 at 10:15 AM
Dude.
Dude.
Nicely done. And congratulations. May your lives be long, your love be longer, and your mortgage payments surprisingly affordable.
Posted by: Eric Burns | September 28, 2004 at 11:12 AM