Dating in the 21st Century

Equality

I have a problem.

Before I describe my problem, I first want to make it clear that this is not open season for golddiggers.

For as long as I can remember, I've been very uncomfortable letting someone else pick up the check, especially a date. Splitting the check with friends is totally cool. Letting the parents pick up the meal once in awhile is perfectly fine too. However, in a dating environment, even when she's been my girlfriend for awhile, I still have a problem with letting her pay.

I was raised in the South with a focus on being a gentleman with good manners. Maybe part of this problem stems from youth (I won't go into it here), so who knows.

Sometimes it's a question of money. At least for the last several years, my income has always been higher (sometimes significantly) than that of my dates. I feel that when I'm with someone, I want to share what I have, but never with any expectations from the other person. Maybe society has so firmly ingrained into women that guys are willing to pay for dinner only with the expectation of getting something in return, I dunno. Personally, I feel like having her company was plenty worthwhile in return for dinner.

So last night, E paid for dinner and refused to let me pay instead. What made me really uncomfortable was that she'd already mentioned that things would be a little tight for awhile since she was off work due to her sprained ankle (sprained by falling off the sidewalk at my house, coming to visit me... oy).

Hmm, maybe I just don't want to feel indebted to anyone for anything. I guess society has turned the tables on the innocent here...

Universal Truths

I had another epiphany last night, and I think I finally realized a universal truth. Thankfully, the epiphany wasn't in my pants this time.

Everyone whose path crosses through your life, whether a family member, your significant other (past or present), a friend, or a coworker, is brought to you to teach you something. The universe wants you to learn something from each of these people that make an impact in your life. You may be taught the same or similar lessons by multiple people - that's the universe's way of reinforcing those important points to make sure you don't lose sight of what's important.

Many times, it's hard to see what lesson you're meant to learn from your relationship wtih someone, but it's there. Sometimes, if you're lucky, they have crossed your path in order to teach you multiple lessons.

Tacoma-girl taught me that I don't need to have somebody in my life.
The ex taught me that I don't have to solve everyone else's problems; I can let them go.
The new girlfriend has taught me that everything I've been through is worth it, just to be with the right person in the end.

This revelation really makes me want to sit down and think through what all of the people I've known have taught me, especially recently.

I wonder, what have I taught you?

Ahhh

Sometimes good things just fall into your lap.

Sometimes pretty things fall into your lap too :)

Damn You, Tom!

Okay, Cortana now has the Coolest Blog Skin Ever. The challenge is on... I must create a blog skin for my blog that is as cool as his.

Hmm, maybe I should check and make sure my account allows for that.

Random Acts of Brainpower

Well, okay, maybe not so much brainpower, but daydreaming.

During a meeting today, I was completely ignoring my boss's boss's boss, despite the fact that he was sitting next to me, and I was hit by a thought of "I wonder how many people we truly know from 3 dimensions." (I'm warning you now, it didn't make much sense.)

So I thought of my friend Tom. I know Tom from mostly online interaction in IRC, IM, email (to a much lesser degree) and blog posts. The Tom I know is very bright, very creative (yo, dude... I should be dropping by your house for dinner every night!), and a truly feeling, caring person. He has good days and bad days just like the rest of us, and really makes an effort to keep a variety of worldly presences in his life.

I had the pleasure of getting to meet Tom in London of all places, back in November 2002. I was thinking back to that today, and the one thing that struck me was that he just has this friendly, happy-go-lucky nature about him. I couldn't help but smile and feel upbeat hanging around him and his Ankle Biter.

I guess the whole point of this entry is: I envy those of you who get to spend time with Tom in person. I know if I saw him in person on a regular basis, I'd constantly have a grin from ear-to-ear just from his happy aura :)

Dream House!

My dream house is actually on my same street - it's across the street, two houses down. The house is gorgeous and has some Southern charm to it - including a big wraparound porch in front.

And... it's for sale! Anyone wanna help me out with $995,000?

Take Me Out Of The Ballgame

Tom and the Tiffster are always writing about their Major League Baseball outings, so I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon. However, this is the second time I've been in, oh, 4 years, so don't expect posts like this often.

Tonight was the Mariners hosting the Astros -- woohoo, interleague play! Sadly, Roger Clemens doesn't pitch until tomorrow (d'oh), so we got Somebody Duckworth. Duckworthless was more like it. He struck out Ichiro to start the game, then gave up 3 runs and got pulled before he could get a second out in the first inning. Ow. He got pWn3d, plain and simple. Biggio did make an awesome highlight grab to end the bottom of the first, thank goodness.

The Killer Bs (Biggio, Bagwell and Berkman of the Astros) were pretty quiet at the plate; Biggio did get a double one inning, but the 'Stros couldn't capitalize. The Mariners' starting pitcher wasn't anything to write home about either, but he somehow managed to get the 'Stros to swing at some pretty crappy pitches, and ended up getting lucky. I can't believe a team like Houston ended up striking out 10 times against the pathetic Mariners pitching staff.

A couple cool plays:
- Ichiro coasting over to center field to grab a fly on the run.
- Bottom of the eighth, Mariners have bases loaded and one out. Next hitter up smacks a weak chopper to the mound, pitcher throws the force out at home. Next hitter - wild pitch gets past the Astros catcher (not Ausmus this game...wtf?), but the ball bounces so hard off the backstop that the catcher pounces on it, and miraculously throws to the pitcher covering home to catch a Mariner trying to steal home. Out number three, no runs scored.

Ah well, at least the Rangers won.

Did I mention that Safeco Field is one awesome ballpark? Talk about upscale style.

Heeeere, Truck Truck Truck

I think today or tomorrow will make a good day to go play in traffic. I wanna meet a Freightliner.

Oh, and if you're going to leave comments with backhanded smacks in them, at least be bold enough to identify yourself.