Friday Happy: Somebody’s Getting Married

In honor of Jim Faber, who’s whose [christ, who edits this thing?] wedding I am sadly unable to attend this weekend due to a multitude of reasons having to do with Obama’s universal airplane ticket coverage plan being stalled in the Congress and precluding my travel to Houston.

But happy wedding anyway, Fay Bear. And here’s hoping uncle Cookie Monster doesn’t get all wacked out again on double-stuffed metheos and ruin yet another touching affair.

Jim is getting married to Jenny. They both met here where they worked. Their first date was at a gelato shop. A year later, Faber proposed outside the same gelato shop. They often took weekend dates here.

Somewhere in between there was a brief discussion about Faber learning to throw a spear and his utter defeat in his campaign to have ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” as their wedding song (also his ringtone).

During this time, I and a few other people at the Packet kept a secret blog chronicling our life as tourists in the United States of Jim. It was called Weekdays with Faber, and included this post from the always perceptive Justin Paprocki:

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Fabler

The sound of one hand slapping

Faber and I passed in the newsroom today. He raised his hand in the international gesture of the high five. We slapped hands, producing a sound similar to when a quarter pound of cold cuts is dropped from an average height onto a linoleum floor. A faint sound, yet still adequate. However, a miscommunication arose. Faber then swung his hand in a downward fashion, intending to hit hands on the “flipside.” This move is known as the “windmill” and was popularized in the hit film Top Gun. I was not expecting the “windmill” and did not have my hand ready to receive his. Instead, his hand smacked my buttock.

I was startled slightly, and Faber was quick to apologize. He explained that he thought that I had a “look in my eye” that indicated I was preparing for the flipside. I explained that, at that time, I was unprepared for such activity. We then did two “windmills” to satisfaction and went about our day. We haven’t spoken since about the episode.

Happy wedding Jenny and Jim!