Gay people love me

This morning I was woken up to take my brother to a cyber bullying workshop at the high school, which the governor and first lady would be hosting. I dropped him off by A Hall, then turned into the guest parking lot to head out the opposite direction. It was when I went through the parking lot that I passed, right where I had stopped no more than fifteen seconds before, a pristine black SUV, whose doors were held open by what looked like some sort of bodyguards or secret service agents. Then I saw what looked like the first lady, and since there was no traffic up to the light, I spent most of my drive out of there looking in my mirror to examine the members of what looked to be the first family that had climbed out of the truck. Then again, it could have been someone else, too (just with a really official look to them ;-)).

My brother told me about an interesting experience he had after the workshop. When he shook his hand as he was leaving, Governor Huntsman said to Matthew, "Hey, good to see you, buddy!" Of course, he could have said that to everyone (I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know), but it is the type of greeting a man would give to someone he knows at least a little better than others. ;-)

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Paul's having his last party right now before he leaves on his mission this coming week. It's where I'd really rather be tonight, since I won't see the guy for at least another two years (if I see him again), but unfortunately circumstances didn't allow for it. :-( However, I did get to have a final hangout with Ryan last night, who starts his mission on Wednesday.

After putting our names on the waiting list at Macaroni Grill, he, Megan, Meisha, and I played around at Borders Book and Music. We found a lot of funny stuff there, spending most of our time in the humor and psychology sections. I also found some journals I really want to use when I finish my current one, so I'll likely be stopping there again soon to pick them up. Actually, I'd better be very careful the next time I go. . . . My wallet got lucky last night because of the pricey dinner I still needed to pay for, but my next visit to the bookstore won't be so restricted. I believe very strongly that those who are unmotivated to read should spend time in a bookstore; they won't leave without a craving for literature! ^_^

I don't have any idea how we got onto the subject, but on our way back to the restaurant we were talking about gay people. "Gay guys just love me," I joked as I told my friends about times in the past where guys other than Schultz had hit on me. Coincidentally, my claims would be proven before the night was over . . . sorta. :-P

Our waiter spoke with that stereotypical gay voice, which led us to joke among ourselves throughout the meal that he was a homosexual. Because of this, we might have put more weight on our observations than we would have otherwise, but it was still fun to watch his behavior whenever he came to our table. We established early on that he had a thing for me: first when taking our orders, he said "excellent choice" after every item in my order, but didn't say anything for the other three who ordered before me and actually asked for some of the same things. :-P

Humor much like this went on over the duration of the meal, but the best part was when the time came for billing. When our waiter asked if Meisha and I were a couple, I said without thinking, "No, it's platonic." The look on his face at my statement suggested that he'd heard good news, and when he left I think it was Megan who said something to the effect of "Don't get his hopes up!" She then suggested that I wear a ring and position my hand in such a way that the waiter would see it and determine that I was taken.

So Ryan let me borrow the ring he was wearing. I couldn't get it all the way onto my finger, though; it was a bit too small. In the same respect, I couldn't get it off! It took several minutes of twisting and forcing for me to get it past my knuckle, and in the meantime it was suggested that I ask the waiter for help in getting the ring off. :-P

We left shortly after that, still laughing about our possibly-gay waiter who could have wanted me. But the night was still young! Thinking it over for a minute, we headed for Meisha's place, where we would have our last game night with Ryan.

Sardines had defined our summer, and it was that game we chose to occupy most of our time. We played two rounds, for the second of which Ryan hid. I worked with the girls to find him at first, calling his cell when we reached the fourth-floor maintenance room (where he and I filmed our video in September) in order to listen for the vibration on the other side of the locked door. Unexpectedly, however, Ryan answered his phone, whispering to me, "You know where to go."

Indeed, I knew exactly where to go, and since the maintenance room on the fourth floor was locked, I started immediately for the one on the third floor. The only hard part was getting away from the girls, but I handled it well enough: when they asked what Ryan had said, I told them the half-truth of "Nothing," then said we should split up again. With that, I suspiciously ran for a staircase after the girls boarded the elevator.

Well, I beat them, and Ryan was hidden in a corner in the dark maintenance room. I found a good hiding spot behind some machinery, and for the next few minutes until the girls found us, Ryan and I quoted lines from our film and giggled over them.

We'd all had enough of Sardines after that, and we returned to the activities room. Realizing that this was the last time our group would be together, I'd wisely brought my camera, and Meisha's dad took a group shot of us.

Hard to believe we're down to three now. . . .

Before calling it a night, we spent some time playing the cell phone game: basically, just sliding Meisha's phone to each other across the floor and fighting over it. Sounds completely lame, but it's fun with the right people at the right lateness of hours. ;-)

And that was it. After a long goodbye, we all parted. Meisha and I wouldn't be able to go to Ryan's farewell because of conflict with Paul and Dan's farewell, so it was the last time we'd be seeing him for a while. It hurt to finally drive home knowing this.

Ryan, thanks for all the good times. I will always remember walking into Noodles on your birthday wearing a sombrero, even though you had no idea who I was yet. I won't be forgetting our adventures since becoming friends, either; you were my ally in the laser tag arena, a fellow filmmaker, someone to laugh with when the girls didn't approve, and someone to hide with when the girls wanted to wax our legs. Truthfully I only have one regret after all this, and that is not having hung out with you more. I'm sorry again for having to miss your farewell tomorrow; I wish so badly that I could be there. But we'll keep in touch, for sure.

Have a good mission, Ryan. Serve the Lord and the people of Houston with all your heart, and when we're both home, we'll go laser tagging.

Until then, buddy.