Today I had a date. This is a
milestone in my life. I'm not sure if it was a date or a lunch outing, or what, but it was nice.
I met him at the Electronic Frontiers Forum at Dragon*Con this year. I know what you're thinking: "never go out with people you meet at Dragon*Con." Hey, I met him in the computing area, so this might be ok, right? He was the microphone bitch at the panel discussions and seemed like a neat guy. We emailed and agreed to meet today for lunch. I had the great pleasure of skipping out of Calc for the day.
What can I say? I kind of get excited when I actually get together with people. I must have been radiating something good, because the guys at the MARTA card window said, "You look like you are having a great day!" I must have this attitude everyday. It's great. I even look better. Good luck, me.
Mike traipses in wearing geek on day off attire: computer-related shirt, shorts, boots, and an uneven shave. We wander around for lunch and decide on Mick's, a restaurant nearby. It is a bit noisy, but we have a great conversation and a nice lunch to boot. Mike turns out to have a chock full of stories and an unique laugh and ice blue eyes that don't look real. He has a stripe of gray hair, something he claims is genetic, and a family steeped in science.
So basically he is a nice guy.
We walk back to campus because there is an M.C. Escher poster that I want to buy. Afterwards we walk to a nearby park that homeless people use for napping purposes and find an empty bench. Did I mention that today is a beautiful day? It is beautiful. Idyllic. Pure blue sky with sun-dappled leaves, bright flowers, a small breeze, mid-70s Fahrenheit. We watched rainbows skirt in and out of the water fountain's mist, butterflies alight on the Lantana bushes, and lots of bright colors in abundance.
So, Mike is a nice guy. He kind of has that geek charm. Maybe it is the voice, or the clothes, or the inherent geekness. I don't know, but I like geeks. Like most humans, he has his glitches, but I am sure we both aired ours very well today. One of the downsides of enterring the dating game late is that you have to make up for lost time if you haven't learned these things through other social interactions. For now, I think that dating is not in the forseeable future.
However, this does not rule out friendship, and, as I said, he is a good guy. People deserve second chances. He was well-meaning and friendly and courteous and funny and I see little reason to discount him altogether.
And that is about it. I spent 5 hours with himn just hanging out and talking anbd it was really nice and much better than Calc. Maybe we'll get together and go to the driving range. The driving range rocks. It's just you, a club, a bucket of golf balls, a tee, and a large green expanse. My anger and energy shoots through the club and, if it connects with the ball, through the ball and out onto the green.
So, yes, if you were asking, this has been a great day. Now I will go stalk and kill my freakin' hormones. I managed to win the battle of wills and even turn down a small backrub in deference to the fact that I have known him for about 5 hours and that, despite the hormone overload, I want to try and take things slowly. If you see my hormones walking around like they are all that, you have my full permission to beat them down because they are driving me crazy.