A great weekend! Mali’s party was excellent as always!

Sunday was the long-awaited wedding of two wonderful friends from Blackhole, the social group I lived with at MIT. Chris and Meghan were always a social nexus of that group, and their wedding was a Blackhole reunion like I’ve never seen. It was so great to catch up with the people who made my MIT experience.

The wedding itself was beautiful. The day was perfect, and the brief ceremony was held outdoors. Each bridesmaid and groomsman wielded a rapier, and after the vows raised them to form a tunnel of swords for the newly joined couple to pass through.

More than anything, it was fun! The soundtrack was filled with video game music, and the speeches spotted with gaming and MIT references. It felt wonderful to unabashedly geek about grad school, or software architecture, or the circuit boards that were at the tables with a wedding dedication on one side and a programmable radio receiver on the other, or the meticulously crafted video game mascot at each table. We couldn’t stop laughing during the MIT affiliates picture, and even broke out in a spontaneous few verses from the MIT Drinking Song. The bouquet and garter tosses were packed, but not so packed or excited as the thesis toss, in which Chris threw his thesis title page, and it’s said that whoever catches it will be the next to graduate.

Later in the evening, the dance floor was dominated by MIT folk, and every dance become a game by the second verse. For me, the song of the night was Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer. This is a special time for the greater Blackhole group, a few years out of college and finding our footing in the world, and growing into ourselves in fits and starts. We’re half way there. It doesn’t matter if we make it or not– we’ve got each other and that’s a lot. Take my hand and we’ll make it I swear.