The prompt on the dating app reads, “I’ll fall for you if…” One answer I recently came across said, “You’re a gentleman who does that thing where you walk on the street side of the sidewalk …” Admittedly, this is not something I do or consciously put into practice. This isn’t the first time, I’ve…
Category: Dating
Unqualified
Sometimes I think I’m not really qualified for this job,the job of my life, I mean. “Homework” by Tony Hoagland Today, I felt wholly unqualified for life. I bounced between trying to write poetry, trying to write a post about trauma, processing the potential challenges of moving (tied to the post about trauma), reading poetry,…
Adjusting the Throttle of Indifference
Indifference…. we sometimes deploy it as a defense mechanism. We sometimes use it as a cudgel. Because it can be used in these ways, it seems important to be able to distinguish between real indifference and manufactured indifference. As a defense mechanism, feigned indifference – saying one doesn’t care – means they can’t be disappointed,…
Sometimes on My Mind but in Different Ways
Last week I started texting with a woman from California. We talked late one night and I found myself frequently referring to my recent past as “a few years ago.” It seems everything in my life happened a few years ago – all of my dating history falls into this category, my recent jobs, my…
Chemistry and Stars
The text conversation began … “I wanted to match with you first and tell you that your first date description gave me a little bit of the goosebumps because it’s been a while since I’ve had that kind of a first date.” Over the July 4th holiday weekend we went out. We had a good…
Slow Walk to the Edge of Admission
Friday Morning
During one of my earlier quiet phases – one of those one- or two-week unintentional hiatuses from writing when I wasn’t sure what the point was or just felt tired and confused
Failure to Launch
I started this post almost two weeks ago. It was cold then. I revisited it and revised it, the weather got warm, and now it’s cold again with snow on the ground and more on the way… During one of the revisions on a warmer day I wrote: In the predawn hours, the morning birds…
You Don’t Know Me
One of the morning’s headlines read, “COVID-19 is linked to more diabetes diagnoses among kids, CDC study finds.” My first thought was, I’m so glad I’m not raising kids during this pandemic. It was a selfish thought, but I can’t imagine the stressors… Parents have to worry so much more about the health of their…
Restoring Some Balance
Soft blue skyHelium balloons float up awayBroad daylightBut we’re sunflowers in the rain Those are some lines from the song “Helium.” The song begins with a mutual break-up and the the lines 9:09 / You gonna call it or am I? I’m still listening to the new Glass Animals album on constant repeat. Apparently, it…
DATING, MEN, AND DANCING ALONE
First, please pay attention to the comma in the titles. Once again I wrote up a post and then shelved it. This time, I never got around to hitting submit. I ran out of steam, and no longer wanted to make the point I had set out to make. It was an attempt to understand…
IN SEARCH OF LOST… KEYS
Since I was mentioning Proust earlier, I figured I’d play off of the In Search of Lost Time thing. More than once, I’ve tried to write about time – it’s the only thing that just marches on – it gives meaning and urgency and definition. How we spend it and who we spend it with…