Boring post (sorry)

Goddamn cat! He ate my flowers! I brought home three cheerful Gerbera daisies yesterday, and this morning, I found floral carnage in the kitchen. He had dragged one of them out of the bud vase, and when I found it, it was gasping for water. Another was missing about half its petals, and the third had telltale bite marks. Gah! He's such a little bastard!

People keep asking me how work is going and I feel kind of lame saying, "It's okay." It's just that I'm so accustomed to the rhythms of print publishing: putting in hard work and extra time until the print deadline and then enjoying the few days of post-deadline downtime. With online publishing, you can always be pushing something live. We're expected to post two reviews and one feature every week, so at any given time, I've got a review in the final proofing process, another two or three at various other stages of the edit process, yet another two or three in the photo studio, and I'm constantly fielding calls and e-mails from PR people and requesting products. And in the meantime, I'm trying to come up with features and/or wrap-ups. Plus, the nature of online publishing is such that anything can change, whenever: design, focus, procedures. It's a state of constant flux. I can't tell if I started during a particularly crazy period, or if this is just the way things go around here. On the upside, it's nice to really feel ownership of the things I'm publishing. At my old job, I was editing for grammar and usage, but not really understanding the material. Now I'm covering consumer electronic products, so I can conceivably use everything I'm talking about. It's nice to be able to edit text and really understand it. I still feel like an imposter as a tech editor. It's not my love or passion, but I can understand it. I think a lot of the people I work with are really into their beats: security, networking, etc. I'm just not.

People also keep asking me about wedding planning, and I have to refrain from talking nonstop about it (which is one of the many reasons I'm glad Rita and I are back in touch). Chris and I had a discussion the other night because I was fretting about the cost of photographers. It's one of the main items that I'm willing to really splurge on, but the figure is such a huge chunk of the remainder of our budget. I've been getting headaches and stomachaches every time I go over the numbers, trying to figure out how to make budget. Chris wisely pointed out that we effectively killed our initial budget when we booked the venues, so we need to approach the subject differently, i.e. adjust our overall budget. Ah-ha! Presto, magic, headaches begone. When you plan a party that involves feeding 200+ people, you'll incur some big expenses. Just sayin'. And y'all, don't get your hopes up for an all-night open bar--it ain't happening. That alone would cost us upwards of $10K, and while I love you all, I ain't spending $10K on the bar tab. You've been warned. And please, be discreet about your flasks.

Oh, there should be a rudimentary wedding site up soonish. With details about local hotels, airports, and fun things to do in the area.