A Good Date (I Think)

"I didn't know we were drinking for real" -My remark when Heidi ordered Maker's on the rocks

As I mentioned, last night I went on a date with a girl I met on Saturday. I guess it was your standard first date type of conversation: Where are you from?; What do you like to do?; etc. Besides her obvious cuteness, I'm really into the fact that she's a lot smarter than me.

Unlike my first date with Sevilla, I tried a more straightforward approach to asking Heidi to see her again. To this, she didn't answer immediately but said next week should work.

As I stood outside of her apartment building, I thought the date went well enough to try to kiss her. As I leaned in, as did she, my fear that she instead assumed she would be hugged arose. So then came the weirdest, most non-European kiss on the cheek, which led to me walking back to my car.

So now I know that I'm really interested in Heidi, but I still don't know what her feelings are. I have the day off on Friday, so I may try to call and meet up with her then. Think it's too soon?

Is there a general rule for how spread apart the first few dates should be? Currently, I'd like to see her pretty often, but I don't need her thinking it's way too much.

Another

I'm going out for a drink with a girl I met at a volunteering event this past weekend. She seems cool. Hopefully she will be. Also, I'm planning on calling Sevilla to see what she's up to for the weekend. I'll keep you updated...

Where the Wild Things Are, Where the Interested Girls Are Not

Tonight I went to see the aforementioned movie with Seville. Let me tell you: it's awesome. I'm not even some gigantic fan of the book, but Spike Jonze keeps rolling out the hits. Definitely worth seeing if you want to remember all of those uncertainties of childhood that make it so great. As publicized, it's probably not the best flick for kids just because they have to go through childhood in order to reminisce, right?

As for Seville, she also really enjoyed the movie, so that was a plus. Like last week, we grabbed a drink afterward to talk. Now I don't know if it's just me, but I don't think she's having fun at all. She laughs at the really stupid jokes of mine (not sure if it's genuine or faked), but I thought it would be more obvious if she wanted to see me again. This time around, I didn't say the blatant "This was fun, let's do it again," which I can only assume she was thankful for.

Now I don't have any wild crush on this girl or anything yet, but she does seem interesting, and she's definitely really cute. I wish I could just know what she thought. Of course I can't just say what I'm thinking--that would be too easy. It would take all that mystery away and make things logical. Instead, I've decided to just not call her again unless she calls me. If she calls and suggests something other than a date where I'd be spending money on her, then at least she doesn't think I'm a complete idiot. And if she doesn't call back (within say...a week/next Friday), then I guess I have my answer.

The lesson of the night was that you should never park your car at the AMC River East Theater because it'll cost you $30.


What are some signs of an interested girl? Tonight there was none of that leaning forward, flipping hair, motion-mirroring stuff that I've read online. And if those are the actual signs, then I guess I know then.

Lazy Weekend

I feel like last weekend was generally unproductive, but still fun. After mulling over the possibilities, I've finally gotten to work on picking an organization to volunteer at. Though it's sponsored by a church, I don't think that there's any religious slant, which I'm thankful for. In general, I'll be tutoring adults and kids in math. Sounds like a good deal to me. I'm looking forward to it.

Since I had to meet the organizer earl-ish on Saturday, I had to watch my drinking the night before. A friend's roommate had a birthday, so I dropped by that. The party was pretty standard: drinking, dancing, beer pong.

I couldn't rope anyone into seeing some live music with me on Saturday, so I went by myself to see Headlights. Despite the fact that they didn't go on stage until midnight (there were three openers), the show was pretty entertaining. The band seemed pretty fun, and they played a lot of songs I like.

So that was my weekend. Not too much boredom, no girls, nothing else. We'll see what the week has in store. I'm trying to get a hold of Sevilla to ask her on another date.


Have you ever gone to see live music by yourself? Or have you done anything else that you figure groups would do (restaurants/movies,etc.)?

First Date Aftermath

This date has taught me a few things.

1) I know why I've been having an awful time with Match.com
2) If you're nervous, don't ask how the date stacks up against other online dates
3) PJ Clarke's has good Margherita Flatbread


So I took the cab over to the art exhibit. Seville was waiting in the corridor. Without any drinks in me, she still looked really good, so that's a plus. The exhibit itself was actually pretty awesome. Some great photography and other paintings were shown, all with price tags out of my range. As we walked around, we talked about what most first dates talk about: School, work, friends, family, etc.

After the show, we decided to grab some food and a drink. I think the best part of the conversation was when we talked about the randomness of Match.com (and therefore any online dating site), and told each other how their gender seems represented. Apparently, most of the guys on the site are sketchy, and there are a ton of them. Seville said that she signed up at about 11pm or so. By morning, she had 35 emails. This wasn't the case for me. So if you're a girl, and you're somewhat thinking about online dating, I vote with a big Yes. You'll actually have options. As a guy, I think it's a big competition, one which I'm losing, to stand out.

The night ended with us splitting the bill, though I tried to get the waitress's attention while Seville was in the bathroom. As we were leaving, I thought that I should hint that I'd like to see her again. Prior to this, I was hoping to say something bold and confident like "When can I see you again?". Instead, all that came out was "I had a really good time tonight. Would you want to go out again sometime? It's okay to say no..." Needless to say, my confidence could use some work. So now I feel like I kind of forced her into saying Yes because it would be super awkward to say No.

Today, I'm trying to make something of the date, which leads us to "The Spark." You know, that feeling when you meet someone and think this person is really awesome and you definitely want to see them again. Well it wasn't there for me, and I'm not sure why. Seville has most of the characteristics I'm looking for, but I didn't feel it. I'm basically hoping that since she seems like a great person, things may fall into place and I'll have a better idea if I like this girl after more than one date.


So how do you think the date went? I give it a B, pretty much all due to me (for it being low). Have you ever had a good dating experience with someone despite the fact that the Spark wasn't initially there?

Date Night

Tonight I'm going on my first online-related date. If you want to get really technical, I actually saw her last weekend while I was out with friends. This girl, I'll call her Seville (she studied abroad there), seems pretty friendly, and she's realy cute.

I think that since we've already had a run-in (and she had drinken more than me), I'm under less pressure to be witty/funny/etc. Hopefully some of that will still show up and I'm not a complete drag.

The general plan is that Seville and I will meet at a photography show (apparently her father has a picture in it), and then it's up in the air. I think we both assume we'll grab drinks, but are there some other good options, even with this awful weather? As much as I love ice cream, I'm guessing that she won't be into it with a 30 degree wind chill.

Other than that, online dating isn't going great. I think that one more girl stopped emailing me, and I feel like I've gone through every single female profile of a cute Chicago girl (hint: they usually want a white guy over 5'11).

So at least I have this date. I have to say, it's been quite a while since I've been on one, but at least this girl will know where Wisconsin is.

Any last minute suggestions for an alternative to drinks?

Small Update

So the last time I posted, I endlessly complained about my distaste for internet dating. As of today, I'll have to dial it down a little bit.

My general plan for starting match.com was that I could try to meet girls in person while trying to meet them online. Well at first I was getting completely shut down (save for a Russian immigrant bride scam). In the past week or so, I've started to talk to two different girls, one of whom I made plans to meet for coffee this weekend. So that's good, right? Hopefully my general thoughts on the online dating scene will lighten up.

But wait, a little more good news. So my favorite cafe just closed down. You know, the one where the barista gave me free coffee. I hadn't been there in a few weeks, so when I went last Saturday, I was surprised to hear the news. The girl who served me was Free Coffee Girl. I thought that I should ignore the "Don't ask out the server" rule and just ask her on a date. In a few short hours, she wasn't going to be anyone's server, huh?

So as I left, I asked if she'd want to get lunch. After hesitating a few seconds (is that normal or weird), she said sure. Apparently I'm supposed to call this week to get something set up. I'm happy that I got the nerve to ask, but still nervous that I won't get a returned call. At least this time, I'll make sure I don't fully ask her on the date via voice mail.

In other news, the Packers embarrassed themselves, which is unfortunate for me. Also, I'm planning on volunteering for a weekend Adult Tutoring group. Should be cool and keep me out of too much trouble on Fridays.

So with these two potential dates, the options are lunch, date, or coffee. Which do you think is best for a first date? Or is there a better option?