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A gentleman doesn't pounce... he glides. If a woman sits on a piece of furniture which permits your sitting beside her, you are free to regard this as an invitation, though not an unequivocal one. |
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Sunday, January 25, 1998
Yesterday I broke the second date barrier for the first time in many years. The man in question was shocked when he found out how long! In case you've been keeping score, I've been out on a few blind dates recently, but hadn't heard from either of those guys again, which is not surprising.
And this date lasted a long time! This fit the pattern of our first date, when instead of just meeting for coffee or something, we went to dinner, then swing dancing. This second date started with a Cacophony event in the morning, and didn't end until late in the evening! Oh, Jason (his name) had the idea of coming to this event; I didn't force him into it.
The Cacophony event was a workparty/brainstorming session for our Radio Controlled Art Cars thing. We were able to find a space in the meeting room at the University branch of the Seattle Public Library. This room is a great find! We might schedule it in the future, then try to find an event to hold there.
Jason was able to get a ride over from the Eastside with Tom Lawrence. Tom had an RC car already, but Jason didn't, so when Tom decided he needed more tools to really dismantle his car and get into the guts of it, he went with him to the hardware store and Radio Shack. Then Nick arrived (late, because this event started earlier than most of our events) then XE went across the street to buy a snack. It was like herding cats!
Jason and Tom came back. Jason had bought a huge car at the Shack! Much bigger and more expensive than any of the ones we had.
I concentrated on scraping off the decals on my car. We also worked on disabling the attennas on the cars and controllers, because they are all on the same frequency and cause too much interference with each other.
Jayson and XE brought their TV and VCR so we could watch a documentary on the Art Car phenomenon. This movie, "Wild Wheels," was good! It was made by a guy who has an art car himself. The folks in the movie had different reasons for what they do, but many fall into the "gluer" faction, getting satisfaction from attaching some category of "thing" to their houses, cars or selves.
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Jason regretted spending the big bucks on his RC car, so we walked over to the Radio Shack store where he had bought it and he returned it. (He'll probably get a smaller one at the RS store near where he lives.) We had Pad Thai for lunch, then took the bus back to my neighborhood. It had only been sprinkling when I left, but it was really raining when we got back to Capitol Hill. I had misplaced my nifty folding umbrella, so we walked up the street to City Peoples' Mercantile so I could buy another. That store really has its finger on the pulse of my demographic group, since I usually like everything I see there. I looked at the standard umbrellas, but I couldn't resist one that had a Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design on the fabric, even though it cost significantly more than the normal ones.
We bought groceries since I had proposed a stir-fry dinner. I wanted to use my kitchen since I had cleaned it up! We ended up watching "Orlando" and chatting and cuddling on the couch, and didn't cook after all. "Orlando" was a good choice; I like that movie, and had bought the disk a while ago, and hadn't yet watched it. Tilda Swinton looks great, no matter what time period or gender is applied to her.
Jason and I traded questions, both personal and hypothetical. An interesting exercise! Readers of this journal know that it isn't difficult to get me to talk about myself. "But enough about me! Let's talk about you. What do you think of me?"
Finally it was time for the dance. This was a zydeco thing at the Century Ballroom. I had never done this kind of dancing before (and I know Jason hadn't) so instead of the intermediate or advanced workshops they had during the day, I had only planned on the beginning lesson held directly before the dance. There were so many people there for it, though, and coming in early for the dance, that it was hard to hear the instructors and they didn't get as much taught as I would have liked.
The band (Double Clutchin', with Chris Ardoin [?]) was great! They really rocked, and I liked the zydeco dancing. I may pursue that as my next dance to learn! Cajun music is really party music, with the emphasis on the rhythm. The melodies and lyrics take second place.
Since Jason had ridden over with Tom, I gave him a ride back to the eastside. In the middle of the night this doesn't take too long.
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I dreamt that the Admirable Burr had somehow sent me a video email commenting on my life and journal; then, since this message was apparently a fixed file size, when he had said what he wanted to say, he filled up the rest of it by sending me strange digital images, such as: an old tv test pattern in the background, with a lipstick-wearing monkey wearing a whistler's mother wig in the foreground.
On waking, I caught up on email and journals. There is much chatter on the diary-l list about the political BJ-gate, which I am deleting unread. There is also a current scuffle that involves some journalers I read, but it also involves a journal that I can't read (too much MEGO factor) so I'm trying not to know about it.
On a personal shopping expedition, I bought some tights at Fred Meyer. I had bought a pair of a certain brand a few weeks ago, and they fit me well and have worn well. It took me a while to realize that these same stockings might be available at the store near my home, as well as the one near my work. I also renewed a supply of hair care products, and couldn't resist a new style of hair clip, called "Concorde" because of its aerodynamic shape. I bought two, one large and one medium sized. I also stopped by the Harvard Exit theatre and bought some tickets for the Women in Cinema festival tonight.
I was tempted by the massage lotions, and sampled various fragrant oils at Body Scent, but I resisted. I already have quite a few different scents, and I don't need more at this time. Because it was not raining when I left home, I didn't bring my new umbrella. Of course, this means that it was bound to start raining while I was out! So I took the bus the five blocks up the hill.
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In the evening I went back out to the Harvard Exit. I was going to get some dinner on the way, but I seem to have caught a cold somehow, and none of my usual food things on Broadway appealed to me. Then I remembered the wonderful Sun Juice (orange, banana, mango, ginger) and garlic parmesan toast that I got at the Gravity Bar the day Cacophony played Broadway Bingo. So I went back there and had the same thing again. It really hit the spot!
When I got to the theater I saw my film festival friends A--- and R---. Since I hadn't let them know that I was coming, they hadn't saved a seat for me, but I sat in the row behind them and filled them in on what I've been up to.
Then a quiet walk home on empty, damp sidewalks.
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