Weird...

I've never felt like this before...

I don't want to get ahead of myself, and I don't want to get my hopes up, either. Still, I'm dating this girl right now (our second date was over only a few hours ago), and it seems different.

I like this girl. I'm not smitten, but I actually like her. Other girls, I might have been curious, might have wanted to get to know them better, but I can't say I really liked them. I didn't have any reason to say no, so I would continue and see where it took me. Somehow - and I can't describe it - this isn't the same.

How is it different? Well, one reason is that even though we don't have many things in common, it's not a deterrent. We don't share similar interests, et al, and that doesn't bother me.

And the newest sensation? I'm worried she may not agree to see me again, and I want to see where this goes.

I don't know what to do with myself...

Back to square one...

Well, I had a date last night.

It sort of snuck up on me; I knew that there was a possibilty that I would have a date with this particular girl, but I thought it would be next week. Instead, I got a call from my mother near midnight on Tuesday, telling me to be ready by Wednesday.

I don't want to sound like a nut, but I like having ample time to prepare for a date - certainly a first date - and having to do a million different things in order to ensure my readiness the day of the date itself?

It could be a recipe for disaster...

Take yesterday, for instance.

My car reeks like smoke. I don't mind the smell, so when the weather is particularily cold, I let guys sit in there and smoke. Now, usually, I have a few days in advance to make my car off limits, and I don't smoke in there either. Couple that with driving around with the windows open and a new air freshener, and the problem is solved. However, since I only found out a mere twenty hours or so before the date, and the fact that cold weather seems to make smells stay longer, I was at a loss for what to do.

Luckily, Karma Dude came to my aid. Apparently, some guy at a car rental agency once told him how to get rid of smoke smell in a car - when you're in a rush, and need something effective: Coffee. If you take any kind of coffee (even the freeze dried Sanka garbage), sprinkle it on the floor, and let it sit overnight, you're guaranteed to get rid of the car smoke smell. Karma Dude said that a quarter of a cup of plain dried coffee would do the trick; I wasn't taking chances, so I used a whole cup, liberally sprinbkled throughout the car.

The next day, I get in my car to go to Shacharis, and I take a deep breath. The place smelled like a freaking Starbucks. The smell of coffee was so overpowering, I got a caffeine jolt via inhalation.

I had to drive around with the windows open anyway, just to get rid of the coffee!

Fast forward to the date. After running around picking up my suit and shirts, shaving, getting a haircut, making myself spiffy, figuring out where to take her and trekking to where the girl lives, I am ready. I am Zen, I'm chilled, nothing can break my stride.

I charm her folks, and we skip out the door. I open her door for her, then go around to my side of the car. I first open the backseat door to place my hat on the back bench. As I do this I make small talk, and lean in to the car to adjust the hat so it doesn't get ruined or whatever, and slam the door shut. I thought I had enough clearance when I shut the door, but I guess not, because the edge of the door slammed me in the side of my nose. Hard. There was an audible crack - so loud, in fact, that I thought I had knocked my glasses off, but it was my nose, actually.

There's blood pooling in my hand. Not too much, but it's there. The girl's sitting in the car, oblivious to the going on's no 3 feet from her outside the car. I'm in agony; my eyes are teary and I want to scream. Trying to cover, I ball up a tiny piece of tissue and stick it up there, hoping to staunch the flow. I can't see my face in the window, I don't know if there're any cuts, and I don't want to let on what just happened.

I think I recovered nicely. I played it cool, and was very ginger with my nose. I eventually told her what happened, because she saw the little cut on my left nostril and asked.

Karma Dude taped me up after the date; it's not broken, but it still hurts, and I can't breathe without the tape.

And after all that? She said no to a second round. Go figure...

Sorry...

I haven't been posting very often recently.

I've been working on a new story, and that's really been taking up the brunt of my free time, so please bear with me.

Keep checking in for more posts, though...

Saga (Or, the Never Ending Story)

I hold this ancient book in my hands
its contents, I don't know
does it hold secrets, not to understand
when I open it, it glows

The pages, brittle as they turn
tell stories from old time
of questions, their answers men yearn
to know of reason and rhyme

Stories of love, tales of loss
and bloody wars once fought
fables of hope, myths of despair
good intentions that were for naught

Restless wanderers, forever to roam
family banned from place
mysterious mentions, in this sacred tome
of the ephemeral space

Prestigous generations, and legacies
of men, both wealthy and wise
upon them tragedies and travesties
yet once again, they rise.

Just dug this up from the archives. Usually I go through my old writings on my birthday. I found this, and it got me thinking...

How do we connect with our brethren? How do we make them see that our Book, our Torah, isn't just a book? Not some old, outdated story, but rather, a living breathing EPIC? I'm always looking for fresh ideas...