This weekend - well, I guess now I'd have to call it last weekend - I went to Nebraska for a friend's wedding.  The trip has largely faded into the mists of time (especially misty this week, what with a massive surplus of work, plus general fatigue) but I will try to recap the interesting bits.

• Immediately upon entering the Midwest, via the Milwaukee airport, I was shocked at the calmness, quietness, utter emptiness and desolation, etc.  This happens every time I leave New York.  I was confused and wrong-footed - where were all the people?  Also, why did gate agents and other strangers keep smiling at me and putting extra words in their sentences?  Renting a car, my travelling companion somehow ended up in an actual conversation with the rental agent, just because apparently when there are no people anywhere you really want to talk to all of them.
• We drove from Omaha to Lincoln.  In the dark.  It was not very interesting.
• Lincoln, however, is rather interesting.  They have this big farmer's market on Saturday mornings, which sells not only produce but also baked goods, meats and cheese, random ethnic foods (like, tamales... weird), and crafts.  They also have the most adorable little coffee shop with muffins and self-serve coffee and very friendly staff and tons of space and clientele who come in still wearing their biking gear.
• The wedding was in a church located across the street from the Nebraska capitol.  Which is very oddly shaped, for a state capitol.
• The bride wore her mother's dress and bright red shoes.  This was  awesome.
• The reception was, well, a wedding reception.  Dinner, dancing, and very good cake.  Midwesterners, by the way, can actually dance; my travelling companion (a native) told me it's because they "go dancing" on weekends, by which she means swing dancing, or salsa dancing, or something along those lines, as opposed to New Yorkers, who also "go dancing" but who use this phrase to refer to a drunken mating ritual.  This revived vague memories of the evenings spent at dance classes and an actual dance hall when I lived in Illinois.
• The next morning, I got to see more of the Lincoln area as we attended a post-wedding event at the bride's family's house.  Their suburbs are like suburbs back East, except cleaner and quieter and prettier.
• We returned to Omaha; this trip was more interesting than the trip down because it was daytime and we marvelled at the huge sky.  When I lived in Illinois, I could never get enough of the sky.
• In Omaha, I went for a run during which I saw the Old Market area (apparently every midwestern city has one), a park, the flooded river, and the convention center.  We went out for dinner and I had "warm duck salad" which was not authentically Midwestern but was very, very good.
• The next day we returned home.  Via Milwaukee again, where we were delayed and I was thrilled to purchase local sausage and cheese for lunch.

Also this short, uneventful week I saw the premiere of my brother's new film, which was very good (does he only work on good movies, or do I only ever see the good ones?) and reminded me of Hamlet, probably because I'm reading the Updike prequel, Gertrude and Claudius.