Wednesday, February 21, 2007

odds and ends

* I've had another piece published on It's Just Coffee. It's a call for entries of sorts, for readers to submit stories of their best and worst dates. I share one of my own bad date stories to tempt others to do likewise. We're hoping to make this a regular feature, so please contribute your dating joys and horrors. The piece can be found here.

* Saturday is the big day. Willow, Polly, and I are going to see Barman Ben's play. It will mark four weeks since I have last seen him and I am terribly excited. Tomorrow I'm going shopping for something special (yet appropriately casual and decidedly not trying-too-hard) to wear. There's no guarantee I'll get to see him or talk to him after the show, but I will be looking better than my best.

* I'm going on vacation is less than three weeks, alone, to a country where I don't speak the language, where I will be exploring and hiking and undoubtedly having the time of my life. The change of scenery will do me good. I've never traveled on my own before (though I'll be with a small tour group) and am looking forward to the challenges and experiences that await. Leaving town usually gives me some perspective on my current situation in life and I'm hoping this trip will do the same.

* I ran into Neighbor Neil on Saturday, for the first time in nearly three (!) months. He was leaving his apartment and I was just coming into the building, home from a party, dressed to the nines, with perfect hair and femme fatale red lipstick. We made chit-chat for a few minutes, then I said I needed to get to bed and was the first to say good night. I have no feelings about him, and that one time we kissed feels ages ago, but it was nice to see him after all this time knowing I looked polished, dressed in shiny boots and a suede coat instead of sneakers and a sweatshirt (I always expected to bump into him coming back from a workout).

* The other night I had a dream that Ben and I were at a karaoke bar. There was only time for me to do one song, so I had to choose carefully. It was my one chance to impress him with my karaoke prowess, and I felt a lot was at stake. I decided that I would probably sing Concrete Blonde's "Joey", which has gotten a positive crowd response in the past. I was both anxious and thrilled that Ben would hear me sing, though I woke up before my turn at the mic. I've decided my crush on Ben is something that will go away in its own time and until then, I just have to learn to live with it-- like a limp, or walking pneumonia. In a pale attempt to comfort myself, I started reading Wuthering Heights. Hopefully a wistful, doomed love story will make me feel better about the one I'm living out. "At least I don't live in isolation in the Moors pining for my beloved", I can say to myself.

* My online personals subscription runs out next week and I'm not going to renew it. I've been too busy to check the site much, even to reply to others who have contacted me (well, except for that one James Spader look-a-like with great music taste, because... well, if you're going to resemble any male celebrity, a young James Spader is a hell of a good one). I guess this means I'm pretty much too busy to date. I like that. I should make an effort to keep it that way.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dolly and Barmen Ben in a tree...

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love,

then comes marriage,

then comes a baby in the baby carriage!

How's that for an anonymous comment? :)

Matt said...

I thought you were going to the Ben's play with Magazine Mitch, did he call you, what happened?

Dolly said...

Anonymous,
Hahahaha, this is why I keep anonymous comments enabled.

Matt,
Mitch never called. We were both very drunk on Sunday (he might have been stoned, too), so I wasn't really expecting to hear from him. Plus, I'd much rather see the show on Saturday, so it's all for the best.

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Anonymous said...

I love the description of the outfit you bought for Saturday. It's one area where female efforts run so counter to male desires: I have no idea what makes Barman Ben's motor run, but it my case it would be a pair of old tight Levi's (or leather pants) worn with a plain t-shirt and boots. Namely something that most women would put on without thinking twice and probably wouldn't wear when dressing to impress.

Every man has some visual cue that will make them go gaga -- it can be a pair of glasses, a crooked smile, who knows -- maybe you should call up Barman Ben and find out what's his :) Just tell him it's research for a new play you're writing, which will be getting produced at the Lucille Lortelle Theater -- that'll get him talking :) :)

Meanwhile women spend all kinds time and effort on outfits for no good reason. Well, OK, there is a good reason, making yourself feel more confident. But remember, men are simple creatures -- you don't need an elephant gun to catch a fly.

Dolly said...

Ted,
I never described the outfit I bought for this Saturday, because I only bought it last night. You must be confusing it with what I was wearing on Saturday (and, for the record, nearly every man I have ever known has loved a woman in a sexy pair of boots, Levis or no). I'm actually not too into fashion and tend to wear pretty simple clothes that I feel are flattering and feel good in. You're right in that men have different visual cues, and I've heard the theories that women dress more for other women than for men (which I don't agree with, because I think fashion trends are dumb), but it comes down to feeling good in whatever you're wearing. Personally, I feel more attractive in a skirt and red lipstick than in jeans and sneakers, because I like to look and feel (more traditionally) feminine when I go out.

Anonymous said...

I think that just as bad as when people are obvious about being fashionable is when people go overboard with their makeup, too. I saw a girl one time who wasn't completely dressed up but her makeup was done up so she looked like a kabuki julia styles. I don't know, it seemed sort of incongruous.

(I think women do dress for other women tho, but I don't know why.)

Aphexcoil said...

I think that just as bad as when people are obvious about being fashionable is when people go overboard with their makeup, too. I saw a girl one time who wasn't completely dressed up but her makeup was done up so she looked like a kabuki julia styles. I don't know, it seemed sort of incongruous.

(I think women do dress for other women tho, but I don't know why.)


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