A Second Date or The Mormon Aristocracy Strikes Again

On Friday, I had a second date with Basketball. I was excited because I had tickets to The Hunger Games on opening night. My friend Soup joined us as a double date. As usual, the conversation with Basketball was very easy. I don't have any trouble finding things to talk about with her. Being on a double date meant it was harder to have a deep conversation. But while we were waiting for the movie to start, we got a chance to talk. I found myself wondering if I could relate to Basketball: she is so into sports and while I like sports, there are so many other things I like too. It was during this time that I also seriously questioned if there could be anything romantic between us. Normally by a second date, you are at least partially thinking romance, right? There just wasn't any sexual tension with Basketball. It makes me wonder if I am walking down the same path that I walked with House. Should I continue going out with Basketball, even though I might never see her as more than a friend?

Last week, I texted Joust to try and set up a second date. She didn't respond. I texted her again and received a response saying "I would like to be friends with you, but I don't see this going anywhere." Even though I absolutely appreciate a girl telling me that, it pissed me off. So Joust is gone.

On Saturday night, TheCaptain and Cowboy and Sugarloaf and I went to a party at a park that was kinda being hosted by DrJ. There were a couple of cute girls there but try as I might, I couldn't get them to even try and have a decent conversation with me. As I was talking to one girl, I could just tell that she was so not interested in talking to me. One girl found out that I was a lawyer and had lots of questions; her dad is a judge and she is considering law school. But the conversation died quickly when her friend jumped in to say it was time to leave. I watched as they continued to talk to other people for 15 more minutes. I am not sure if I was just not cool enough for these girls or dressed well enough or good enough looking or what it was. I get so frustrated at those types of events. But it's pretty much the only avenue for me to meet new girls.

Second date with Basketball rating: 6

Possibility of a third date with Basketball: Medium

Gingerbread Houses and Mission Impossible

Last week, Sugarloaf called me up to invite me to a gingerbread house making party. I had nothing else going on so I agreed to go. TheCaptain and my old friend Fireman were also there. Initially, Sugarloaf called me because there was going to be a shortage of guys there. Instead, Sugarloaf had a date there and Fireman had a date there while TheCaptain and I were flying solo. And most of the people there were either married or engaged. So TheCaptain and I did what we do best: we screwed around. We built the worst gingerbread house in the history of gingerbread houses (no structural integrity, taller than the others using gummy bears and toothpicks, no Christmas theme). When they voted, ours received zero votes (because you couldn't vote for your own, what a dumb rule).

I was getting ready to go when Sugarloaf's roommate asked me a few legal questions. His date was named Flora. I thought Flora was cute but it wasn't until we started talking that I really felt like there could be a connection there. One of the first things I noticed was that Flora was excellent at conversation. Also, as she made a comment that only pertained to me, she looked at me and winked. I could have been seeing things. But I discovered that Flora lives in another state and this was a blind date with Sugarloaf's roommate. In other words, there was a chance. I asked Sugarloaf to get some information on Flora from his roommate so that possibly I could ask her out on a date. Unfortunately, Sugarloaf never got back to me.

On Friday night, we celebrated Cowboy's birthday. As we were leaving the movie theater, I noticed a guy with orange shoes waiting for someone. I thought nothing of it until we were driving out of the parking lot. There was Flora walking with orange shoes guy. They were on a date. This was both good and bad. Good because it meant Sugarloaf's roommate was nowhere near sealing the deal. Bad because guy with orange shoes could potentially be sealing the deal. Seriously, for the rest of my life I am going to have a hard time trusting anyone with orange shoes.

On Christmas day, Samsonite sent me a text asking how my Christmas was going. Initially, I had no intention of responding. But, I am a nice guy so I responded and we texted back and forth a bit. It was all pleasantries and no substance. That sort of texting really bothers me. I generally text with a purpose. After a few rounds of going nowhere, I grew tired of it and didn't text her back (her last text read something like "I did have a good Christmas! I am glad that you did too. :)" Don't even get me started on her misuse of exclamation points. And the smiley face at the end? It serves no purpose.

On Monday, Lolita called and suggested I go visit her older brother with her. Lolita's older brother and I have been friends since high school but we hadn't seen each other for a few years. We went over to his place and ended up having a blast. His wife came home and was like "Are you guys dating?" to which Lolita quickly replied "No, we are just friends." It was that funny kind of awkward that you kinda laugh at and cringe at simultaneously.

On Tuesday night, Samsonite texted me to ask if I had seen the new Mission Impossible movie because it was great. I replied that I had and I enjoyed it. Then... nothing. I guess I don't know what to expect but to get a random text like that with no follow up is so weird to me. Today I managed to find Flora on Facebook and I learned a couple of useful nuggets about her. I added her as a friend on facebook. My plan is to wait for her to accept my add and then send her a message saying that it was fun meeting her and suggesting we do something together some time. Too forward? Not forward enough? Too stalkerish? Not stalkerish enough?

Older girls versus younger girls

On Friday night, Cowboy and I did some volunteer stuff for the American Cancer Society. Just in case anyone was wondering, I am against it (cancer, that is). There were about 5 guys and 7 girls there. It actually was extremely conducive to meeting people. I had a good conversation with a girl that had gone to two years of law school and then dropped out and another conversation with a girl that had "Faith" tattooed on her wrist but was embarrassed about it. These girls were a bit older (probably their early to mid 30s) but they were super chill. I think all of them were Mormon but they weren't crazy Mormon. I think being Mormon is kinda like being a parent. Your first kid is way overprotected. You have tons of rules set up for them and if they don't follow the rules to a T, then they get punished. At least this was how my parents raised us. However, over time, you seem to chill out a little. My parents stopped freaking out if one of their kids was a few minutes late past curfew. And the curfew was moved from midnight to 1 or even 2. Of course, there are downsides to this. Littlelittlebrother speaks to/about my parents in ways that would have never been acceptable when I was his age. I think this is more because of his personality than because of my parents' more relaxed parenting style. Anyway, so people who have been Mormon a while can sometimes get that it isn't easy and they don't come off quite as judgmental early on. Thats how I felt with these girls. It was really fun.

On Saturday, BFF and I went to a theme park with BFF's cousin and her cousin's husband. There were tons of early teenagers walking around in love. How come it is so much easier for them to find love at that age than it is for me at this age? Most of the guys just look like total freaks. They have piercings in their faces. They are wearing girl's pants. And yet they have a fairly attractive girlfriend. Do the girls just have lower standards at that age?

We had joy we had fun, we had seasons in the sun

On Friday, I left work early and headed down to stay in a houseboat on the lake. I traveled with Robin, BeefCake and MrsBeefCake. Although they aren't married yet, BeefCake and MrsBeefCake are practically married and it just makes things easier. We met Sugarloaf there with Barrel and a bunch of girls. SpicyTuna was there. I haven't talked about SpicyTuna before. I have met her many times and have always perceived her as a snob. It's cause she is always hanging around tools and snobby girls. I wonder if she even realizes that she is such a tool magnet.

Being out on the lake was mostly great. Exhausting. By the last day, I was so ready to get out of there. Can I just say that I really like BeefCake but MrsBeefCake drives me crazy. She is bratty and self-righteous and snotty. I couldn't have been more annoyed with her on the trip and the drive home was no exception.

So I got a chance to have a couple of deep conversations with SpicyTuna. She is actually really cool. Super athletic and spunky, she is the type of girl that everyone knows. I am sure many of the tools pursue her too. Thing is, she doesn't strike me as the type that would want a tool for a husband. She wants to get married and have kids. She wants to fall in love. I really enjoyed my conversations with SpicyTuna. I even kinda would like to take her on a date. It's hard cause SpicyTuna has been out with Cowboy a number of times and she dated Barrel for awhile.

On Sunday, after I got home, Gamer came over. I had fun hanging out with her. I think I am going to keep hanging out with her. I made plans to go out with Simpson this Thursday.

White trash roots

On Friday, Cowboy called me up and wanted to know if I would double with him. I already had a date planned with Simpson. We met up and went to the dance studio to learn the tango. Simpson was not as impressed as I thought she might be. After all, normally isn't it the girl that is begging the guy to go take dance lessons. She thought it was kind of dumb to learn to do old dances like that. I thought it was quite fun and the tango is a fun dance to learn.

After dinner, we headed out to the drag races. I will always have a special place in my heart for white trash people. Perhaps it was the many years I worked at Wal Mart. So going to watch drag races just gives me a warm feeling inside. Of course, as we watched the cars race, all I really wanted to do was get my own car out there to race. According to online specifications, my car should be able to do a 1/4 mile in 13.9 seconds, which was faster than more than half of the cars there. I saw one car nearly break the 1/4 mile in under 10 seconds. I should have been a racecar driver. Sugarloaf, Barrel and Arches were there too. Simpson had fun but she was tired. I dropped her off, gave her a goodnight kiss and headed home.

On Saturday, KJo and I met for lunch and some furniture shopping. We found a place selling these giraffes that were about 5 feet tall for $6500. Ha ha, I was tempted but not that tempted. By late afternoon, I was tired so I delayed my date with Gamer for a bit while I took a nap. I met up with Gamer and after a quick dinner, we went and saw the movie The Good, the bad, the weird. She had initially suggested we see Robin Hood but I wasn't sure I could handle two hours of hollywood crap. The Good, the bad, the weird is this chinese action movie. The action scenes moved a little too fast on occasion and sometimes the subtitles in white were impossible to read but the movie was fun. I know Gamer enjoyed it.

We drove back to her car. As we were saying our goodbyes, this homeless dude walked up for a chat in the hopes of scoring some cash. I don't particularly like to give money to homeless people. I get asked for money nearly every day and professional beggars have a particular ability at irking me. So when the homeless dude said he just needed money for a ride to where he was staying, I thought "why not just give him a ride?" Gamer gave me this look like I was dumb as dirt. So she got into her car and the homeless dude and I got into my car. We drove for about three blocks (and the smell was quite intense) before I discovered that the homeless dude had zero interest in getting a ride out to this place (which sort of invalidated his original request for money). So now, I had a homeless dude inside my car begging me for money while drunk as a skunk (and as smelly as one too). Not wanting to give him money, I took him through the drivethru at McDonalds. He didn't stop asking for money the entire time (until I dropped him off back where I had picked him up). I chided him a little about needing to figure out what he was doing with his life (can you imagine a guy saying "and when that guy took me to McDonalds late one Saturday night and told me to figure out my life, that's when I saw the light and decided to stop using drugs and drinking and straighten out my life!") At least it got him out of the car.

On Sunday, I invited Gamer over to watch a movie (I called Simpson first but she was visiting her grandma and couldn't come). I just needed some company. Gamer came over and we watched a movie and cuddled. Now, before you get all judgmental on me, let me clarify a few things. One, I do like Gamer. She is fun to be around. She is interesting. And she is attractive. But I dont really see her as a potential girlfriend/spouse. I just don't feel like I am a bad person for spending time with her.

Gorillas and swag

On Saturday, Pulse and I made out. It was a pretty good make out. We had just finished watching the crappy movie that we rented. Then, last night at a ward activity, I saw her there. It wasn't awkward or anything, I just didn't run up to her and start holding her hand in front of everyone. Today, I received a facebook message from her saying that she is not going to kiss me anymore until/unless we are in an established relationship. Basically, she likes me but thinks that neither of us know if we like each other enough yet to justify kissing. I really don't know how to respond to that. Should I tell her that I won't go out with her anymore unless she agrees to let the kissing continue? Should I consider her defensive stance a preemptive strike and respond accordingly by discontinuing to date her? I like Pulse but I am nowhere near entering a committed relationship with her.

Other notes: I have a date tonight with BFD. It should be interesting. We are just going to see Alice in Wonderland. I don't intend to do anything after that. I don't plan on kissing her or holding her hand during the movie but she is a bit more aggressive than I am used to. Last night I met a girl named Nascar that I would totally like to take out. She is older than me but seems way fun. I was with Cowboy, Sugarloaf and Tweak when I met her. I think Cowboy had some interest in her too though. Cowboy is sort of like lil'wayne. He just exudes swag. Girls love swag. The thing about swag is that you can't fake it. You either have it or you don't. It's like walking into a gorilla cage. If the gorilla can sense even the tiniest weakness or fear in you, it is gonna tear your head off. Girls are the same way. They can sense a fake swag and they will react violently to it.

Round again round again circles

I had a sort of date with Faline on Saturday. We met up at the rodeo with a bunch of other friends. I was really excited to see her. On Saturday morning, I woke up super cheerful. Littlebrother even commented on it. He said "When Tripp is happy, the whole house just feels brighter." I talked him and another roommate into running 4 miles outside. It was a gorgeous day and the run felt great. So I was feeling super ready for the rodeo. I wore my cowboy hat, cowboy boots, my belt buckle, and a cowboy shirt. And I drove my truck. I was feeling like a cowboy. The rodeo was fun but somewhere along the way, I felt Faline pull away. It was just minor, I didn't try and hold her hand or kiss her or anything, things just felt a little different.

After the rodeo, we built a bonfire for smores. At that point, I was feeling so awkward that I hardly interacted with Faline. Cowboy had come up to my truck and asked me in front of her how long it had been since I had "hooked up" with a girl. What a crappy thing to ask me. I said I didn't remember (even though it had only been 5 days). Faline then was asked a similar question and she decided it had been a week and a half. What?! Of course, mine was sooner and I shouldn't have double standards but it really threw me off. There was a nice hug at the end but I was definitely in a bad mood.

I have natural preconceptions about what dating a girl is like when she is about to go on a mission or considering one. 7 years ago I dated Mindy. She was 18 and I was in love within 10 seconds of meeting her. Then, our interaction abruptly went from fun and relaxed to her totally pulling away. She said she knew she was supposed to go on a mission and that it was pointless to have any relationships prior to that. For those of you who don't know, girls can't go on a mission until they are 21! She moved home and I found out that she got married 6 months later.

I purchased a car from a girl about 5 years ago. We immediately clicked. She was selling the car to go on a mission (no call, no papers turned in). We went out on a few dates and I thought things were going well. I certainly wasn't asking her to not go on a mission or anything. just keep dating me and see what happens. So, one night I sent her a text saying it was cold outside and offering her a ride home from school (massage therapy) because she had sold her car and now rode the train. She sent a text back saying "I am going on a mission. Back off." How do you even respond to that? It was insane.

So, I really have some bad experiences with girls and missions. And Faline has indicated that she wants to go on a mission. But she doesn't turn 21 for 8 months. A lot can happen in 8 months. That is what frustrates me. If we date some and it looks like things are not working out, then great, she should go on a mission. But if she is going to kill things now because she thinks she will go on a mission in 8 months, well, then that just sucks.