marathon man and fuzzy dating math.

okay, now for the good news. i did make a connection with someone else online. he's a wee bit older than the men i usually go for (okay, he's 36... which is about 12 years older than what i average). but he seems silly (in a good way), has excellent email presence, is witty, charming, and appears to have actually read my profile (which i put a lot of work into). he brings out my relaxed and cheeky side, which is no small feat in the middle of finals.

and he offers up interesting things to do. for example, when i asked game boy about good places in his neighborhood he couldn't name any! nada. that must mean something... i just don't know what. marathon man, on the other hand, proposed two awesome places in my neighborhood, one of which happens to be one of my very favorites: dive 75. he gets major points for that, right?

so the age thing. it kind of scares me. i don't know why... but, maybe because i've always felt younger than my age. not so much immature as less experienced. *shrug* but, i'm trying to challenge myself to step outside of my comfort zone by breaking old habits, like dating different iterations of ex-boyfriends, escapism, and running away at the slightest hint of discomfort. in fact, i'm considering making 2007 the year of strategically placed "yesses." (i don't think i could say yes to everybody... baby steps, you know). we'll have to see how bold i'm feeling in the new year.

so how old is too old? and how young is too young? well, my good friend melanie posed this answer, which i absolutely love. your range is the determined by the following formulas:

the youngest you can go: ( [your age] / 2 ) + 7 (for example: 26/2 + 7 = 20)
the oldest you can go: ( [your age] - 7 ) * 2 (for example: (26 - 7) * 2 = 38)

enjoy!

the game boy.

so, right about now is the time that i come up with a catchy little pseudonym for people i go out with on match, so that i can dish about them on blogger. paulix suggest that the first guy be called "the new katz"--in reference to the smoldering flame i once held for mr. dlkatz of 306 north state. ah me. it's a little unwieldy, so i'm actually going to go for "the game boy" for reasons which will become apparent below.

so, game boy: after much beating around the bush (a couple of emails back and forth, and some inquiries about how i'm liking match.com), finally finally finally asked me out: "think you might be up for actually getting together?" i sent him my email address and about an hour later, a little note popped up on gmail asking if it would be okay if game boy chatted with me. oh man. real time conversation... pretty scary. it was only then i realized how safe i'd been playing it behind the security of a website interface. the first few moments of chatting seemed harmless enough... though he did inqure as to whether i was on friendster or myspace, which i thought odd, since there are plenty of photos of me up on match.com. we threw around some ideas for our date, and he coyly suggested playing video games, or rather, teaching me how to play video games. it was cute enough, given the context of the convo. hence the name... the game boy. so this is where it gets a little weird...

1. he tacks on a "haha" to the end of everything he says. i counted twenty times. sure, i use haha's too, but i only used them four times in the course of our conversation. i know, i know, this is akin to me throwing on a "just kidding" at the end of everything i say, but it was just plain awkward. and not the endearing awkward that i usually fawn over. oh, and he uses "u" instead of "you." one of my biggest pet peeves ever. i know that i need to take a step back because the intertwang is my domain. i think i'm pretty savvy when it comes to having an online conversation or writing an email... it's a medium that just works for me. i'm trying to remember that internet presence doesn't translate to bad in-person presence. i'm trying... but i love people who can flirt effectively in text format. it's one of my turn-ons... so much so that this might be a deal-breaker. eep.

2. he asked me to be his girlfriend. well, he asked: "how can i make you my girlfriend?" i'm not kidding... while it was coy and makes more sense in the context of the converation... still... whoa nelly. i might be on my way to becoming a born-again romantic... but i still don't believe in love at first sight, especially over the webosphere. why not wait until after a drink or two to start having those kinds of delusions.

3. he kept talking about kissing me. as if it was a given. again.... see arguments in #2. you're cute, i'll grant you that. but i'm a little particular about the people i lay lips on. one gchat does not mean we'll be making out. in fact, he started off with saying that he would let me win at video games so that he wouldn't miss out on a kiss. let me win??? i had to stifle my indignance. i told him: "i like to earn my victories." booyakasha.

4. then he asked: "do you mind that i'm jewish?" those who know me will find this question quite humorous. isn't it an odd question? i mean, he states on his profile that he's jewish, and if i minded i wouldn't have winked at him. it makes me think he must have had some evangelistic girlfriend in the past try to convert him. my response? "No, unless YOU mind that you're jewish, but then that's really not my problem."

UPDATE: while waiting for the train home, alexis and jenny gave their thumbs down. definitely weird was the consensus.

so, okay, he might not seem to be good boyfriend material, but could he be good dating experience material? i mean, part of the reason i signed up for this whole thang is to go through the whole awkwardness of dating... i mean, none of us really dated in college, right? i know i didn't. it would be like how i signed up for a trillion interviews for jobs i wasn't interested in so that i could get comfortable answering questions in my suit. and what is dating but an interview over drinks and dinner?

new blog fodder.

wow. are you guys in for a treat or what?

i recently scheduled some much needed sponteneity into my life, which many of my friends applauded as quite "modern" of me. oh-so du jour. meaning, i wasn't sitting around my house waiting around for things to happen, i was taking charge, making waves, and being slightly controversial. in the midst of it all, i proudly embraced this modern, busy, independent woman.

but, i've been considering lately that maybe i've mistaken "cynicism" for "modernism." i wonder if i subconsciously fill my days with conferences, papers, readings, projects, internships, applications, etc., to escape the fact that i feel like i have absolutely no control over my dating life. so, with the year winding down and all, and the feeling of having a fresh, new start (new year, new semester), i figure i should start thinking about what it is i want and how i'm going to go about achieving it in 2007. you can call them resolutions if you want. i'm calling it my strategem... my last ditch effort to save myself from the abyss of cynicism.

so. as part of this game plan...






... i signed up for match.com.

[crickets]

so now, along with diatribes about express mail and riveting minute-by-minute accounts of my strategery paper, you get to hear all abouts my foray into the world of internet dating. which, i anticipate, will provide plenty of blog-worthy material. my first observation is that it doesn't seem to matter that i'm only looking for men between the ages of 25 and 30, because my first wink came from a 41-year old. i know that, at some point, age ain't nothing but a number, but i haven't gotten to that point yet. putting 30 down was still kind of scary for me. my second observation is that i described myself as "curvy" and found that not many men are that interested in "curvy." most want slender, or athletic, or "about average." but, i think curvy suits me just right so i'm sticking with it.

anyways, not that this is really going to go anywhere before the new years, since i do have pages to go before i sleep, but i just thought i'd announce this monumentous milestone event. stay tuned for updates!