Monday, April 03, 2006

What I Do When I'm Not Being Slutty

Not that I think anybody is losing sleep over the fact that I have put the kibosh on manic dating, but I would like to clarify something. Just because I am no longer casually hooking up or going on three dates a week with different guys, doesn't mean I am staying home in a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, eating ice cream, watching Meg Ryan movie marathons and waiting for my Tom Hanks to knock on my door.

[Hang on, I just made myself a little sick picturing that scenario. *shudder*]

While I may be showing far more discretion when it comes to who I swap spit with, I am still living the "say yes" dream. In fact, I am engaging with the world in a broader way than I did when I went bar hopping all the time (not that I don't still love bars). In no particular order, here is a smattering of some of the things I've been up to:

~ Dancing. I went to a club night where my friend's fiance was DJing and spent hours getting nostalgic over old favorites. A couple of creepy guys tried to hit on me, but I made it clear not to mess with me on the dance floor-- or off it, for that matter. Nobody interrupts me while I'm dancing.

~ Reading. Polly and I joined a book club. In fact, we're thinking of starting our own. I'm a hundred pages into the book and I love it. I am trying to set aside a chunk of time to go to one of my local coffee shops and read and read and read for hours.

~ Walking. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I can take endless walks around the city. I live close to the park and have been taking advantage of that as well. On Saturday, I trekked in and around the park for over an hour. I listened to music to keep my energy up, got caught in the rain, and felt unbelievably alive.

~ Satisfying my curiosity. I met Film Felix last week. For various reasons I won't say anything beyond that.

~ Gambling. My former coworkers are trying to start a recurring poker night. I attended the last one on Friday and didn't win the pot, but had the best time playing some Texas Hold 'Em. Next time, we're going to wear hats or visors and have cigars (chocolate ones, since none of us smoke).

~ Singing. Karaoke makes the world a better place. I like to think my rendition of 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" was heartfelt and haunting... or at the very least, not drunkenly warbly and off-key.

~ Talking. I've been having all these amazing conversations about Big Life Things. After spending so much time fulfilling my physical needs, it's refreshing to give my intellectual needs more attention.

~ Indulging my semi-guilty pleasures. Over the weekend, Coworker Chris and I cracked open a bottle of white wine, had some Thai food delivered, and watched a marathon of a certain endearing WB show that I dare not name. There was sighing, wardrobe commentary, and vocal agitation at characters' behaviors. It was awesome.

That's just part of it. All in all, I'd say I've been keeping pretty busy. No ice cream or Meg Ryan movies in sight...

13 comments:

pookalu said...

um, right now, i'm the girl you're talking about in your first paragraph. thanks a lot.

ok, i'm kidding.

i hate it when men think it's ok to interrupt while you're dancing. unless they're fantastic dancers, and i'll be more intimidated (yes, this happened once) then i welcome the challenge.

i love karaoke, but that may be because i'm chinese!

Anonymous said...

Hey! If you guys start a book club, I'd totally join. I've been thinking I need to "join" more things lately and have alwasy thought a book club satisfy the now defunct 7th & 8th grade English teacher in me.

coasta said...

Tom Hanks??

NotCarrie said...

Yeah, if you start a book club let us know about it online, too:)

And what WB show? Come on, tell tell! (Just because I probably watched it, too;)

Dolly said...

Pookalu,
Hahaha. Hey, we need those quiet girly nights in, too. And yeah, dance flirting is annoying, except for the rare occassions when I initiate it. Any guy that tries to get close to me by the dance floor is going to make me move to the other end of the room. Also, you have to come with us next time we do karaoke!

Betty,
You will be the first to get an invite to our book club, if we start one. You, Polly and I still need to do a girls night out, too.

Coasta,
I was just using the name of Meg's usual male need. It was no reflection of my ideal, not in the slightest.

NotCarrie,
Hm, the idea of an online book club could be a good one! (And if you email me privately, I'll tell you the name of the show.)

pookalu said...

karaoke, you're on! (and i'll try to stay on key)

and maybe the book club, i'm with betty!

and i LOVE GNOs (and initializing things that i do...GNO = girl's night out, RDO = random day off, etc.).

Lisa said...

All that non-slutty activity sounds just heavenly. Even the THOUGHT of dating can sometimes be exhausting...every single girl needs fuzzy slipper/movie/ice cream/hermit phases time and again...

Dolly said...

Stranger,
Hahaha. Touche.

Larissa,
I love that we're on the same wavelength. And yes, I do think the warmer weather has something to do with it. It's so great to walk around and see all these happy-looking people!

Pookalu,
Hey, maybe we'll create our own language of acronyms, like the PUAs. Like, when we go out, we can keep an eye out for PCGs (potentially cute guys) and stay away from CGWBOs (creepy guys with body odor).

Simulant,
Absolutely! I might be having even more fun now than when I was dating all the time.

Elle,
I go through the phases of dating/not dating, and yes, the idea can get pretty draining. However, I do want to kick the online dating habit for good. We'll see how that goes...

Damn It Anyway said...

"Nobody interrupts me while I'm dancing."

And nobody puts Dolly in the corner.

Sounds like you're having fun!!

jo said...

sounds like good clean fun... except for the whole gambling thing haha! what a way to lose money :P

D said...

The walking must be the weather, because even up here I've been walking a lot as well.

Regular life is fun too!

Donovan said...

Keep it up Dolly. You do what you love!

N said...

The 1st time I read this through I somehow missed the bit about Film Felix!!!