Reeling 'Em In and Striking Out

WARNING: I don't mean it like that. I apologize. I realize that this blog has serious potential for me to lose any cool points I might have. If you think I am cool or you are a lady, do not proceed in reading this. Oh, and yes I know, I think too much. It's just what I do.

You know, you'd think I'd be good at this whole going out on dates thing and that I could probably pick up any girl that I wanted because I have done it so much. Not so. I suck at this. I just like to take girls out and get to know them. It's not like I want a girlfriend. If something is there it's there, if it's not, it's not. Life goes on and I take another girl out. I'm trying to have fun with the college dating scene. But, it doesn't work too well when everybody double takes at the fact that I went on a date. It's like people think that I'm looking for a girlfriend when ever I ask them out. I mean, it doesn't happen a lot that I ask people on dates, but when I do, there seems to be an unspoken expectation that I am looking for something more. I have noticed however, that when the girl is not expecting anything either I have a really good time. Because she is relaxed, I am relaxed and neither are expecting anything to happen after the date. And it's like a pleasant surprise if something does.

I was talking to a friend of mine and I was telling her that I think that in order to get somebody really special - you know the kind you are really impressed with and you really want to work - than you have to do something really special for them to get their attention. She agreed and said that she usually will never consider a guy unless he goes out on a limb.

Well, you know, I've never been shy when it comes to girls and I how know how to treat 'em right and go out on a limb and all that jazz. But I tend to get a little impatient or aggressive (in an unphysical way) when I see something I want. Sometimes that is unattractive to a girl. Sort of overbearing. I just want to get to know her and either proceed with her or move on. You see, I have a high at bat average. Not a high hitting average or strike out average. I am at the plate more than the usual guy. I think its because guys, myself included, strike out more than they hit. However, they tend get discouraged. Not me, I strike out and I'm right back at the plate to take another pitch. I'm fearless when it comes to striking out. No shame.

I think the way to do it is to sort of reel 'em in slowly. Like the Old Man and the Sea. You've got a line in your hands with something good on the other end. If you reel too fast the line is gonna slip through your hands. You gotta keep 'em on edge, keep 'em thinking about ya. Wondering if you're gonna call soon because you haven't in a few days. I tend to call too soon and ask out too soon. Hadn't worked too well.

Another problem of mine. I was watching Swingers and the supporting actor said something that sort of clicked. He was telling the main actor how to act when asking a girl out. He said "don't go over there and be the guy in the PG-13 movie that everybody is rooting for and you really hope he does good. Be that guy in the Rated R movie that everyone is not too sure about yet, kind of mysterious." I am totally that guy in the PG-13 movie. I think I am too nice sometimes. Too nice, too soon.

Another thought. There is something to be said at having to work at starting a relationship. It is worth while to say that there is nothing quite like getting a girl you've been working for to finally start liking you. I think that is a good foundation for a relationship. Fighting for something that you want, not just given to you. I don't think I have ever had that before. I have never worked at the beginnings of a relationship. Either I got her and decided to move on or I didn't get her and decided to move on. It's the latter of the two that makes me think "what if she is really cool and I am just giving up too soon." I don't know. Guess you can't live life like that. Wondering "what if." It will make you insane.

Question: Is a guy fighting for a girl better? The knight in shining armor overcoming rejection and proving valiant enough to win over her heart. Or is the guy playing hard to get better? Giving the girl small waifs of a good scent making her want more and more.

Conclusion: You can't go wrong with being patient. There is no harm in waiting. Either way it works out: you get the girl thinking or catch 'em with an unexpected surprise.

DISCLAIMER: I didn't mean it like that. I apologize. I realize that I may have just lost some serious cool points with anybody who used to think I was cool or with any ladies that have just read this. Oh, and yes I know, I think too much. It's just what I do.

Cathartic Confessions

Electricity to a house is like blood to a body. Cold, colorless, and silent are characteristics that accurately describe the Sigma Nu house, my home, this weekend. I couldn't stand to be in this place without that certain aspect of life that electricity brings to it. There was just a strange eeriness hanging in the air. I could hear every little sound that this old house made. As soon as that noise would fade into the distance there was a sudden silence. It was so thick and lonely, I couldn't think about anything else except for where I would rather be. I don't think it is quite what Simon and Garfunkle meant, but the sounds of silence in this case made me jittery and uneasy when sitting in my dark room.

I came home around 5 in the morning after an eventful and movie-filled evening and pull up to an unusually dark house. No flood lights on outside and no trace of hall lights peeping through shut window blinds. I gave a casual thought to a scary movie I just saw called...well...Saw. I open the house door and, not at first but before the door shuts behind me, I realize there are no lights in the house. There are no lights anywhere. I flip the hall light switch a few times to no avail. Quickly retreating back to my car, not having the patience and energy to troubleshoot the problem and...well...not frightened but...well...out of "caution," I returned to the house where I watched the movies and crashed on the couch.

The next morning I went back to the house full of ambition and determination to get the joint jumping with juice again. Like any normal person, I first check the breaker box. The breaker box is a metal box that houses several switches. When these switches are on, it allows electricity to freely flow, lighting and heating the air and water of you home. These switches act as a safety device and will actually turn themselves off whenever the circuits are overloaded. When certain switches are off, certain parts of the house do not receive any electricity. To turn them back on and allow electricity to flow again, you just simply switch it back on. It is exactly like a light switch controlling the flow of electricity to and from the light bulb. The breaker switches control the flow of electricity to and from your house. In short, they keep your house from blowing up. So I venture outside toward all the other electric stuff of which I have no clue is used for and find the dimly lit closet that houses our water heater, some pipes, lots of dust, and, of course, our beloved breaker box. I open the breaker box and Ah-ha! Elementary, Watson, elementary. Three of the breakers were not lined up with the others, just simply flip them over. Well, nothing happened. With my confidence draining I am out of ideas, just like most other normal people after flipping a few switches in the breaker box. I call an old trusted friend to help solve the mystery and he suggests calling the city utility guys to give it a look.

So I call the city electrical department and in no time, thanks to Ruston's fine utility service, some electrical guys showed up with some fancy tools and big trucks. Yeah that's right, the trucks with the cool lift basket showed up. I had to swallow the question to ride it many times over in order to maintain a responsible, unimpressed air. You know, that attitude all guys get when around guys that know more about "guy stuff" than they do. Anyways, the city utility guys first check the breaker box and then check the meter reader thing and conclude that there was nothing wrong with the power being supplied by the city and that I needed to contact an electrician to fix any further problems.

Well, it being the weekend, electricians are hard to come by and I had to go to work. So I sat on it for a while and called a few people I know telling them about the strange power outage that occurred to the Sigma Nu, "yeah, no other houses on the street....yeah, just ours...yeah, I know, it's weird." The first thing everyone asked was if I checked the breaker box. "Yeah yeah, I know I know....I did that already..." with a sound of annoyance every time it was asked...as if they thought I didn't know what I was doing. I would say, "Of course I checked the breaker box!" and then I would try to one up them with some fancy electricity talk I learned from my circuits class last year by randomly throwing in some words like "fuse box","transistors","op amps", I might have even said something about "magnetic permeability," who knows. But, regardless, I kept my know-it-all-about-guy-stuff stature in check, that was the important thing.

Sunday rolled around and still we are without. At work again, I finally reached an electrician who was willing to check the problem out. I left work to go meet the guy and, of course, insulting me, as he carries his bulky fancy electrical tools, the first thing he checks is the breaker box. So I go and sit at a distance, but within view, not wanting to irritate him by nosing around and looking over his shoulder. Next he retrieves a flashlight from his truck. Like an uncertain student handing the finished test to the professor, I thought "maybe I should have looked at it a bit longer before calling him." Three seconds later he leans his head out of the closet and asks, "This is the season when the Lakers turn off?" Utterly confused, "what?" He asks again, this time purposely over-emphasizing clarity, "Is there a reason why all the breakers are turned off?" Uh-oh. I hurry over there and come up with some lame excuse like someone must have been pulling a prank or something. I watched my house come back alive as the electrician simply switched all the breakers on. I had a hard time looking the guy in the face after that. I am such an idiot!

However, in an attempt at my defense: first, when I checked the breakers the first time, who would have thunk it that ALL the breakers would switch off, except three. I simply aligned those three with the 37 other breakers. Second, the city electric guys didn't even catch it. Third, the genius electrician with the flashlight, admitted that it was a dark room and it was hard to read the labels as I disgruntledly scribbled him a check for $82.50...grrr.

So, if you could, let's try to keep this little episode just between you and me.

Thanks to all of you who helped me out during this dark period. A special thanks goes out to Jared and Amanda whose sincerity and kindness is something I admire and strive for in my own actions.