My first meme: Alumni Newsletter

Swistle tagged all of her readers in a meme and for the first time ever, I decided to participate. The instructions are: First write a nauseatingly perky paragraph about your life, the type of paragraph you see in alumni newsletters. Then write a franker, funnier one. Having never done a meme before, I don't really know how it works--but if you read my blog, and you have your own blog, consider yourself tagged. And let me know when you've done it, so I can read it.

Swistle did a great job with hers; read it here. I actually had a fair bit of trouble with mine, because with the new engagement and the new job, I'm feeling pretty happy and--dare I say it?--perky about my life at the moment. But here's what I came up with:

Jess and Torsten just became engaged! The wedding is tentatively planned for November 2008, and they hope to see you all there. Jess has just accepted a new position as a Program Associate with a public health nonprofit, where she will be doing web development and editorial work. The two are enjoying summer in DC together, exploring everything our nation’s capital has to offer!

Jess and Torsten are engaged, but the idea of planning a wedding is so overwhelming that they have put it off for over a year. They are trying to limit their guest list to only family and close friends, so it’s unlikely that random alumni newsletter readers will be getting an invitation. But if we do invite you, for the love of God PLEASE do not bring an uninvited date with you. Jess has just taken a new job, where the most exciting change from her current job is that the commute is a quarter of the length. She looks forward to sleeping later in the mornings while her fiancé has to stumble out of bed at the crack of dawn. At night, Jess and Torsten collapse on the sofa in their air-conditioned apartment and swear that they will not go outside again until at least November.