The wind-up, and....

6 months ago I started on a rather overly-ambitious dating journey. It's gone by quick, and actually been pretty awesome.

I ended up with 14 dates. Some were more applicable to the purpose of dating than others, but overall I'd say an average of one date every two weeks is nothing to sneeze at. I didn't make my goal, but I did meet some amazing people, and got off my duff which, really, was the purpose of the experiment.

Yay dating!

The 11th hour...

Date Number:

The girl: M
The connection: She's my cousin! Now before you freak out and think I've gone all British Aristocracy on you, I made a concerted effort to find a non-immediately related girl to take, but ended up not being able to, so I took my cousin instead. It's a cousin-date, a "stale" date as my friend puts it, but a date nonetheless, I'm counting it.
The setting: The SLC
The plot: We went to the Olive Garden for dinner and had some delicious food, then to the Opera! Carmen was playing. My friend works for the Utah Symphony and Opera doing their publications, so she hooked me up with some sweet tickets down in the orchestra. It was pretty awesome. It was the first time at the opera for both me and M, and after 4 acts, 2 intermissions and a short set-change break, we ended up rather enjoying the whole thing.
Funny: All the people at the opera. Old women dressing like they're not-so-old, lots of sparkles, pharmacy professors with their spouses, the man with the extremely bad dye job (a lady overheard me commenting on it and said "That's where bad shitzus go to die." Laughter ensued.)
Funny, but awkward: I saw a friend of mine there and smacked his butt to get his attention without him seeing me. He didn't react at all. Then he finally turned around and kind of seemed like he didn't recognize me, but he laughed about it anyway. I had to run to get parking validation, so we couldn't talk long and it was kind of awkward. We ended up catching up after the show, but still - awkward.

Novena

Date Number:

The girl: D.
The connection: My dad's office manager's cousin. Yep. She's wanted to set us up for years, and it just happened to work out this time.
The setting: McDonald's in Richfield. (Don't judge, there aren't many places to go in Richfield)
The plot: This was a quick, getting to know you kind of date. We shared an order of french fries while playing several rounds of speed and chatting. Simple, short, delightful. She's from that area of Utah as well. We know lots of the same people (she's actually met my sister and my sister-in-law), but we've never met. She currently lives in St. George, enjoys reading, and is considering returning to school.
Funny: The fact that there were all of 2 people in McDonald's at the time we went, and it was still like pulling teeth to get someone to take our order or give us ketchup.
Something in common: Aside from growing up in a small town, she also did theatrical things in high school. Always a fun subject to talk about.

ocho

Date Number:

The girl: Sara. Now for those of you who are thinking "Wahoo!! That's like 5 dates!!! Get 'r done!!!" I'm going to tell you what I tell my students several times a day - chill out. Also, this might be a good opportunity to let you know a little bit more about Sara. She works with...kids who just don't get life. She just started a master's program for secondary education. She enjoys dancing, hot chocolate, and small amounts of straight eggnog - which I don't judge her for, but which I also don't understand.
The setting: My house.
The plot: Paper snowflakes - it had been a while since she'd made one, so I showed her how. Fun times. We also made flying paper lanterns. This is something I wanted to try with my class (we ended up not doing it) and maybe something I'd like to start as a new Christmas tradition. You make them out of tissue paper, and then put something one fire underneath it and, in theory, it floats like a hot air balloon. You can find instructions here. And a pretty cool video of the effect here. Ours didn't work so well. Sara's fell prey to the snow just outside the door, and I think it might have been too cold for mine to actually lift off, but it was just a first attempt, and we had fun making them. :) We followed all of that up with some mad Xanadu action. Probably the worst movie ever, but highly entertaining.
Hilarious: Xanadu. Yep.
Surprising: How easy it actually is to make a paper lantern that will fly. Seriously.
Cool: Actual snowflakes.

Lucky number 7

Date Number:

The girl: B Wo - one of my favorite friends from Hello Dolly. She's currently attending the school down south in the MDT program, has an abundance of dancing talent, an amazing voice, and just enough attitude to keep things interesting. :)
The connection: Hello Dolly. We were "shuffle across the stage" partners. Every night it was interesting to see who was more out of breath at that point in the show. Good times.
The setting: The house of a mutual friend (MF) in P-town.
The plot: This was a group date. B Wo and I were joined by MF (who is currently in Earnest with me at Hale) and her BF, and my friend K (friend from Disney days) with his date L (who was sadly on crutches in the snow because of knee problems. We felt for her). We watched the First Presidency devotional on Channel 5 while taking talking and stretching breaks during the choir numbers to try and wake ourselves back up. We love some FP, but their voices are so soothing that sometimes it's hard to stay alert. We ate some delicious treats provided by MF, and played a round of apples to apples. Most of us are show people, as you can probably tell from the picture.
Funny: What the women of the choir were wearing. Appliqued blue caftan-like dresses. We decided that the oldest woman in the choir was given the honor of deciding the wardrobe, and it passes down to the next oldest as people leave - for whatever reason.
Fun: Picking out our standard Mo-tab favorites. i.e. the token black man and Asian woman, the woman with the white hair etc.
Surprising: The new black woman in the choir. None of us had ever seen her before.

half a dozen

Date Number:

The girl: M
The connection: Mutual actress friend
The setting: Conference Center
The plot: She met me at the ticket office to go see a performance of Savior of the World. I didn't get a picture because I figured I'd get one after the show, but I forgot because of the show. I'm not really a cookie-cutter spiritually blatant Mormon-type Mormon. You know the type, they go to BYU, memorize talks by the general authorities, buy BOM-themed games and the prophet face cards. They wear khakis and polo shirts and will probably go to dental school. But I have to say, the show was pretty awesome. It tells the story of Christ's birth and resurrection. Act I is the story of his birth, Act II is the story of his resurrection. Pretty straight-forward. I must say I was a little skeptical, but by intermission both M and I were wiping away the tears and making jokes about how they need to install Kleenex boxes on the arm-rests. Act II was equally moving. I won't go into details, but it really makes you stop and think, and can give you an interesting perspective on things. Definitely worth going to.
Props: SOTW cast. They performed admirably, and even stood out in the cold to greet their adoring audience after the show.
Surprising: The number of people they fit on that stage. Leave it to the church to take "cast of thousands" literally.
Business idea: Armrest Kleenex holders.

Last night my bed called me Gaylord

Date(s) #5...and possibly 6/7

The girl(s): Sara...and Leah...and Tara...
So Leah, Tara, and my friend Melissa* thought it would be funny to "set me up" on a date, and then when I showed up it would be the three of them. Hilarious. But, Melissa ended up not being able to go. I was going to ask another girl, but it turns out she has a boyfriend, and is only 19 (to which I am slightly morally opposed), so I asked Sara.
The setting: Downtown SLC
The plot: Sara and I had a delightful dinner at Settebello, where her father randomly appeared while picking up dinner for himself and Sara's mom. We enjoyed caprese, pizza, and some gelato.
Then we headed to meet Tara and Leah at "Bravo Broadway" with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall. Melissa works for the Symphony and Opera and kindly provided tickets. The show was fairly amazing. It's been a while since I've listened to a live symphony. I miss it.
Funny: Oh where do I begin? Let's start after the show. Upon arriving at my car to take Sara home, we discovered that it wouldn't start. We thought it might just be the battery petering out, so we called Tara and Leah to come help. They kindly did, and we discovered that it was not, in fact, the battery. My car was leaking gas all over the place (not constantly, just when I turned the power on). Well, Leah has AAA, so she called them up to get a tow truck. Turns out, if there's a puddle of gas, AAA won't come to tow the car unless the fire department has checked the area to make sure it's safe. Yep, we were just as confused as you.
Enter the SLCFD. We called them up to come check it out. The lady on the phone was just as confused as the rest of us, but was kind enough to send help - after a lengthy list of questions about the situation (Leah wanted me to request attractive firemen, but somehow I didn't think that would lend to our credibility). We stood out on the sidewalk in front of the parking lot waiting to flag down whoever might be coming when we heard sirens a short distance away. Don't worry, they were for us. The fire engine arrived to save the day - sirens blaring, and lights flashing. And Leah was not disappointed in the crew manning said engine. They poured some sand on the gas, disconnected the battery in my car, and confirmed to AAA that the situation was not dire, before driving off into the sunset (figuratively speaking of course, as it was now about 11:30).
The tow truck arrived a little after midnight and Mike kindly loaded up poor Charley and took him away. Thank you AAA!
At this point we were all freezing and figured we needed something to commemorate this occasion, so we headed to Denny's for some hot chocolate and other ridiculous sorts of merriment. I paid the check (thus dates 6 and 7), and Tara drove everyone home - including my date. *sigh*
Although the situation sucks, all we could do was laugh as we stood rather helplessly in the parking lot freezing our toes off.
Many thanks to Leah, AAA, Mike, The SLCFD, Denny's, Tara, my uncle Gary, Melissa, and Leah's friend Dave who all contributed to the success of the night's adventure.
Best Characters: The random lady who was exiting AH as we were entering and said to me, "Hey! I've seen you at Hales!" Sara and I laughed awkwardly, confirmed her statement and made a hasty entrance into the building to enjoy the giant sculpture in the lobby.
The fire chief who whistled for his crew to come over for the picture, then stood to the side and watched.
Future Dates: Postponed until my car is fixed.

*This post dedicated to Melissa, and the Stake Musical Review "Through Different Eyes."

Quad

The girl: Sarita. It's been quite some time since I've taken a single girl (meaning single as in one girl, not single as in not married) on this many dates, but I rather enjoy Sara, so we're just gonna see what happens.
The setting: My School
The plot: She came to help me with my after-school book club. These were my more gifted boys. They'd read a book called "101 Things to Do Before You Grow Up". It included cool stuff like how to run a clock on lemonade, how to make a boomerang, and how to hypnotize someone. Due to poor planning on my part, we ended up making kites out of garbage bags (yes, it was in the book), and it was actually pretty fun. The boys loved it anyway, even though there was quite a lack of wind that day.
After kites, we went for ice cream at Cold Stone. It's a personal, and mutual favorite. :)
Funny: How many of my boys couldn't tie a simple knot. Also, the lady at Cold Stone who walked in, got a sample, and left.
Curbside Service: Check
Future Dates: Stay tuned

Segundo

Date #2

The girl: E (I've decided, for the safety and well-being of those I date to just go with an initial here from this point forward. Sorry Sara!)
The setting: Foothill Library
The connection: Friend of Felicity
The plot: I picked E up from her apartment in the south end of the valley and we proceeded to the north end of the valley for some hot beverages and an art-ish exhibit. I couldn't find a Starbucks, so unfortunately we weren't able to enjoy a pumpkin steamer, but we did get some hot chocolate and added pumpkin spice flavored coffee creamer - completely delightful. We enjoyed an art exhibit at the Foothill Library consisting of blown-up Polaroid pictures that the guy had altered with toothpicks and needles and the like before they were completely developed (actually pretty cool). Then we wandered upstairs to read a couple of children's books (Trouble Gum; and The Magical, Mystical, Marelous Coat - both completely delightful) before heading home for the evening.
The commonalities: teaching, reading youth fiction, high school band/orchestra
Funny: When we got to the library, the room where the exhibit was housed was closed and looked dark. But the door wasn't locked, so we just sort of let ourselves in and turned on the lights. Nobody stopped us.
Second date: cute girl, we had a nice time, but probably not.

It begins

The girl - Sara








The setting - Downtown Farmer's Market at Pioneer Park
The connection - Hello Dolly at Hale Theatre. My first really solid memory of Sara involves her putting her entire arm in the billowing, lacy sleeve of her costume - which only came down to her elbow (the sleeve, not the costume) - and then us discussing the effect of a lost arm on the show's choreography. She's pretty much just fantastic. I've actually been meaning to take her out for a while, but I'm kind of lazy, so it just never happened.
The plot - We took pictures, listened to the stomping ukulele player, had amazing pesto sandwiches (incidentally we were disappointed that the place making the sandwiches didn't offer their fantastic-sounding almond shake today) - which we ate with her parents who happened to also be lunching at the market. Farmer's markets are some of the most prime people-watching experiences you'll ever have. I highly recommend them. After that we roamed on up to Hatch Family Chocolates for a pumpkin milkshake, a short walk, and an amazing conversation. I can't speak for Sara, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Funny - The muttering man we kept running into, dread-lock mullet, bottle-cap magnet sayings. "Sarcasm, now offered all day"
Second date - plausible.

It also happened that a friend of mine, Carrie Scott, was singing with her band at the Market this morning. I bought her CD, because she's kind of amazing. What's really cool about Carrie, though, is that she has a blog - Flirty and Thirty - documenting her own dating adventure: Thirty first dates in honor of her 30th birthday. Good times.

27 dates by 27

There are exactly 27 weeks until my 27th birthday. In honor of this oh-so-numerical occasion, I've decided to get in 27 dates by my 27th birthday (technically by the 27th birthday week - my birthday's on Monday, and that might be cutting it a bit close), and I need your help. I know my fair share of women, but the majority of them don't fall into the "date" category. So it's time for all of you to pull out your little black books and help a brother out.

Here are the rules:

1 - I guarantee a first date, but nothing beyond that. That doesn't mean it won't happen, I just don't guarantee it.

2 - She needs to be single (obviously), a natural-born female (you laugh, but I have stories), active LDS (the time for recreational dating has passed), and legal (more stories...)

3 - I'd prefer you use a measuring stick beyond "Hey, she's single!" - i.e. she enjoys MST3K, she speaks Spanish, she's interested in the finer points of brownie baking - but I won't be picky.

4 - A date might consist of anything from the standard dinner and a show, to a walk through the park. I have a pretty full schedule, so an hour here or there may be all I can get in.

And that's about it. I'll be blogging about my experiences on these dates, and I may end up being brutally honest. Don't take it personally, just know that she wasn't the one for me - nor I for her. That's how dating works. However I'll try to be tactful and only include relevant, and hilarious information.

If you have someone, shoot me an email, and we'll work it out.

Let the games begin.

*addendum: I believe in the guy taking initiative and planning and paying and all that - perfect, I'm down with that; however, I also know that dating involves two people (dating is a verb - action word, something you do, not something done to you), so I am of the strong opinion that girls should have some input, and should be involved in the date, not simply show up, so on the date I might show up with a couple of options and let her help decide what we do. Just don't want anyone to be caught off guard.