Hi, I'm Christian Carvajal. You may know me from such blogs as this one, last updated several months ago.
I've been busy. For example...
As most of you know, I got married on 28 May. The bride was beautiful, I was presentable, and the weather was unexpectedly gorgeous. In fact, and I say this as an absolute perfectionist, our wedding was perfect. If you follow me on Facebook, and most of you do, you've already seen some of the pictures. Didn't Jamie Howland do an amazing job shooting them? I'm really quite high on the whole thing. We hosted an overwhelming eight-course Italian wedding feast for two dozen people and got blissfully drunk on custom wines. Chef Amadeus, who'll appear as a contestant on Extreme Chef any day now, outdid himself, as did his talented sous chef (whose name I wish I could remember). We had such a great time that I guess my mom decided to repeat the experience--the feast was held in her home--because her reception party will be held in the same place next Sunday. Hell, yes! And I dig my new stepdad, too, which is awesome.
Amanda and I spent our first honeymoon in Seabrook, Washington, not far from Ocean Shores. The weather stayed perfect, which allowed us to host another party in our rented beach house. The next day, we ate fish and chips in a seaside restaurant. Pure heaven! My phone rang: it was director John Munn, asking me to be in his production of David Mamet's Oleanna. I was really on the fence about it, because I hate that script. Also, there are only two characters in it, so I'd have to memorize 45 full minutes of Mametspeak in about three and a half weeks. I wasn't sure it could be done. But John said my costar would be Deya Ozburn, and I think the world of Deya Ozburn, so I reluctantly accepted.
Fast forward through four grueling weeks of self-doubt and one loudly ticking clock. I don't know how many hours it took to memorize the part, but I can tell you it was even more than I expected. Doing the play feels like bullriding; the lines want to bolt out from under me. It's all I can do to keep them jittering in place, but according to everyone who's seen it, I acquit myself well. Fellow critic Alec Clayton called it 'some of the best acting he's seen all year,' and he sees everything. Of course, Deya still shows me up every night, and our audiences have been pitifully small. Last Sunday we did the show for five people, including the house manager. So why do I do it? Beats me. I'm starting to seriously believe it's addictive behavior. This is not rational behavior, and I have other things to do, right? I mean no disrespect to the company or David Mamet when I say that; I'd just rather be home with my wife.
At least my life is going well on all other fronts. I enjoy getting paid to write for Cengage, and I look forward to doing videos for that fine company any day now. (I need equipment they haven't shipped yet.) My marriage is, well, perfect. It really is. Even our few arguments are productive and reasonable, especially now that we received matching GPS units as wedding presents from my family.
You may have noticed the phrase "first honeymoon" above. See, we're spending a full week in Orlando beginning 30 October. Oh, man, am I stoked for that! This vacation will include visits to all four parks in Disney World as well as both Universal parks (including The Wizarding World of Harry Potter). We'll also catch Blue Man Group and, most likely, a gourmet restaurant or two. Any recommendations? And it's already paid for! Thanks, all three concurrent jobs!
By the way, I have a special surprise planned for Amanda's birthday in two weeks. More on that later, I suspect.
So yeah: I'm healthy, happy, and back in the middle class. I'm enjoying wedded bliss. I bet people who spent decades getting used to surly, cynical Carv are baffled right now. "Who's this guy?" Well, relax, friends, I'll be back to annoying you with long entries about Jesus any day now. I really do want to write that entry on the Gospel According to Mark, but this report had to come first. As I said, I've been busy, busy, busy...and I love it.