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I can't really bitch and complain much more about the way weddings work these days. At some point, you're just beating a dead horse while less and less people care and actually hate you because some actually like the way weddings work these days. The hardest thing for me to swallow was the gift registry. Yes, yes... I get it. It makes the process easier. People are going to get you something regardless of whether you want them to or not, but I feel like "gift registry" is slightly misleading. I feel "Here, buy me this" is a little more true to the game.

Where's the fun in that? Isn't life about chance? Aren't we supposed to harness our talents and use them in extraordinary ways? Yes, I actually would like to see what Aunt Rita brings to the table. I've got creative friends. Why stifle that creativity on a centrifuge for lettuce? Admittedly, it was hard to justify gunning down those bar codes for half the stuff I put on the "buy me this" list.

And this is where it gets deep... uh oh. I feel like we used to ask ourselves "Do I need this?" and marketing has ever so subtly shifted that question to "Will I need this?". Big box stores thrive off this mentality. I was at home over the weekend and got to looking at my dad's mess of tools in the garage. Every single item up there was purchased for a precise use. He's built up quite an arsenal over time... but it was based on need. And I'd say there's a piece or two that was passed down. The wood planer had to come over on some boat.

I seriously put a couple of shovels on the list. I can't tell you the last time I used a shovel. Sure, I can see a use for that shovel down the road, but why am I strapping stuff to my back now that I don't need? It confuses me, but in the end, you just play the game. And honestly, we're pretty damned fortunate to be able to do any of this at all.