Finally! A post not in list form! (Not that that's saying a whole lot...)

Hey. Remember that thing I'm supposed to be writing for my friend's wedding? The wedding that is... oh... less than five days away? Yeah, guess who hasn't written that yet? That'd be me.

I do not know what is wrong with me. I have been thinking about it plenty. Of course, in this case, "thinking about" means driving along a highway or standing in the shower, realizing, "yeah, I have to write something soon," without really formulating any particularly good or solid ideas from which to draw. Yesterday I finally forced myself to sit down and write a full three paragraphs, and tonight, when I looked at them again, I even bored myself.

People, I am more than a bit nervous. And also, blocked. Hence, I am typing a new post when I should be working on the wedding post, in the hopes that simply sending activity from my brain to my fingers will get things rolling. How's it working so far? That good, huh? Yeah, I thought so. Lord help me.

I really wish this were just a reception toast, instead of a ceremony reading. Sure, I freaked about a toast, too, last year, when I had to write one for my maid of honor stint. But at least there was an understood air of informality to that. I was worried about being too structured, instead of the other way around. Also, I got to down two glasses of wine before that performance (and I can only assume most of my audience had, too). At 12:30 in the p.m., alcohol won't be my crutch this time.

So the wedding reading is not going so well, not that I want to tell the lovely bride about that. (I am hoping and quite confidently assuming she is far too busy with last-minute wedding stuff to hop on over to my blog this week and therefore will likely, thankfully, never see my whining here.)

Meanwhile, what else do I have to tell you about? Well, last night I saw what was quite possibly my favorite show so far this year... It was LCD Soundsytem and Arcade Fire at Roy Wilkins, and I think it only ever so slightly edged out the National show at Fine Line a few short weeks ago. I am bothered no end by what an old lady I've become... at how ridiculously sore my back and feet are after standing in one place for three hours and how little tolerance I have for what I deem unquestionably poor concert etiquette. But I do still enjoy a good rock show, and both bands delivered last night. I am pretty sure I have lost another segment in the frequency range I used to be able to hear, because I am not quite an old lady enough to remember to bring ear plugs to a show, but I'm just going to hope that frequency is the one that hears annoying sounds I don't want to hear anyway... like the chirpy-chirp audio clip a nearby co-worker has set as her Outlook reminder or the sound of the chatty children in the gym locker room. It's not likely, I know, but a girl can hope, can she not?

Also, Friday night I decided to attempt to resurrect that cooking thing I had going for a while last spring, and I ended up making this. People, I do not even watch the Food Network, but based on this recipe alone, I have to say, that Giada really knows what she's doing. That was without a doubt the best dinner I've made in a damn long time, which might mean a bit more if I'd actually made anything in a damn long time, but even so, I'll say that was some ridiculously tasty chicken cacciatore, and you should all go on and make it post-haste. Well, all except Noelle and Liz, who I know are admirably against eating any of our feathered friends. Any carnivores out there, though, should really just trust me on this.

Speaking of Liz, has anyone else seen Molly Shannon's latest movie, Year of the Dog? Did anyone else think of Liz while they were watching it? No? That's just me? I thought so. In any case, I would love to heartily recommend this movie... I mean, Molly Shannon! Peter Sarsgaard! John C. Reilly! Plus an unexpected but welcome cameo from Paris Geller! How can you go wrong? You can't, I thought, and yet, this movie fell a bit flat for me. Was it because I paused it approximately 17 times whilst switching laundry loads and refilling my wine glass? Was it because I was paying more attention to my knitting than to the screen or dialog? Perhaps. Or maybe it was just sort of disappointing. Anyone else want to weigh in on this? Incidentally, just because I simultaneously didn't love this movie and also thought of Liz while watching this movie does not mean I am in any way connecting the two. You still rock, Liz, really. Year of Liz! A trophy doesn't lie.

All right. I suppose that's about enough rattling on from me right now. Back to that wedding speech, which, if this post is any indication, is just bound to be a laugh-riot and a tearjerker. Lord oh lord. Wish me luck. I really truly need it at this point.