So I got married at the Empire State Building yesterday. All-in-all, the experience was pretty insane. There was a huge presence of press; Jess and I actually appeared on WABC and CW11 news last night (edit: added video links), and we're in a slew of papers today, including many of the Chinese-language ones like the World Journal, a paper from Malaysia (because of my mom, presumably), and the Daily News today and probably Sunday. The most surreal moment for me was when the pastor was performing the ceremony. There was this moment when she was reciting a 1st-century AD love poem when I suddenly noticed how she was outlined by half a dozen video and still cameras. Insane.

Here's the Daily News article on the event itself. Jessica and I are prominently featured in the video. Weird. Jessica was also followed around by Clinique, one of the cosponsors, so there should be something online soon featuring my wife.

Another surreal experience was going up to the observation deck afterwards. Since we were dressed differently from the tourists, and we were being followed around by a flotilla of cameramen and reporters, all these strangers were clearing the way for us. That made me feel guilty. The extremely high level of attention we were receiving totally made up for the relative secrecy of my proposal back in August. I had children, men, and foreign women come up and shake my hand. What the heck. Actually, it was kind of awesome, but I felt almost pathologically calm throughout the moment. If I can figure out how to stay this way during office meetings, first-time encounters, and general conversation, I think I might be able to coast pretty easily through life.

I'm not quite sure why, but I don't really feel married yet. Neither does Jess. Part of me suspects that it's just one of those things that'll slowly creep into my awareness, like the way a growing paunch and male-pattern baldness gradually afflicts married men.

Currently Watching 2007 Japanese Drama - Hana Yori Dango (I + II) - w/ English Subtitle see related