Report Card

Wow. This 20-First-Dates goal turned out to be a lot of work! I was so exhausted by all my summertime encounters, I couldn't muster the energy to blab (er, blog) about them (even just nicknaming them to protect the innocent & guilty was too much effort until now). Who'd a thunk I'd EVER tire of my very favorite hobby? Shows to go: though some is good, more isn't always better. Finding and squeezing in the original dates would have been hard enough, but the common result of a first date is a second date, and 
sometime even a third. You can see my dilemma.

An aside:
1. During my theatre-major days, I performed a dance duet with an Italian guy. Our fellow cast-members, watching from backstage, could not help nicknaming our piece "The Chipmunk and the Hawk."
2. A former beau, when asked to name his favorite of my physical features, drove the point home, but kept things G-rated, answering: "Her (face) cheeks."
After this experiment, I can say for sure that I mimic this animal in behavior as well as physique.
pic: http://marymgrin.tumblr.com

The challenge played out on every level. Physically, who can really make that much time in her schedule? Mentally, who can keep all those family stories and careers and hobbies straight? Emotionally, it takes a better Blondie than me to maintain the romantic pace I set for myself and see beneath the flannel/silk/T-shirt-draped surface of each Greg/Peter/Bobby to the sensitive/curious/visionary truth in each of their hearts. All this is to say, I think my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Still, I stated the goal and I'll state the results.


Reader(s), allow me to direct your attention to the the scoreboard: 


Summer Dating Intentions 
1. 20 dates with different gentlemen (i.e. 20 First Dates)
2. Of those, 5 must be people I met NOT online
3. Of those, 3 must be "strangers," i.e. people I meet out and about, in public or at a party


Summer Dating Reality
1. 12 First Dates. An even dozen. 
2. Only THREE non-online dates -- all 3 being set-ups. (Thanks, helpers!)
3. Only ONE stranger date. I have no problem striking up random convos, but it's harder than it might seem to turn a chitchat with a complete stranger in the waiting room of Hogan Tire into a cup of herbal tea at my favorite little coffeehouse.  


Ladies and... Ladies (yes, you are my target audience) of the Blonde-o-sphere, I give you, the Pseudonyms:   
Baby Tim - set-up
Jon - online
John - online
Don - online. photographer
Julierme - online
Brent - online
Matt - online
Hakim - online 
Dan - set-up. he smoked!
Harry - *stranger!*
Cape Tim - set-up
Jeremy - online


Stay tuned for highs and lows. For now, I'm just glad to have caught my breath!