Dating in the 21st Century

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.

I Hate January

What is it about women with January birthdays? I think there's something seriously wrong with them.

I've Learned My Lesson

This past week has been hell, but I think I've finally learned my lesson. The girlfriend (now the ex-girlfriend) went bi-polar on me, and it looks like that's the end of it - I haven't heard from her in 3+ days. I don't expect to hear from her in the future either; if she truly loved me and wanted to be with me, she wouldn't have put me through this. I don't think her ultimate reason of "I'm worried your leg won't ever be healed"-slash-"I'm worried we won't be able to be active and go out and do things" sounds like a total BS cover to me...and to everyone else I've told about it. I got burned, plain and simple.

Today, after doing some small amount of soul-searching, I've decided to make a pact with myself. I'm going to focus on the following things:
1. Work is just work. I will go there, do what I need to, and leave. No more stressing out about it, ever.
2. I'm going to rid myself of the majority of my material possessions. I'm going to keep those few things that I truly need or will use. I think a slightly more Spartan lifestyle will help me clear my head and stay focused. Keep your eyes on eBay.
3. Nobody is going to want me until I'm back in really good shape, so no more fucking around. The catch-22 here is that once I get back in shape, I'm sure I'll be mistrustful of those women who'd want to be with me then, figuring they wouldn't want to be with me as I am now. Oh well. I will maintain a strict diet and bust my ass with a workout regiment. First target: cardio and restrengthening my legs. Who knows, maybe I can get close to the shape I was in back during college. Being 6'5 and 245 will be nice.
4. I may date, I may not. Right now, I have to focus on myself. If a nice girl comes along and wants to spend some time with me, then I'll consider it.

Here's where the seriousness comes in: if I can't keep these promises to myself, then I kill myself. It's as simple as that. I really only had one goal in life left, and that was to get married and have a nice relationship with a nice woman. I'm 34-1/2 now, and I think I've probably missed my window of opportunity.

So, self, there it is, and it's up to you. Your choice - focus and become the person you really want to be, or a bullet in the brain.

The Wedding

One week ago today, I said goodbye to my best friend as he prepared to leave for his honeymoon the following day. The day before, Saturday, I had the privilege of watching him marry his sweetheart. I was so happy for the two of them, and so proud of John, that I could hardly contain myself. John truly deserves the wonderful woman that is his new wife, and I'm happy to say that she deserves him. John is one of the sweetest people you could ever know; he's caring, giving, polite, and will make a wonderful addition to his wife's family. I was glad I got the chance to visit with John's family while I was there as well; they're great people and have treated me like I was part of their immediate family. Heck, I'm even honored that I was there for John's drunk younger brother.

In Germany, there is a civil ceremony at the local city hall, where the marrying couple signs legal documents including a contract between each other. The following day (Saturday) was the full-blown wedding. Again, I felt so privileged that I was allowed to sit on the groom's side (what there was of it) in the 2nd row directly behind John's parents. The wedding was gorgeous, and the clouds parted just long enough to let sunshine stream into the church in Ahlen - very storybook.

That afternoon, the very traditional German reception took place back at our hotel in Beckum. The hotel was kind of out-in-the-country, which made it that much more interesting that one of the professional German soccer teams was staying in the hotel with us. By "very traditional German reception", I mean it was a big dinner and party that ran until 5 a.m. I was doing good to make it until 1:30 a.m., considering that the girlfriend broke up with me hours before the wedding (how kind of her).

The two gentlemen hired to play/provide music for the reception looked like German terrorists straight from a Bruce Willis action flick. In fact, I kept expecting our table's waiter to be Jet Li.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience, I'm overjoyed that John and his wife have each other and will have a terrific life together, and I wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Next up - Sean's wedding. Maybe Kai will get married late this year, then I'll be the only one left. Oy.