Last night we had dinner with Rob and Espie. As earlier reported, we first met them last September, when we went to a talk Rob was giving, and later attended a book-launch party at their house. Since then, we’ve become friends, and regularly have been getting together with them, Richard (a fellow UCSF employee whom I first met at their party), and some other local pals and fellow mid-century enthusiasts. Along with some other friends of theirs, we even started bowling every month earlier this year (at the fabulous Sea Bowl down the coast in Pacifica), which gave Rob and me great opportunities to showcase our collections of hipster shoes and Hawaiian/club shirts. Earlier this summer, however, Espie left for a ten-week language/history/culture course in the Philippines, so the bowling’s been on hiatus since then. She returned this past week, but bowling will continue to wait a bit, as their weekends over the next two months are devoted to wedding planning activities. After nine years together they’re getting married in October.

And I noted that we’ve become friends. Apparently, pretty good friends. (Let’s even set aside Espie’s friendly suggestion a few months ago to Jeff and me–admittedly, after several strong cocktails, and in any case roundly rejected by Rob–that perhaps she should serve as a surrogate for us, since a baby with her and my genetic material would look most like a biological baby of Jeff’s and my own.) In fact, the two of them asked me if I would be willing to officiate at their wedding in October. Ham that I am, I agreed.

You see, in San Francisco (and some other California counties), a private citizen can be deputized for one day for the purpose of solemnizing a civil wedding. No religious wording is allowed, which obviously suits me just fine. I just had to promise Rob and Espie I wouldn’t wear Renaissance Faire garb or make any Star Trek or Tolkien references.

Espie brought Rob a barong back from the Philippines to wear for the ceremony, so I’ll probably wear mine as well.