Star Trek, Morning Walks, and Car Shopping

So SuperLawyer, his BF, Lawyer X, and I went to see Star trek on Saturday night. Loved it! Lawyer X had some problems with the story line since it kind of broke with Star Trek canon. But hey, if you're going to re-boot the franchise, then you need to make room for some new story lines. And creating an alternate world by changing the space time continuum seems like a no-brainer to me. So Kirk was hot, but I have to tell you I think young Spock was kind of hot as well.

Morning walks. So I'm spending a lot of time over at Lawyer X's house since he has Shiva to take care of. And yes even pets have nicknames on this blog. And Shiva is a pretty good one since we also call her the "Princess of Destruction." Anyways, in the AM, sometimes after the gym, but sometimes not, I make the walk back to my place. And I won't call it the "walk of shame" since it's not a hook up. We're dating, well more than dating. And sure sometimes I'm walking down P St in the clothes I wore the previous night and a bad case of bed head, but still. And trust me, I've seen the folks making the walk of shame down P St. So I'll just call my commute from Laywer X's house to my place just a little morning walk. ;-)

So why does buying a car suck so much? I went out to a VW place in Fairfax and the slimey sales guy pulled out the whole bag of tricks, "What would it take to put you in a car today." An act of God. I'm just trying to get information. "What would you say if I would give you 3K for our trade in." I'd say I'd still like to know how much the car I'd like to buy is going to cost me. "What if I gave you $4K?" "What if I gave you $5K?" I'd say that even if you offered what I originally paid for the car I'd still like to know how much the car I want is going to cost and you still haven't answered my question. Agh! I finally got the answer, but it was like pulling teeth. And then we got into a beyond insane conversation about mortgages. Don't ask. I still want the car. Just not sure I'm going back there again.

Manhunt x 2

So it's all over the gay-blogosphere about how the owner of Manhunt gave $2300 to the McCain campaign. Nary a word on any of MSM outlets, but who really wants to hear about McCain taking money from a gay man who has made MILLIONS off of gay sex. It's all don't ask, don't tell. And even when told, ignore it.

Now, I understand (but don't agree) with Log Cabin Republican types who are more focused on economic and national security issues over basic human rights for their own brothers and sisters (sorry, gotta keep the sarcasm down a bit). But I only buy that crap (damn, there I go again), if the Republican party actually stood for sound fiscal policies and non-interventionalist type foreign party. But they don't! When will these people wake up and small the overpowering stench of a colossal national debt combined with a rotting economy caused by years of cronyism, hand outs to wall street, and just plain incompetence? Or are we too busy focusing on the next war to fight.

Back to the Manhunt loser. Apparently he's more insulted that someone called him a "liberal Republican." It's not the republican part that he doesn't like, it's the "liberal" part. Ugh! How has the term liberal gotten such a bad reputation. I would think "conservative" would be worse. The Anonymous Liberal has a great quote on his blog: "The essence of the Liberal outlook lies not in what opinions are held, but in how they are held: instead of being held dogmatically, they are held tentatively, and with a consciousness that new evidence may at any moment lead to their abandonment." I love that quote. And I think that really captures a lot of my perspective. I am passionate about certain things, but that doesn't mean that I won't be wrong at times (and frequently am), but it's the inability to change your mind, to acknowledge you are wrong, to cling to clearly incorrect statements or position when presented with facts and evidence that really just kills me. And why we need to show the current administration to the door. Asap!

So changing subjects, I'm on a bit of a manhunt myself this weekend. I finally got around to updating my profile on Match.com. Of course, as soon as I did that, I got really busy at work again. But I did manage to send an email to someone. Who has not responded. C'est la vie. However, I will say that my personal approach is that if someone winks at me and I don't think we are a good match I will ignore them. It's wink. They clicked a button. Big whoop. But if someone actually sent me an email that showed any type of thought or effort, I will reply to them. Even if it's to say that I don't think we are a good match. I think that's just a common courtesy thing and it takes all of 2 minutes to do. Anyhoo . . . .

So I got a couple of winks and an email from some guys. The winks, hmm, I wasn't sure about them. The pics were not that good. I suspected they were old. And there wasn't a lot in their profiles to help me figure out why they winked at me. The email was interesting. A fellow traveler who has been around the world. He's got potential I think. The plan for this weekend: Dinner with Wink#1 on Friday. Lunch with Wink#2 on Saturday. And then lunch with Email guy on Sunday. So three dates, in three days. Hmm, I've never thought of myself as a player. Oh, that's right. Because I'm not.

"Well We Can Still Be Friends . . . . . . ."

It's an almost formulaic response that's uttered as part of the break up saga. Usually after the: "It's not you, it's me" portion of the discussion.

And sometimes it's true and sometimes it's not. I know I've said it a few time and not really meant it. Usually when I've dated someone once or twice and figured out that not only am I not attracted to them, but that they really aren't that interesting and I'm not sure there's anything to base the friendship on. Yes, that's kind of harsh, but I'm being honest.

I will say that I do have a rather good track record of turning dates into friends. Most of my friends I met via Match where one of us (and sometimes both) decided that there wasn't any chemistry, but we had some things in common and thus a friendship was born.

Which brings me to my last romance which happened last fall. In a strange twist of fate, I met someone who I was not only attracted too, but also found funny, interesting, smart, etc. So we dated a bit (4-5 months ish). After a New Years Eve alone, I kind of pulled the "where are we" conversation and he said that he wanted to keep things casual, that he wasn't interested in a boyfriend right now. And I said cool, casual works, and . . . . wait for it . . . . well we can still be friends.

But apparently it was not meant to be. And I'm kind of bummed about not only the break up, but the fact that we couldn't even be friends. I've sent him a couple of emails, and nothing. And I guess the saddest thing is that I kind of thought more of him, kind of expected that it wouldn't be this way. There was no ugly break up, no scene, just a fade away into deafening silence.

80's Nights!

Well I'm fasting on Mondays for Lent. Look I'm not super crazy religious, but not eating for a day won't kill me if you know what I mean. So Monday was fun. Got up, did a bunch of cardio at the gym, and then proceeded to drink my way through the day. Thank God for Crystal Light Peach Tea. I'm a serious junkie. Anyways, after work I went back to the gym to lift. I did my little treadmill warm up thing and then started with lat pulldowns. I think I got through maybe the 8th rep when I realized that this was SO not happening. I had NO strength at all. None. My body was just tired. And when I stood up, I was a bit dizzy. Nice. So I ended up doing an hour on the bike, not killing myself, but definitely feeling the burn. Then that night GreekBoi and I went to see Music and Lyrics at the Dupont theaters. And you know what, it was actually kind of cute. Of course it starts with the cheesiest music video that was just a hilarious send up of all of those awful 80s videos! Pop! Goes My Heart!



Then Tuesday night was First Tuesdays, but it was at JRs. Which is kind of small for the 60ish people who usually attend. Plus I think JRs has their own usual crowd, so adding 60 more to the mix was a mistake. Plus, I think every gay man who enters JRs automatically goes into the standard S&M mode which doesn't make conversation very easy. Of course, as distracting as it was, I was loving the video's since it was 80's night! I did get to meet GCinDC, who was very nice! But then GreekBoi got bored, or tired, and we were out of there. Which is just as well since I had work to do.

Jack's & the Dating Desert

Well Le Pigalle on 17th St is gone. I was never a fan. Not that Peppers (the previous establishment) was that great, but I did love their Blackened Steak Salad (with black beans!). Le Pigalle kept the salad for a bit, and then went to their totally french cuisine. I tried it once and was not impressed. And let's be honest, I'm not a big fan of haute french cuisine. So it was dead to me. So dead that apparently despite the number of times I've walked up and down 17th St this past week, I didn't realize that Le Pigalle was dead also. Dead and gone. And in it's place? Jack's. So instead of Annie's for lunch, GreekBoy and I did Jack's. Love the inside. They've made some nice improvements to it. The calamari was good, but the portion was a bit small. I liked that it came with a little salad. The eggs benedict was good, and I got the salad since I was trying to be good. The Bloody Mary was smooth and not too spicy as I requested. I think the portions were a bit small, but that could have been because I had worked out before church and only had a yogurt, so I was starving. And really, isn't smaller portions a good thing? So I give it a thumbs up. I may try to go back sometime this week and try their regular menu.

The Dating Desert. It's not a place. It's a time. And it stretches from mid November through late February. Let's face it, if you even try to start dating during this time frame you're screwed with not only dating dilemma, but also you've got to make sure you're not some rebound from some poor fool who's been dumped. Or worse, you don't want to come off as some romantically challenged needy person who is desperate to be "in a relationship" by Valentine's Day. Nope, if you're smart, and sane, the Dating Desert is a good time to spend quality time with yourself. Go to the gym. Read some books. Throw yourself into work. There are all sorts of options. Just don't go crazy. I know it's more than 40 days, but your time in the dating desert will end at some point. And then you'll be ready for spring, when the sweet smell of romance will bloom like the flowers.