Get a Rock and then Get Stoned
Connie Poirier's comment comparing a rock on your finger to a date set in stone does not match my own story. For a fancy wedding, much about setting a date has to do with finding out when things are available. The reception hall, the church and minister's schedule, etc. are the means by which a date is determined; not the rock on your finger. My wife and her mom and her step-mom enjoyed the parts of that process where they finally worked out when the wedding date would be, by a process of elimination. In the meantime, my wife waved around her ring to anyone who cared to look at it; because when people just get engaged, the important part is not the wedding date, but the fact they got engaged.
Oddly enough, for Connie Poirier, her life does match her own description. I thought people just didn't propose and say, "Oh, by the way, think we should get married on June 6." However, if you look at Connie's story in the Who's Who section on the For Better or For Worse website, it does actually work that way. I will quote the important part:
On December 23, she took Greg out for dinner alone at the restaurant where they had first fallen in love. Over coffee and cheesecake, she gave him a beautifully gift-wrapped watch, engraved on the back with the words, My love - for now and all time. Then she asked him to marry her. If she had ever had doubts that Greg was the man for her, they vanished the moment his eyes lifted from the watch to meet hers and she saw the laughter in them. "Yes." He clasped her hand across the table, and gripped it hard. "Darn it, why have we waited this long? Yes. Let's do it."The warmth in his gaze brought a lump to Connie's throat. "Valentine's Day would - ""Nope. Too far away. This says now, " he tapped the back of the watch, "And that's the deal I accepted. On New Year's Eve, I want the woman I'm kissing to be my wife."They were married December 27, in a small private ceremony, and spent the night in a beautiful snow-crusted cabin at a resort near Thunder Bay. The next day they left the girls in the care of a neighbour, packed up Lawrence, and headed out on the long, wintry roads to Milborough to welcome in the New Year with old friends.
So, you see in Connie's day, the moment of proposal was also the same time when you worked out the logistics of the wedding day. You will note that Connie and Greg ended up getting married on a different day than they had planned during their engagement. This is because making these decisions right after you get engaged is not a terribly bright thing to do.
Oddly enough, for Connie Poirier, her life does match her own description. I thought people just didn't propose and say, "Oh, by the way, think we should get married on June 6." However, if you look at Connie's story in the Who's Who section on the For Better or For Worse website, it does actually work that way. I will quote the important part:
On December 23, she took Greg out for dinner alone at the restaurant where they had first fallen in love. Over coffee and cheesecake, she gave him a beautifully gift-wrapped watch, engraved on the back with the words, My love - for now and all time. Then she asked him to marry her. If she had ever had doubts that Greg was the man for her, they vanished the moment his eyes lifted from the watch to meet hers and she saw the laughter in them. "Yes." He clasped her hand across the table, and gripped it hard. "Darn it, why have we waited this long? Yes. Let's do it."The warmth in his gaze brought a lump to Connie's throat. "Valentine's Day would - ""Nope. Too far away. This says now, " he tapped the back of the watch, "And that's the deal I accepted. On New Year's Eve, I want the woman I'm kissing to be my wife."They were married December 27, in a small private ceremony, and spent the night in a beautiful snow-crusted cabin at a resort near Thunder Bay. The next day they left the girls in the care of a neighbour, packed up Lawrence, and headed out on the long, wintry roads to Milborough to welcome in the New Year with old friends.
So, you see in Connie's day, the moment of proposal was also the same time when you worked out the logistics of the wedding day. You will note that Connie and Greg ended up getting married on a different day than they had planned during their engagement. This is because making these decisions right after you get engaged is not a terribly bright thing to do.
posted by howard at 11:45 PM
14 Comments:
Not to mention, pared-down weddings for second marriages are a lot easier to arrange.
I snorted aloud when I read Connie's last comment. I'm so sick of Lynn trying to turn her into Mrs. Old Fashioned Values. Hmm...back in Connie's day, actually, she shacked up with a guy and got pregnant before she ever had a rock on her finger or a wedding day set. Not very traditional--especially in the mid-1970s! We don't know the specifics of her story with Pete Landry, but we are told that Connie was the one who had to do the proposing to Greg--not very traditional! Who does she think she's kidding with this holier-than-thou crap?
However, I will say that I am just as concerned as Elly about when the wedding will be. I want a date too. So I can know how much longer I'm going to have to suffer this drawn-out, half-baked story line.
I want a date too. So I can know how much longer I'm going to have to suffer this drawn-out, half-baked story line.
So true. For just that moment, Elly can almost be a stand-in for the reader. Telling LYNN to quit stringing us along and have Lizthony set a date already. And no more flashbacks for the duration!
This says now, " he tapped the back of the watch, "And that's the deal I accepted. On New Year's Eve, I want the woman I'm kissing to be my wife."They were married December 27,
with all due respect I think he was saying that BY the 31st he wanted to be married to her, and by getting married on the 27th he was honouring that wish, so while they didn't set an exact date for their wedding at the moment of engagement, they decided - and followed through - with the plan to be married "now" (four days from engagement to married = now!)
qnjones,
I'm so sick of Lynn trying to turn her into Mrs. Old Fashioned Values.
I think it is less Lynn trying to turn her into Mrs. Old Fashioned Values and more like Lynn is turning Connie into Elly, (or rather not taking the time to think how the Connie of old would actually react). The whole reason Connie worked in the strip was that she was not exactly like Elly. I looked forward to Elly / Connie conversations because almost invariably she was going to add a perspective which Elly desperately needed. If we had that Connie in today's strip, she would probably make some point that if a couple is not really anxious to get married, then maybe they shouldn't rush things, because they may have some issues to work through, like children from a previous marriage (and she would know).
aprilp_katje,
For just that moment, Elly can almost be a stand-in for the reader. Telling LYNN to quit stringing us along and have Lizthony set a date already. And no more flashbacks for the duration!
My fear is that this is actually Elly standing in for Lynn and telling us readers, that she is going to finish this story when she wants to finish it, and she is not going to be rushed.
Anonymous,
with all due respect I think he was saying that BY the 31st he wanted to be married to her, and by getting married on the 27th he was honouring that wish
I stand corrected. However, I still think most couples do not start talking wedding dates right after they get engaged.
Poor Lawrence. At least Rudy and Candace get a couple strips' worth of appearances so people will recognize them at the wedding. Lawrence just gets a couple of offhand mentions, and they are the most contrived, shoehorniest ones imaginable. "I wish I could be the mother of the bride!" "Lawrence and Liz are still great friends!"
Lynn has now neatly reminded readers of the character, and given a reason for him to be at the wedding even if it is a small family affair. Heck, if she could find a way to have Farley at that wedding, she'd do it. Now she can check another item off her list.
Ellie,
Lawrence just gets a couple of offhand mentions, and they are the most contrived, shoehorniest ones imaginable.
I really don’t get this one. Mike had his party at Weed’s office, his party at his home, and his book-signing and Lawrence is not at any of them, when it would have been so easy for him to show up at one of those places. It makes me wonder if Lawrence is actually going to appear at Liz / Anthony wedding, or if someone is going to mention that he could have been there..
Howard,
Very true. My thought is that Lynn just realized in late February (or whenever she was doing the strips that would appear in late February) that she would have to rush the wedding storyline. Either she didn't realize how little time she had until she scripted it out, or she got an idea for another storyline (I'm still guessing Jim's death) that would happen before the wedding.
So then, in the course of five weeks (Feb 25 - Mar 30), we had:
- appearance of the wedding dress
- hey, it's Rudy and Candace!
- oh, that's what happened to Warren
- proposal
- Francie's approval
- bridesmaids picked
- rings picked
- parents told
- dress approved by Liz
- dress approved by Jim
Whatever is affecting Lynn's schedule, it's clearly something recent, and it's clearly pressing. I can see her realizing in February that she had to have a Lawrence refresher in there and that she didn't have time to have the man himself appear, so she had Connie and Elly drop his name a couple times (along with clarifying that he's gay -- can't forget THAT storyline).
The weird thing is that after that month of breakneck speed, we had two weeks of reprints bookended by Elly and Connie schlubbing around. Either LJ has decided to push the strip's end (and thus the wedding) back AGAIN, or something else is going on that I can't guess. I'm betting that we won't see a wedding in September now after all, and LJ is going to keep going until she dies or people come around to the hybrid, whichever comes first.
Ellie,
Whatever is affecting Lynn's schedule, it's clearly something recent, and it's clearly pressing.
It was definitely 5 weeks that felt like things being marked off a checklist. It is also having a strange effect on the art. Laura Piché, who usually just filled in the backgrounds for Lynn, has been taking over more and more of the art, if I am any judge of the differences between her style and Lynn’s. My suspicion is that Lynn is trying to keep the same amount of vacation she had when she was doing the hybrid every other month, by having Laura do more (and in the case of today’s strip, almost all) of the art.
Either LJ has decided to push the strip's end (and thus the wedding) back AGAIN, or something else is going on that I can't guess.
This is certainly possible, but I prefer to believe that what Lynn is actually doing is trying to keep the hybrid and yet still get to Liz and Anthony’s wedding in the time she has allotted for the non-reprint material (not counting reprint bookends). The net effect for the reader will be jerky stop and start, between the reprints and the new; because I don’t see any way for Lynn to get to the wedding without rushing the wedding story through those non-reprint spots. Michael and Deanna’s wedding preparations after they had wedding #1 took the better part of a year to work through. Now Lynn has given herself essentially ¼ of that time, if she continues interspersing new with reprints.
qnjones:
Who does she think she's kidding with this holier-than-thou crap?
Besides herself? Elly, of course! She loves to rub in the fact that she envies Elly's lifestyle. Especially the part of said lifestyle that permits her chum to dictate her children's future without nasty surprises like coming out coming into play!
My fear is that this is actually Elly standing in for Lynn and telling us readers, that she is going to finish this story when she wants to finish it, and she is not going to be rushed.
Ugh! You're probably right. >:-(
Actually, dreadedcandiru2, I doubt even Elly is fooled. I think Elly just likes to have someone mirror her own opinions back at her.
qnjones:
Yep. That's what Connie's designed to do, alright: be Elly's damned echo!
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