Adventures, excitement, etc.

Here are some pictures we've taken in NYC. We're trying really hard to practice our fake smiles and, gasp!, take pictures in spite of terrible lighting conditions. Enjoy!

Act II: The Waiting

The first time I saw Houston, I remember him looking… interested. He carefully chose his seat next to me and glanced over occasionally. On our first day of painting he “conveniently” set up his easel next to me. For the next week or two, during class, he asked me about myself and told a few awkward jokes. I remember thinking, “this boy is really cute, but looks too young—maybe I should set him up with my little sister”.

On a Wednesday afternoon I went into my bedroom and noticed that I had missed a call. Guilt struck me. There was a church committee meeting I missed two days prior. The phone call must have been from Abby, who headed up the meeting. I called back and waited for an answer. I was surprised to hear a man's voice on the other end. "Who is this," I said, in a far-from-courteous tone. "This is Houston... from painting class.” He explained how he got my number from Mike, a mutual friend and student in the class. There was some small talk and then he asked about my plans for the coming Saturday. He asked me if I would be interested in going rock climbing. I said yes, agreeing to a date that had come quite unexpectedly.

He looked good when he picked me up. We doubled with his roommate Christian and a date. When we got to the rock climbing gym, we went off on our own and did some climbing and a lot of talking. Afterwards we went to Nicolitalia’s and had some pizza. By the end of the night I knew I really liked him.

Then came the waiting.

We saw each other frequently. I was uncharacteristically persistent. The more we hung out, the more anxious I was for him to initiate the first move. I did embarrassing things like leave my hand open right next to his and sit really close, but to my dismay, no response. This went on for two months.  We had been on several dates and I began to worry. Maybe this guy would never make a move. A few times I noticed what I thought to be an attempt to put his arm around me, but none of these attempts were successful. I think his arm sort of touched my head once.

One night when he dropped me off, I was thinking I would be lucky to get a substantial hug. He gave me an awkward half-hug and told me he had had a good time. He wished me a good night and hesitated. He turned to leave, but only made it a couple steps before turning back around. He told me he really enjoyed spending time with me and he liked me a lot. He told me the reasons he liked me. I told him I felt the same way. It was then that he finally kissed me.

They say the best spice is hunger. 

I can remember thinking, “That was a really good kiss.” I can also remember thinking, “What took you so long!” But finally he did and it was wonderful.

Then, ironically, he got a terrible sore throat and we didn’t kiss again for another two weeks…

New York City

Megan and I have been in NYC for about two weeks now for our illustration internship. Here's what's going down.

We left from the SLC airport at around 11:00 PM. A red eye. We didn't sleep. Then we arrived in New York at around 5:00 AM. We had to haul all of our luggage (a month's worth for both of us) onto the subway and take it to my apartment.

My apartment (called "g. crew") is actually pretty nice. Cool roommates, pretty clean, very cheap. All in all, a good deal. Megan's . . . not so much. We got to her place after a while. It's on the east side; mine is on the west side. It takes forever to get there, as there's no line that goes directly across. We do find a bus, but it takes 40 minutes, at least. The apartment? Cockroaches. Dirty. Hot. Kind of expensive. Megan has a hard time sleeping at night. I'm sure I would, too.

It takes us almost a week and a half to meet up with out internship provider, Brad Holland. He's been busy in Washington D.C. trying to fight off a deplorable copyright amendment bill. He's very courteous and very nice, but very busy. We're doing a lot of scanning, sorting, archiving, and copying. You know, the typical intern stuff. So far though, it's been great to see his work and just be in the atmosphere.

Aside from all that, we've done a lot of shopping, visiting museums, and eating the most delicious pizza we've ever had. We're exhausted at the end of each day, but it's definitely fun. All except the cockroaches.