Now our tale can be told

I don't know why we didn't post this when it came out* but we were featured in The Observer's Love Beat column back in October. You have to pay to read the article online** now, but since we aren't the biggest fans of copyright law - and it is about us anyway - the text of the article is below the fold.

* OK, I do. Carrie didn't want to admit that we did this...
** Yes, the article is about us; we were the second couple featured so our names aren't in the title.

Carrie McLaren and Charles Star
THE LOVE BEAT
Met: May 4, 2004
Engaged: Labor Day Weekend 2005
Projected Wedding Date: Oct. 8, 2006 Sept. 3, 2006

Carrie McLaren, 36, is the outspoken editor and publisher of an anti-consumerist Brooklyn-based
'zine called Stay Free! and a Web log about her upcoming budget nuptials called anotherfuckingwedding.com. She was rather taken aback to find some fans upset that she was
converting to Judaism for her fiancé, Charles Star. "The only religion more backward than the
Catholics are the Jews, and they never accept conversions from a woman anyway, so why bother!"
wrote one critic.

Eventually Ms. McLaren stopped accepting reader comments on that post. "Not that many people were posting, but they were saying really personal, mean-spirited things," said Mr. Star, 34, an
endearingly chubby lawyer for Axiom Legal who moonlights as a stand-up comic.

The couple met at a mutual friend's party in Windsor Terrace. Ms. McLaren, a thin, sharply
featured blonde with thick, black-framed glasses and a chin-length bob, attended in hopes of
seeing a crush - some Goldman Sachs finance type. "He was good on paper," she said.

She posed a question to the party, borrowed from an episode of NPR's This American Life: "Which
superpower would you rather possess: invisibility, or the ability to fly?"

"That depends," Mr. Star replied, stepping suddenly out of the crowd. "If flying is like floating, fine; but if it's like swimming - if you're just dragging yourself through the air - that's just exhausting. I guess I'd rather be invisible."

Charmed, Ms. McLaren went over to talk to him while Mr. Goldman Sachs was in the bathroom. When the banker emerged, he sensed Mr. Star encroaching on his hot prospect and decided to
pick a political fight. "He decided I didn't hate Bush enough," Mr. Star said. "He was getting all
alpha-male on me."

At the end of the evening, Mr. Star offered Ms. McLaren a ride home to Park Slope, not far from
his place in Prospect Heights. "Great, can you give me a lift, too?" asked the former crush. "It
was classic cock-blocking!" Ms. McLaren said.

They managed to rid themselves of the interloper and proceeded to O'Connor's Bar. Suddenly, it was
feeling awfully like a date. Mr. Star stepped up the banter. "I could tell that he was nervous,"
Ms. McLaren said, but that was O.K. "I find it boring to be with people who don't read widely or
have opinions, or talk about politics or society," she said. "Even from that one night, I felt that I could learn things from Charles."

Soon afterwards, she attended his first-ever public comedy routine, at the "Funniest Amateur
Jewish Comedian Contest" at the Gotham Comedy Club. "I enjoyed it, and was surprised that I
did, because it's not something that I normally migrate to," Ms. McLaren said. "I sort of abhor
comedy clubs." You ain't alone, sister.

Mr. Star's mother was also there, and a bit nervous about him dating a non-Jew. "I told her
she could never mention it. Ever," Mr. Star said.

After a little over a year of dating, the rent was raised on Ms. McLaren's share, and she broached the topic of cohabitation with Mr. Star.

"I don't think we should move in together until we're about to get married. We should at least be engaged," he said.

"You mean we're not engaged?" she gasped.

"Um, yes," he said. "Yes, we are!"

But this is one bride-to-be who refuses to accept a ring. "I kind of hate diamonds and the whole
arbitrary value," said Ms. McLaren, ever the anti-consumerist, "and I don't like the idea that I'm claimed."

They'll be married at Gary's Loft in midtown, a photo studio and event space. "When I was thinking of an expensive wedding, I was thinking $8,000," said Ms. McLaren. "I had no idea."

Comments

[sheila Amaral]

Your website name is disgusting!
For such a honorable ocassion you are initiating a damper.

Remember there is power in words, change the name and you will see better results.

[Charles Star]

We are going to have to agree to disagree about that one, Sheila. I apologize that you had your sense of irony removed because it made thinking hurt.

So far our results have been pretty good.

[T]

I realize this entry is past its prime, but I just wanted to say that Shelia really needs to relax. As a person who has witnessed over 100 weddings from start to finish over the course of a single year, I can't begin stress how important it is for a couple to have a sense of humor as they undertake the endeavor that is planning a wedding. Girl, take a breath and try laughing a little. It'll do you some good.

Kudos to the both of you for the hilarious website. Congratulations!