I told myself that I would ignore this inane Linda Hirshamn blog. But I just have to set her straight on one thing. Samantha Power and Cass Sunstein did not have a "destination wedding." A destination wedding is where the bride and groom drag their guests, at great expense and inconvenience to their guests, to some exotic or romantic destination, to which neither bride nor groom have any connection. People who do this are your basic groom-zillas and bride-zillas. Judging by the number of websites devoted to them - destination weddings are all the rage.

BUT Samantha Power was born in Ireland and lived there until she was 9 years old. She has a connection to Ireland. It makes perfect sense that she and her groom would wish to tie the knot there.

There is nothing wrong with two people having a public marriage ceremony. When boiled down to its essence it means that the couple wishes to publicly declare their partnership to their community. This is true whether they are woman and woman, man and man or woman and woman. This is why I support gay marriage. I believe that all people should be able to make their commitment formal and public if they so desire. And they should be allowed to decide for themselves what kind of celebration they want - an intimate dinner with family and friends or a big blow-out in Antigua.

The propriety of destination weddings are a more fitting topic for Miss Manners than for a serious academic like Ms. Hirshman.

Meant to say woman and man. That is an option.

Do you have children? If not, you have no f@cking idea what you are talking about. Please define what you mean by "acting like girls when they are boys." Humans are complex. I have two teenage boys: they are jocks (younger son plays Lax - a pretty "macho" sport), they are band geeks, they are really good students, they are senstive, they have friends who are girls, they have friends who are boys, they enjoy Jud Apatow movies and Harold and Kumar(but so do Ibut they also enjoy Bend It Like Beckham and Pride and Prejudice, they use "dude" a lot, etc., etc. Before you post again, make sure you know what the f@ck you are talking about.

Guess what? There are no rules - you do not have to pick stationary (sp?), you do not have to register (i.e., hit up your guests for stuff you are too cheap to buy for yourself and don't need anyway) -- you do not have to do anything you do not want to do. Your wedding, your life. If you think you want a rocking party for your wedding celebration or just you and your SO at an exotic destination. Make up your own traditions or take ownership of old traditions. Whatever you want - enjoy. And then move on to what matters: your partnership.

A wedding or commitment ceremony is just one day or night out of your entire life - really nothing more than an excuse to have a party. The life long commitment you make to your partner is what matters. When you and your partner are 85, sure, you'll enjoy looking at the wedding pictures. But 30, 40, 50 years af a successful partnership is what will really matter.

When I got married nearly 21 years ago, the only "traditional" thing I wanted was a beautiful wedding gown. I was a theatre geek my whole life - loved dress up and putting on make-up. So, I indulged myself and am glad I did (although it is a bit of a bummer that at 51 there is no way I could fit into the dress). The only other thing I can remember was that my husband and I wanted really good food. Didn't register, didn't have a shower, etc.

Mahwage.

Mahwage is wot bwings us togevah tooday.

Mahwage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wiffen a dweam...

And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you fowevah...

So tweasure your wuv. ...

from The Princess Bride

Best enjoyed if recited out loud. WARNING: DO NOT do this if you have been asked to read "Let not the marriage of true minds, blah, blah, blah.." at your friend's wedding next week -unless you know the couple is not taking the whole thing too seriously and has a sense of humour. It that is the case they might not mind if you slip and read: "Let not the mahwage of twu minds..."