How We Met
We met at an Open Mic night on Lark Street in Albany, New York in January 2004.
Stephen:I remember the first time I heard Steve playing at the Larkin. Ashley, Val and I came upstairs, and he was already playing his guitar and singing. Unfortunately, I don't remember which song he was playing, but I recall thinking he was cute and giggling about it with Ash and Val.
After the first time I read poetry at the Larkin, while walking back to my seat, I noticed Steve smiling and clapping. I know everybody was, but I noticed Steve in particular.
Kristine:The Open Mics at the Larkin were an amazing communal experience. For however long you were there, you wanted to stay longer; hanging around until long after the sign-up list had been exhausted, joining in on whatever song someone wanted to play. Over time, host Paddy Kilrain began bringing her drum kit, and I often ended evenings drumming along and trying to avoid going back to my empty apartment.
Stephen:Ashley was always a fan of jamming, and of course I always wanted to help the jam in some way. One time, while Ash was on the piano and Steve was on the house kit, Steve let me borrow his lap drum and I got to play along during "Closing Time" by Semisonic. I remember giggling and talking with Steve, and almost falling off the back of the chair. I made some offhand comment, but I was really glad he didn't just think I was clumsy.
Kristine:Ashley's friend had been reading poetry and parts of a serial story for the last few weeks. That night, she wanted to join in as we played and asked if she could use the small hand drum I'd brought. When I said yes, she happily hopped onto the stool that sat along the windowed front of the room between the piano and drum kit. She hopped too far and almost fell over the back of the stool - it was only a cartoonish lunge forward that kept her from toppling.
"Be careful," I said, "You almost went right off the back and into the window!"
She could have blushed in embarrassment. She could have looked over her shoulder at the window, and realized her luck. Instead, without missing a beat, she laughed "That would have been hilarious." I knew I liked this girl.
Stephen:I asked Steve to come to Ashley's first show, at Valentine's on New Scotland Ave. I was VERY excited when he showed up. That night I told Steve that I liked it when he played "Airbag" by Radiohead, and he agreed to play it at the next open mic.
Kristine:That week, I played "Airbag" like Kristine requested, and we sat together the whole night. We spent the evening with a notebook open on the table, and wrote notes, jokes, doodles and commentary back and forth (rather than talking and disrupting performances).
A group planned to go to Denny's at the end of the night, and I was invited along by Kristine, Ashley and Val.
Ash, Val and I conspired for me to ride with Steve by saying Val's backseat was too full for me to fit (which wasn't entirely untrue). When we left, Steve walked me to his station wagon. He really surprised me when he went to open the door for me, but I think he may have been more surprised: he almost fell on his butt slipping on some ice.
At Denny's, the first picture of us was taken. Also after one of the Denny's nights, it had started to snow and I remember getting my first hug from Steve in the snow.
It was usually extremely warm at the Larkin during Open Mics, to the point that the windows would fog over and condensation would roll down them by the end of the night - it turned out I hadn't dressed warmly enough to hang around out in the Denny's parking lot. Standing near my car saying goodnight to Kristine, I began to shiver uncontrollably. Kristine gave me a big hug to keep warm, and then ran off through the falling snow to her friends' waiting car.
I don't remember the drive home.