I'm sitting in the lobby of Loews Vanderbilt Hotel right now. Soon, the wedding reception will be held just down the hall and up a staircase. This is a pretty nice place...they even gave me free wireless internet access, but shhhh...don't tell anyone.

I have accepted a job, so I can post about it here finally! I am now the Strategic Initiatives Coordinator for Actus Lend Lease, a worldwide real estate project management firm that is based right here in Nashville, Tennessee. Actus Lend Lease did about $10 billion in revenue last year, and in the past four years, has grown from 20 employees to about 400 here in America. I am looking forward to joining their staff on July 1 and making a contribution.

Watching TV today, I happened upon the national spelling bee on ESPN. What an incredible thing they have done - they have turned SPELLING WORDS, for crying out loud, into a feat of public admiration. Its not like these kids are defining words that they are given, or even naming synonyms or some other practical exercise. They instead are becoming human equivalents of that little jagged red line in Microsoft Word, and are praised all over the country for it.

It is a testament to modern marketing. ESPN does a brilliant job using its resources, including highlights on SportsCenter, to build these kids up and really add an angle to the entire proceeding.

Competitive mathematics could use something like the Spelling Bee. The MathCounts national competition is aired on ESPN and does actually have some drama involved, but its not nearly as tight of an event and as clever as the Spelling Bee. Math could use an upgrade here, but I'm not sure anyone with the power to make a difference really cares about inventing a compelling mathematical TV event. Maybe someday.

Seems weird to think that I'm getting married on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it - I can't wait to turn the page on my life and move on to bigger things. One of my favorite quotes (which I believe is Robert Frost's, though I can't remember right now) is "when you reach a fork in the road, take it."

Well, 2005 has been a year of major decisions, and we're not even halfway through yet! While I've accepted a job in town that I simply could not refuse, and I've now found my wife, the end of 2005 will witness a major transformation to the iTest, as well as a revitalization of my label, Mariner Records. And I still haven't posted my short story I've been working on!

I'm excited about the future. Bring it on. And I'll be seeing a lot of you tomorrow at the rehearsal dinner...see you then.