Time Flies, Part 2

Mr. 14 became Mr. 15 on Friday night. We went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Detroit. I was excited but exhausted and was secretly hoping I would get to be home at 9:00 to read and sleep. Alas, I enjoyed another marathon date with this guy.  4+ hours of dinner, political commentary, funny stories, sad stories, and my beverage of choice:

That's right, readers, no booze with this dude. He had a coke; he was getting up at 5AM on Saturday to run 18 miles or something ridiculous like that. I'm thinking he'll be a good influence on me.

He also has good manners: he left his phone on the table and explained that he had some kind of work drama and might have to take a quick call during dinner.  Nice, right?

I told Mr. Teetotaler Superathlete that I was leaving town for a month (it's true! I am!) and he promptly asked if we could get together again on March 31.  So, it looks like I'll get back into town with something lined up to start off the second quarter.  See y'all then!

Time Flies

Mr. #14 was an Internet date who seemed very formal and almost dry in his emails.   At a pre-date lunch with a friend, I was grumbling a little about the exhaustion of keeping up this pace, and got a sweet reminder that dating with that attitude was going to be no fun at all.

I managed to turn it around as soon as I saw Mr. #14.  He has an engaging smile and is funny and interesting, as well as smart, adventurous, and a good conversationalist. We met at Joe Louis' fist (romantic, no?) and went for a looooooong walk along the river and up Dequindre Cut.  So long, in fact that my mouth kind of froze and I was barely able to talk by the time we emerged in Greektown, and I realized it had been almost two hours.

For those of my loyal readers not experienced in the world of first dates, let me explain that two hours is an eternity.  An hour is usually my max, and 45 minutes is preferable.  The fact that this guy kept me amused, laughing, thinking and talking, with no alcohol involved, for 2 hours, speaks volumes.  Stay tuned for his second appearance, readers.

Lucky 13

Thursday evening, Mr. #6 became Mr. #13 over drinks at a cute but freezing bar in Ann Arbor (I kept my hat on the whole time. Lucky for me it's cute.).

Mr. #13 and I had a lot to catch up on; since our last date, he went skiing for a week and I defended my dissertation. We had great conversation with no lulls and no "get me out of here" moments, at least not on my part. I was totally, strikingly honest about my plan to find a big, tremendous love in 2012. He's also in the market for big love, and while I'm not completely sure we are this for each other, I think there will be a #3 with this guy.

Spontaneity

A lovely chain of events on Wednesday led to date #12.  This musical is all the rage these days, and Mr. #10 and I had talked about trying to get tickets.  So Wednesday morning on my way to the gym, a random neighborhood acquaintance offered me two tickets for that evening that he couldn't use. Imagine my delight when Mr. #10 (now Mr. #12) was available on such short notice to accompany me to the theater!

I made us dinner before the show:

(yeah, I'm fancy)

The performance was great, a really fascinating story and amazing energy. I had a really nice time with Mr. #12.  I feel really lucky to be getting to know someone so smart, multilayered, and funny who seems to be on the same wavelength as me on many things.  I don't think we have any spark, but I feel okay moving him in to the friend zone. It's always nice to have friends.

Onward...

Happy Valentine's Day!

No date today (Mr.#11 actually invited me to a hockey game, but I demurred, even though it's my new favorite sport), but I wanted to share this and this with you, dear readers.

Double Header

I had brunch with Mr. #2 (now reincarnated as Mr. #10) this morning. He initiated the plan; I'm still not 100% sure he thought it was a date, but I'm counting it. It met all my criteria for a date. I even wore makeup.

This guy is awesome: smart, hilarious, honest, steady, and comfortable in a wide range of conversational topics.  I was upfront and honest about my weird/ no-chemistry-having feeling after the last time we went out (which was in sharp contrast to our great vibes the first time we met through a friend), and he concurred. We also agreed that our energy today was much better.  So, dear readers, here is the question: Why do I still not want to kiss this guy? Should I give him one more chance? CAN men and women be friends?

Brunch was followed a few hours later by dinner with Mr. #11. (My fans know I'm not usually a fan of a meal on a first date, but I made an exception for my favorite pizza AND the chance to watch the Red Wings beat Philadelphia.)

This guy is so laid back he's practically horizontal.  He managed to be a good storyteller with a very flat affect, which I always find particularly endearing. He's from Michigan but lived for many years in San Francisco, so we were able to bond over the culture shock of leaving a coast.  Honesty is a priority for him, which I adore; he copped to a few unflattering facts, none of which were dealbreakers for me, incidentally.  I also managed to be honest (twice in one day, readers! Believe it!) and told him about my 52 dates project (and the blog).  He wasn't deterred, and asked me to go out again.

Onward...

#9

Mr. #9 lives a good hour away, so we met at a convenient midpoint: a Starbucks in a strip mall in Southfield.  He is smart, focused, articulate, and curious.  Curious enough, in fact, that he asked to read my dissertation abstract (lucky for him, I had my entire dissertation in my bag) and gave me some feedback on it.  Not necessarily a move I would pull on a first date, but it definitely prepared me for the entirely possible event that an engineer shows up at my defense and asks a question.

And... onward.

All New

Last night's date was a triumvirate of firsts for me.  My first hockey game (see above), a new (and awesome) restaurant, and complete, total honesty on this, my 8th date of 2012.

It was another marathon date with Mr. #4, who my attentive readers will recall as the friend of a friend I had a few drinks with on Martin Luther King day. I told him what I really and truly wanted (a tremendous, amazing love) and what I didn't want (a casual waste of head and heart space).  He's on the same page.  It's still unknown if this tremendous amazingness is going to transpire between us, but if nothing else I will have a new friend who is kind, attentive, engaged in the world, and knows my truth.