Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy

Why the song of the day? Because it's been stuck in my head for a week and I'm feeling pretty good about the whole "gay thing" right now, haha.

Why? Well I had a great weekend in Los Angeles, during which I did two things relevant to my on-going journey.

On Saturday night I met up with blogger friend El Genio (thanks again man!) and one of his friends to hit West Hollywood. This time I was able to stay out much later so I got to see three different gay bars, including the famous Abbey. While I didn't interact with anyone outside of the group, I was totally fine in those surroundings (and no creepy old guys coming onto me this time). Also, I enjoyed the eye candy at The Abbey. There were really buff male dancers showing off their moves. I asked myself, "Would you prefer it if they were women?" and the clear answer was "No." I also became a bit more familiar with the layout of WeHo, due to accidentally parking several blocks away from where I was supposed to meet EG. So, next time I won't be as nervous about where I'm going to park.

Sunday was great. I met up with Ben for our first "friend date." We hiked in Griffith Park, the huge park in Los Angeles. It was beautiful! I'd never been there before, and was amazed at how sprawling and pretty it was. Great views of the city and the Hollywood sign. We ate at a cafe in the park, in a very "campgroundesque" area. We also visited the Observatory, which was really cool. We talked the whole time, and I must say at the end of the day I found myself liking him even more than before. Having this not be a date took a lot of the pressure off, so maybe I was more comfortable. In any case I'm excited to have him as a friend. I'm definitely open to more down the road if he ever changes his mind about the experience thing, and/or if he feels the same way. If not, it is what it is. I'm just glad to have met him.

I also emailed Jake to see how he's doing. He emailed back a really nice message and expressed interest in meeting up and catching a movie again sometime. So, it looks like I've made two really good friends via the online dating. Not too shabby!

Meanwhile I got quite a few of messages over the weekend on one of the sites, several of which were from guys that I thought were quite attractive and interesting. Ego boost! We will see how that goes.

Forecast for the week: Wednesday having dinner with my gay actor friend, and plan to finally fill him in on my dating exploits. Thursday going on a date with a new guy. I'm not sure about him . . . he was in a 10-year relationship with a guy starting when he was 18 and is thus now pretty new to dating. However, he's not out and he says his parents are pretty much in denial about his sexuality. Sounds like possible drama to me but I'll give him a chance. This weekend I'll probably go hiking again, this time with Aaron. I wish I was into him more . . . I'm not quite sure what it is. Maybe no "spark," haha. Well, depending on how the hike goes maybe I'll give my very first "friends" speech.