New home(s)

We've moved, both in the real world and the virtual one. You can visit our new internet digs here.

31 Paul

New York's massive population ironically leads to a great deal of loneliness. The City so teems with bodies that all of them close off their souls in an attempt to preserve a modicum of privacy.

Yet that wasn't my experience in New York.

My brother Paul is almost six years younger than me. Growing up, many of my activities (baseball, mowing, acting, Kamiakin, swing dancing, and Bethel) were shared jointly with brother Zach, just two-and-a-half years my junior, but Paul was too young to participate. Paul eventually did all those things (well, except for baseball and mowing), but many of them happened after I left for college.

In 2003, after I graduated from college and Paul "graduated" from high school, I spent the summer at home and began to see Paul as a peer. I played a lot of ultimate frisbee with Paul and his friends and realized that Paul had been maturing and had chosen his friends very wisely.

I moved to D.C. and had some less than ideal roommate situations. Paul moved to L.A. and had the same. Our friendship grew and I remember that at Christmas '04, Paul speculated that I'd make a pretty good roommate for him and that he'd be a good one for me. He was right.

After being admitted to Columbia, I missed the deadline to secure university housing. God used my laziness for his good purpose. As I started my classes in August, Paul was hired to write for Engadget. While he could work from anywhere, most of the blog's editors lived in NYC. So, in October he flew across the country and we moved into a one-bedroom in Harlem.

Our New York experience centered on our great little community of believers, City Church. God had independently introduced us to Sovereign Grace Ministries, Paul in Pasadena and me in Fairfax, VA. Paul and I rode that D train to the F train come hell or high-water--talking theology, politics, music, family, and everything else important.

We also shared a drug-dealing super, two amazingly bad TimeWarner internet connections, LOST (till Paul quit), an Arctic Monkeys concert, six weeks without hot water, and so much more.

When Mrs. Miller came into my life, Paul was longsuffering. Of course he was very happy that I had found the right woman, but I devoted so much time to courting to my Love that, as the photo at right suggests, Paul sometimes felt squeezed.

But that all changed after the wedding. Paul became the most frequent guest at our dinner table. The conversations between the three of us were wonderful and God-glorifying. The Three Millers were a force, strengthened by our numbers.

Paul, in all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now. You are the top thing I will miss about New York.

30 Restaurants

Nothing new here. New York is famous for its food. Here's a short list of places I'll miss.


For coffee and pastries:

• Kitchen Commune (Location: Soho. The chandeliers are made from kitchen utensils)
• Naidres (Location: Carroll Gardens. Delicious wheat-free muffins)
  
• Tazza (Location: Brooklyn Heights. First cafe I fell in love with in Brooklyn. In random news, last time I visited, I saw Jennifer Connelly and Emily Mortimer)
  

For pizza:

• Grimmaldies (Location: DUMBO, but also now in Arizona! Amazing basic pizza and great views of the Brooklyn Bridge)
  
• Oven (Location: Brooklyn Heights. The five-cheese pizza is heaven with a good bottle of merlot)
  
• Artichoke (Location: near Union Square. Paul told us about this place; then we read a review in the Sun and decided to make it our last dinner in NYC)

For a meal:

• Bocca Lupa (Location: Cobble Hill. This hip wine bar and restaurant, just a block from the burrow, excels in ambiance and taste. Mr. Miller and I ate there to celebrate our first anniversary)
  
• Noodle Pudding (Location: Brooklyn Heights. Ignore the silly name and GO HERE if you're in NYC. Everything tastes good from the salad to the desserts. Oh, and order the house wine. We also love how family-friendly it is; there were children wiggling at nearly every table)
  
• Caracas Arepa Bar (Location: East Village. Best (ok, and only) Venezuelan cuisine I've ever tasted)
  
• Five Points Restaurant (Location: NoHo. Yoland told me about this gem. The brunch menu is amazing, and perhaps magical. I ate there with Marilyn, Jenna and Ev mere hours before going into labor!)
  
• Song (Location: Park Slope. Great Thai food, but I mention it mostly in tribute to Lulu and City Church, because it is their unofficial restaurant of choice)
  

29 Pasty people

Maybe it's that their paycheck only covers food and housing or maybe its the long, sunless winters, but there are a lots of pasty people in New York City. You know the type. Little melanin and no account at the local tanning salon. They're ghostly white and, among them, I feel at home in my skin.

28 Our back porch

Few people if any have yards in the City (which is why public parks are so important.) A few lucky residents live in the "garden level" of their brownstone and, thus, get a yard. And some fortunate others have a back porch or a fire escape.

The burrow has a small back porch, just large enough for a table, two chairs, a potted plant, and a mini-grill. And it has a view. Sure its a view of the back of some buildings and an industrial portion of the East River, but its a view.

We spent countless afternoons and evenings out there eating, studying, talking, and entertaining. One of my favorite memories is the night we hosted Paul and his friend Kyle. It was March and it was freezing, but still we sat out on the porch in the cold and rain, drinking wine, and letting our conversation follow meandering paths like the smoke coming from the guys' cigars.

I'll miss that porch.

Cute baby picture alert

See them over at my sister's blog.

Back to the blog

Sorry for the unintended absence. Moving across the country ended up being rather demanding. Plus, we haven't had regular internet access for awhile. I hesitate even to call what we have "regular" internet access as finding a signal requires standing next to the front window with the laptop craned just so. ::sigh:: Such is life in the sticks.

Soon I hope to post the rest of my 31 Things I Love About New York City, and finally put the borrow blog to rest. I am starting a new blog project. More on that to come.