Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Blog du Jour



Right now I am sitting in a hotel room in Paris completely blown away by the fact that I am here. The weekend went very well, and I think this summer is going to go great. I should not have worried about having issues fitting in, because the thing that I forgot about was the fact that I am working with computer people! Programmers, game designers and robotics specialists aren't the most social people out there. So when it came to being part of conversations, or interacting with the other supervisors, I had an easier time engaging them than they did each other. They divided all of us into our departments saturday morning, and then we went over protocols for the intercamp activities. We all basically had the same ideas and we were able to finish by mid afternoon on saturday.
The rest of the camp did not have such an easy time. The rest of the weekend was dedicated to everybody agreeing on how their intercamp activities would work, so the graphics guys were able to do whatever we wanted for the rest of our time in NYC! I called Eddie, just because I wanted to hear his voice, and he sounded kind of nervous, so I asked him what was going on. Apparantly he entered this short film into a festival about a month ago, and he was planning on going to the festival, but then he met me and he didn't care about going because he probably wasn't going to win anyway. Shocker, he recieved a call asking if he could be in Paris on Tuesay for the awards ceremony because his short film won the festival!
This is where it gets CUTE! Eddie is an extremely shy and modest person. I have known this guy since we were in the 7th grade, and he hasn't changed at all. Our senior year in high school he won a national art competition and his painting was actually hung at this huge gallery in DC. He had to leave school for a week and he didn't tell anybody why he went. The only reason we found out was because our art teacher announced it in class the day he came back! The reason why I bring this up is because I am trying to explain the extremes that this guy goes through to hide how awesome he is! If I hadn't called right when I did, he probably wouldn't have told me that he had just won.
Anyway, I told him that I was done for the weekend and he asked me if he could fly up and see me for awhile before he went to his thing in France. Like I really needed to answer that! By 11:30 at night he was pulling up in a taxi in front of my hotel! I saw him and I got really excited, I don't know what came over me, but I ran right up to him and I kissed him for like 2 minutes in front of everybody! Not that there were many people around at that hour, but still, I think that technically I am pretty much a closet case! He just looked so freakin hot that I couldn't help myself!
The weather was pretty crappy, so we only left the hotel when we checked out this morning at 4am. We spent most of the time talking and umm... Well use your imagination! It felt really good being able to support and comfort him, because until now, I have been the guy that needed all the support. I have never thought that his life was as complicated as it is, and now that I know, I have more respect and admiration for him than I did before. Basically he is a sensitive tortured artist that is dark and brooding because of his troubled past! Nobody understands the pressures of growing up in a first generation Asian American household except other Asian Americans. But to give you an idea, I contemplated suicide more thinking about the fact that I didn't want to be a doctor than I did when I first realized that I was gay. Eddie was born in Communist China and didn't make it to America until he was 5, so he definitely has pressures that I will never know!
Well my flight was for 10 pm Sunday night, but I had better things to do than catch a flight, so we went to the airport together this morning. His flight was at 6:45am, and mine was standby.
On our trip to the airport Eddie asked me to come with him to France. He told me that he was so nervous and he wanted someone special to be there with him in his big moment. He said that this was the whole reason why he came to NYC to meet me, he was just to scared that I would say no so he didn't ask me. How could I say no to him!? I am a sucker for anybody who says that they need me!
Half the plane was empty, so getting me a seat wasn't a problem. The last minute fare for the plane ticket was a different story all together! It was a problem because he bought my ticket, and I have no way of repaying that much money without having a really awkward converssation with my father... "hey dad, I went on this last minute trip to Paris with my boyfriend! It was completely spur of the moment, so I didn't have time to save up for it and my boyfriend bought the ticket. Can you spot me the money until we both forget about this and I never actually pay you back for it??" hahaha yeah that's soooo not going to happen! He told me not to worry about paying him back because this whole thing was his idea and his treat, but I am totally going to worry about this! On our LONG flight we played this game where we both drew a picture, and the object was to fill the entire paper with color before the other person did. This is what mine looked like. I went so fast that I forgot to draw an arm on my guy, he also is missing color on his shirt and a few other things. But after Eddie finished, and it was 1000 times better than mine, I had no desire to finish my drawing. I would show his picture, but mine would look like a kindergarten art project next to his! I am thinking about stealing it and waiting 20 years when he is uber famous, then selling it on ebay for retirement money.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW! PARIS!? REALLY!? Can I have your boyfriend!? In that picture that you drew, I also noticed that your guy is missing a stomache! While you are in Paris, you need to take time to go and visit the museums and the porn district! I have never had a boyfriend wisk me off to Paris and I feel kind of cheated to be your senior by about a decade never having experienced this! Its great to hear that everything is right in your universe right now!

Anonymous said...

Colorful picture! I played that game in art class a few times. I can never think of a way to fill up my page in time! I have never been good at improvising the entrire picture! I am one of those people that need to plan things out, and then erase and redraw things! You just can't do that when you are racing to fill an entire page!

And can I just say, "wow!"?? You must be some reall special to have a guy buy you a plane ticket to Paris! He must have some serious money! I think that I am in love with him now!

Anonymous said...

Fan-f***ing-tastic! Congrats on your meeting, it sounds like everything went your way. Special congrats to your buddy, Eddie!! Will you be able to tell us the film festival name and/or the name of his film? I would love to see his drawing that makes you feel like yours is kindergarten work; so snake it (with his permission, of course) and post it, please! Luv the drawing above -- as well as the WASP in the previous post. Do you realize this is the first post in (what seems like) a long time that you haven't mentioned your back pain? I love it!

Anonymous said...

I love your picture today! You need to work with non digital mediums more often! You are really really good at it. Not to say that your other stuff isn't great either, because it is! I am jsut saying, there is something more personal in this one because you made it with your own hands and not tools from a computer.

Anywho, I was reading this other blog and it made me think about you. It was a blog about professional athletes and how most of them have struggled with being gay and in the public eye. I remembered reading one of your early blogs where you were thinking about turning pro for surfing. The problem was that you were worried about the questions that people would ask you and what people would try and find out about you. It was a very interesting blog, because even though it was kind of depressing the end message was nice. Things are getting better for gay pro athletes! More athletes are doing it, and more athletes are being accepted for it. I know that you have to deal with your personal life first, I jsut thought that you would enjoy reading the blog. its http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/06/04/030312.php

Anonymous said...

I have been reading your blog for about 2 weeks now, and I had no idea that you are an almost pro surfer! That is kind of exciting! I definitely need to go though your archives and start from the beginning. It ddoesn't look like you have been doing this very long and I am sure that its an interesting read. I really liked your picture and I don't tnink that you could show me a picture that would make yours look like a kindergartener did it. Because if your art is at an age 5 level where would mine be rated!? Because I am still working on my stick figures! You are an awesome artist, keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

I am just like you, I am a total pushover for friends and such. Except I don't think that you would need to be a pushover to accept a trip to Paris! I hope that you and Eddie have a good time there and you guys have some time to have a little bit of fun before you guys fly back home.

Anonymous said...

I love your piture first off! I think that you made good decisions with colors and you did an awesome job blending the whole tihng.

Next, I can't believe that you are in Paris! That is awesome! I haven't even been to the next town over without planning it for a week. I could never be that spontenious. Good for you having that sort of attitude.

Marc said...

You are the man! I want to be you! I have never had a weekend like you have just had ever! You are a very lucky guy. Plus you are a great artist. I think that you are my new hero. And even though I am slughtly older than you, I want to be you when I grow up!

Anonymous said...

I think that you are a crazy guy! I think that it is just INSANE to take off to another country without even thinking about it! Do you always carry your passport just in case!? hahaha! I love this picture of yours. I have played this game with friends before also. I am just not very fast, so I never win. But I do always end up with something totally out of character for me, because I do not spend a lot of time thinking about what I drew. I think that it would be very exciting to see something that would make your art look like a kindergartener drew it! You are extremely talented in your own right. I just think that you have a somewhat skewed vision when it comes to giving your art a fair look. I hope you 2 enjoy the Movie festival! I am sure that you will since Eddie is the winner haha!

Anonymous said...

GAY! Its wierd how you get a little bit gayer with every post.

Anonymous said...

This anonymous guy is sucj a creep. The thing that I have noticed is that with every post, you have become more confident with yourself and your decision to be happy. If anything you are becoming more brave and more free with every post and I think that it is a very special thing. I love your blog and your pictures that you put on it. You are an amazing and unique individual and I think that you need to be proud of the changes that you have made in your life lately!