Tutorial Weekend
You may recall a list of parts for building your own in-car DVD playback system a few issues back. The parts are all still sitting on a shelf in my office, along with several software packages and books I need to review. It seems my upcoming wedding is taking more planning time at the last minute than I ever would have expected, keeping me scrambling to get the newsletters published in a timely fashion, leaving almost no time for taking photos of the inside of my car. The new target for the tutorial is this weekend, once I finish some last minute shopping for the reception.
Yes, on 6 June 2004, I join the ranks of the married. I have avoided discussing the subject of my personal life in the newsletter of late, which is something I used to include more regularly in years past. I've noticed the publicity of one's personal life becomes quite complicated when things aren't going smoothly, especially in affairs of the heart. I have no reason to doubt Robin and I will spend many happy years together, raising her son Wyatt and any other children joining us in the future, but I don't like the idea of putting my personal life in a digital fish bowl.
While I'm thankfully just a normal guy, lacking the high-profile to attract the attention of something as local as the Des Moines Register society page, let alone full-fledged gossip media, I still prefer privacy over public prostrations of what goes on in the world outside my home office. The Internet in general, and blogging and newsletters in particular, seems to be a minefield of relationships gone awry, where virtual acquaintances feel compelled to choose sides and throw stones at whoever the offending party happens to be. On the other hand, I am just a normal guy and there are times when writing about my personal life is exactly what I want to do.
Robin and I met over a cup of coffee last year. I had been attempting to work up the courage to talk to her for weeks. Finally, on one Friday evening, I ordered my then usual four-shot soy mocha. She served up what I still consider the best cup of coffee in town. After attempting to make conversation with me, dropping numerous hints that she wanted me to ask her out, I felt compelled to leave because everything out of my mouth was complete gibberish. She's the first person to ever leave me completely speechless, which anyone who's ever spent five minutes in a room with me realizes is quite an accomplishment. At times, I'm sure she wishes I had stayed that way because now I never shut up.
I later came to my senses and called the coffee shop, asking her out over the phone. I'm not sure what I would have done if she said "no," but she didn't. We went out that night and have seen each other almost every day since then.