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This is my 200th post on the blog! The bicentpost, it should be a good one!

Yesterday was quite an intense day, dating wise. I felt like I went from one date to the next, with little down time in between. I'm sure you can imagine that by the time I got to drinks for the last date, I was a little fried, and definitely exhausted.

The first date of the day (I don't count the end of the google date as the first date because it was ending, not beginning yesterday!) was with the music teacher from PA. We had talked on the phone a few times, and I had mentioned that we had a pretty strong connection - at least musically. We talked about our favorite songs for 2009, and what would be on our own cds if we made a "best of 2009" CD. I had thought about making my own CD, and bringing it to him on the date, as sort of a fun way to introduce some of the music I listen to. It's an interesting way to get to know someone better. But, I never got around to burning a copy of my CD, which I did make (if anyone wants a copy!) He, however, did make me a cd, and interestingly enough, had about 5 of the same artists, and 3 of the same songs even. He volunteers at the radio station I primarily listen to and has seen a lot of the same concerts I have. He was actually the same concert I went to in Upper Darby in November at the Tower. There's definitely a musical connection there, but that doesn't mean there is a good dating connection!

We met up for lunch not far from where Mr. Perfect lived, so I was pretty confident about where I was going and how to get there. Unfortunately, some of the roads down in true South Jersey are confusing, and long story short, I got lost. I showed up about 15 minutes late, but I did call him and let him know, so hopefully he didn't care too much. My first impression of him, which probably is going to be a less than ideal description, is that he looked a lot like Peter Griffin from Family Guy. Yes, I just compared the guy I went out with to a cartoon character. So, he's on the bigger side, not huge, but some extra pounds, which I actually prefer on a guy. That's not the part that made him look like a cartoon character, it was something about his face, and his hair cut, and the combination that gave him a very distinct Peter Griffin look. While I find Family Guy to be an amusing show, I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for in a guy.

We had lunch, he gave me his cd, and I'd say 90% of the conversation was about music. We have a great shared interest in the same type of music, so that is definitely great that we can talk about it. 5% of the conversation I'd say was dedicated to talking about teaching and doing things school-related. This means the last 5% of the conversation was spent talking about things other than school or music. That's not a whole lot, that encompasses our food selection, how weird our waitress was, a little bit of sports talk, some minimal talk about books (he does not read for pleasure, which inevitably lead the conversation back to music...) and that's pretty much about it. It wasn't the best date I've been on, but it definitely wasn't the worst. He invited me to go to a free concert with him on Thursday at noon, but seeing as it's New Year's Eve, and I am not really interested in pursuing this further than friendship, I'm not sure if that sends the wrong message. So, I gave him my copy of my Frightened Rabbit cd, and we left it at my car without a hug or anything, but with the invitation for Thursday up in the air. I definitely should let him know that I'd like to be friends, but nothing more than that.

After 24 hours where I've spent more time on a date than off of one, I was nervous about the 3rd date. I was also exhausted and not thinking clearly at all. Somehow I told him about the blog. He was adamant that he did not want me to blog about him, so I'm not going to blog about it. I am going to email it. If you want to know the story, email me here and you'll get the auto-response about the date. It will be set up to automatically respond to any email with the entire blog, so if you want the story send an email to me (can be an empty email, it's going to auto respond to any email sent to this account!). Use a fake email address, make one up, it does not matter. I don't know why I'm doing this guy any favors actually, he was really a tool about it, and acted like I was doing him some sort of injustice by posting about our date. Like anyone would know who he was, or would care to seek it out enough to find out who he is. But I promised I wouldn't, so if you want the story, and it was a ridiculous date on all accounts, shoot me an email. There will not be a second date for this one!

In May, this blog will be 4 years old, which is amazing to think about everything that's transpired over these past 4 years. Dates, relationships, broken hearts, stalkers (and stalking!), and I'm not done yet! Thanks for reading.

** Update**
Since I've turned off the email automated response - and because I have no plans of going on a date with this guy again - I'm posting the details of the date below. This is exactly what the email response was, so it was written from my perspective when the date actually happened, not how I remember it now. (1/24/10)

So you want to know what happened on this date?

It was crazy. I'm not sure if it was because I was so tired, or
because I had been on 2 other dates within 24 hours, and this one
brought me back very close to where things transpired with the Google
guy. As I was waiting outside this guy's apartment building, I
actually thought about scraping the date, texting the Google guy, and
going over there instead! This tells me that I like the Google guy a
lot, and he's probably going to end up winning this battle. But, I
didn't text him, and I stayed to go on this date. First things, this
was the 3rd Jewish date, all before the New Year, I met my goal and
passed it! But in reality, the other 2 Jews did not live up to any
great expectations! So, we met at his place. I didn't go up or
anything, but he mentioned wanting to meet at his place because he
doesn't have a car in the city, so he couldn't get anywhere further
than his neighborhood. That's fine, but I probably would have been
more comfortable meeting up at bar or something like that. We met
outside his apartment building, and walked over to a bar anyway, so
why would couldn't just meet there, I don't know! We got to the bar,
and they were mid-Quizzo, which is fun for a date! I've had a few good
Quizzo dates, and we're both pretty smart, it would be fun to
challenge ourselves, see what answers we knew, even if we weren't
competing. The table next to us was heavily into it, and they had an
extra answer sheet, which they let us borrow. The format was the
questions were on a sheet of paper and you had to answer the questions
and turn it in to the Quiz master. This was by far the easiest quizzo
round I had ever seen, plus they gave you clues next to each question.
Basically giving away the answers. We got ALL but 2, we didn't get
all the locations for the Summer Olympics, and we missed Jimmy Carter
as the 3rd American Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from 2000 - 2009. All
in all, not bad. We helped out the table next to us with a few
questions, and I thought we'd get back to having a normal
conversation/date once the round was over. The final round was a
round robin where the Quiz master came to every table and they had to
name a team that was in at least 2 BCS bowls in this decade. I had no
interest in helping or trying to help, but the guy I was on the date
with really wanted to be involved in the whole process. He was
constantly trying to get the table's attention and give his opinion.
It would have been cute if it hadn't been our first date and I felt
like a game of Quizzo was trumping any conversation we could be
having. In the end, the table next to us won, and bought us a round
of drinks, which I don't think was why he wanted to help them, he
just wanted to be involved.

So how did the blog come out during this date, I'm sure you are
wondering... After 2 drinks, very little sleep, and my 3 date in 24
hours, my brain doesn't make the best decisions. We were talking
about lying, and I mentioned that I'm a really bad liar. I can't lie
or when I do I feel so guilty about it, I usually confess anyway,
which obviously doesn't really fare so well for me. So, he asked when
that ever came into play in dating, and I mentioned the email that I
sent to the photographer about looking at his pictures and confessing
the whole thing. Which obviously led to a conversation about googling
people before you go out with them (which I believe most people do,
this guy acted like he was horrified at the idea that I may have
googled him before we met - which I did, and I told him that.) So,
this conversation led to how the internet causes problems with
privacy and how people become a little egocentric when it comes to web
2.0 applications... like a blog. I mentioned the blog without
thinking about the fact that he would ask me what I blogged about.
When asked something flat out like that, I can't lie on the spot. I'm
horrible at it. So, I stumbled and stammered a bit, and eventually it
came out that I blog about dating. He asked if he was going to be on
the blog. To which I replied that he didn't have to be if he didn't
want to be. Why would I tell him that? Why couldn't I just lie and
say no?

He strikes me as being very very very high on himself. He's really
smart and we had some good conversations, which definitely felt like a
mental workout at times, not always in a good way. I felt like every
statement I made, he challenged. I was constantly having to defend
things I said or opinions I had, which is fine, I am a good debater,
but I didn't feel like it was a friendly debate. At times I felt like
he was almost attacking me. We finished up our drinks and walked
back to his place. He changed his tune considerably once we got
outside the bar. He's got his arm around me, and he's being funny and
kind. So when he invites me up to his place, I went. There really
was no pretense of why else I would go up there, other than to make
out. Which is exactly what happened. I was way too tired to be there,
and I felt like I probably should have left after the bar. But I
wanted to see this through, because I was so interested in this date
before hand, because at the beginning of the original 8, he was the
one that I really wanted to meet. It was pretty late by the time I
was ready to leave, and he brought up the blog again somehow. I
again, had to be on the defensive about why I blog about dates. He
actually said to me, it's strange because you seem like a really kind
and caring person, I can't believe you would do that to someone. He
may have a point, that blogging about my dates is unfair to the guys,
but I don't give up their identity, I don't post really intimate
details. If for some reason, one were to find it, and ask for
something to be removed, I would. But to be honest, I feel like
blogging is no different than writing it out in an email to all of my
friends of the latest dates I've been on, and sending it to them. He
then goes on and on about how a blog leaves a bigger digital footprint
than an email, and how privacy settings/standards are different. He
went on and on about how terrible it was that I blogged about my
dates, and it really changed how he saw me. Basically he really was
being a prick about it, made me feel like crap right before I left,
and solidified my opinion that I did not want to see him at all, ever
again. But he wanted to kiss me goodbye. I honestly don't think he
saw anything wrong with his comments and how he was being towards me.