"No I won't take your hand and marry the state"

I'm tired. The past three days I went to Bruges with my family, to a wedding and to a anti-nazi demonstration. Bruges was pretty but exhausting, especially because of the looong ride there. A busload full of elderly to old people isn't exactly the company I dream of. Especially not when trapped in a traffic jam. Or numerous traffic jams. The actual situation with my father and sister was okay, far less strained that I feared. I took a lot of pictures, so did my father. My sister took pictures of us taking pictures. I had waffles, but no beer and no chocolate. I did not climb the belfry like I wanted to, but only because the others did not want to come along. Well, this way I did not have to expose my lack of physical fitness. I like high places - at least theoretically since in real life I'm a bit afraid of heights too. Bit of a contradiction there, huh?!
Well. Yesterday I went to this wedding. I like Sven whith whom I went there. We used to be real good friends and roommates long ago. I don't hear to of him but whenever I do it feels easy and nice and comfortable. Not so nice: a couple of his friends. Most of them. Un-funny, rather square guys with girlfriends that don't talk and seem to have no interests other than going out to dance to bad bad music on saturdays, and what to wear to these occasions and how to make up their hair and faces. Oh well. I sometimes go to their parties - Sven's parties - and observe them from a kitchen corner. I do not know why I despise people most, that aren't funny at all. I can deal with mean or arrogant people way better than with those who are not witty. What does that say about my priorities?
Yesterday two people got married that I've kinda known since I was pretty little. Both bride and groom where in my older sisters class. The grooms younger brother used to be a pretty good friend for a while. When we were in the car on our way to the party I had to ask Sven about everybodies lifes. I did not want to put my foot in anything queasy. So I learend about the guy who got married to a woman from the Philipines. In the Philipines. Without any family and friends. She is still there because she has problems with her birth certificate. It's weird. The two will have to fight constant mis-interpretations of their relationship. People will think he bought her on the internet or something awful like that. Which he did not. He met her while working there. She is an engineer. Not a hooker or the like. It is depressing that we live in a world where people will always assume something like that. I probably would if I didn't know better.
And the happy couple. He: 35, divorced for about four years now, and I still hear him say: "I will never ever get married again! It's a stupid institution and it only costs money!" Then he went to his school reunion, met the girl he kissed on the final field trip and tied in with this relationship in about no time. She got pregnant but they lost the child. That was all I knew of. Now I get there last night, to their wedding and am welcomed by a pregnant wife in a white satin nightmare of a kitch-gown holding another toddler on her lap. Don't these people realize what the white wedding dress stands for?! People only take the bits of a tradition that fits into their little plans. Well, they seemed to be happy. Good for them. Only not so good was that party. It was incredibly boring with a desperete DJ who played the worst white trash hits to be found in german music and tried to animate people to dance by saying stuff like: "Didn't we all agree we would dance as soon as the bride dances?" and "Nobody can not move their little asses to these hits!" over and over. I'm not kidding unfortunately. No liquer was served...
Which I was pretty happy about this morning when I got up early without being hung over to march against neo-nazis in my city. In germany the lefties are subdivided in a freaking number of autonomous groups and circels which usually loath each other almost as much as the righties. Well, not really. If the nazis do their marches all the lefties collaborate on the countermarch. And the other necessary actions such as blocking streets and fighting the police, Throwing bricks and sticks and stuff. I feel like I'm getting a bit old for all this. Alas, I spend most of my day today waiting: first for the march to start. The police did not like a number of signs and transparents and the way people in the black block where wearing hoods and sunglasses to cover their faces. Something not allowed at german demonstrations. Basically they were just being a pain in the ass again. we started an hour late. It's always like that. The march was supposed to start at 10 and me and my friends went there by 10.45 and still had twenty more minutes before we finally took off. This is germany. Country of the perpetrators. I will never understand why it is that easy for right-winged extremists to get clearance for their demonstrations and stuff, especially in my hometown. The chief of police in this town is completely blind to them and their dangers. They can march wherevern and whenever they want, which of course means truckloads of police trying to seperate lefties from nazis and secure the situation. I can't have a nazi demonstration in my town without going to protest against it and so I end up in between teenage anarchists and naive kids yearning for what they think communism is. I spend my time blocking roads and waiting for policemen to carry me off. I am too old for this. But it makes me feel better. My guilty conscience would knock in the back of my head forever if I stayed home on days like today. And I will do it again next time and again and again and again. It's a fuckin' neverending story.