The Dating Game

I have a date.

A lunch date with the Science Teacher at Habanero, the restaurant with the awesome tortilla chips a block from my house.

I swear, guys don't know how to ask a girl out anymore.

He asked for my number via Match.com and I complied.

A day later he texts me and asks me what I'm doing. I tell him I'm working on a project. He replies that he'll let me work on that. I thought it was considerate, but not very assertive.

Today he texts me again. Asks me what my plans for Friday are. I tell him my schedule and asks why he wants to know to perhaps push this thing along a bit. Response?

"I think you know why. lol"

Seriously, dude? You're a real smooth operator.

So, I reply with, "We'll yes I have an idea but if you're trying to set up a date just come out with it!"

I quickly sent a follow-up smiley face so it didn't seem quite so bitchy.

And then he said he wanted to meet me at the mall.

I'm sorry, WHAT?

I know you teach middle-schoolers but that doesn't mean you have to date like one! I haven't found it romantic to meet someone at a mall since I transitioned from Tween to Teen.

So we're going to my neighborhood, of course, because I'd hate to be inconvenienced, and I actually am squeezing him into my very hectic schedule this week (hence the lunch date).

The upside to this interaction is that it proved that I am back to my regular, uninvested, take-no-bullshit self. It was rejuvenating. Like filling your lungs with crisp morning air when you first walk outside.

The Engineer and I continue to message each other, but I keep setting him up to ask me out and he keeps stalling.

I have the sneaking suspicion that these guys are on Match because they are unable to function in the social real-world. Therein lies my prejudice. Whilst searching for love on Match.com, in the back of my head I judge every prospect for needing to be on Match.com.....Is that ridiculously unfair or what?

No, you know what's ridiculous? The circus that is trying to date in this day and age.

Dating isn't rocket science. There are THREE basic things you need to do in order to be successful at it.

1. ASK

2. PLAN the date

3. Be polite

No, I don't want to hang out with you and your friends at a bar, that's not a date. Yes, you have to ask me in advance, because I have a life. No, I will not ask you, because I could take or leave you.

It's enough to make a girl want to throw in the towel.

Prospects

Thinking about updating more frequently....As I said before I am positively bubbling over with words!

And prospects.

I'd pretty much given up on Match.com but then sooo many people started contacting me. A handful of them are actually worth following up on as well. Crazy!

Okay, I must blog about my last Match experience since I skipped it what with all the other stuff going on in my life. Remember the guy I went out with from Match before? Who went crazy on me after I unwittingly e-mailed his friend on Match? Well....I went out with the friend.

Oops.

I know, I know that's just asking for trouble, but I wanted to go out.

In the meantime I decided, because apparently I am old-school bananas, to get a Brazilian wax. One of the girls in the make-up shop is an aesthetician and she gave me a sweet deal, and I'd always been curious, so I thought....Why not?

Oh, and did I mention this is the NIGHT BEFORE my date with this guy?

I THOUGHT it would make me feel really sexy for my date, but when I was icing my crotch with a bag of broccoli in my cute date dress I thought differently.

So I'm at this loud jazz club with Jazz Hands (we call him Jazz Hands because he is getting his masters in jazz studies) where I have to shout to converse and my who-ha feels like it's going to FALL OFF and I've been at the school long hours working so I'm ridiculously tired and keep yawning (which makes me look really attractive and interested)....And THEN Jazz Hands asks me about his friend; what I thought of him and such! How awkward is that?! What do you say?

I tried to be as polite as possible and said something about not really knowing him but he seems like a nice guy....Ugh.

Fast forward to finals week before spring break and it is make-up class finals and my make-up less face is red and broken out from the marathon beating it's been taking and my hair is in a wig cap so I look like a complete weirdo....I decide to venture up to the atrium to get a grilled cheese on my break and who walks through the atrium just then but JAZZ HANDS? I turned away and kind of hid behind the other person waiting in line like a pathetic girl from a bad rom com, but I'm sure he saw me. The ONE TIME I'm not all put together and look like a freak of nature.....Oh, well. Such is my life!

Anyway, I am currently setting up a date with a middle school science teacher who seems nice. We'll see how it goes.

I'm also chatting with an engineer who I thought seemed really, really promising until he said he liked the movie Sucker Punch. To be fair, I haven't seen it, and if the worst thing about him is that he likes bad movies I guess it's not the end of the world....

I can't decipher the nationality or pronounce the name of a guy on Match who works in finance, but I guess it'll be like a surprise!

The guys who work at Habanero, the restaurant just a block from my house, always flirt with me. One was particularly adorable. He said "Well, if you need something, or anything, you know, with your chips, or some salsa, or you know, whatever, come back by and see me." As he smiled shyly.

And to think I was wearing my yoga pants and barely had any make-up on because I was going for a walk (although I'm pretty sure getting the amazing fried tortilla chips and guacamole from that place after exercise is counterintuitive)!

And of course there's Law School. Talking to him brightens my day. I'm sure it could be great, but he lives in California and I just DON'T want to go down that road. So I'm trying to keep things surface....friendly...

In fact, I want to keep all of them light. I want to date them all and not worry about narrowing it down to one. I want to see what's out here in Cincinnati. I want to laugh and have dinner bought for me.

I just can't do more. The thought of telling someone all my secrets, my hopes, my fears feels....daunting. I just don't have the room to let someone truly into my life right now. Not now when I'm feeling so much like myself again. I can't afford to lose my way.

So I won't. I have a path. I have a major design to work on that inspires me (maybe I'm a nerd but when a director uses terms like Brechtian and Dickensian I get all excited). I have an awesome summer job in the mountains of Utah doing what I love. And, most importantly, I have a new pair of hiking shoes (really, I just bought them today for working backstage) in case the path gets rough.

HOME

My last day in Kansas.

It's been wonderful.

I'm back to myself.

It happened my second day. I had finally seen my Ma was okay, and we'd talked about all those things we were afraid to say from so far away, and we'd laughed, and cried.....

Then, as I was driving to the grocery store to pick Ma up some popsicles, (a seemingly normal enough task) wearing a cotton sundress with the windows down, and a ridiculous radio song blaring, I came back.... I know what follows will make me seem like I'm mentally unstable, but I was singing along and then I just started laughing, just a little at first, a chuckle to myself, and then louder, until I was laughing uncontrollably. I laughed until my eyes watered. I had to STOP the car! It felt like I hadn't laughed all Winter Quarter, and I'm a girl who LOVES to laugh. My chest had felt like a rubber band being pulled taught at both ends and then someone just...let go. That someone was me. It might be one of the best moments in my whole life.

It felt so good to be back. I felt I'd been "acting" my life. In this scene Tricia will be a good student. In this scene Tricia smiles even though you've hurt her feelings. In this scene Tricia will magically pull understanding and patience out of her ass.

But once I quit following stage directions and started writing my own script again I was bursting with words! So many words! Words that can't even be contained on these electronic pages. All the words I hadn't said. Things I might never say, because it isn't even worth it, and some things I made sure to say, because it's now or never.

I went to visit some old friends.

I met Essay's new girlfriend. She's just okay, but he seems happy. After a night of beer pong and card games we sat on the couch just talking like old times while she was passed out.

I went to the town of my undergrad to see one of my best friends and her boyfriend, who actually used to be my boyfriend, which sounds weird, but just really, really isn't.

We thought we'd pretend like we were on a destination spring break and bought Hawaiian shirts at Goodwill and hung out at every body of water in town while drinking a delicious concoction known as Summer Brew. Basically we lived like lushes for two straight days. We ate fried food, danced, closed down the bars, talked about art, caught up with people, made inappropriate jokes, reminisced on old times, drummed on tabletops raucously, were a thoroughly bad influence on younger theater students, sang at the top of our lungs, made friends with strangers, and watched the sun set over the river. It was brilliant. Truly brilliant.

We ran into one of my Ex's (Tattoo Guy) at the bar. It wasn't awkward really because I could care less. The only thing that got me was I was so clearly happy to be back in Kansas, and actually pretty thrilled with my success as a graduate student, and he could only stare at me in a kind of unworthy awe as if Kansas was a prison he couldn't find the way out of.

My friends can tell me like it is, but they are always on my side. . They are an only-child's family. They don't have to be there, but they are because they want to be. Because of ME. You can be a boyfriend or a fling easy, but being my friend is a real honor. These people are the loves of my life.

Sure, boys have been talking to me and flirting with me (it seems as soon as my confidence was back, it was like a ripple effect), but surrounded by these absolutely fantastic friends and family, all other love seems irrelevant.

One Man's Trash...

You know how the saying goes.

I've been talking to an old friend lately, and he told me he's always had a thing for me. He said I was the type of girl that puts men at ease.

He's brilliant. He can quote Hume and Tolstoy from memory. He thinks it's cute when I get all excited about a book. He wears tweed blazers with elbow patches. He's currently attending law school and his mind is like this wonderful, analytical tool. Talking to him is just so....stimulating.

Recently I had someone tell me I "put too much emphasis on intelligence." So, I thought about it.... and I think they were exactly right, I do, but that doesn't mean I'm changing my ways. When it comes down to it: looks fade, jokes get old, and I can buy them new clothes or cologne; but when I'm 85 years old and laying next to the man I've chosen to spend my life with and we can't move too well because of arthritis or a bum hip we're going to talk. Talking is one of my favorite things, and I can't imagine spending my whole life with someone who can't keep up with me. I'm not looking for a prized possession. I'm not chasing a feeling. I'm looking for the other part of a two-person team. A mind is something you are born with, something you always have. Sure, you can read all the right books and say all the right things (I've been fooled by that pseudo intellectualism before) but to be truly brilliant is something that can't be cultivated or faked, and I deserve the truly brilliant.

Anyway, so Law School knows, as it seems everyone does, about the monumental wretchedness that has been my Winter Quarter. My personal life, my family life, and my school life were all utter disasters and even a department joke. I just couldn't catch a break like I can't ever catch the morning shuttle. My friend Janet once said to me that "Men are like trolleys, there's always another one coming." Well, if men are like the shuttle I take to school they're totally unreliable and you might as well just keep on walking.

Now I'm standing here with my protective walls all broken and cracked trying to sift through the rubble for anything of value.

I told Law School the whole ordeal made me feel disposable.

He said, "You're not disposable, you're essential."

I almost cried because it was exactly what I needed to hear.

I don't know if I want to get into something right now. Right now I just need to see hay bales and the sun setting over the lake. I need the sound of tires on a gravel road and a sky full of stars. I need to see Ma's face to know she's really okay, and that we're going to make it because we always do. I need to hug her fragile little body and tell her I'm sorry it took me so long.

I need to go home.

But, oh, to be another man's treasure......That just might get me by until then.

Spring Cleaning

It's trying to be spring here in Cincinnati. It's sunny days and rain. It's cardigan weather. And with spring comes the time-honored tradition of spring cleaning.

I made a mess, and it's time to clean it up.

Essay (one of my very best guy-friends) said, "Next time actually TAKE my advice when you ask for it.....No, here's what you do: If you LIKE him, don't date him, because you clearly have poor judgement, and I can't always be there."

Rewind a couple months:

I thought, "Guy in Texas? He's so far away! No WAY will this get dramatic. It'll be so fun, and easy."

Back to now:

I...was...wrong.

I have jumped ship when the boats were perfectly fine a million times, and I picked THIS one to stay on board. It's like I chained myself to the sinking Titanic and told the band to play on!

I let him in my life. This faux boyfriend. I don't even let REAL boyfriends in my life! I've had some very good friends for YEARS who have NEVER seen me cry, and with this guy I just put down my suitcase and unpacked.

This was the worst of it to my friend Essay:

"Now I'm offended," he said. "I pushed you and forced you FOREVER to open up to me and this guy sends you a few nice e-mails and texts and you just let him waltz in when he did NOTHING to earn it? Do you know how CRAZY that sounds?! You are so smart Tricia, but sometimes you act like a real dumb girl..."

"I know, I know. But he's like you, Essay. He pushes me too..."

"No. Just stop right there. He's not like me, because I CARE about you, and he doesn't."

There it is. Sometimes Essay wields this hammer, and I'm just a nail that needs to be hit on the head.

What's worse, to me, is that I let him into my professional life. I sent him my ENTIRE portfolio so he could make my website. That thing is probably the closest I will ever have to a child. I wouldn't even let my Ma CARRY my portfolio and I just shipped it off to him like it was nothing. My portfolio is safely back in my arms, but I have yet to see this website that I PAID for.

So I've been playing nice, hoping all this gets done. Letting him patronize me. Letting him tell me all his problems. And what do I do? I listen. I do what I can to help. Because I DO care.

He sends me these messages:

"I miss you."

"I like this."

"I like having you in my life."

It's bothersome like a papercut. He's dating someone else so why say these things to me? To make my life messier?

I wish we could just be friends, but when I try to just be friendly he says I'm being weird. He tells me not to compartmentalize him.

UGH! What do you want from me?!

Well, here's what I want. I want my website done and then I want to sweep the rest of this shit out. I want to scrub it until it shines. Until I shine.

My friend Nick said it best:

"Why worry about a guy who doesn't like you in Texas when there are plenty of guys that don't like you here!?"

And of course, some that do. But this is long enough, more on all that later.

Just Like the Movies

Today one of my friends said something to me, and it really struck me. I always say "My life is like a romantic comedy, but without the happy ending, so at least it's funny."

Well, he said: "No, you're life is like a romantic comedy, but you're not the leading lady."

I laughed, but couldn't help thinking it was true.

The Faux B came and went. It was wonderful....and horrible.....and confusing....

I guess I thought that if we actually met everything would become clear, but it's not, or maybe I just can't see it.

I had all these preconceived notions.

I thought I'd finally see all the crappy things about him in person, but I couldn't.

I thought it'd be easy to be his "bro," but it wasn't.

I thought he'd realize how great I am, but he didn't.

I thought I'd be relieved for it all to be over with, but I'm not.

He's seeing someone else, because I'm not the leading lady.

I'm the funny sidekick, and that's okay. We had a good time. I laughed more than I thought I would. I feel so comfortable and uncomfortable with him at the same time. It's odd. Everything about this situation is unusual for me.

What do you do with a guy you don't want to date but you don't want to get rid of?

Ma had another surgery. They found the source of her cancer. They removed it, and we think they got it all, but we're not done yet. I called her in the hospital and she wanted me to tell her all about FB's visit. She couldn't really respond because of the tubes in her throat, but I think she was glad to be talking about something non-medical, and my dating life is always good for a laugh, no matter how feeble.

I keep telling myself that it will be fine. Because it has to be. It has to be.

I went to a Pure Romance party tonight at a girlfriend's house. Great. Just what I needed. An entire party centered around sex to remind me that I'm not having any. And then I walked home in the rain. It might have been the most pathetic thing ever.

Doesn't every romantic comedy have a sad montage before the happy ending?

Maybe this is just my sad montage.

Grown-up

My Ma said something really cool to me, the day before I left to go back to Ohio over break. Something she's never said to me before, especially when it relates to guys and dating....She said, "I won't tell you what to do, it sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders. I trust your judgment."

And you know what? She was right.

In fact, just the other day, I TALKED with a guy about how I was feeling instead of just dropping him like a dumpster baby. For the FIRST time in my life!

Oh, sure, I didn't WANT to talk, and sure, I avoided it like the plague....but, I did it!

And you know what? It wasn't that bad....In fact, I felt BETTER afterwards! Who knew?!

This is a big step for me, people, the apocalypse might be approaching....

I've been talking to some of my guy friends lately and thinking about how wonderful they are, and what great guys they are, and then I think about my flings and boyfriends, and there is a definite dichotomy there.

I've NEVER tried anything with some of my guy friends, because frankly, I'm not willing to live without them. I know I can call them at any time and they will be there for me in whatever way they can. They've proven it to me time and time again. Those other guys? Meh.

I think I may have found an equal in my Faux B. Someone who can see through my bullshit. Someone who won't put up with it. And I respect him, which is cool, and new, but maybe is better suited among the ranks of my friends. Which is also so much easier for me, because being a great girl-friend (as in female friend) is something I know how to do....an actual "girlfriend"? Not so much.

I just want to meet this guy. Make sure he's real. It doesn't really matter to me what happens after that, because this time I trust my own judgment.

Now, all I have to do is enjoy myself when he's here. I think I can handle that.

It's like I'm a grown-up now.