'ello, Love

Every so often, I get this inexplicable urge to connect with my fellow humans. To take part in one of those great mass spectacles, to give myself over to the unifying experience of the mono-culture. Again, this doesn't happen often, so when it does, I roll with it. Thus, Yvonne and I were up at 4:45 this morning for the royal wedding.

It wasn't until a few days ago that I gave half a rat's ass about this. I only started to become interested after reading a Times piece that remarked how Kate Middleton is this rare celebrity without a Twitter feed, tell-all book or reality show (in a sense, her whole life from here on out is a reality show, but it's not as though she's famous for getting hammered on camera). Indeed, what seems the most remarkable thing about her is her discretion -- she didn't go talking to the press after she and William broke up a few years back; there's been no tawdry behavior of any kind; people only have lovely things to say about her. And isn't that reason enough to get on board with this thing? Isn't that something to support? I say yes.

But, of course, there is something else, too. Royal weddings break up the monotony of our own lives. This isn't because they're better than us, it's simply a fact. It's probably the reason royal families persist, to stand in contrast to, and somehow "above," our own ordinary lives, through their connection to hundreds of years of antiquity. Whatever it is, I'm into it. America as a whole seems to be. There has been twice as much news coverage of the royal wedding (as a share of all news) here than in the UK. Americans never need an excuse to focus on celebrity, but I wonder if our own difficult times (joblessness, political mire, the diminishing of American greatness) make the escape of a royal wedding that much more attractive.

Anyway, we did our best impression of loyal subjects here, complete with a full English breakfast (eggs, bangers [!!!], bacon, beans, tea and homemade, fresh-baked scones -- did I mention that my wife is a master cook?). Coverage was tuned mostly to the BBC feed because they were identifying the various dignitaries from the Commonwealth and foreign royal guests (the SERBIAN ROYAL FAMILY?). To me, this was half the fun, like watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. And from there, I think everyone got the same view: Elton John in the audience, fumbling through the hymns even as his partner belted it out; David Beckham looking absurd (but Posh looking great); the bride's fantastic dress; a pretty nifty sermon from the Bishop of London.

All in all, a pretty good morning.