But that's just going to scare the girl off. Not that, y'know, it wouldn't be a highly amusing sight to see..

She'd be puzzled by eeping, but I doubt it would scare her. If she knew *me* better, though, *that* might give her pause. As for me, if you followed me around and eeped at me constantly, I'd probably stare at you thoughtfully for a few moments, then offer you a large glass of water and suggest you drink it slowly without stopping.

'Sides, she's friendly enough when we're paired off, but it's not like she's looking at me from across the room or anything. I thought I'd caught a little bit of chemistry once, but maybe my upper lip was dirty or something. She actually asked me how one of my visits to see my son in SC had gone, but I think that was merely small talk.

I'm jumping the gun anyhow. The process of being separated ends with a final hearing on 4 May. Maybe I'll put my pic and a bio out on plentyoffish.com and see what sort of responses I get. Really funny ones would probably be good MeCha fodder.

No, you have to ask her for a cup of coffee. For the sake of SCIENCE! Girl in the dance-class is better than two on the internets and all that.

EEP!

Congrats on the closure, anyway and good luck :)

Thx on the closure congrats. Did I mention the sep's been nearly 3 years now? (Preceded by a *long* dry spell while still co-located.) I'm not sure I remember anymore who puts what where when -- if I ever *do* get lucky, I'll have to watch a romantic comedy (or a porn flick?) for a refresher.

SCIENCE!

Wow, now I'll have Thomas Dolby stuck in my head all day. "Failed me in Biology..." (Did you know you can cha-cha to that? Hey, it works -- I'm dancing from the waist as I type this.)

And the coffee idea has possibilities. There's a local chain of restaurants that, as a dessert item, offers freshly-baked-to-order chocolate-chip cookies, and women are suckers for chocolate. :o) Even if this never gets beyond the idea stage with this particular lady, it's a worthwhile tactic to add to the arsenal.

Definitely ask her. I know I would be hard-pressed to turn down an offer for coffee and warm cookie.

Dates from dance class are good. Though it seems that asking her out dancing would the logical thing.

Actually, I had dates with two guys I met through dance classes. One invited me dancing, and though he was a terrific dancer (swing!), it went nowhere. The other invited me to coffee, possibly because he was a lousy dancer, and we ended up dating for about six months. So maybe coffee's a better plan.

The grilled chicken sandwich at Max & Erma's is unbelievably good. No hyperbole intended; I actually cannot believe how good it is.

The cheese skewers are ridiculous too.

I've been through (okay, technically I'm still going through) the dating-after-long-term-separation/divorce thing, PD. It's way different, especially if there are kids involved. Feel free to email if you ever want to vent, or chat, or (hopefully!) gloat, or whatever.

Thx, mike. Gloating is *not* my style: Even though Lao-tzu said "If you wait long enough by the bank of a river, the bodies of all your enemies will float by," he neglected to add that watching them bobbing gently in the current isn't much fun. But...in the event that I need a sounding board on dating issues, I will keep you in mind.

I will say here in the pale blue that there is a kid involved, he's going to be twelve this summer, he lives with his mother in South Carolina, and I love him so fiercely that it has awed and frightened me at times. His mother appears to be playing control games out of passive-aggressive spite masquerading as a combination of procrastination and overwork. She has yet to bring or send him up here to Ohio. He loves me and misses so much he's screwed up emotionally over it; meanwhile, his mom wants to marginalize and deprecate my role in his life, evidently not believing that men are crucial in teaching boys how to be men and/or simply continuing to be pi$$ed and wanting revenge and control -- it's sort of hard to tell.

The tortilla soup at M & E's is also wonderful. And one of the first pleasant surprises after arriving in Columbus -- they've been few and far between -- was to discover that I could again get a cheeseburger cooked rare. They do a nice Tuscan-style chicken over capellini, too. Reubens are OK, as is the tomato-and-basil soup (my homemade is better, I think).

***

occhiblu, I'm a mediocre dancer who just started with inexpensive weekly lessons (at a local UU church, of all places) to be reasonably competent and confident in the event that I got invited to a wedding or holiday party where dancing was involved. I'm kinda at that level (most of the time, anyway) and am wavering on whether I want to bother getting any better/more creative. Plus it's good exercise and different from speedmarching, dogmarching, and weightlifting.

What kind of dancing are you doing, pax? I'm a swing dancer myself. There are a lot of wonderful people involved, though I've never dated another swing dancer. More's the pity. I love the thought of being able to really cut a rug with my actual SO.

East Coast swing (West Coast looks mighty complicated from here), foxtrot, cha-cha, rumba, two-step, merengue, mambo, waltz, nightclub two-step, hustle (sort of)...I think that's everything. I've been going most Mondays for about six months. I'm basically functional. A lot of the guys and nearly all of the women are smoother than I am, but I'm good enough at this point to relax and have fun just doing the basic steps with the odd turn or promenade or box-step for variety. I'm told I'm really pretty good at merengue, but then, that's an easy one; mambo's pretty fun and easy too. I'm to the point where I can usually converse and dance without losing count.

Once in a while I'll be in a position to help newbies -- typically, I'll grab the new girl and make the the new guy mimic my steps alongside -- when he gets it, I make him cut in.

(Does anyone besides me wonder if BtGoG ever goes out for Hallowe'en parties dressed as Dexter?)

≡ Click to see image ≡

Oh, and fun stuff: Last nite, arriving after two job interviews in a row, I was in a suit and tie for a change. Usually I'm showing up in my old tactical sandals and exercise clothes. Unlike what ZZ Top proclaimed, every girl is not crazy about a sharp-dressed man, but being "doodied up" was a novelty.

thanks for the lol, Pax :) I should go as dexter. Cutting my hair and dyeing it fire engine red is a good idea, too.

If I didn't already own a ghillie suit that's downright disconcerting in non-field contexts, next Hallowe'en I'd get a lab coat, black rubber gauntlet gloves, and do the Dexter thing. Getting my hair temporarily red is easy enough. But I'd have to find a blonde friend who wants to be Dee Dee.


≡ Click to see image ≡

(When you show up for an office Hallowe'en party in black cammie face cream and lots of web gear, that's disconcerting too. Elicited charming exclamations of startledness from some female co-workers last fall.)