Seventeen Dates

Audrey Hepburn once said, "Happy girls are the prettiest."

Let's just say that I have a lot of pretty pictures from last weekend.

(I hope you assume from the title that this will be a long post, because it will be. Very long. But considering that I haven't written anything in over two weeks, I think it's due to be.)


1.
The Filmmaker showed up on Friday night, and kept saying that being here seemed "surreal." It did for me as well. I wasn't sure how to handle it at first. It's strange to have some sort of prior relationship to someone that has mostly been handled through electronic communication. Our primary methods up until that point had been long-winded emails and frequent text messaging. (It was actually similar to meeting bloggers for the first time... the difference being that my crushes on bloggers were non-sexual ones.)

We hung around my kitchen for a bit. We ate carrots and some cookies I had baked earlier in the day. And he was right; it was surreal. Suddenly he was a real person again to me, and not just someone that I had been sending texts on my breaks.


2.
I took him to go see The Winter's Tale. I summarized the first half of it for him before it started, not really because I thought he needed it (the production is remarkably clear, in my opinion), but rather because I greatly enjoy summarizing Shakespeare in vernacular ("And then Leontes was like, 'No ju dihn't!'").

We got seats dead center in the mezzanine (my favorites in the house) because the people who work at the box office are awesome and they like me. And it was lovely.

At one point during the play, we both laughed, and I made a move that's bolder than I'd usually make; I reached for his hand. He took mine, and held it for the remainder of the play.


3.
We got back to my place and talked for awhile. He looked at the clock, and then said, "So... do you want your Valentine's Day present now, or in 4 minutes when it's actually Valentine's Day?"

I was surprised. Generally, I'm not a big fan of surprises, as they make me uncomfortable and off-balance a bit, but I tried not to show it. He went to his car and then gave me a gift bag. He apologized for not wrapping it. He wrote me a card (addressed to "Aeia"... he was guessing on the spelling of my nickname, which is "Aiea", and then proceeded to verbally beat himself up for getting it wrong).

The card read "The world needs more girls like you to save it. I hope this helps." And in the bag, there was a tiara and a cape.

Why? Because the About Me section of my Facebook profile read: I am fairly certain that given a cape and a nice tiara, I could save the world.

I believe I've mentioned before on this blog that silly, dorky, private joke sorts of presents beat candy and flowers any day of the week. Opening that bag was the moment I truly knew that this guy was cut from the right fabric, and that I wanted to try him on for size.


4.
I had my understudy run for The Imaginary Invalid on Saturday morning (which had originally been The Filmmaker's excuse for coming down here; he wanted to see my classmates and me acting on stage). He sat in the audience and was... lovely. Delightful. Splendid. I spoke to him at intermission, and then after the run he brought me a flower and told me how wonderfully he thought I'd done. And was just generally adorable.

As a side note, I got a lot of really positive feedback. And the director didn't give me ANY NOTES on how to improve my performance in the role... So I think I may have rocked it. One of my donors came out to see the run. It was the first time she had ever seen me act, and she loved it. It felt really great to make her proud.


5.
We went back to my condo and I made him lunch. Nothing too exciting, just pasta and salad. But it was a huge deal for me. I barely cook for myself, let alone other people. I made Boyfriend #2 a turkey sandwich once, but he ended up going to McDonald's after eating because he was still hungry... So I feel like this was the first time I'd ever really made someone else a meal. I felt kind of like a grown-up. And that was nice.


6.
We walked around the grounds of a famous estate in town.


Every time I turned around, he was taking a picture of me without me knowing it.



Of course, I convinced him to take some of the two of us.



We drove around town, getting out of the car whenever we saw something that looked pretty.






7.
Some of my schoolmates put on a production that they called "The Love Late Night", which involved a collection of scenes, monologues, songs, poetry, and movement pieces all focused on the theme of love. The Filmmaker and I loved it. (Best part? My classmate Iceman proposed to his girlfriend on stage, and she said yes. It was so adorable!) And even though we were watching things about love on Valentine's Day, it wasn't weird.

Afterward, I mentioned to The Filmmaker that it was a little funny that our first date had been on Friday the 13th, and our second was on Valentine's Day. He said that meant things evened out.


8.
I knew I had to work on load-in for a show, so we just sat around and talked all morning. And it was lovely. And I really didn't want to leave.


9.
While I was gone, he had tried to research nice restaurants in the area to take me to. He had packed his suit, which he had only previously worn to his film school interview. I tried on a bunch of different dresses, trying to figure out what to wear. He voted for the blue dress, so that's what I went with.


It was a date. A real date. I hadn't been on a date since... Brian. Last May, the weekend that he broke up with me.


10.
When we got back to my place, I realized that I didn't have my keys, and we were locked out. So we decided to start driving around town again, anywhere and everywhere. Eventually, we stopped at a Coldstone and talked over ice cream. Delicious idea. And by the time we got back home, one of my roommates was around to let us in. And then we slow-danced in my living room. And it was good.


11.
Originally, he was supposed to leave Monday morning, but we were having such a good time that I talked him into staying longer.

He said that he wanted to do something nice for my friends/schoolmates. So he said he would make tacos, and that I should invite them all over. D-Train and O.D. were the only ones who showed up, but it was fun anyway. The Filmmaker is hardcore about making tacos, and he makes his own shells. I hadn't had a taco in years, but they were great. I was a little impressed.


12.
He insisted on driving us to a Mac repair store to try to get a replacement power cord for Lady MacBook (because clearly he is a nerd who understands my computer addiction). It was a bust, but it was endearing.

While we were out, I decided that we should hit up the art museum and circus museum.

We also went inside the mansion at that famous estate we'd wandered.





13.
I finally had to start work on the thing I'd been avoiding all weekend: my Titus Andronicus paper for my analysis class.

The Filmmaker somehow fit his 6'5" body onto on of our not-very-big couches, and sat there working on some homework of his own that didn't have nearly as pressing of a due date.
It was lovely. There was a nice synergy in the room.

I didn't end up finishing my paper on time, but that had more to do with me having problems with understanding the action of the play than it had to do with The Filmmaker being a distraction over the weekend (as proof of that: when I met with my Analysis Professor and raised the issues I'd come across while writing the paper, he said that I'd changed HIS mind about the action of the play, and he felt like he was now at a loss for a sound answer).


14.
When we took a dinner break from our writing assignments, we watched Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. We put on the subtitles (because I've seen it more than he has), and sang the musical together. So much fun.


15.
He wanted to come to my Acting class on Tuesday. Unfortunately, he showed up on the day that my scene partner and I did a mediocre job (seriously, we'd been rocking the scene for two weeks, and then the day The Filmmaker showed up was the day it was weak. Horrible timing). But he was so supportive about it, and kept saying how great it was to get another opportunity to see me act. And how in everything I've done (he's also seen me in two filmed scenes and the understudy run) I transform into something completely different. And he's just... charming about it.


Side Story...
I had Analysis class after Acting, so I gave him my house key so that he could go back and get some work done. But when I got home, he wasn't there. When he finally showed up, he walked in with two fluorescent light bulbs to replace the ones that have been burnt out in our bathroom for the last three months. He said that they're not being made anymore and that he had to search a bit to find them. How cute is he?


16.
We went out and got a massive quantity of Chinese food with the intention of coming back to my place and watching Atonement (I'd borrowed it from Wifey because I had been telling The Filmmaker that he should see it). Instead, we just ended up sitting, eating, and talking. Somehow, it seemed like a waste of our remaining time together to watch a movie. We were too busy enjoying each other's company.

17.
Wednesday, he stuck around through lunchtime, just to be able to spend just a little more time with me. We ate leftover reheated Chinese food. And it was hard to say goodbye after that. I begged him to stay, but he really needed to get back (and I'd already gotten him for 53 hours longer than I had originally anticipated -- yes, I counted the hours).





So that's the story of my whirlwind romance with The Filmmaker.


At one point while he was here, he said that a friend had texted him to ask how the trip was going. The Filmmaker's response was that if you divided it into chunks every few hours, every block of time was seriously in the running for the best date of his life.

A couple of days after he left, I asked him if he'd decided what the visit counted as. One long date? One date for every day he'd been here? His text message response was:

"115 hours total, minus apprx 35 hours of sleep and maybe 12 hours of you being occupied elsewhere equals 68 hours. If a good date is four hours, that's 17 dates. How's my math? Close enough to put on your blog?"

And that text, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly why I like this guy. Because he tried to figure it out mathematically. Because he's adorkable. And because he's excited about the idea that he's on my blog (and doesn't mind not reading it).

The funny thing is, I made my outline for this post BEFORE I asked him that question, and I ended up with 17 events. So I guess his math was right indeed.

Before he left, we had a conversation about what we are now. We left it at that we're dating, but he's not my boyfriend. And I think that's a good place for it to be at the moment. I'm happy.


May every date be in serious consideration for the best date of your life.

~A~


P.S. I hope this super long post was worth the wait.

The Filmmaker

(Me with one of the film directing students. 01/31/09)

Once upon a time, I was writing a novel. Someday, I hope to get back to it. And in the meanwhile, I'm just going to continue to live out situations that seem like the sorts of things I might've written into the novel if I'd kept working at it.

I recently had been concerned about not being the leading lady in my own life. But that's not true at all. I'm the protagonist of a long, winding romantic comedy.

I've been iffy on The Engineer for awhile, as I've mentioned. A couple of weeks ago, he asked if he could take me out to dinner, like an actual date. I said yes, mostly because I keep thinking about that Marilyn Monroe quotation, "Ever notice how 'What the hell' is always the right answer?"

I was sick, so when he called that night to make plans, I was less than enthusiastic about the idea. He started tossing out restaurant ideas, and all I wanted to do was sleep. I told him I felt seriously awful (because I did), and that I thought it might be better to wait until another night. He said that he was leaving his house right then, and that I should take a 15-minute nap. He said we'd figure everything out when he got here.

So I, looking beyond terrible, took my favorite green gingham blanket downstairs and curled up on the couch. After 15 minutes had passed and he hadn't shown up, I was secretly relieved. I hoped he wouldn't show up at all. I went back to sleep.

When my phone finally rang, he said that he was at the door. I opened it, still wearing a blanket, to find him holding a bouquet of yellow daisies. He handed me a card that read (and I quote), "I always have an amazing time when I'm with you!! I hope you can bless me with that gorgeous smile of yours tonight!"

He then brought two bags of groceries into my house, saying, "I figured that since you were sick, I'd just cook you dinner over here." And he did.

What's more, while making dinner, he quoted three (THREE!) of my favorite movies (Animal House, Boondock Saints, and The 40-Year Old Virgin). So we watched The 40-Year Old Virgin and ate dinner, and it was positively lovely.

He's called me nearly every night since then wanting to hang out. He's dropped by my place a few times and hung out for hours. He's really interesting, and good to talk to.

I know what you're thinking. This guy is great. He's really sweet. He clearly likes me a lot. And I should be falling head over heels for him right now.

So why aren't I?

I don't know what it is, but I'm just not that into him. Whenever he leaves, I keep thinking, "I should like you more than I do." But as I stated as a New Year's Resolution, I'm not going to talk myself into anything; it only gets me hurt in the long run.

I also felt weird about it when he asked me what I was doing on Friday, and I told him I had been invited to a party (I said it in a "Sorry, but I have plans Friday" kind of way). His response was, "Oh, that sounds like fun. We should totally go."

Wait, what? Where did he come up with this "we" that he mentioned? When did we get to the point that he could assume things? When did he decide that he was automatically my date?

I guess it made me think of Boyfriend #2... The guy who started calling himself my boyfriend when I was telling him that it was casual dating and I was still seeing other people. And I hated that. I hated that assumption then, and I hate it now. And although this guy is doing everything else right, it sort of made me resent him. I haven't seen him since he said it (that was Wednesday).



And I should mention that there's a Part II of this story. There's one more reason that I won't talk myself into The Engineer...

Last week, when the film directing students were in town, I went out three nights in a row. And I really bonded with two of them. They were really cool guys, and the three of us hung out two of the nights until ungodly hours of the morning. It might've been the most fun weekend I've had since I've been down here (and I've had some fun weekends).

The went back to their main campus, which is 5 hours away, but have stayed in contact. At first, all I could think about was how much spending time with them reminded me of hanging out with my friends Greg and Mike in undergrad. If those guys lived in my town, surely, we'd be the best of buddies. We'd hang out and watch Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, and sing along to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog together (things that they appreciate as much as I do).

And then it turned into something else. A crush. I totally have a crush on one of them. The one in the picture on the top of this post, in fact (I wish I didn't look so stupid in it, as I think he looks particularly charming).

He shall henceforth be known as The Filmmaker (creative, I know).

He emailed me the day after he left. It was filled with compliments and sweet things. He said that hanging out with me had been good for him. And that he thought my attitude was "inspiring." "After checking out your Facebook, I managed to get even more depressed that film school isn't in [town]... What a drag to be exposed to such cool people and then just head on home."

And he's been texting me ever since, and we've been writing long emails on a daily basis. He's completely adorkable, and I totally dig it. He wants to come down and visit me next weekend (yes, even though it's a 5-hour drive) because he has the rare blessing of a few days off. And I really, really, really want him to.

I have this jumping feeling in my stomach when he texts me. I get all giddy when I'm reading his emails. I have reverted back into a middle school girl. It's a bit pathetic, but it feels so good. I don't know how or why, but this guy that I barely know has brought the giggly kind of joy into my life.

Maybe that's weird. Maybe this is too fast. Maybe I'm projecting things onto him that aren't actually there, because I'm only communicating with him through the written word.

Maybe it's because he seems like a perfect blend of the two guys from my past whom I've cared the most about. He's a filmmaker and he writes me rambling emails, just like Boyfriend #1. And he was in the Air Force and loves geeky things, just like Brian.

And I just keep thinking about how guilty I feel about everything with The Engineer.

*********************************************

Okay, so I wrote that much of this post, but then didn't post it.

And since then, this film student has officially asked me out on a date. And I accepted. Cheerfully so. Via text message.

Is that weird? Oh man, I don't even care anymore. I really like this guy! And he's driving 5 hours to take me out! *fans self*

I feel giddy, giggly, and gleeful. I am so very excited, I can't even tell you. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

The Engineer texted me to hang out tonight, but I told him that I was going to bed. And I am. I plan to dream about The Filmmaker.


May something exciting keep you from settling for something nice.

~A~