Online Dating…

It hasn’t been the first time someone has encouraged me to give “online dating” a go; but each time I try it I SWEAR it will be my last.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not knocking the success potential of a website engineered to bring two complete strangers together in a cosmically romantic collision.  My dad and step-mom are a product of said stars aligning, and have been happily married every since; so I know it can work.  They were the first to actually encourage me to sign up for their successful matchmaker; Date.com.  I guess a 25 year old single daughter who had only really dated 3 guys in her entire existence, seemed to warrant a change of relational pursuit in their minds.  Couple that with small-town living amounting to slim pickin’s, and I decided it was worth a shot.

Yet, as I surfed through the responses I received yesterday on OKCupid – the most recent dating site that my best friend encouraged me to have a go with – I recalled all the reasons why I abandoned online dating to begin with.

It was my previous impression, and a now renewed one, that most of the guys on internet dating sites are creeper McCreeper’s.  Player extraordinaire’s.  Men looking to lengthen their laundry list of women; who have taken the ability to “work a room,” into cyberspace.

Diamond in the ruff, that is what I suppose I was hoping to find every time I logged on to one of these sites; the idea that there had to be another “hopeful” out there, who was giving something as inane as internet dating a shot.  A mentality, I realized, that was no different from the one I carried with me on any given day.  That I would run into my “Ryan Reynolds” and find my happily ever after.

Call me old-fashioned, but I still dream of running into a guy somewhere, having our eyes meet, getting that butterfly feeling, and finding out what his favorite way to spend a Friday night, or the six things he couldn’t live without over a shared cup of coffee in a physical coffee shop.  I would still rather bump into Ryan Reynolds on the Metro than online

Just not feeling the cybercafe.

Anyone had any luck with love online?

Glass Half Full

Two weekends.  Four feet of snow.  Complete isolation.

These are the times that I miss Canada.

We could have three feet of snow in Canada, and it might slow us down an hour or so; but we’d be right back to business as usual.  We are used to waking up on winter mornings and having to shovel the walk and the end of the drive to get our cars out.  Maybe that’s why I found myself compelled to get up every morning these snowy weekends to clean off my car and shovel my parking space.

It was definitely sometime after cleaning off my car that I managed to catch myself a brilliant cold.  Put to good use my mother’s childhood admonishment, “gargle with salt water Renee!”  I hated it then, and avoided it in adulthood; but this morning it seemed like my only chance for relief.

Rendered immobile by snow, and immovable by a cold…relief did come this morning.

As did the sun.

It always seems darkest, and coldest, at night; but the sun eventually returns.  Sometimes life can appear that way too.  Days when you’re walking in valleys that appear so dark the possibility of the sun returning seems an eternity away; and yet, the skies invariably clear, the ground eventually thaws, and the sun comes out again.

Though the sun has returned to VA today, my physical health is still encroached by the cold.  As with all things in life, this too shall pass!

How’s the weather where you are?

Community

Five years.  The time I’ve resided in this apartment complex.

One.  The number of people I’ve gotten to know in those five years.

Three.  The number that has repeated itself thematically in my life over the past few days.

Three is the number of times the BT show has been canceled at Ibiza due to snow. (I’m starting to think I won’t get to see him at all…)

Three is the number of snow storms Virgina has sustained this winter.

Three is the number of neighbors I have met since last weekends blizzard.

There is something blissful about being trapped in this little village I live in.  Buildings upon buildings of individuals who lead individual independent lives; spending more time complaining about the lack of parking or the loud neighbor than getting to know the names of the people they have passed on a daily basis for months on end.

And then it snowed.

I saw strangers helping other strangers push a car out from its captivity.  A group of individuals met at the complex’s gym to watch tv and hang out.  A number of guys from the complex spent the afternoon playing football in the snow.

Life is standing still.  We have time to help our maintenance guys shovel walkways; to stop and admire the brilliance of the debilitating snow.  To see how beautiful and peaceful the world is when it is under a shimmering blanket of white.

When’s the last time it slowed down for you?

Brangelina…

It’s no secret.  Brad Pitt is HOT.  And I loved ”Seven Years (of Brad Pitt);” for the sheer amount of “Brad Pitt.” When I realized there was no way he and I would ever work out it, I was happy to see him and Jennifer Aniston together.

My infatuation waned when Pitt made “Mr. and Mrs. Smith;” though I loved the movie, it infringed on a serious set of ethical standards I hold.  I always wanted Brad to be more morally conscious than he proved himself to be, and now maybe he’s suffering for it?

Identifying with Jennifer Aniston, to some degree, when Brad and Angelina got together shortly after her and Brad split; my heart always went out to her.  College romance failed me miserably; and the boy I thought I loved had no trouble callously tossing away my unending devotion for an exotic replacement.  I couldn’t imagine compounding that pain with tabloid press and billboards…

Fortunately for my ex, his choice has been a “happy ever after,” but it looks like Brad might be regretting his?  Two different ideas of raising children, two different ideas of discipline, and two very different approaches to marriage.  In the end, Brad really is a good ol’ boy and sees marriage as monogamous; where Angie sees it as something that shouldn’t be limited and restrained.  Are we surprised?

Lately, I’ve been using the phrase, “the grass is always greener”…sometimes we might do well to consider that possibility?  At least before we’re six children in and five years invested…or maybe this is all just a publicity stunt.

These Hopeful Machines

Six thousand, one hundred and seventy eight.

That is the number of stutter-edits in BT’s new album that released today.

If you don’t know what a “stutter-edit” is, that’s okay; all you need to know is that this new album synthesizes BT’s ability to lovingly lock synths, six-strings, vocals, space, production advances and master it with pure emotion.

It hasn’t left my iPhone or iMac today; I have been playing it non-stop.  I knew that would be the case when I caught a six minute clip of Every Other Way on BT’s tumblr site last fall.  I think I fell asleep listening to it for three weeks straight.

BT isn’t just another pretty face; he is a compositional genius, who has morphed his affinity for melodic mathematics into something that turns listening to music into an interactive experience.

I am on a long list of people who have met the master-mind “once at a ____” (Fill in the blank); but he is on the list of people I would love to spend a day with watching him do what he does.

Yet, the reality is, I will likely never get that chance to experience that; but a superior second is THM.  I can experience that over and over…

If you are looking for new music, download it from itunes or order it from Amazon ahora!!! Your ears will thank you…I promise.

ExSqueeze Me???

Today I broke free; and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear I was driving through Younge St, Ontario Canada today.  The snow is EVERYWHERE.

I missed Starbucks; so I picked up my Grande Vanilla Misto in thirds and headed across the street to Walmart.  This past weekend I ate myself out of house and home.  That wasn’t too hard to do, since I don’t keep very much food here anyway; no point in cooking for one.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one.  I hadn’t seen so many shopping carts over flowing with food items at one time since Supermaker Sweep.

Except everyone today looked far less cosmopolitan and WAY more motley crew.

I had a longer list than usual, since it’s projected to snow AGAIN this weekend and I want to be prepared this time.  Veggie Lasagna (homemade) and frozen pizza, among other things, was on my grocery treasure hunt; and as I steered down the frozen food isle I found a guy and his buggy parked right in front of the door I needed into.

Sigh. If only he was that attractive…

Instead, he was a tall, skinny, 50-something black man with diamond earrings and a gold tooth.  The rest of the story went like this:

Me: “Do you mind if I squeeze past you?”

Strange Man in 50’s: “Course not.”

Me: “Thank you.”

Strange Man in 50’s: “How about I squeeze you into my pockets and take you home with me?”

Me: Silence.

I hope it stops snowing soon…

One Day at a Time…

It’s been forty-eight hours…plus some….and still counting.

Luckily, we have a new gym here at the apartment complex; so I spend about an hour there each day.  Today, after the gym, I borrowed a shovel from the neighbor and decided I’d keep my gym bag in the truck until I was done digging my car out of the snow for the fourth time.  I unlocked the trunk, threw my bag in, and as I was slamming it shut the thought raced through my mind, ‘your keys are in the gym bag.’  I quickly pat my hands around my coat pockets; my pant pockets; then I frantically pulled on the trunk handle, “Noooooo!!!”

I was left standing in the parking lot with just a shovel and my encased vehicle; no keys to my apartment, no keys to my car, no keys to the gym, nothing.

I don’t know what happens to you when crisis hits, but I immediate move into resolution mode.  How can I fix this??

Long story short, due to the snow, the apartment maintenence guys were around shoveling on hour 32 of overtime.  They got the skeleton key from the rental office; I got in my apartment and called AAA; and within about 30 minutes I had my keys back in my hands.

Yes. My hair is blond.

I would rather blame it on the severe case of cabin fever I’m suffering from; unable to drive anywhere.  I even fell on my way to the gym today, because I stepped on black ice and my feet came flying up from underneath me.  I quickly glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed my crash; but everyone was still holed up in their apartments at 8:30am this morning.

The plan is to get into my car tomorrow and venture onto the “city” streets; but until then, I’m just taking it one day at a time…how was your weekend??  Anyone else out there been house-bound and loosing it?? :p

SNOW

I just got back from shoveling the snow and clearing off my car for the second time today.  I had to smile, because the only people I met outside today were northerners who knew if they didn’t clear the snow now, our cars would be popsicles by morning!

This has been a strange winter for Virginia.  The irony for me is, I have seen more snow here in VA this year than I did in Canada when I was home for two weeks at Christmas time!

Here’s what today looked like:

I have been living in this apartment for nearly two years and only today did I meet some of the people from my building.  I even met a girl from the building across the road who was literally leaping around in the snow as I was trudging out to my car this morning.  I said hello and muttered something about all the snow under my breath, and she chirped, “I LOVE the snow, this is the first time I’ve ever seen it!!!”

As I watched her continue to frolic around in what I viewed as a lot of white nuisance; I smiled thinking about the differences in perspectives in life.  What is some peoples pain is others pleasure; some peoples trash is others treasure.

Maybe all we need in life sometimes is a little perspective?

The Second Gig…

Wednesday was my second gig; I played at a friends local restaurant:

This came roughly a month after my first gig ever; and it also came with a night full of surprises.  Here was the biggest one…

I had written two more songs since my last show, on the guitar, and had added them to what had become a two-set list; half on piano and half on guitar.  I had a number of friends, ranging from my college years to the past couple, show up to support me; along with new friends that I met after my show!  My friend Leslie, who I met through Marty, had invited some of her “friends.”  She told me she was bringing some friends, and I thought it was to fill the room…turns out there was purpose.

After I finished my first set on the keys, Leslie came up and introduced me to a choreographer from VSA (Virginia School of the Arts).  Kids come from all over the country/world to attend this school and learn ballet and contemporary dance.  He had heard my song “What I need;” and envisioned choreography to the song.  What he wanted to do was have me record that song next week, they would be in rehearsal all semester, and it would be in their spring show with me singing my song live as the VSA students dance.

I nearly fainted.

MY SONG MIGHT BE PERFORMED LIVE IN THE VSA BALLET SHOW!!!

I’m supposed to go into the recording studio next week…and even as I type this, I am reveling in how life happens; almost always when we least expect it

Lady Gaga…

For those who missed my Facebook post, or don’t happen to be my Facebook friend, this is what happened at Subway today.

I had on a white guy’s A&E hoodie, black sunglasses and ripped jeans with furry sketcher slip ons.  It was 11:30am and I was SO thankful there were only two people ahead of me in line.  The guy directly in front of me kept looking at me sideways.  Not entirely uncommon, students I’ve taught in the past exhibit similar behaviors when we encounter each other years down the road.  I glanced back to see if I recognized him, in time for his eye to catch mine; he seized the opportunity and said, “Lady Gaga??”

It took me a minute to process his tone of voice.   Did he really think I was her??  Which might have been why I sarcastically said, “Really???”

He said, “Uhh, Yeah.”

He wasn’t kidding.

“Uhh, NO.”

I do not know much about this musician (if one could call her that); but I know enough that I do not care much for what music I’ve heard of hers on the radio; I understand she doesn’t have a decent reputation; and she is probably the last person I’d want to be mistaken for.

Still, from what few pictures I’d come across, I never thought I saw my reflection in any of them.

REALLY??