Hmm. We might be able to make it a bit later on in the evening. It's going to be a short ceremony and straight into a party, if we have our way. ('Cause, what do you do at a civil partnership ceremony? There's not much in the way of precedent. One hymn for me, one stepping on a glass for her, we pick each other out of the line-up, and we're done. No white dresses, walking up aisles or organ voluntaries, otherwise I shall be sick.)

Of course, that puts you at the mercy of British Rail, so there's another thought.

Nah, this venue is out in the countryside - no station anywhere nearby. We're arranging car-shares for those that don't have transport, which isn't many.

I performed a Friday evening wedding about an hour out of DC a couple of years ago. The coolness of the location (Bayfront property) and the promise of dinner inspired a packed house.

The only bad bit was that it was not far from the highway and, outside on the water. Guests complained that they couldn't hear us as the wind came from behind the crowd and carried the words out to sea. Given the nervousness of the groom, whose arm I pinched mercilessly (at his request) to keep him from weeping, it turned out to be a good thing.

Seska, I'm sorry to hear that that is your experience. Everyone in England has always gone out of their way to be helpful to me.

Everyone here is completely useless, including the administrative office. Luckily there is a nice gentleman from South Africa who is letting me use his portable chair.

You're waiting in line now, sj? And they are continuing to be unhelpful? Bastards.

I would go to a Friday evening wedding. Seska, your ceremony description reminds me of a friends' wedding at which I missed the entire ceremony while I looked for parking. Two minutes late and it was all over. Very fun reception.

Everyone in England has always gone out of their way to be helpful to me.

I've had some good experiences, but they are, sadly, overwhelmingly outweighed by the number of bad experiences. The amount of discrimination and abuse I get on a daily basis in this country never stops surprising me. My personal experience of access and attitudes in the US was generally better than I've experienced here. There, people didn't snap at me when I asked for something to be reached down for me in a store, or refuse to let me on public transit or into cabs, or say "And what the hell do you want me to do about it?" when I pointed out that putting a ramp over a small step benefits a lot of people... But maybe this is a case of knowing your own country's system too well, and being pleasantly surprised by a change of pace somewhere else.

Excited Japanese Fangirl Gives Best Harry Potter Interviews Ever. Dan and Rupert are very good sports, I must say.

Seska, it's awful...and surprising to think that the Brits aren't more enlightened about accommodation. I wonder why that is the case.

When traveling in Scotland, I met an Irish couple whose son was deaf. They were so aggrieved that there were NO services for him. None whatsoever. I, frankly, could not believe it, but they were adamant. I noticed that the father was missing both his thumbs as well. Figured it was best not to ask.

I would definitely go to a Friday evening wedding.

And I'm vibing stinkeye at all the unhelpful people making a misery of sj's arrival at the concert.

The Broomba looks utterly amazing, as do many things on that site. I desperately want these; not $24 worth of want, but oh how lovely it would be to be the kind of person who could drop $24 on such pure fun frivolities and not think twice about it.

sj, you asked how Matilda and I were since the F2F? Still missing the F2F, for one thing.

Also, Matilda is continuing to grow at an appalling rate; her head is covered with curls, her feet are now a solid size 7 and too wide for half the 7's we've got, and she's outgrowing all her pants. Thank God Amy and Cashmere recently sent boxes of gorgeous big-toddler clothes, including lots of pants, or she'd be running around in nothing on the bottom but a diaper and stripey tights.

Also, she is painfully adorable lately. Parenting, it turns out, is a lot like grown-up love: you fall in and out, and after chugging along peacefully in an uneventful groove for a long while you can suddenly fall into a random fit of smitten besottenment. Every single thing she does or says lately is the cutest thing in all of recorded history, and this morning we were cuddled on the couch watching WALL*E ("He's all lonely! He just wants Eeee-va! He just likes to be near her! Mo! Mo! Mo!") and it nearly killed me to peel myself apart from her and go to work.

Also, my immediate environment stubbornly persists in not being Buffista Island. I don't understand what's up with that.

Other than the above, everything is the same old same old.

Also, my immediate environment stubbornly persists in not being Buffista Island. I don't understand what's up with that.

I keep looking out my employer's windows (we don't have offices; this is the QA team cube-farm, but we're on the west side of the building, facing Puget Sound about 30 feet away) and thinking, "Why are none of those islands OUR island? They come pre-formatted with ferry service and running water and electricity even!"

Totally bewildering.

I am less than pleased. The crew that was supposed to begin work on my patio extension/enclosure this morning has yet to show up. First it was "Well, they're finishing up a job from yesterday, it'll be around lunchtime." Then after lunchtime had come and gone, it was, "They should be there soon."

The crew chief called me himself and said they'd be here within the hour. Over ninety minutes ago.

I am very, very unhappy right now.