Filling the weekends

Hi y'all,

It's been my goal to keep the weekends as full as possible (as you could probably tell since the last two entries were weekend-centric, haha). So far I've been quite successful.

This past weekend started in my neck of the woods and then moved to LA for various fun times. First on Friday, I met up with a new guy. He runs his own business in the area. Very cute (one of the cutest I've met), and good conversation (not to mention the restaurant he picked was excellent!). I'm not sure what he thought of me, so I'll probably text him again midweek to check in. Afterward I caught up virtually with my cousin Gavin. He is the oldest of the three brothers (the other two being Roger and Brad, gosh it's getting hard to keep these fake names straight . . . I"m going to have to create a guide, haha). We played some online video games and chatted. He lives on the East Coast and was the cousin I was closest to growing up. Now that he's so far away I've actually become closer to the other two, but I still enjoy keeping in touch with him. He's been the initiator in a breakup before so he's had an interesting perspective to hear over the past couple months.

On Saturday I met up with Brody for the second time. He's the one who was the big talker when I first met him. I feel like we had a more balanced conversation this time. He's an interesting guy. Super nice and genuine. I can also tell that he values relationships like I do, from some of the stories and perspectives he shared with me. We also discovered a really cool restaurant that I'd like to go back to sometime. As usual I ended up hanging out with him a lot longer than I expected. At the end we talked about some future activities we could plan. He's also huge into music, so he wants me to bring my guitar down to the beach sometime. Sounds like a fun time to me! He was also telling me about how cool San Diego is, particularly the "gay area" of Hillcrest. I suggested we take a day trip down there some time so he could show me around. He was excited by the idea.

Immediately after we parted ways I jumped in my car to make it up to LA and meet my friends Nina and Walter at a show in North Hollywood. It was at a small independent theater that I'd been to before (with Ben, ugh . . . we really got around). The show was bizarre. It was a horror-themed show. Imagine if you could peer into someone's nightmares with a remote control in hand to change the channels. That's what it was like. Interesting, disturbing . . . not sure I'd see it again but it was a good experience. Would be excellent on Halloween. Afterward we went to a bar to hang out. The girls in the group were at a gay bar, but being among a bunch of straight guys the majority opinion was to go to a nearby Tiki Bar instead. The girls eventually joined us. Nina had been scoping out the crowd for me of course, haha. I spent the time chatting with a friend of a friend who was extremely hot. Straight of course, but a really cool guy. The night ended at the apartment of one of the guys in the group. Nina took this opportunity to have me try on some shirts that she'd brought for me (it is her mission to hot me up, haha). So I put on a little fashion show for her, her friend, and her boyfriend. Oh man, did those girls like the shirts. They were both quite tipsy, and they could barely keep their hands off of me. They definitely boosted my self esteem (and added evidence to my lack of attraction for girls, lol)!

I spent the night at Roger's place in LA. My friend Walter did too, because unfortunately his car got towed. I had to get up early to take him to pick it up (also there were guys who came to Roger's to remodel the bathroom) so I only got four hours of sleep. After I had breakfast with Walter I returned to Roger's and spent time with him. I helped him deal with a complicated roommate situation (long story) and then we went to the gym. We had a great workout. Roger has a pretty great physique, he works out religiously and has a strict diet. He's interested in modeling, though he doesn't have much experience and doesn't quite have the looks for it (not that he's ugly, just doesn't really have the "pretty boy" thing going on). It was nice having a workout buddy again. I only do bench press with the barbells if I have a spotter. While at the gym we saw a guy who Roger was convinced was the fitness model Greg Plitt. I'm not quite convinced, but he was incredibly buff whoever he was.

Finally, we got together with Lance to have dinner and see a movie. I wanted to see the Oz movie, but once again my gay preferences got overruled, haha. We saw "Olympus Has Fallen," which my mom had recommended to me. It was alright, just rather unoriginal. It was basically "Die Hard" set in the White House.

Today my sleep deprivation caught up to me. I had to go into work early so I was quite tired, and then ended up leaving early due to some weird indigestion. I rarely have stomach issues these days, so it caught me off-guard (I blame that damn breakfast sandwich from the snack cart!) I came home around 2, fell asleep and didn't wake up until after 6. After dinner I chatted with a new guy on the phone for an hour. Really nice dude. We have similar interests, he has a great sense of humor, and he lives close by. We might try to meet up Friday.

So, to summarize where I'm at . . . I'm keeping busy, making a lot of new friends and acquaintances, going on dates. I've met up with about 20 guys now since I first entered the dating scene early 2012. As for potential relationships . . . well, it's too soon to tell. I'm not in a hurry to start another one. Brody is really cool. I don't feel quite as into him at this stage as I did with Ben, but I don't want to make that experience the rule. I am open to seeing where things go. At the very least I see him as being good friend material. Other than him there's the new guy I spoke to today and the one I met on Friday night. Both are cute, nice, and good conversationalists. Then a couple others that are farther away . . . the guy from LA a few weekends ago and various others who I haven't met up with yet. I'd definitely prefer to date someone closer this time around. As cool as it was to explore LA so much in my first relationship, it limited the amount of time we could spend together (and made for a lot of drive time and gas money).

This weekend I plan to visit a gay couple that I've become friends with over the last couple months. That should be cool. I also have some friends visiting from the bay area, so a bunch of us might get together with them.

The day I really need to plan something for is Cinco de Mayo. Janice and I are going to go to a conference on May 4th, but I really want to keep myself SUPER busy on the 5th. Last year the 5th was one of the best days of my life and I want this year to give it a run for its money. Obviously it likely won't compete as far as life importance, but as far as amount of fun I think it's worth a shot. As for Operation: Friend Zone, that will have to wait until after the 5th. I don't want to deal with that until our would-have-been 1 year anniversary is past.