novel wedding vows

bwahahaha. I'm not sure if it's the 2-hours-post-last-finals delerium, but I love the New York Times:

Schott's Vocab: Novel Wedding Vows

“‘I take thee as my lawfully wedded spouse.’

Please Read Carefully:

I MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PROMISE (VOW) (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MY ABILITY TO PERFORM, VULNERABILITY CONTENT, AND INCOME), AND ANY OTHER SERVICE PROVIDED BY ME HEREUNDER, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NONINFRINGEMENT AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING OR COURSE OF PERFORMANCE. I EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY REGARDING THE PERFORMANCE, AVAILABILITY, FUNCTIONALITY, OR ANY OTHER ASPECT OF MYSELF. I will not be liable for any interruptions or errors with regard to my medical condition, family history, or relatives; including any and all children which may be produced as a result of this union.”

Howard G

“@Rev: @rockrgrrrl u take @RickR1982 2 b ur hub? #wedding

@rockrgrrrl: y# wedding

@Rev: u take @rockrgrrrl 2 b ur wf? #wedding

@RickR1982: y #wedding

@Rev: w00t #wedding

@TXMom: <3>

@TXDad: RT @TXMom: <3>

@CoolMom1957: M so happy OMG #wedding

@Freebird: @RickR1982 touch @rockrgrrrl n ur dead lol #wedding”

Tom

“I’m really happy for you and I’ma let you finish, but this here is the best wedding of all time! OF ALL TIME!”

Christine

“Bride is now friends with Groom on Facebook.”

Mark L.

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In other news, am debating getting a twitter. Mindless self-indulgence, but I might get free stuff. If anyone believes to the contrary speak now or forever hold your peace (*snort*)

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ALSO thanks to the New York Times' article link, a fascinating article from the National Journal about "red" and "blue" family structures in America. Looks like it's all about "class" after all (told you so! It's all about class. Everything's always about class, even in the US, even now. I am an unapologetic classist).

As Jonathan Rauch states: "To define the divide in a sentence: In red America, families form adults; in blue America, adults form families."

The thing is, however, that "blue" and "red" do not necessarily refer to states, but to personal ideologies. My extremely socioeconomically diverse high school had both types of social norms. There was even disparity in terms of the working class-- it became less a matter of money and more a matter of culture and education level. Usually poorer, Catholic, predominantly Polish or Hispanic recent immigrant neighborhoods showed the family-form-adults trend, while the protestant and Jewish populations reflected the opposite. In terms of the adults-form-families trend, the races are everywhere-- there's no one way of stereotyping or classifying this except in terms of education level. The only reason that the more conservative alternative seems Polish or Hispanic is only with regards to my personal experience, which is pretty reliable but limited at best.

These conservative types live in a different world-- as Rauch continues, "In this very different world, early family formation is often a calamity. It short-circuits skill acquisition by knocking one or both parents out of school. It carries a high penalty for immature marital judgment in the form of likely divorce. It leaves many young mothers, now bearing both the children and the cultural responsibility for pregnancy, without the option of ever marrying at all."

Yet, it's also frightening: "Culturally, economically, and politically, blue and red families drift further apart as their fortunes diverge." Will the red and blue ever see eye to eye? Are they/we destined to be at utter moral and ethical odds?