Similar to my previous entry "An Ode to Kelly", this is an Ode to Eric and Larissa. Another best thing to happen to me in 2013 is hanging with Larissa and Eric. I’d known them both for several years. Eric and I first met when Matt G, Pat, Matt, Paul and I were making Thesis back in 2008. Eric and his friend Ian came out to a shoot we were holding in my sister’s dorm on Livingston campus. We needed extras to film a party scene and they were helping us out. The partygoers needed to appear to be naturally talking in the background while Matt G was acting out a scene. Eric, Ian and I ended up having a conversation about pizza bagels – a very solid start to any friendship. I met Larissa shortly thereafter when she and Eric had just started dating at Eric’s birthday celebration at Captain Hook’s in Seaside. But this really was a friendship through our mutual friend Matt and it stayed that way for several years... until this summer!
This past June, I was recently and happily single and was looking for any friends who were just down to hang. I was over Matt’s house hanging with Holly, Matt G, Eric, and Jed playing videogames when Eric mentioned that his friends played volleyball every Sunday during the summer. He was throwing the invite out to us and I was psyched. However I wasn’t sure if it was thrown out to me individually or us as a group, still feeling out my new found re-emergence into friend world after the end of my relationship. My ex really didn’t like doing many things with my friends and I was trying to get back into the game... awkwardly I might add and worrying whether people liked me. Ridiculous, I know. Who doesn’t love me?
I should add that I LOVE volleyball. Love, love, love, love volleyball. Nothing better than diving for the ball and getting it over the net. In high school our gym teacher offered us two extra points to your overall grade if you bruised yourself playing volleyball and five extra points if you bloodied yourself. You better believe I got all seven of those points.
Matt and Holly couldn’t go the first week, so I didn’t go. I wanted to but I was feeling uncharacteristically shy and uncertain. The next week I wanted to go so I texted Eric and asked if I could come as my own independent unit. Eric said absolutely. After that I was a weekly regular. Larissa played volleyball too and I remember seeing her and wanting to be friends but feeling out of my element and just hoping she liked me. This volleyball thing was like eighth grade for me I swear. I just wanted the cool kids to like me.
Towards the end of the summer the turn out for Volleyball was lacking and Eric called it off. I was really bummed about this because it was a ton of fun and I didn’t want to stop hanging out with that crew. I guess I had made a good enough impression at that point though and I was invited to a wrestling match at Eric and Larissa’s and then many subsequent football Sundays. Then Larissa received a promotion at her job freeing up her weekends and the friendship started snowballing. I signed up to go on vacation with them the following summer. Larissa helped me make my ice cream cake for my birthday party and then let me drunk cuddle her when she slept over after my party. Eric and I planned a full day Lord of the Rings marathon. Larissa was my date to a holiday party. Eric agreed to read my screenplay and potentially help me make it. We pretty much locked this friendship in.
Now the reason for this Ode to Eric and Larissa: yesterday was Eric’s birthday. We celebrated at Captain Hook’s in Seaside again – bringing this whole thing full circle. Pumped about my new awesome friendships I wanted to do something nice for his birthday and I am poor. So what to do when you are poor? Exploit my talents and paint a sports insignia. Also stop buying so many damn beautiful dresses Julie! The painting cost me nothing but time and enabled me to waste several hours melting my brain in front of the TV. Like I say with most of my paintings because I am ever so modest, this one rules! I finished a week ago and literally all week I have been looking at in my room thinking how flipping great I am at painting. Like seriously, I am amazing. Everyone should be so lucky to win my friendship and get a painting!
Not to forget Larissa in this, I told her I would love to do something for her too. We agreed the Giants logo kind of sucked. She said maybe I could paint her some lemons on 4 by 4 inch canvases. I so graciously told her that I could literally “shit out” those paintings so I would do that anyway and to think of something better.
Larissa, I await your request!
Eric, happy birthday!
So glad we are friends guys!
Heart your friend, Julie