Sunday diversion is about love (birds, bees and young people) and staying out late

a matter of personal indulgence
Through the miracle of the inter-tubes, and the confidence of the principals and the editors of the Old Grey Lady, we got home well after midnight to find that the wedding we had just come from made the New York Times weddings and celebrations, printed in today’s paper and I wonder how long available on-line. Congratulations to Phil Sherrill and Arielle Nagler, to their parents, and to their extended family and friends.

It was great to spend the evening in a tux, in a beautiful room full of tuxes and gowns. The cantor was soulful, the chuppah was … er … unusual, the member of the wedding party who was thisVERYclose to fainting did not faint, and the kids got hitched.

Way too much food, of course; all of it good. (Unless you were paying very close attention, you would not have notied it was kosher, just as the woman at our table was surprised to learn she could not get a White Russian at the bar.) It took a while for those of us at a parent-generation table to get used to the sound level in a cavernous room with a marble floor, and our worst fears about the four huge speaker sets hanging from the ceiling over the dance floor did not come to pass. The young ‘uns seemed to enjoy it.

known him since he was this high…
We have incriminating photos of Phil in our family albums, if an adult can be incriminated by pictures of a toddler sharing a bath with our eldest daughter (also then a toddler, of course; also embarrassed by mention of the pix, of course). My wife has been friends with his mom since they were both pregnant. Having been to all four of the Sherrill kids bar/bat mitzvoh, we have been honored to be present at their milestone events, and have been kept abreast of their lives in the manner of close but geographically removed long-time friends.

measuring things that can’t be measured
As an older Guy who rarely reads the Times on paper, I no longer scan the weddings section looking for (well) diversion. If you have read this far on a blog by someone you don’t know, posting about a wedding of people you don’t know, perhaps you also used to scan that NY Times section. If so, your reward is an introduction to a new media response to the Old Grey Lady. The inimitable Katie Baker on the estimable Grantland site has taken “scan the [NY Times] weddings section looking for (well) diversion” to a whole ‘nother level.

I can’t describe it; I can only link to it. Her December monthly Society Scorecard is here, November is here; find more through her Grantland author page. In a world in which much can be reduced to algorithms of dubious value and on a site devoted to an odd mix of sport and culture, you have to study the scored proprietary NUPTIALS algorithm used to identify the most mostest couple each month, though much of it (like all good sports algorithms) uses intuitively obvious elements, then takes weighting to a ridiculous degree.

Also: the lady can write!

Not actually having studied NUPTIALS, I can’t predict if Phil and Arielle would rank high enough to make the January recap. They’ve got some Harvard, some other Ivy, family stats that include president and art teacher and Peter Max, but it has to hurt them that the Times does not have anything on their meet-cute (summer camp, long before Harvard) but ‘connect’ late (Yom Kippor is involved) story.

The game is rigged! The algorithm can only measure the data inputs! They will be robbed! Just like Mike Trout wuz robbed.

Please say a prayer or raise your glass today in honor of Phil and Arielle, and enjoy @KatieBakes if you dare.

© Sandy Mattingly 2013