The answer to what will be with Heather and I is...exclusive dating. We went to the Case de Caras Turkey Day festivities (empty-handed sadly, and I feel bad about that), and she enjoyed the camaraderie of the group--she even contributed to "bad jokes at the dinner table". We went back to my place, watched "Out of Gas" as her introduction to Firefly (she's now game for the rest) and retired for the evening, though it took some time getting to sleep. This morning we discussed what is up between us and she said she wasn't really comfortable being as affectionate as we have been and not staking a claim on me, so I'm now happily taken. It does mean that I'll have to scale back some of the flirting I've been doing with others, which isn't such a big deal, all things considered. Watch, now that I'm taken, a potential plaything or two will pipe up saying something like "But, I was hoping for [insert otherwise acceptable fun here] from you."

She does have some reservations in terms of whether she's a good match for me, mostly for the facts that she's just started college (though she's old enough to have finished) and is uncertain about wanting to bear children (yes, we've already talked about that in the "what's your future hold" sense). This is a recurring problem for me, but until I find someone my age that actually wants kids, I guess I'll just have to run with it.

Anyway, I've a girlfriend again and she's going to try to find time for me without sacrificing her schoolwork. We're hoping to see each other again next weekend. Until then, we have email.

Current Mood: ecstatic

So, it was a crappy, boring, pain in the ass week at work. I survived because I managed to convince Heather, the beauty I met at Voltaire, to come by for a visit on Saturday, and boy am I glad I did.

Admittedly, when the plans were made, I figured I was good for hello and goodbye hugs, and if the day went well, a chance for a goodbye kiss. Our plan was to get together around noon, grab food, and watch the new Star Trek, though we'd both seen it, and then go from there. Arby's was consumed and Star Trek watched, complete with gag reel, and it's a pretty good one (available on YouTube, or was on Thursday). She was being indecisive as to what to watch next, so I put on Eddie Izzard's "Dress to Kill", as comedy concerts only go amiss when 1) the comic's humor doesn't appeal to the viewer, or 2) the viewer just doesn't like comedy concerts. I find "Dress to Kill" rarely falls under the first, and she gave her consent, thus we were in good shape. Post-Eddie I gave her the massage I'd threatened her with. Results were....pleasant, though I fell short of 100% full seduction. Neither of us expected things to roll as they did (though I had hoped), and so we're in "now what do we do?" mode, and by we, I mean she needs to figure out how and how often I'll fit into her life. She's recently gone back to school, and was anticipating being boy-distraction-free for the duration (though I feel even she doesn't really believe that would have happened). Regardless, I do want to make sure she gets her assignments done and doesn't skimp because she wants snuggle time. She does indeed want more snuggle time, so I can't complain. I just need to be patient and hope we get to hang out again soon. I don't know that we'll see each other on Turkey Day, but as she likes to avoid too much family time, it's a possibility. I'm only doing lunch with Mom this year, so time should be available. In the meantime, I'm happily twitterpated.

Also, the gym isn't very busy Sunday mornings. I might have to try to get there early as a habit on non-Rocky weekends.

Current Location: home
Current Mood: giddy

I had a decent time at OmegaCon, but like the last three years, the experience started strong and ended with me happy to get the hell away. I was happy to see those people I only see at Con, but there was the notable absence of Amada, who I've been trying to find a way to get to know better, but she's always to busy to hang out. It just wasn't the same doing Rock Band/SingStar without her, though.

I ended up having the room to myself, as Hal's friends bailed when I overestimated the room cost. She showed up though, which was a surprise, as she'd told me she wasn't going. She decided the prospect of see said friends was worth it, and she already had guaranteed crash space so it wasn't inconvenient for her to change her mind last minute.

I finally got to play Lexigon, a word game I bought for last OmegaCon but never got a chance to play. Cole and her group had picked it up, and upon noticing this, I asked to join in and they welcomed me, though I think it was somewhat grudgingly. I didn't win, but it was fun to play. I've gone several rounds since with Sam and Heather and won most of them.

Heather? Who is that, you say? She's the lovely young lady I met at Voltaire. We've chatted a great deal via email in the last two weeks and she met up with me on my way back into town from OmegaCon. We played the game at the local Starbucks and I got a hug goodbye. Things would seem promising on the relationship front except for two big things:
1) She's quite happy being single while in school, as she knows boys distract her, and
2) She's another of those "I'm not having kids" types
On the "my personal issues" front, she's also only 22 and that's not a good sign with me. She says that it wouldn't bother her, and even with the aforementioned issues, she's not ruled out future possibilities, but stated firmly that it isn't exactly what I would call near future. We're planning on hanging out this weekend, watching movies at my house rather than hitting the MISFITs movie night for "Coraline" and "Star Trek". She limits her socializing in crowds and has an engagement in two weeks she can't shake and appears to be avoiding potential people overdose in chilling at my house instead. I figure I've given her fair warning and she says she's not above hitting me with the clue-by-four, so I think we're good.

I've been hanging out with Tori's friend Ashley lately. Not bad company, but I'm not exactly sure how to handle her either. I also need to fine some time to visit Tiffany again soon. Elizabeth warned me she'll be busy for a bit yet, but I'd like to catch dinner with her in the next week or so, too.

I went to Chrys' apartment warming last night and she seemed happy I came. That's quite the change in the last two years, when I swear she'd roll her eyes when I'd say hi. I doubt we'll end up close friends or anything more, but it's good to have another sexy lady smile when she sees me. If only I could find one that doesn't mind being claimed in the name of New Spain....

Off to the gym now.

It's only been about a week since my last post, but it's been an interesting week.

Friday night was the Voltaire show at Barfly. First oddness, the show was on the 4th floor. I've never been to a venue where I had to leave the main floor for the scheduled entertainment. The floor was a two room split--in the entry room were the fashion show and the belly dancers and to the left of the entry was the concert stage. The open musical act (Uzza, I think) was so-so and the follow-up wasn't much better. The only things that made me care a bit more were 1) they had a violin, 2) an attractive lead singer, and 3) Charles from Stellar Vector on keys. I didn't know he played with anyone else, and he was one of the first familiar faces, of about 2 dozen, I saw.
The first was one of my Rocky crew, Sophia, and a woman I am assuming was her mother. They were two of the four people who were in line before me. Of note was the other young lady, who I found attractive enough that I got too nervous to really talk to her. I tried, when she moved from where she'd been standing to further back in the line that had formed behind me. I told her she got there first and was welcome to go in before me, but as she was only two or three people back, she didn't take me up on it. Anyway, I had my eyes open for her the rest of the night and she was almost always within my line of sight, but then again, the venue wasn't really big enough for it to be otherwise--only her short stature kept her from being seen all night. One of the things that amused me is that, like me, she'd brought a book to read between events, and that's what eventually got us talking.
Right after Venus' set, one of the belly dancers, the one I found most attractive, walked by and mentioned she thought it attractive that I was reading between sets. In following her with my eyes as she walked away, Heather, the young lady, was again in view and had her book out, too. So I decided the dancer was a sign that I should use our mutual reading as an icebreaker, and it worked well enough. She, like me, was there for Voltaire and didn't really care much about the rest of the show. She didn't know much of his work, though I can't claim to know his catalog well either, but she sang along with "When You're Evil" and it made me smile. I asked what her plans were after the show, and since she didn't have any, she joined me for food at Little T's. She even rode with me rather than play follow-the-leader, but that was as much because getting lined up for such would have been difficult as her being trusting of me. Dinner conversation had a few awkward silences, but went pretty well. She was even willing to give me contact info when I dropped her off at her car, and we've exchanged some email. I'm sure she knows I talked to her because I thought her cute, but I've no idea her opinion of me, other than worth talking to online, but that's good enough for a start.

In other girl-related news, a friend of a friend I met at Fest expressed some interest in yours truly, and said mutual friend made mention of this to me Saturday night as they were driving back from the Vil show, which I completely forgot about. As luck would have it, she was at the friend's house when I dropped by Sunday and confirmed the interest. As she's even younger than Heather, I made it clear to her that I wouldn't really consider dating, but I'm a flirtatious person and don't mind random cuddle time. She was cool with the plan and it was a pleasant evening. She official broke things off with the boy she'd been seeing yesterday and popped by last night for a supporting shoulder.
I'm all for being a friend to her and all, but I really hope she doesn't bond too much with me. I know how much I tend to latch on the the first comforting female after a break-up, so I'm going to keep my eyes open for danger signs. At least I can expect to not see her again until next week, as our schedules don't mesh this week and I've OmegaCon this weekend.

I'm looking forward to that, but I'm still not exactly sure what my roommate situation will be there. I threw some likely inflated numbers at the pair Hal threw at me and they were a bit scared by them. I wrote back to say I'm running from my faulty memory concerning the figures, so if they saw other numbers elsewhere, they're probably the right ones. We'll see. I'd love to invite Heather, but we just met and I've no idea what her weekends look like anyway. I'm also a bit disappointed that neither Tiffany or Amada will likely be there. Tiffany and I have had good times hanging out lately, though they are still infrequent visits, and it just won't be OmegaCon if I don't play SingStar with Amada. She might still show, but it's a pretty slim chance. I do know that Gabriel, Chrys, the Dregs, and Hal will be there, though I didn't think Hal was going until this morning when I read her post on the Rocky list, so I'll have plenty of people to chat at, not to mention those people I really only see at OmegaCon.

Also, I hit the gym again last night. Doing my own thing seems to be working for me--I had to up the weight on a couple machines I've been hitting. Trainer-from-Hell came to chat at me, though she didn't remember my name and thought I was married, as opposed to the dude I did my sign-up with, who gets my name right. She had noticed I'd not been around for a while and asked what was up. I made polite in a way most people would pick up on as a "piss off" but she kept talking, again trying to convince me I needed a trainer. She's the last person who has any chance of convincing me of that, though I am thinking about sitting down with the guy who does recognize me and ask his opinion on what I've been doing. We'll see. I think I'm going to go hunting for training plans online first.

Well, that's good for now. I'll like do a post-OmegaCon update next week.

Current Mood: hopeful

In no particular order, here's some subjects of interest since the last post:

( Rocky )

( Gym )

( Emily )

( Windows )

( WoW )

( TMBG )

( LARP )

That's enough of that. I'll post again when life gets interesting.

So Emily did stop by, and the conversation went well for all intents and purposes. She's still very busy and there's still awkwardness for me, but we're going to try and hang when she can find the time. I got back my movies and the key to the house. The invitation to watch her fence is still there, though she has suggested it wait until her normal partner returns from wherever she is first, as she's sparing Remy right now, and she acknowledged on her own that he's the issue that's kept me from coming. Honestly I think to key to us still hanging will be to have some fun together rather than "the cloud of what was" being the most obvious aspect. Some of the playfulness is still there, but I need to remember she's not a contact person, which is a big part of spending time with most of my female friends. I have a really hard time sitting and talking without there being a massage or hand holding or something of that nature. Still, it could have been much worse and I suspect had I dug it could have been, but the big question I wanted answered was and with something that I didn't expect but makes sense. My jealousy probably couldn't handle asking some of the questions I might have wanted to, but really, no matter what, I'm feeling jealous of those she sees more often.
Why am I always the one broken up with and while still very much enjoying her company? It's getting old and it's only making me more bitter.

Anyway, earlier in the evening I tried to get my TMBG tickets at the Crystal Down in the Valley. Sadly, they have to sell the First Ave tickets for cash, and as usual, I didn't have any one me, and TCF and I are still arguing over what my PIN is on my cash card. Looks like I'll just have to go into the bank and try to get it reset...again.

Not sure when the Rocky props are going to get built, but our one Dress/Tech rehearsal in the space is this Saturday. The tank should be ready, assuming I can get it where it needs to go, but that's the only thing, though the most important. Hopefully the contact someone's throwing at me will be able to help with the other things we have in mind, but I'm still not sold on one of my own ideas at this point, so we'll have to see.

The new windows are going in on the house on the 24th, and I need to make sure the house is ready. I need to put smoke detectors in every bedroom and a CO detector both up- and downstairs, as well as moving everything away from the windows. Unless the weather shapes up, it'll be a cold day in the house all day, but what can you do. At least I should be assured that once I reheat the place, it'll stay that way.

So, it looks like I've not posted for a month again, silly me. Here's the highlights I remember:

The "interesting person on the dating site" from my last post ended up being a bust. We had dinner the night of my last post and things seemed good. That Thursday I took her to the "halfway to St. Patty's" show at O'Gara's and it looked like she enjoyed the Dregs set, which was the goal. She didn't mind the Dirty Nellys, but she was keen to leave after their set and I wasn't opposed. When I dropped her off, she confessed she didn't think we had anything in common, which I thought to be incorrect, but what could I do. She mentioned again how extremely introverted she is and I'm going to infer she's also at least mildly agoraphobic. She had agreed to go bowling that Saturday, but called that morning to cancel and say "I can't do this" at me, which hurt me a bit. I hoped we be able to hang as friends and she said she had my number--she's not called or responded to my messages, voice or email. Can probably write her off.

No other luck on the girl front, though I've had good times hanging out with several female friends who indulged my varied levels of flirtation. Had a lovely conversation with a lesbian friend of a friend after a group outing and we're tentatively hanging sometime this week. Will likely be at the Saloon for a bit tonight to flirt with pretty things that are too young for me, but if it keeps my spirits up....

I might need it, as Emily is supposed to drop off my DVDs tonight. I'm getting better about things there, though we've not really spoken since the failed DQ run--time heals. There are still a few things I want to say, but I'm sure they won't change anything. I just wish I could have someone want me to themselves the way I want them to myself. Shared possessiveness seems to be "normal" and it seems to be the thing that most non-polys can't get their heads around. I'm open to poly, but really I'm too jealous to live it for long. Anyway, I'm hoping she'll have time and desire to hang out for a bit and watch TV or something, to prove we are still friends--I've been feeling ignored and that hurts more than not being "with" her.

Another follow-up from last post--Catherine is fine, but her phone is dead. It looks like it's the house's wiring, and as it's in foreclosure, she's basically screwed. This means talking to her is very difficult, though I've discovered I do have her email address, so we'll see if that helps. I've got her work number too, so hopefully I can set up hang-out time occasionally that way.

Work's continued to be slow, but testing for the new external site is done and will go to the users...as soon as we resolve a file loading issue in the back-end with software I've had a poor opinion of since my last job. Roll-out is scheduled for Halloween weekend, so I'll be looking at a late day that Friday with possible follow-up the next day, which will suck since I have Rocky both nights.

I'm scrambling this week to get props in working order for the dress rehearsal and it probably won't get done. I'm not mechanically inclined and I don't have the tools at my house. I need to coordinate with Rob, Hope, and James if I even want to hope it'll happen and the logistics of that kinda suck.

My WoW account got hacked two weeks ago, but in theory, they're restored in full. I say in theory as I haven't gone through all my characters and really have played in two weeks. The Halloween event starts Sunday though, so I'll be back on the WowCrack for that. I've been playing Puzzle Quest and Dynasty Warriors Gundam in the meantime. I think I've almost unlocked everyone on Gundam now.

I've also caught up on all my TV on Hulu. I don't know why I'd let House and Dollhouse sit until I had Bones, but I did. Last week Season 4 of Bones come out, allowing me to get current, so now I have three shows a week to miss on TV and catch online later :-) I should ask Emily if she's catching Bones on TV or Hulu--maybe have "Viewing Day" together if we can find a time that works for her--she says her main issue is being really busy with work, school, and fencing. I'm very forgiving of the first two and have to be of the third on account of my own addictive personality. If I could only get it going for the LA Fitness membership I've yet to use since the trainer pissed me off, I might be in better shape--literally. Really need to start using it though, as Sam and I are officially doing our in-house weight-loss challenge and I hate to lose.

OK, so, Stacy's been out of the house for a while. She moved what was left of her stuff out of her old place into the new at the end of August and took what she had at my place the next day. I was still too sick to help, but I oversaw the process as she brought a stranger-to-me with her. I've not spoken to her since, not for any grumbles, but just that I've not felt like calling, and she's only ever called me back.

I'm a bit worried about a friend I've not heard from in about a month. More disturbing, her voice mail has been full for most of that time. My roomie says it'll likely fill after about 20 messages, and I probably left 3-5 myself in that time. I think this Wednesday I'll be stopping by the house to knock, and if she's not there, leaving a note to have her call me. Her not being OK is a reasonable fear to have, unfortunately, and it's been eating at me a lot the last few days.

Hoping to hang with Emily sometime soon and talk about things. From what she's said so far, I'm confident our friendship can remain, but I've had other such friends completely drift out of my life before, and I don't want to see that happen here. She wants to work on verbal communication, and that's cool. I don't mind talking and asking questions, though I've a habit of asking questions that people don't like answering, so we'll have to see how that goes. I'm also hoping she'll be up for trying to set up some regular time to watch BSG, though her schedule's pretty heavy at the moment as is.

I've had a week-long email volley with an interesting person on yet other dating site I thought I'd try. The "what are you doing this weekend?" conversation netted some positive results insofar as I suggested my schedule was open for random public hanging and her response Sunday was that she regretting waiting so long to see it. I take that as a sign she might have been up for it, which means there's a possible date in the near future. *fingers crossed* It'll make dealing with the exes easier, as I'll scale back on the flirting, at least a little ;-)

Work's been a bit slow, but it can't be helped at the moment. I've spent the last few days trying to track down a good ASP.NET training course that isn't a 3-5 day crash course. This means I've been checking in with CSOM and the varied tech colleges in town, but so far it's not looking promising. I might have to live with the crash course and just doing the RTFM thing with the 2 books I have. As slow as coding has been, reading the books might not be a bad substitute, except that I just started reading for fun at home again, as the WoW addiction is waning again. The likely date is a big fan of a series my sci-fi/fantasy group read the first book of last year, so I've purchased the next two, reread the first, and started in on the second.

Recent WoW points of note:
- got my Venomhide Ravasaur
- completed Classic Raider
- maxed out my Bejeweled skill and possess the guild high scores for Classic and Timed modes
- will likely be staring BC heroics this week
- doing BC raids on Sundays until I get that Achievement (guild runs)

Did well at poker again last night--walked away $7.25 up.

Will be ordering Seasons 2 and 3 of The I.T Crowd tomorrow, as that's when 3 is released. It'll give me an good excuse to get drunk and watch TV with Hal again--it was probably the most fun I've had since the Dregs show at Con (it's been a slow descent since then).

I really shouldn't spend too much money on toys, having just bought Beatles Rock Band and the complete stereo recordings already, as I've just ordered new windows for my house. Yep, the first major investment in the house is about to happen. I need to break out that real estate crap I paid too much for earlier this year to see if I can't find a grant to help pay for the improvement somehow. It'll help justify the cost. I should probably read the letter they sent me last week, too.

So, late afternoon Friday, my throat starts to hurt and my sinus begin to plug. I didn't think much about it, but it got worse as the evening went on after I got home. Sam also mentioned feeling a bit off, and I had her take a quick step into my spare room, where my escaping-from-a-bad-situation house guest has been. She got the same hit I did--something wasn't right and we suspect it was the clothes. Her apartment was pretty trashed, and she mentioned getting an item for cheap that always kinda smelled. At this point, I'm guessing whatever mold was in it spread throughout her wardrobe, which as distributed in both the computer room closet and my own--the two worst places in terms of hitting me. We're guessing it took 3 days of random airborne exposure to finally hit me, and it hit hard. No good deed goes unpunished, right?

Saturday was a miserable pile of crap, during which I slept a great deal and reminded myself that Halls are my friend. I did manage to watch a few more episodes of Carnivale, which is only getting stranger as it goes along. Today was much better, but I'm taking tomorrow off as I still need extra sleep, and as the sinuses dropped to my lungs, I expect to be hacking one up tomorrow, which always gives me a splitting headache. I've already dug out the Robitusin and had a couple shots...actually, a shot sounds like a marvelous idea before bed.

So it occurs to me I've not posted since being dumped. I have a bad habit of forgetting to post the good stuff and things haven't really been *that bad since.

To get it out of the way, she and I have chatted a couple times since, but over mostly trivial crap. I'd still like to discuss where things stand with her and us and why, but that's a conversation I'd like to have in person, and that's not happened yet. I'm not sure I should even go to karaoke until we've talked, as it was her place first and I don't want to make her uncomfortable.

Anyway, I've found the time to catch up with some other people. Two weeks back Catherine and I hang out for a bit and it was rather like old times. Not a completely bad thing, but she hasn't really changed her situation either, which is disappointing. I still say that her getting kicked off the Browncoat board was inappropriate, but she does need to do something about her personal issues, and scaling back or stopping the drinking would be a great place to start.

Last Thursday was a good night: CSTS with Dr. Horrible and Serenity. Dr. H on the big screen was fantastic, as was singing along with a sold-out crowd. Better still, I got to play hero to some good friends, all of whom are gorgeous women. They hadn't gotten tickets in advance and the show sold out before they got to the ticket booth. Fortunately, as a member of the board in good standing, I was able to get them in with the understanding they had to stand. It worked out well I think--I got hugs from all of them and was able to introduce myself "old skool" to the one lady I didn't previously know: a back massage, and she seemed to enjoy herself.

I had good times Saturday too. I was supposed to go to my friend Tiffany's 30th B-day Party, but it was supposed to be outside on the beach at her parents' house. However, with the weather being what it was, I decided against it. Around 7:30 I was getting hungry and called Elizabeth. Turns out she was on her way to Psycho Suzie's, so she asked me to join her. We had the spinach/garlic/dried tomato pizza (which is the awesome!) and One-Eyed Willy tiki drinks. Now, anyone who's been to Suzie's knows, their tikis come in three levels: strong, pretty strong, and woohooo! Guess where Willy falls? They're damn tasty, but one's enough. Anyway, since I was bailing on the party already, I asked her if she wanted to hit another friend's DJ show. She was spinning and there were going to be at least two other performers. We went and enjoyed all three sets. I particularly enjoyed the first guy, who was playing solo acoustic stuff though he usually has a band. I might get the album, though I'm not sure I'll like it as much with a full band. Anywho, my friend spun at the end of the evening, we stayed through her full set, though Eek went out to smoke and chat with the other artists for most of it, and then went back to my place.

I've gotten some more stuff done in WoW, though that's pretty much a lack of surprise. Got my Traveler's Tundra Mammoth, which cost most of my gold, but it's so worth it to be able to sell stuff and buy reagents anywhere I can mount up. Sadly, it's spoiled me and I miss not having it on my other toons. Starting Oracles on my hunter, and will do so with my rogue too, to increase my chances of getting the mount from the egg.

The last two Wednesdays have also had me at LARP coffee discussing the new rules. So far, things have been going relatively well, even when I don't get my way. Sometimes, I really want the change, other times I just want to know why they wrote it as they did. I really think things will be good, and I think the three of us (me, Jessica, and Keith) will do well together on the floor. Jesse's been able to make the meetings thus far, but I don't see there being any issues. We're hoping to get together this weekend for a marathon session of rewrites, as the 1.5 hours we get on Wednesdays just isn't enough. I hate to burn WoW time, but I really want the LARP to succeed, and I'm optimistic so far.

K, should get back to work now. As much as I want to keep playing WoW, I'd love to see you people. Let me know when you want to hang.

EDIT 5:30 -

Completely forgot something--I went to another Cupid.com speed-dating thing. There were 8 women, and 4 seemed cool enough to want to hang with again, not necessarily date, but hang with. Of the 8, 3 of them play D&D, and they brought it up (what's with the women always coming in pairs or more?). Didn't match with anyone. What's worse is Cupid used to only show which people you mutually matched, now they show those that matched you that you didn't. So, since I see nothing, in means I'm 0 for 8 again--3 were gamers and 1 said she loves a guy with long hair, still 0.