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?

Speed Dating

Over the weekend, I went speed dating. After a significant dating hiatus, my hopes weren't too high of meeting anyone. A couple friends of mine were doing this speed dating event to launch their new dating website. Since I honestly had nothing better to do (and secretly since I thought speed dating might be a little fun), I headed over. The first thing I noticed was the disparity between guys and girls. There were more than twice as many girls as guys there.

I awkwardly took a seat. There were actually a few cute girls there. Not dream girls. But girls that had some potential. For whatever reason, I didn't feel intimidated. So I started talking... lots. Rather than give the usual rundown of who I am and where I am from and what I do, I tried to avoid those subjects and focus on just being fun. See, one of the biggest struggles I have on dates is because of my dating resume. I subconsciously feel as if I am in a job interview and I need to make sure that the interviewer knows that not only do I have multiple degrees but that they were obtained from prestigious institutions. The problem is, dating is not like job interviews. In job interviews, being subtle is often a negative. In dating, being subtle is the key.

So as the night progressed, I continued to avoid most of the talking points about my career or my education or how I play guitar. Instead, I focused on which Disney Princess I would date (I joked that it would be Beast but we all know it would be Belle). I asked about their careers but made all of my comments very lighthearted. And it worked. I was the belle of the ball. 9 different girls listed me as someone they would be interested in going out with! The next closest was a guy that had 3 girls list him as someone they would be interested in going out with. After the event, Rogen and I and one of the girls grabbed some dinner together.

On Saturday, I was hanging out with Sugarloaf and TheCaptain watching some football when Sugarloaf got an invite to go to a party. I am normally very hesitant to go to these parties, since I rarely meet anyone and generally don't have much fun. But I was feeling good, so I agreed to go. It was a blast. When we got there, I released all of my inhibitions. Why? I am not sure. I wish I could control it. I talked with a bunch of different girls. Two of them gave me their numbers and I am going to call them this week to set up dates. I don't think I even told them what I did for a living. I just had fun. I flirted shamelessly and fearlessly. I left the party feeling like a million bucks. I may not be back in the game yet, but at least I feel like I am a contender again.

A beautiful drink for beautiful people - TAB

On Friday night, Lebron and I went on our third date. Well, sorta. She texted me to say that her little brother was playing in a basketball game that evening and she really needed to go watch him play. So Steve-O and Milo and I bought some steaks and grilled them up. The plan was for Lebron and I to meet up later that night and go see a movie but it ended up being much later. Lebron came over and we watched a few episodes of The Office. We cuddled and she fell asleep. Since we both had early mornings, Lebron took off fairly early.

On Saturday, I flew out to meet up with TheCaptain and go to the football game. We met up with TheCaptain's girlfriend MrsTheCaptain on Sunday night. MrsTheCaptain is much cuter in person than she was in any of the pictures I had seen of her. Not sure if TheCaptain reads my blog anymore but way to go man. They are totally going to get married soon. I enjoyed hanging out with MrsTheCaptain, although at times she seemed a little bit aloof. And she definitely reminded me of Belle from a year and a half ago in both looks and the way she acted.

On Monday, I woke up at 4:45 to catch an early flight home. I rushed through security only to find that my flight had been canceled. Thus, I spent most of the day laying on the floor of the airport waiting for the new flight. Disastrous.

On Wednesday, I had my first date with TAB. The moment I picked her up, I knew it was going to be a good date. One, TAB is a touchy person. I hate being touched by people that I don't want touching me. But an attractive girl that I am interested in touching me? Yes please. We immediately hugged and TAB had to show me her room (I guess she had just cleaned it). We had dinner at my favorite Bosnian place and TAB handled herself quite well. She made jokes and asked interesting questions and laughed at all the right times. It was definitely a fun first date. Without much else to do, I took TAB back to my house to eat some dessert. Milo and Steve-O were there and they decided to give TAB a bit of a hard time. TAB seemed to handle it pretty well, laughing and acting like one of the guys. I am sure when their language became fouler, it bugged TAB a little but she handled it like a champ. When we got back to her house, TAB invited me in for a minute. I met her roommates and she showed me her gingerbread house that she had made. We sat on the couch and she whispered some secrets to me about her roommates. It was really fun. I left feeling that I really wanted to see TAB again soon.

Tonight I am going out with House. Tomorrow I am going out during the day with Lebron and then with Dee and Dum in the evening. Should be a busy weekend.

The Getaway

Gamer peppered me throughout the weekend with texts. I really didn't want to hang out with her so I made it seem like I was super busy with work and just too tired to hang out. Instead, I went to a Mormon Aristocracy party with Sugarloaf, TheCaptain and littlebrother. I have been to this exact same party approximately 47 times in my life. It may be at a different setting and there may be a slightly different group of people there but essentially it is always the same party. I guess it is better than nothing but I always find myself leaving these parties saying to myself "I am never going to another one of those parties again." It's not that there aren't cute girls there. Aussie was there (although I doubt she recognized me). It's just that most of the people don't seem to go to these things to meet people. They go to hang out with people they already know. Halfway through the party, someone cranked up the volume on some obnoxious music just to ensure that anyone attempting to have a conversation would be discouraged. For the upcoming generation, dancing and physical interaction always seem to have a higher priority and come before real social interaction.

On Sunday, while avoiding texts from Gamer, I called up House and suggested we go on a walk. I drove over to her place and we just walked for awhile. It was great. The conversation with House is always lively and interesting. Throughout the night, my mind kept running into the dead end of "why can't I date this girl?"

On Monday, I even sat down with one of the partners at my law firm to discuss it. His advice was actually quite astonishing to me. He said that if he were single, physical attraction would not even be close to the top priority when looking for a wife. He said that no matter what, all of that will mean basically nothing in five years. To be honest, I still have a hard time wrapping my head around that. If I were marrying for personality, House would be great. And House isn't an ugly girl. As I have thought about it over the past few days, I have concluded that I have an ego. On my mission, an elder that was fairly popular sent out engagement photos. My friends and I were shocked when we saw the announcement. This guy was marrying a girl that seemed obviously less attractive than him and was slightly overweight. To be honest, we all threw in a few jabs about them. Maybe I do have a bit more of an ego than I would like to admit.

When I dated Mindy many many years ago, it felt so great to go out in public with her. I was a superstar. Is it wrong for me to want that again? Should I just take my dad's advice "Tripp, you are never going to find a better girl for you than House."

Last night, I went to dinner with Gamer. I kinda felt obligated to. Gamer seemed even more clingy. I walked her back to her car and I know that a) she really wanted me to kiss her and b) she really wanted me to invite her back to my place (we met near where I work). I just wasn't having it. I felt bad about it too. I have always been terrified about dumping a girl (even when we aren't really dating). But I gotta do something about Gamer. She wants things to progress and I am really not feeling it.

Is that a hairless cat?

I was supposed to go to dinner with Simpson the other night. But when I texted her, she told me she had forgotten and that she had some car problems that needed taken care of. I know it sounds dumb but I was kinda bugged at Simpson about it. So I haven't contacted her since.

Last night I went to a condo with Sugarloaf, Barrel, TheCaptain, Robin (The Boy Wonder), Giselle, this girl BigMac and this girl LuvMeLongTime. LuvMeLongTime and Giselle are really good friends. I really have no interest in dating any of these girls. It's amazing how hard it is to get girls to come along on things with us. I know Sugarloaf called like 5 girls and none came. TheCaptain brought along all three (all of whom I had met before). Everytime I hear girls complain about how they are never hanging out with guys, I have a hard time believing it. Either there are tons more guys than girls around or huge groups of girls are going around with a small number of guys. Either way, it pisses me off.

While I was in law school, a coworker showed me a picture of his sister-in-law named Sphynx. She was really cute. I suggested he set me up with her and he told me that I had no idea what I was getting into. Sphynx bred/raised hairless cats. She didn't have one or two or three or four. She had 17! Still, she looked cute enough and I thought to myself "How bad can a bunch of cats be?" On our first date, Sphynx seemed fairly normal, albeit a little shy. The date was fairly short and I thought I would ask her out again. As we were driving after dinner, Sphynx told me that a year earlier, she had been stealing oxycontin from the pharmacy where she worked and had been sent to rehab. I know it's a good idea to get things like that out in the open fairly early on, but conversations about recent drug abuse on a second date is not recommended.

Still, the date went well enough. We watched a movie at her house (well, her parent's house where she lived) and things appeared to be going well. We started making out and I kid you not, a hairless cat jumped up on me. Google "hairless cat" if you wanna see what these creepy things look like.

A few days later, Sphynx called me and asked me to go to a baby blessing of her sister's baby (my coworker's kid). I agreed. We sat down in sacrament meeting but Sphynx felt like confessing. So, as the sacrament was being passed, Sphynx told me how many tattoos she had (three). Then she told me how many piercings she had once had (9, including one in an unmentionable location). About a week later, Sphynx called me and invited me to a family dinner at her house. I accepted. I showed up and Sphynx acted particularly weird. She seriously asked me if I was ok like 7 times during dinner. She seemed high. My coworker told me that before I had arrived, she was freaking out and needed help doing her hair. She had just come from work at the pharmacy (yeah, she was able to continue working there) and he thought she had taken something there. She told me she had only taken a Xanax but it seemed like she had taken more.

After dinner, she was really rude to her mom (we were in her parent's house and her mom was watching tv; Sphynx told her mom that she was being rude for not leaving the room to let us watch what we wanted to watch (even though the basketball game on that her mom was watching was plenty interesting to me)). At this point, I decided I had just about enough with Sphynx. She got a text from some guy and she told me about how he wanted to date her but that she didn't want to date him, she wanted to date me! It really freaked me out. I said something about wanting to leave and she kinda grabbed onto me and was like "No, you can't leave yet." Not wanting to be rude, I stayed for over an hour after that. I was really put off by the whole thing though.

A week or two later, I decided that the only solution was for me to "break-up" with Spynx, even though we had never really gotten together. Whenever I meet a girl that is a bit crazy, I usually gauge her craziness on a "how many hairless cats" scale. Sphynx was a 17 hairless cats amount of crazy.

Other notes: Pulse is now officially in a relationship on facebook.

Awkward dates with girls from Estonia

On Friday, I had my date with Katarina. I was worried cause before the play, there was a 2 hour planned. It ended up being pretty fun (the dinner). All these swanky people and an open bar. Of course, I don't drink, but I did have a coke from the bar. I was fun and funny. With it and witty. After the dinner, we walked over to the play. It was not one of my favorite plays. I was kinda tired and kept yawning. Katarina was about as awkward as you could expect for someone from a completely different culture on a date. I think she is a good person but I am never going to be interested in her. I kinda feel bad about it.

On Saturday, I had a date with this girl Simpson. I went out on a few dates with Simpson over a year ago. I actually met Simpson at the same party as Ariel. Ariel had a boyfriend and Simpson went out on a few dates with TheCaptain. Somehow, Simpson and I ended up going on a few dates. But it wasn't meant to be. I liked Ariel at the time and one night, Simpson and I were making out. She mentioned something about how Ariel had broken up with her boyfriend that day. Somehow I decided that I wanted to date Ariel more than I wanted to date Simpson. I can't really remember any other reason for me to stop dating Simpson.

Last week, Simpson just randomly said something to me on the facebook and we set up the date. I was a little late cause I was at a soccer game for littlelittlebrother. My friend Punk invited me to go see a jazz band she manages at a local club. Simpson and I had a lot of fun just talking and listening to the band. We went back to Simpson's place and watched The Lovely Bones. It wasn't very good. We cuddled a bit. To be honest, I couldn't remember why I stopped dating Simpson last year. She was fun.

On Sunday, I received a text from Spinster. She said she wasn't interested in me. It kinda pissed me off. I guess I can't be too upset because I certainly didn't feel any interest in Katarina. Anyway, so there won't be any more dates with Spinster. Tonight I was chatting with Gamer on the facebook. Even though she is awkward and kinda nerdy, I find myself wanting to spend more time with her.

BFD

I have a first date in 1 hour and 20 minutes with BFD. In case you forgot (or didn't read back then), I met BFD last summer while shopping for furniture at the place where she works. It was a little awkward because she initiated giving me her cell phone number in what appeared to be a strictly business relationship. She wanted me to come back in and look at more furniture. In the end, the place where BFD worked was very overpriced so I decided to purchase from someone else.

I tried to call BFD a couple of times but she was a bit flaky. So when I received a text from her two days ago, I was kind of surprised. We texted back and forth and she definitely acted like she wanted me to ask her out so I did. I am just planning on going to dinner. I am a little worried that BFD thinks she is a big deal. TheCaptain knows her and says that she acted that way in college (interestingly enough, when BFD found out I knew TheCaptain, she exclaimed "You know TheCaptain? I love him!"). Even if the date doesn't go well, it should be interesting.

Old dating memories

I just recently heard the song "Need you now" by Lady Antebellum. Yeah, I am a little slow. But for the moment, it is my favorite song. I think I have listened to it 20 or 30 times in the last week. I still crave it. The song reminds me a lot of past relationships.

Brooke - The first girl I dated when I got home from my mission. She was a southern girl. I had only been home for 4 days when we went on our first date. In fact, she came to see me at my homecoming and we held hands. I seriously thought she was the one. Just as quick as it started, the relationship died. Brooke was living in another state with my sister and contemplating a nanny job in Germany. She decided that the Germany job was right for her and she didn't want to get too attached. She moved to Germany and married a guy there.

Amy - Amy was the second girl I dated after my mission. She was this spunky confident girl that dated lots. I somehow mustered up the courage to ask her out. I wrote several songs about dating her including "Amy Dirt" and "Empty." I didn't have a job while I was dating her so I had lots of time to sit around and play my guitar. She told me I needed a haircut and I grew my hair out for over a year to prove her wrong. Amy named my first car. When she left for the summer, I knew it was over. I would have followed Amy anywhere but she wouldn't let me.

Stephanie - The kinda-girlfriend of one of my mission companions. He told me to take her out but I think he was joking. Our first date was to a crappy Ben Affleck movie. I held her hand. I wrote several songs about dating her including "Until I'm gone." I knew she was struggling with whether it was ok to date me or not. I had long hair. I listened to rock music. Her parents totally did not approve. I sent her flowers one day. Big yellow ones to show I cared. She called me, said thanks for the flowers, and then broke up with me. When my companion came home 6 months later, they started dating and were married less than a year after I dated her. I had lunch with them a month ago. They have three kids.

Mindy - I dated Mindy a couple of times right before Christmas that year. She was my roommate's cousin. We went to the Nutcracker and I felt like I was the king of the world holding her hand. She was the prettiest girl I had ever dated (still holds true today). Spunky and fun with curly blonde hair, I nearly failed a math class in college staying up talking to her the night before my final. We watched The Shawshank Redemption and held hands the first night we met. I lay in bed for hours after she left. Just before Christmas, Mindy told me she was planning on going on a mission (she was 18, girls have to be 21 to go on a mission) and that it was pointless to have any serious relationships before that. She moved back with her parents. That May, she got married to some guy she met while working at a cheap restaurant. It hurt more than I can possibly convey.

Dating is hard. I know some people might think that I fall way too fast for girls (TheCaptain) but I don't see it that way. Every time I fall for a girl, I worry that I won't fall again. That I will never feel as strong about another girl as I did about the last one. In less than one year home from my mission, I fell in love four times and was burned four times. In the past year, I have not fallen in love once. Some of the happiest times in my entire life were when I was dating Brooke, Amy, Stephanie and Mindy. Maybe they wouldn't have made me happy in the long run but I will never know. It hurt when they burned me but I would gladly risk it again.

Notes: On Saturday night, I called up Pulse to go see Sherlock Holmes with me. I met Pulse on the cruise and we clicked. Pulse is a bit of a weirder girl though. Vegetarian animal lover working at a non-profit. On Saturday, I received a text from Spinster. She said she had started dating someone while I was on my cruise. I am pretty sure I called that one before I left on the cruise. I wrote Swift a message today on facebook.

how about a little luck?

So last week I went on a cruise. Not just any cruise, mind you, I went on an LDS singles cruise. (Pause for dramatic effect) TheWriter and I went to the opera the night before I left on my cruise. Having never been to the opera, I thought it might be kind of interesting. And it was. But it was also long (over three hours), set in Spain but sung in French, and too warm in the theater. Whenever I said anything to TheWriter, this lady in front of us turned her head as if to growl at us. Meanwhile, the couple next to us (older) were getting frisky and the guy behind us was loudly open mouth chewing his gum. We went back to my house after and decided to watch a movie. Yeah, I ended up making out with TheWriter. I felt so guilty after. I think TheWriter is a really cool girl; I think her and I should be friends. But I just don't feel a romantic interest in her. So why did I make out with her? Because I could. If it sounds stupid, that's cause it is stupid. When you know you can get away with something, I guess it makes it pretty easy to do.

On Saturday, Sugarloaf and I flew out with Arches. Arches is a girl Sugarloaf has known for a few years and who agreed to be roommates with me, Sugarloaf and TheCaptain for our cruise. I immediately had a huge crush on her because she is smart, pretty and nice. After one week sharing a room with her though, my crush is gone. She is way cool but most certainly not the girl for me.

On the cruise, I met lots of girls. The first girl I clicked with was Shart. We hung out on the second night and really clicked. I was honestly worried that perhaps I wasn't going to meet any more girls on the cruise cause I would be with Shart the whole time. Well, I didn't have any reason to worry, after that first hangout, Shart avoided me the rest of the week. We said hi and talked a bit from time to time but any interest that she might have had in me was gone. It was very frustrating. At the beginning of the cruise, I was sure that I would date her when we came back. Now, I am not even comfortable asking her on a date.

By the end of the cruise, I was so ready to come home. I was convinced that there was never going to be someone for me. I have brightened up a little. Ariel was on the cruise and she said some kind words to me. Still, I am as frustrated as I have ever been about my dating life.

Hey Jealousy

On Friday night, FarFarAway texted me a number of times wanting to hang out. It was at this precise moment that I realized I have zero interest in her. My roommates all think she is very pretty. I think she is very pretty. But she isn't for me. Nevertheless, I met up with FarFarAway, TheCaptain, Tweak, Sugarloaf, an old guy friend Barrel, and a new friend; I am going to nickname her HappyEnding. HappyEnding is one of FarFarAway's good friends. As is typical, there were five guys in that hottub and three girls. Honestly though, it was a lot of fun. It was mostly just us guys talking and having a blast.

On Saturday, GetErDone, LittleBrother, and my cousin RunsWithScissors met up with BFF and some of her friends at a piano bar. BFF brought along one cute friend Bynes. I met Bynes several years ago at a party with BFF. She has definitely gotten prettier.

On Sunday, in Sunday School, I sat in front of a couple of cute girls. They weren't in my ward; they were ward hopping. I talked to them a little but the one I thought was cutest spent most of the time texting on her phone. She had blue eyelashes. Sometimes when a girl has blue eyelashes, it just looks funny. Other times, it makes a girl look so pretty. I couldn't stop staring at her eyes.

That night at Ward Prayer, I met this girl Cooch. I don't think I have ever seen Cooch before but she is my type. I mean, I don't really have a type but a tall slender blonde girl with her complexion comes pretty darn close. I talked to Cooch for just a little bit. She graduated from high school in 09. I talked about her with my roommate Steve-O last night. I was complaining about how I must be screwed up cause I always fall for really young girls. Steve-O was of the opinion that it was just years of evolution shaping what I found attractive. Healthy looking young women are more likely to reproduce healthy offspring, at least from a genetic standpoint. It made me feel a little less frustrated. I am just doing what my DNA tells me to do. Anyway, I became very jealous of whatever guy gets to date her. There are guys out there who date girls like that all the time. Why can't I be one of those guys? Who are they jealous of? While blog surfing, I came upon a blog of a gorgeous blonde girl who dreams of being a writer. I am very jealous of whatever guy gets to go on a date with her. She doesn't seem mean in her posts. I wonder if she is mean?

A new year

So New Years Eve has come and gone. Anyone who knows me knows that NYE is basically my least favorite holiday of the whole year. I haven't had a good NYE since I was 16 and had my second kiss with high school girlfriend (HSGF). I haven't had a great NYE ever. So I approached this NYE with realistically low expectations. Sugarloaf, TheCaptain and I headed to a holiday party hosted by Tweak and FarFarAway. Tweak and FarFarAway aren't dating but they probably should be. I met Tweak years ago at University and met FarFarAway through Tweak. In a text inviting me to the party, FarFarAway told me she expected a NYE kiss from me and I jokingly agreed.

The party started out pretty lame. Lots of dudes, very few ladies, and a group of married or engaged couples. There were a couple of really pretty girls that stopped by but they didn't really stay long enough to chat with any of us. Throughout the night FarFarAway was hitting on me. I think FarFarAway is a very pretty girl but I am just not interested in her like that. She has made it obvious that she wants a relationship that will lead to marriage. While I think dating FarFarAway would be fun for a bit, I really don't see her as a potential wife. Plus, FarFarAway was dumped recently by a mutual friend. This rightfully put her into the "don't touch" category.

I talked to a couple of cute girls with zero dating potential (i.e., lived out of state, interested in another guy there, not attractive, engaged) then found Sugarloaf and TheCaptain hitting on this girl Cougarette who teaches dance at an elementary school. She was there with a date but Sugarloaf managed to get her number with a sly trick. I hope he takes her out. Cougarette has the potential to have bunches of really cute friends that she could set me up with.

When the clock struck midnight and the ball dropped, I decided to kiss FarFarAway. She was just standing there looking around and so I walked over and planted one on her. I don't think she was expecting it. I don't think it was a dishonest kiss. It was short and closed mouth. The party was pretty much over so we took off.

On Saturday, GetErDone set me up on a blind date with LittleDebbie. LittleDebbie reminds me so much of a girl that one of my friends married. I didn't like either of them very much. I wasn't really attracted to LittleDebbie and her personality kinda irked me. The night was mostly uneventful. However, while hanging out at LittleDebbie's apartment, her very cute (and very snobby roommate) came home. Harassing the roommate was the highlight of my evening.

Side notes: Saw SouthernBelle at church on Sunday but didn't say hi. She has graduated from hanging out with the super nerdy girls in the ward to hanging out with some of the pretty cool girls. My interest in her has waned. I am very open right now to being set up on blind dates. Please find me a cute girl that isn't too snobby.

Lots to report

Since I was on a cruise for the past week and didn't get a chance to blog prior to the cruise, I have lots to report on. First off, I finally texted Nomad about two weeks ago saying we shouldn't hang out anymore. I was surprised how well it went. She said that the chemistry wasn't quite there and wished me good luck. It was refreshing.

The next day SouthernBelle came over to visit. I met SouthernBelle a few weeks ago at church. At first, I must be honest, I wasn't that interested. She was really cool but shy and quiet which I generally shy away from. My brother invited SouthernBelle over but halfway through, he said he was tired and went to bed. While talking to her, I found that I thought she was pretty cool. When she was leaving, I told her how hard it was to get out of my neighborhood and gave her my number just in case. Of course, she texted me that night to say she made it out and that she had fun.

On Friday night, I had a first date with FormerLesbian. I met FormerLesbian online. When she first told me about her "history" I was a little skeptical but who am I to judge someone for their past. I told her I would pick her up in my truck and I think she thought that was super cool. FormerLesbian is training to become an airplane mechanic. Yeah, I know, I hardly ever date airplane mechanics. The date was pretty fun. It was obvious that FormerLesbian was very interested in me and I thought she was pretty cool. I definitely had fun on our date and wanted to hang out with her again. We ate dinner and saw a movie and called it quits early.

The next morning I had lunch with SouthernBelle. Lunch went fairly well. SouthernBelle has not been in this state long and its kinda obvious that she doesn't intend to end up here. That isn't to say there isn't a chance. Just that she grew up in much greener pastures and the cold of the snow plus the unfriendliness here plus the fruit not tasting as good plus the lack of beaches works out to make this state not a particularly desirable destination. The conversation lulled a few times with SouthernBelle but I didn't really care. I had fun.

While on vacation in San Diego, I went to the beach with some friends for a bonfire. I ended up meeting the Actress there. The Actress went to BYU studying directing and now does theater I guess. I think my buddy kinda likes her. I ended up playing with the Actress' feet while she was on the couch and I felt a bit of a connection. I already know what kind of hell TheCaptain is going to give me for this.

Dear the Captain:
I kinda liked the Actress. She added me as a friend on facebook. I accepted her request. I saw that she added my brother so I don't think she was facebook stalking me, although maybe she was. You are probably my closest friend even though we sometimes fight and you are sometimes mean to me. I promise I won't step on your toes.
Love Tripp Hazard

On Sunday, I flew home. FormerLesbian was texting me and she invited me over to her house to watch a movie. I accepted. We ended up making out. I can already hear the tsk tsk of criticism from my friend(s) in NYC that think(s) I should stop kissing girls I don't like. And it's probably right. I knew that I felt a bit lukewarm about FormerLesbian but I went over and made out with her anyway. Suprisingly, I wasn't as scared off as with some of the other girls. I still plan to go out with her again. But, I know exactly what it is like to hang out with a girl and come home with stars in my eyes and birds all around me and Sunday night was not one of those nights. I think part of me honestly worries that I will never experience that again. Or that if I do, I should avoid it cause those are the times I get hurt the most.

Ex Post Facto

I had my first online dating experience on Friday night. It was actually pretty fun. We met at this little french bakery downtown. I immediately recognized her from the photos online. Her face was maybe a little chubbier than I would have liked but she looked pretty good. We had dessert there and then went back to my house to meet up with my friends Sugarloaf and Foot. They seemed awfully excited to double with me on that night. Looking back, I think they just wanted to be there for the online dating experience. We went to a haunted house. Remember the glory days when you were little and haunted houses were SO scary? Well, I do. I hated them. But now, they aren't really scary at all and I kinda wish they were. There were a couple scary moments and Nomad and I had a lot of fun. She definitely got scared and had to hold on to me.

After the haunted house, we went back to my house and just hung out. Nomad and I ended up on the couch in my front room. We may or may not have kissed. I know I know, criticize me for it. I suppose I deserve it. If you know me well enough, though, you will know that I really only kiss the girls on a first date that I feel lukewarm about. If its hot or cold, I abstain. But, the thing is, I wonder if maybe kissing some of the girls that I liked early on might have helped my situation. Like with HelloNurse the previous weekend. I probably could have kissed her. I know she liked me. I know she had fun. I am guessing that what happened is she got home feeling very confused and then talked to this other guy she was dating and decided to back off with me. Maybe kissing me would have messed with her mind a little and caused her to want to go out with me. Maybe not, but at least I would have gotten to kiss her. I have been thinking about HelloNurse today. I even looked her up on the facebook. She is very pretty. One of my friends (TheCaptain) was very mean to me when I told him the story about HelloNurse. He was like "read your blog, it's full of stories of you liking any girl you meet that is cute" and maybe that is true. I sure don't feel like it is true. I mean, I go out with lots of girls. I meet lots of girls. I know lots of girls. I like a relative few of them. Still, I kinda wish something had gone somewhere with HelloNurse. Nomad and I are going to hang out/go out tomorrow night. Is it a waste of time if I only feel lukewarm about her right now? My feeling is that it isn't because if I really didn't want to see her, I wouldn't schedule time to see her.

I have been texting the online girl TheWriter today. Personality wise, I just click with her so well. And in some of her pictures, she is very very pretty. But in some of them, she just isn't. I mean, nobody takes a good picture every time. But hers are about half and half. I would say more than half the pictures taken of me look like I look on a regular basis. So, it makes me a bit nervous.

Jackson Square

Last week, I went to the Q-Tip Concert. It was the most fun I have ever had at a concert. I really just let loose and forgot about worrying. I met several girls there. The one that I was the most interested in was TheFlake. I have actually met her before, at a dance party 9 months or so ago. She is this pretty little blonde, very flirty. I immediately had a huge crush on her. Of course, so do just about all of my friends. She is 26 and single. According to my friends, she is very good at keeping boys at arm's length. I also met M. She was a little more uptight than TheFlake but still way fun. And very pretty. I haven't decided yet if I want to take her on a date. I also met M's friend J. J is much more shy and she was there with a guy she likes but still, there was something about her that I found very interesting. FarFarAway was there. FarFarAway is this girl I have hung out with a couple of times. She is very busty and I think a bit manipulative. She was hitting on me pretty heavily at the concert. She just got dumped by this guy and I think her biological clock is ticking. She is cute, but probably the furthest from what I want or am interested in.

Friday, I went to this party in Bountiful. TheFlake was there and my crush was renewed. She is so flirty with boys though. I tried to capture her attention but only got a tiny bit of it. It kinda frustrated me a little.

Faline was at the party. I met Faline a few weeks ago and she didn't seem that interested. But on Friday night, we sat and talked for most of the night and it seemed like we had a lot in common. I got her phone number. We texted until late that night. I felt like we really bonded. Then, the next morning, the girl I had a date with for that night said she couldn't go. So, I texted Faline and she responded that she would LOVE to go to the fair with me. She showed up at the house and she looked really pretty. Although Faline is probably not as pretty as Catcher or TheFlake, Faline is still a very pretty girl. The fair went really well. I would say it was one of the better dates I have been on in the last 10 years. We found out that we have tons in common. We both like to read, we like to play board games, we like to run, we like to travel, and we like to try new things (like food). I was very impressed with how intelligent Faline was. More so though, I was impressed with how she acted around me. She was just super chill and fun. It was like I didn't have to work very hard to click with her. We went shopping at Walmart after the fair and then we hung up some pictures in my house and watched a movie. I wanted to hold her hand so bad during the movie but I refrained. I just didn't want her to think I was that kind of guy. I really really wanted to kiss her at the end of the date but I also refrained. I really hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the butt.

Faline was almost engaged a year ago, even though she is just 20 now. She is quite set on going on a mission next year. That makes me a bit wary but thus far, she doesn't seem to be holding back with me. Faline already seems like very decent wife material.

Sunday was the going away party for one of my best friends, TheCaptain. He is going to law school and we planned a huge party at my house. TONS of people showed up. TheFlake was there. FarFarAway was there. Esmerelda was there. Faline was there. A girl I used to have a crush on MH was there. It was so much fun. I bounced around meeting people and talking and just playing host. I took several girls on tours of my house. One in particular was W. She said several times that she hoped I would invite her over again to the house. We became friends on Facebook so it may happen.

Monday night (last night) I got a text from Ariel saying she was done with finals and she wanted to come over and paint. She came over and we ran to Walmart to buy some painting supplies. We decided to paint a Zebra for the jungle room in my house. Ariel is actually a very decent painter. I mostly just played guitar while she worked on the zebra. The painting was not finished but we both were tired of it so we went into the house. The mood was kind of different, but Ariel and I ended up wrestling a little. While we wrestled, I kissed her. Several times. She definitely kissed me back but the kisses weren't super romantic. I am not ready to move her back as a possibility but it was really fun hanging out with her last night.