Two Nights, Two Men

This weekend I have two dates. With two different guys.

I am still seeing the PDA Guy (that date is on Saturday), it's just that, well, the sparks aren't quite there. Sure, I find him semi-charming, and sweet and insightful and intelligent. So why do I feel the need to look for someone else? Well, despite his predisposition to showing his affection in public places, PDA Guy isn't as much of a romantic as I want him to be. And if the required romance isn't present in these very early stages of dating, who I am to expect that it's gonna pick up from here on? Because, let's face it, it won't.

The new guy, who I met online (it's becoming the same old story, isn't it?) has got it all in the looks department. And I don't want to sound narcissistic, but it's been a while since I've dated a guy whose looks have set my heart aflutter as much as this guy's. Okay, so it is a narcissistic feeling I am harboring- being attracted to someone because of their looks, but hey, I feel like I could afford to indulge myself with a bit of narcissism since I feel like my love life has been far from all that for the longest time.

I want to kiss a dead-sexy guy, is that too much to ask for? Plus, all these guys I'm seeing... I'm not sleeping with any of them. Kissing is as far as I go because I haven't been serious with any of these dudes.

What's the worst that can happen? This guy can turn out to be a chauvinistic asshole and I will never see him again.

I will take my chances.

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The M Word

Being back from the city of Sin feels like I have never left Cincinnati in the first place. The week in Vegas felt like a whirlwind. Despite working a 60 hour week, I made it a point to try to go out for a little while every night I was there - after all, I was in Vegas; it was almost criminal to go to bed before midnight.

Flashing lights, flashy cars, cheesy wedding chapels, fake-boobed chicks and sleazy dudes were all present and well in the good ol' city of Sin, but I enjoyed it all. Every time I head out to a big city, I am reminded that I am not meant to live in a small town. I will simply wither and die without constant stimulation of my senses with sights and lights and sounds of big cities. I think, Cincinnati is the smallest city I have ever lived in, and though it's not bad, I know that I would be just a tad happier somewhere with a few more skyscrapers around.

As I was still in Vegas on Valentine's Day, I was totally emotionally prepared for a completely unromantic, guy-free day when I received an unexpected text message from the guy who tried to kiss me at a club in front of his friends a few weeks ago.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" the message beeped at me.

All right. So it was kind of sweet that he was thinking about me. Though in the back of my mind, the cynic in me wondered just how many girls he sent out that message to.

I replied back with a "thank you" and we texted each other for a few minutes before he finally asked me out on a date on Friday - the day I got back from Vegas. Twenty four hours later, we were sitting at a small table at a slightly cramped, but cozy jazz club somewhere in Covington, Kentucky.

My PDA guy was looking much better than the last time I saw him, perhaps, due to the fact that this time he wasn't wearing the hideous jacket he wore on our first date. Somewhere in between our conversations about politics, progressive rock and Talib Kweli, I found myself wanting to kiss him.

We left the bar shortly after midnight and walked down the street towards his car, all the while holding hands. as soon as we got into the car, he leaned towards me for a kiss, and this time I didn't resist or say no. I simply kissed him back.

And then PDA Guy said something.

"So if we ever get married..." he started, but I cut him off as soon as he uttered the M word.

"What?!" I said, without making a slightest effort to cover up my confusion and disbelief.

"Oh you know," he tried to laugh it off as if he just finished telling a joke, "Hypothetically speaking, of course. I was just gonna say that if we were ever to get married, we'd be really financially well off, what with you being an architect and me working in a financial field... I didn't mean to freak you out."

He looked mildly concerned and I didn't want him to get even more embarrassed about the awkward situation than he already was, so I simply suggested that we switch topics of conversation, with which he gladly complied.

So now I am wondering what to make of this. Was PDA Guy really just kidding? I mean, I think he was but if he wanted to be funny, he could have just dropped a Chuck Norris joke on me.

"Chuck Norris doesn't read, he just stares at a book until he gets the information he needs." Much funnier than bringing up marriage on a third date, no?

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Vegas, Baby!

Two tablets of Tylenol PM and some cranberry juice and I am almost back to normal. Almost, I say, because I am still exhausted after a 12 hour work day (thank GOD for overtime...) and not looking forward to another two days of overtime madness. I am damn lucky I love this job or else I would be tearing my hair hair out in frustration right about now.

Next week, I am flying to Vegas to do some survey work with a couple of my coworkers. The hours, they say, will be grueling and if anyone had ever done site surveying they might pinpoint out that you barely get to sit down at any time during an entire day. You're always on your feet, bending, reaching with a tape measurer, the way they probably did it one hundred years ago. Survey work has not seen many significant advancements in technology. It still requires physical labor.

Doesn't mean that I won't enjoy what they city has to offer though. Since I am staying right at a casino hotel, courtesy of my company, I will probably sneak down for at least thirty minutes every night to wander around the glitzy, over-the-top glamor of the City of Sin. I will deposit a few quarters into a slot machine that will look special to me, and cross my fingers, hoping to get lucky and win a jackpot. I will close my eyes for just a moment and imagine what it would be like to win fifty million dollars. What I would do. Who I would want to meet, because it is always easier to get an appointment or a date with anyone if you're got a few thousand dollar bills in your wallet.

I will probably lose 10 dollars at the said slot machine and walk away, slightly frustrated and disillusioned, but it won't take me too long to escape my frustrations, it won't take me long at all til I see another attraction, or a cute guy, or a high roller winning the money he doesn't particularly need at all.

I have never been to Vegas, and what happens there stays there, they say. But I won't even have much time to try to do anything stupid or irresponsible. Instead, I'll be up early every morning, ready to work, ready to take in the new sights and sounds.

"Have you ever been to Vegas? It's a different world out there," my co-worker said to me mysteriously today.

I'm not sure what he meant but whatever it is, it WILL be a whole different world to me. I have never been that far out in the West, only know what I've seen in movies.

I liked what I saw. Even now, sitting here dead tired and feeling the influence of Tylenol PM pulling me into a drowsy, somber state, I simply cannot conceal my utter excitement...

Did I mention that this is where I am staying?



I AM GOING TO VEGAS!!

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