Stuff Michael Meeks is doing
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This is my (in)activity log. You might like to visit my employer
Novell which is an amazing company, and also
Dell who in days of yore provided me with a
free laptop for Gnome development / conferences.
Also if you have the time to read this sort of stuff you could enlighten
yourself by going to Unraveling Wittgenstein's net or if
you are feeling objectionable perhaps here.
Older items:
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2007: (
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legacy html
- Woke at 3.00am or so, contemplated my lot
for a good while, prayed and decided that I would in
fact get married today. More peaceful sleep.
- Julia
- Up at 8.00, breakfast, waited for the
hair-dressing appointment, 10.30, hair
dressing, hair into curlers - off to Church
in them to inspect the floral pew ends.
- Home to the makeup woman, bridesmaids
arrived. Buffet lunch - only eat a bit of
French bread ( with a knife and fork to save
the make-up ).
- Dress on, fantasticaly valuable diamond
earrings on.
- Photos in the garden with the bridesmaids
who then went in the car. Then left with Daddy
in the (rather fine) car.
- Arrived at the church, re-assured by seeing
Peter [ the real Vicar imported from Hove ],
excited to see the bridesmaids waiting outside.
- Michael
- Up at 8.30am, talked to David in bed for a
while, showered, went to Guesten Hall for breakfast.
- Bacon, eggs, toast, croissants, apple juice -
rather good, spoke to various misc. relatives.
- Back to my room, some applied speech writing
action, David assisted with various droll comments.
Condensed to flashcards.
- Prayed in the Abbey ruins and practiced the speech.
- Robert and Marie Claire arrived, and we poked around
the ruins, an extremely small spiral staircase was most
interesting, with a diameter of perhaps 4 feet, very
small.
- Parents rolled in, David took them to the right
room, and I re-directed them to the wrong one, doh.
- Set out some tables on the patio and had a picnic
with the family in the glorious sunshine. Went early
to change, very calm.
- Driven to the Church by David, Sharon Gosling got
my buttonhole in the right place, talked to lots of
friends arriving in the car park. The Ryes arrived in
their spare bus ( travel Rye transport in Newbury ! ).
Great to see Martin Baulig and Dick Porter unfold from
a full car with Tim Reid, Stuart Abercrombie driven by
Andrew Mansergh.
- Into the Church, and after some faffing around sat
at the front with David, amused each other a little.
The brothers and Tim were ushering admirably.
- Sarah and Ali came to see us at the front of the
church - the low church friendly people.
- Julia arrived looking georgeous, and Ben struck up the Bridal
Chorus from Lohengrin ( Wagner - should one play Wagner ? ) on the Organ.
- Programme as follows;
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12. An introduction, then
And can it be
(Charles Wesley).
- Then the marriage, in a comprehensibilized, but essentially
old English service.
- Wilt thou have this woman to they wedded wife, to live
together according to God's law in the holy estate of Matrimony ?
Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour and keep her, in sickness
and in health ? and, forsaking all other, keep thee only unto her,
as long as ye both shall live ?
- To which one answers I will! Similarly Julia promised the
same, with an additonal 'obey' clause.
- Then the Vicar started getting the prompting badly wrong,
but we had mercifully both learned our lines as it were:
- I Michael take you Julia to be my wedded wife, to have and to
hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse: for richer, for
poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, till death
do us part, according to God's holy law; and this is my solemn vow.
- Likewise for Julia, but with even worse prompting blunders.
- Then exchanging the rings - David managed to procure them
from one of his pockets, some relief.
- I give you this ring, as a sign of our marriage. With my body
I honour you, all that I have I share with you, within the love of God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- Then When I survey the
wondrous cross. (Iasaac Watts). Then Robert arrived for the reading, while
the 'real' (solid) Vicar proceeded to the pulpit ( preaching from his IMac laptop
again ). Robert read well
1 John 4:7-21,
then a really storming sermon from Peter.
- Finally
Tell out my soul (Timothy Dudley-Smith), some prayers, blessing, then the signing
of the register.
- While Julia and I were originally writing the programme, I appended an '!' to
'As the deer pants' for comedy value, and it managed to get past all the checking into
the final programme, to some general amusement. Signed away while Tim, Charlie, Ruth,
Alison, and Simon played away "As the deer pants", and "How deep the Father's love
for us".
- Then lead my lovely wife out to Mendelssohn's Wedding March.
Here we are looking chuffed.
- Out to the car, and got showered
in confeti, and off to Leiston Abbey in the glorious sunshine - alone at
last.
- Lots of photos in the ruins,
Tim Reid's "how does it feel for your marriage to start in ruins" - very droll.
Nice pictures by the cross. Over to the barn court for champagne and canopes.
- After a while of milling, had the greeting line - which went on
seemingly endlessly, but was finally finished. Too many lovely folk to greet.
James Willimas played incidental music excellently to keep people entertained
while they waited.
- Peter said grace, and we dug in; a salad to start, then chicken
dijonaise and then the speeches. Tried to give God all the glory for
everything, and amuse. Transcript would follow if I could only find my flash
cards.
- Popped out to catch breath and water, and met Will Cooper - far
too long no see, and his lovely lady friend, waiting for the dancing bit after
the meal.
- Cut the cake, had pudding - a pleasant sorbet, and then coffee
and cake. Isaac Rye was extremely sweet and kept coming and blowing bubbles at
us from under the stage - and being generally like a small boy.
- The band setup, and after a delay waiting for Mrs Griffin, we did
the first dance, and a few more [ a barn dance type thing ]. Danced with Louise
Bomber who introduced us.
- Changed out of my hired finery into my new suit; the Taxi arrived
David helped get all the bits loaded into it, and off we went to an undisclosed
location - Seckford Hall.
- Had a sandwich on arrival, then bed.
- Lovely present in white - hard to unwrap, lots of buttons.
Amusing lack of technique - a bloody mess ! happiness & tears. Fitfull
sleep.
In case it's not painfully obvious: the reflections reflected here are my
own; mine, all mine ! and don't reflect the views of Novell, The
Lithuanian Gov't or Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's also important to
realise that I'm not in on the Swedish Conspiracy.
Occasionally people ask for formal photos for conferences,
bio.
or fun.
Michael Meeks (michael.meeks@novell.com)
