Thursday, March 15, 2012

Plenty of fish

Hey y'all,

First of all, thanks for all the comments on the last entry. They made me feel a lot better. I'm still not totally over the disappointment, but it was a valuable lesson. While we're on the topic of "the spark," here's an interesting forum discussion I came across, on the aptly titled Plenty of Fish website: http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts13746195.aspx Seems like different people have different opinions about what constitutes a spark and whether one should be expected on the very first date.

I talked to Ben again tonight to confirm our plans for Saturday. Unfortunately, rain is in the forecast so it looks like a hike is probably not going to happen. Instead, we might ride go karts, haha. I'm looking forward to it, Ben is a really nice guy and really good looking too! Here's hoping it goes well, I still want to go on that hike!

Last night I had dinner with my friend Tom, who I see fairly often.  I've spoken about him before on the blog I think. Anyways, I decided to open up and come out to him, so I did that finally. He was pretty surprised (unlike Rick he had never speculated) but he took it well and assured me he was there for me. Meanwhile the waiter in the restaurant was really cute, haha.

Probably the next friend on the agenda to tell is my gay friend who just moved back to the area, the guy I've known since we were in elementary school.

While I told Tom that I am not 100% committed to a label yet (in fact I told him I'm not much a fan of labels), I suggested that if a 12 person jury were given all the evidence they would probably conclude me to be gay, haha. And honestly? That's fine. I just want a relationship that feels right and makes me (and my partner) happy. I want to be rid of the doubts.

Monday, March 12, 2012

The spark

Hey all,

So, yesterday was the big day, the much-anticipated meeting with Jake!!

And just like that, the saga is over.

He's a really nice guy, and despite having gone through so many topics of discussion in the last two weeks we still managed to sustain conversation all the way through lunch. After that we saw a movie ('Wanderlust' with Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston, two of my biggest crushes from 'Friends'). However, I wasn't sure I felt the right kind of connection with him. I knew I liked him, but I wasn't sure if he could be more than just a friend. Still, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and go out again, in case it was just the awkwardness of it being our first encounter.

Apparently he didn't think that was necessary. I texted him today to see if he wanted to meet up again. He responded rather late, having not gotten off of work until 9:30. Basically he said he didn't feel a spark, but wished me the best and suggested we could be friends and I could teach him to play guitar sometime.

Even though I didn't feel much of a spark either, it still hurt a bit to be rejected (and this is the first time anyone's ever done it explicitly). I still am plagued by the doubts of whether it's even possible for me to feel said "spark" with a guy, a girl, or anybody. I know the spark is not something you can ignite at will, it's either there or it's not. Still, after our lengthy correspondence that went so well I was a little dejected that one date was enough for him to decide the spark wasn't there.  What do you guys think, should you be able to clearly feel the spark on the first date and if not, move on? Or should you give someone a chance if they seem nice and interesting enough (like I was willing to do)?

Anyways, so after the plot just thickened last week, now it has thinned back out. However, there's still Ben. After the date with Jake I called him. He sounded happy to hear from me. We chatted for a while and I proposed that I come to Los Angeles this weekend and spend the weekend with my cousin so that we could hang out on his turf rather than meeting halfway. He liked the idea, and even invited me to go out with him and his friends for St. Patrick's Day, if I was comfortable with that. I politely declined--I'm not quite ready for that, not on the second date with a guy--and instead suggested we do something with just us. His idea: a hike, followed by grabbing some food. I thought it was a cool idea. Unlike a movie a hike would give us ample time to get to know each other in a setting other than staring at each other across a table while stuffing our faces (though we'll do that too). And who knows, maybe if we click well enough on the hike I'll end up going out with the gang for St. Paddy's. Any thoughts?

So that's where I stand. Ben has some things going for him: he's attractive (honestly I was more physically attracted to him than Jake), friendly, has good taste in music, loves traveling and writing, is academically oriented, and seems like a caring guy. Potential obstacles: well, the distance for one. Also, unlike Jake he doesn't know how new I am at this (nor do I know how new he is . . . try saying that five times fast). I'm not sure whether he'd have a problem with me being just barely out, or me being completely inexperienced with dating and sex. Not to mention my uncertainty about my sexuality, but we won't go there, haha.

I talked to YouTube Guy today and he mentioned how exhausting dating can be on the psyche. I think I know what he means.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

The plot thickens

Hey everyone,

So, tomorrow's the big meet-up with Jake, at long last. I talked to him for quite a while on the phone today. We're planning to meet up for lunch at a Greek restaurant and maybe see a movie afterward. I remember him mentioning a fondness for this one dessert place so I might suggest that as well. Apparently today he talked to his family back home over Skype, and he mentioned me!

Now it gets a bit more interesting . . . I heard back from Ben. I had emailed him mid-week to say I enjoyed meeting him, and to see if he would be interested in meeting up again. After the ambiguous way the first date ended last Sunday I wasn't sure whether to expect a response. However, I knew if I did get one it would probably not be until the weekend, since he's really busy right now at work. Well sure enough, today I got an email from him. He would like to meet up again, and proposed doing so next weekend.

Looks like I have a love triangle on my hands, haha . . . just kidding. I'll take it a step at a time for now. I'll meet up with Jake and see how that goes, then respond to Ben once I have an inkling about what to expect with Jake.

When did my life turn into a friggin' soap opera . . . :-)

In other news, I talked to YouTube Guy on the phone again today. We're actually becoming pretty good long-distance friends, haha. We've been swapping stories about our experiences with dating guys. It's really cool to have a friend like that! Not to mention my online buddies that I talk to fairly often, particularly ClosetCarGuy and GDUSA. Following others' progress while sharing my own is definitely a big help!

Hanging with a friend

I hung out with my best buddy again tonight. I can't remember if I've assigned him a pseudonym before, I'll have to just give him another now, haha. Let's call him Rick. Hopefully I can remember the thought process that let to that name, haha.

Anyways, we went and had dinner and then went to the gym. I introduced him to this vegetarian restaurant that I eat at occasionally. They have really tasty food, and I've gotten over the initial weirdness about eating fake "chicken" and "beef." The gym didn't go so well, I got a headache and had to call it quits after a couple exercises. Still, I've mostly been having good workouts lately. I'm definitely back into going regularly and I've been trying to eat enough to put on some muscle. So far I've been happy with the progress I've been seeing.

After the gym Rick and I talked for a while about my dating. I told him about the date with Ben last weekend and my continued daily correspondence with Jake. He told me to be cautious telling our other friend from college about my secret, since apparently the guy's a bit of a blabbermouth. I don't think I'd have to worry about him spreading this particular thing around, but good to know anyways. Whenever I told him it would need to be accompanied by a disclaimer.

Rick told me something very interesting. He said that this was the most relaxed he had seen me. EVER. That took me by surprise. I asked him how I usually acted before. Uptight? High-strung? Guarded? He said uptight  might be a good word for it. He said I would often seem like I had something troubling me, something on my mind. I didn't realize I was that transparent! It crossed my mind to ask, "How come you never asked me what was wrong?" but it's not like I would have told him before now anyway. He also commented about how we were now talking about things we'd never talked about before, such as me dating people (I pointed out that this was because I hadn't done that before, haha . . . though he clarified that I hadn't really even expressed the desire before).

We chatted a bit more, I told him more about my career decision struggles and my anxiety issues, as well as my recent increases in confidence. He told me about his own career issues as well (that's one thing we definitely have it common, he's on his way to getting a second bachelors for a career change). All in all, opening up to him hasn't harmed our friendship at all. If anything I feel closer to him than ever before. I feel less pressure to put on an act, I can be myself and express what I'm really thinking and feeling. For instance, somehow the topic of lesbians came up in the car. I asked him if he enjoyed watching girls make out. He said yes, but he wasn't really that much into lesbian porn. He asked me if lesbians did anything for me, which I honestly answered, "No." He then said that one thing he couldn't watch was two dudes making out. To that I responded, "No comment."

Man, I should have done this a long time ago.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Sunday can't come soon enough

Just a couple days until the weekend and I'll finally get to meet Jake. I am so out of my element, it's crazy. We've still been texting and emailing a lot, and being a bit flirtatious too which is totally unlike me. Well, at least unlike me until now!

The other night he texted me on my way home from work to see if I had some time to chat. When I got home I gave him a call and we ended up talking for an hour.

Things I'm liking about him:
1) He's extremely laid back and easy going, which is a trait that people I get along with well tend to have.
2) He's got a great, witty sense of humor. That's definitely a must in my book. He's a lot of fun to joke with. There's been some texts that I sent him that were pretty corny, causing me to second guess what I sent, but then he'll respond with something equally cheesy and crack me up.
3) We share a lot of common interests. We both love movies, traveling, video games, reading, and staying active. Also music, and he's got an interest in learning the guitar . . .
4) His accent. He could probably read me the index of an organic chemistry book and I'd be captivated, haha.
5) He seems to like me! It's not a one-way street with the communications. Either of us will initiate the conversation and pick up where we left off.

Today I sent him a joking message, saying I had something to do this Sunday but for the life of me couldn't remember what. He responded, saying he had the same feeling . . . then he remembered he was meeting up with a guy who 'sounds pretty hot.'

So, completely uncharted territory here. It's been fun, though. I'm trying to keep level-headed about it (key word "trying"). A huge weight off my shoulders is having two things out in the open already: my lack of having had a serious relationship before, and the fact that I am only out to a few people. Neither bothers him at all.

Just play it cool, SoCal, just play it cool . . .

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Date # 2

Hello,

I had my second-ever date with a dude today. It was really cool, I liked this guy much better than the first guy I met up with. He was really good-looking and really nice, and we had a good conversation. We also have quite a bit in common: we both love travelling, we're both really into music, and we both enjoy staying in shape.  We met up at a shopping/entertainment district in Long Beach called 'The Pike.' At first I assumed we were going to have lunch, but he suggested going to a lounge first. We had drinks there and chatted for quite a while. By that time it was almost 3 and we still hadn't had lunch, so I asked where he wanted to go. He said that he actually needed to get going, because he had stuff to do. We walked back to the parking structure and before we parted ways we talked a bit more. He said he really enjoyed meeting me and thought we should do it again. The biggest road block is that we don't exactly live close to each other, but he said Long Beach was a good location to meet. We hugged and went back to our cars.

Afterward I of course (me being me) started trying to analyze the date to figure out the impression I made on him. Since I have so little dating experience it's hard to determine how much he really liked me. I was worried about how we ended up not doing lunch, but it could very well be that he had stuff to do. Then he mentioned meeting up again, but I wasn't sure whether this was a friendly kind of "yeah, we should do this again sometime" or if he really would like a second date. I figure I'll give it a couple days and maybe shoot him an email or something? He's really busy during the work week so he probably wouldn't respond until next weekend anyway.

Shortly after I got home I got a text from Jake: 'How's it going mate?'  We texted back and forth a bit. We've texted at least a little every day since the middle of last week. We're still taking a break from the emails so we can have a better conversation when we meet up (we've already covered many of the topics you would talk about in the first couple dates, haha!)

Long story short, I currently have two prospects: the guy from today (let's call him Ben) and Jake. They both seem like great guys. I know that Jake is interested, but we haven't met in person yet so I'm not sure how that will affect things. Ben's level of interest has yet to be determined.

So the current plan of action: email Ben in a couple days to see if/when he wants to meet up again.  Meet Jake this weekend and see how I like him in person. And take it from there. I just can't believe I'm only a couple weeks into dating and I've already met two guys I really like! This has caught me totally by surprise. I'm trying to temper my expectations, but we'll see.

Anyways, good night everyone!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Further out

Hi all,

It's been a very interesting week. I am trying to keep up with the "go with the flow" mentality. At the same time, what I have going on with Jake is something new and very exciting for me. We're texting pretty much every day now, even just things like "Hope you have a good day." We've talked on the phone twice now. We're actually deliberately cutting back on the emails to ensure that we don't cover too much before we meet. It's still a week before he returns. It's gonna be a long week. And I really have no idea what will happen then. Ideally we'll click, and the way I see it, at this point worst case scenario we'll just be friends. Which is cool, I always like making new friends. Best case scenario, my first relationship? We'll see.

I also just came out to another person! One of my best friends . . . well really I'd say he is my best friend (especially now!) I've known him since freshman year of high school and we've been good friends since junior year. He was my roommate freshman year of college. We've grown a lot closer over the years, and lately I've been hanging out with him about once a week. I've been working up the nerve to have "the talk" with him for several weeks now. Tonight I finally did it (though it took a while to work up to it). I told him about everything: my confusion, my anxiety and how it exacerbated my career indecision, seeing the psychologist, my worries about my sex drive, the testosterone therapy, the blog, my blog friends and pen pals, the dating website, my first gay date, and Jake. Basically the entire story thus far. His reaction was great, and it turns out one of his other friends came out to him recently too, haha. He also said that him and a couple other friends from the dorms had speculated about my sexuality "many times" before. I guess they were trying to figure out why I wasn't dating girls. My friend figured at the time that I just lacked self-confidence. Anyways, his opinion is that I should tell my dad next. I'm not too enthusiastic about that idea, but we'll see. I actually have another friend that I've recently reconnected with, and this one is gay himself, so he seems a logical choice for the next person to talk to. I've known him since elementary school and he just moved back to the area. I hung out with him a bit yesterday and met some of his friends, and a couple of them were gay too (one was smoking hot . . . but taken).

First things first, I want to see what happens with Jake. Actually, I agreed to meet up with another guy this weekend (still haven't heard from him regarding a time and place but he's extremely busy). My plan is to see how I like this guy, see how it goes with Jake next weekend and if for some reason both are viable for second dates I will decide at that point which way to proceed.

Have a good weekend everybody!!