Sometimes, Socially, ----------

What can you achieve in 15 hours?

How far can you travel in 15 hours?

What can you build in 15 hours?

What can you earn in 15 hours?

What trouble can you get into in 15 hours?

How well can you get to know someone in 15 hours?

Not that you can tell.

Growing up and finding happiness, I believe, has a lot to do with listening to your body and mind.  You know what you like to eat because your taste buds tell you what they like.  You know what your favorite color is because your eyes tell you it's beautiful and comforting and will never hurt you no matter how good looking another guy is.  I have come to trust my intuition when it comes to reading people.  I can tell quite quickly whether or not I like someone's energy, and will subsequently get along with them.

How easily we forgive a pretty face.

I had 45 minutes to kill.  I wandered nearby the coffee shop a ways until I got to a place I used to work.  It was nice to be on my home turf.  It was nice to see my manager's familiar face.  It was nice to get to pause for a second...because I was feeling quite anxious over this first first meeting for the blog.  I was very open to suggestion, and my manager said this to me:

"Have fun."

And so I did.  On our first date.  For 15 hours.

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When I view an OKCupid profile, I tend to trust my instincts.  For instance, if a guy starts out his profile saying that he's bad at filling out profiles, he's missing the point.  He's not ready to get to know me if he can't share who he is.  Dogs can smell fear; I can see insecurity.  A picture is worth a thousand words, and I'd love to wager that I know quite a bit about your personality from your picture!  (That knowledge grows exponentially with each additional picture too.)  So, I went into this date "knowing" a few things [that my near expert internet stalking skills didn't already tell me].

1. He's a good singer.  You don't put a photo of yourself in front of a microphone unless you are confident behind that microphone.

2. He's self conscious about his teeth.  God!  Who isn't?  He has a great smirk in every picture.  Dimples for the win.  Baby, it ain't no thang!

3. He gets complimented on his eyes ALL THE TIME.  They're blue and they're beautiful!  If I compliment him on his eyes, I will be one of many, nothing special.  ...but if I don't...am I rude?

4. This boy knows who he is.  This is the strongest argument in his favor.  He writes his profile confidently and has unique things to say.

"So!  What's next?"

"Well, we haven't gotten a drink together yet."

I have a hard time figuring out whether we had one long date or about five dates all in a row.  During the first date, I admitted that I was excited to be on a date.  On our second date, we geeked out harder than I thought possible in NYC, and he gave me gum.  On our third date, we worked together for the first time to decide what gelato flavors we wanted to share.  On our fourth date, we finally had a drink together, and I told him how my brain worked.  On our fifth date, we snuck into a building and he threatened my life.

"So, do you smoke?"

"I- "

"Cigarettes I mean!"

"I don't...do you?"

"Sometimes...a few times a week probably.  I don't really like doing it, though."

Honestly, throughout our almost embarrassing first 15 hours together, I couldn't tell if he was interesting or stupid.  Why can't he be both?  As long as he brings some good thoughts to the table and shows a genuine interest, he can be immature and pretty the rest of the time!  I'm all on board for that...I guess.

The fact is, it's strange that I couldn't pin him down completely, especially considering the time we spent together.  My relationship history follows a common thread: as long as I don't understand a guy, I'm interested in spending more time with him.  He's a mystery; I want to know more.  I want to understand.  Most people are easy.  I require someone different.

And I might have been in danger...

And then we said goodnight and parted ways.  Hey, if I'm the kind of lady to wait until the fifth date to kiss, I'm definitely the kind of lady to wait until at least the sixth date to go home with a boy.

We will see each other again soon, I hope.  I think he was mildly interested in me at least.  And as a great song says, "rule number one is that you gotta have fun," and I'm not done having fun with this one.

I mean, I HAVE to see if he'll actually kill me, right?