Oh, the Manity!

And finally, madame, a wafer-thin mint!

Weddings have been on my mind recently - this past Friday, me & B quietly celebrated our 83rd anniversary (we got married young), and this coming weekend, we're taking a mini family vacation upstate to attend the wedding of one of my best friends, to whom I am the man-maid of honor. I'm studying the New York Time's wedding section, particularly an article of the rules of giving a toast at a wedding, so I can be sure to violate each and every one in order.

The Weddings section of the NY Times has been referred to as "the Sports Pages for Women", and I won't address the vague (not so vague?) misogyny of that moniker. I usually don't read it, but one article was cross-posted to the Health section online, which I do read. It was about losing weight. It was about dudes losing weight. It was about dudes losing weight so they could be "hot" for their weddings. I'm writing this blog for several reasons, and yes, one of the players in my motives is my manity (man + vanity = manity.) But the main reason? No.

“The groom is really the new bride,” said the restaurateur Penny Glazier, an owner of the event venues Bridgewaters and Twenty-Four Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan. “And men want to look as good on their wedding day as women do.”

I'm no member of the He-Man Woman-Hater's Club, but no, Penny, the old bride is still the new bride. This reminds me the the "metrosexual trend" a few years back, where people like Penny tried to convince straight men to spend their grooming & clothing money like some homosexual men. (i.e., a lot more of it.) This is the same thing, where Penny and her ilk want grooms to spend their money more like brides (i.e. a LOT more of it.)

Jason Schramm, a Manhattan radio executive, wore a Spanx undershirt at his wedding earlier this year. That decision did not come without a fair bit of angst. “I worried that it was going to cut off circulation and I would pass out at my wedding and someone would revive me and cut open my shirt and find out I was wearing Spanx and that would be mortifying,” Mr. Schramm said.

- sigh- I'm certainly no paradigm of masculinity, but dude-bro, come on, stop drinking that lite beer. In fairness, a few guys mentioned that they wanted to be healthy for their bride and start off a long term commitment on the right foot (as in, "we'll only get fatter from here!") I guess like those lady mags at the super market with 101 sex tips to drive yo man WILD, a guy like me is just not supposed to read articles like this.

THE COUNT: 2470
Weekend went well. Saturday was chill, squiring around my toddler all morning, a nap in the afternoon, eating enough to feel satisfied, Fell asleep last night before 9pm because on Sunday I woke up at 4:30am to make a train, and I spent the day on the bike with a friend. Eating got a little weird with the hunger and my friend's dietary habits, but still came out of it relatively unscathed.

Woke up this morning sore and tired from yesterday's ride despite 11 hours sleep, but matched with a feeling of clarity and pressure-release. Too sore and beat up to lift weights, pushed that off to tomorrow.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea, 25 cal


BREAKFAST: 9:15pm, fruit smoothie, 300 cal


LUNCH: noon, whole wheat pasta with homemade sauce, spinach and turkey meatballs, 910 cal


PM SNACK: 3:45pm, 7oz diet sprite, 0 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, Stouffer's French Bread pizzas, one corn with butter, 7oz diet sprite, 985 cal


EVENING SNACK: 9pm, 1 cup chocolate milk, 250 cal