A friend is planning her wedding, and here in Portland with our DIY culture, we're not headed to the nearest Hallmark store for cards, preferring to make our own. And besides, Hallmark doesn't make cards to celebrate gay marriage, right?

As of this summer, wrong. Lots of my friends are driving down to California to take advantage of the availability of same-sex marriage licenses this season, and they'll be able to come back home to mailboxes flooded with Hallmark cards appropriate to the occasion -- after all, it's not just the "quirky" locals who need to congratulate the happy couples, but extended family and relatives living all over the country.

Is the standardization of congratulation cause for celebration in the gay community? Does having a Hallmark card for something legitimize it as worthy of taking its place in our culture's Roster of Emotionally Significant Events? I think the answer to these questions is yes, and of course, silly though it may be.

One thing though. Independent card maker Rob Fortier told the AP: "A lot of people think a gay greeting card needs a rainbow on it. I don't want that." An informal survey of a half-dozen gay friends, some of whom are soon to be married, agreed. Noted: no rainbows.