SXSW: The Non-Date Date

The second day of SXSWi was interesting and exhausting. There were several dating bloggers in town for SXSWi, and I was hoping to meet them. Some were people that I didn't know well, and others were people that I'd talked to relatively often. I also love meeting people from online and seeing what they're really like in person.  You know to see if my idea of who they are matches who they really are.

I'm not usually very far off, but sometimes I'm surprised.

So I tried to get the ball rolling on meeting, and got one of them to bite, and waited for them to tell me what party they were going to, so I could meet them there.

In the meantime, I went to various parties. Most were boring. Since I found most people at SXSWi intimidating, I'm wasn't really that outgoing. I wasn't quite the wallflower either, but interupting cliques to introduce myself.. not really my style, especially since I could not think of an interesting thing to say. 

So I ended up waiting in line at this party that was about over. One of the things I was disappointed about at SXSWi is that most of the parties, whether you RSVP'd ahead of time, whether or not you had a badge, you still had to wait in freaking line for at minimum 20 minutes to enter, sometimes you'd wait an hour.

I don't do waiting in line. Yes, I know that makes me sound "priveledged" or "snooty", but since standing in line generally leaves my feet in horrid pain... I'd rather just walk to someplace relaxed that doesn't require people to queue up. I'd rather be "unpopular" and happily sipping a beer, than be "seen" at the popular spot with sore feet and pressing my way through the crowd to fight for the bartenders attention so I can get a beer.

So, anyway, I'm waiting in this line which was about 5 people. I figured it wouldn't be too long of a wait. The guy in front of me was kinda cute, and I was thinking of something to say to him when he got out of line and started to leave.

So I jumped on it and asked him where he was headed. He told me about this party.  He said it wasn't far away that it was going to be huge. Rather than stand there alone, I invited myself to go with him. I believe I worded it as asking him if I could tag along, but I really wasn't giving him much choice in the matter. He seemed more than happy to have the company.

We talked on the walk there. The walk, by the way, seemed to get longer and longer until I finally got it pulled up on my phone map and saw just how far we were going. Around the corner, it was not! We were close enough to it by the time I pulled up the map that I just went anyway, but had I known how far it was from the start, I'd have chickened out. Bauk Bawk Begauk

Josh was new to town. A programmer. He had a sweet masculine voice, a great laugh, and that jewish-meditereanean look I really like. Dark hair, light eyes, and man hair. We talked. We laughed. And even though I was whiny, he took it in stride and didn't ditch me despite his many chances.

We waited in line for about a half hour and he got me to talk about my project, and he gave me some really good tips on how to get started on it. We also exchanged contact info so I could contact him if I ever got funding enough to hire him.

After getting in, he waited in line for drinks with me, and kept me company as I searched for the water. We essentially had a little "date" out of it. A non-date date I suppose the term is. 

At one point, I attempted to mingle. I saw a lost soul standing nearby and said hi. I introduced the guy to Josh and we all talked together. 

Unfortunately this lost soul was lost for a reason. He was a moron with money. He was a venture capitalist who.. well.. doesn't know his ass from his asset. About 1/3 way through the conversation, I stopped talking as I realized that this guy just liked to hear himself talk. A blow hard. He would argue his point no matter how wrong he was. Josh however kept talking to him, so I smiled and noded and waited. 

Finally I interupted to tell Josh that I was going to get a new drink. Josh said he'd come with me, and we said goodbye to the lost ass.  As we were walking away, Josh said called the guy a moron. 

"Oh phew! For a minute there I thought you were talking to him because you thought he offered some kind of merit. I was worried about you."

He laughed, "No, I was just fucking around with him. For shits and giggles."

We both laughed, then sought some more free drinks. 

We stayed a while longer but never talked to anyone else. (I mean who can blame me? I had an attractive intelligent man to talk to, and if the other people there were anything like the lost ass it wasn't worth the risk.)

Despite us talking about online dating (he asked what I blogged about, so I said online dating) he never mentioned that he wasn't single and I'm still not used to actively looking for rings. I guess I've not been single long enough? But towards the end of the night, I noticed a shiny ring on his finger and I wondered.

We were having a great time, so it mattered not. When I was ready to call it a night, he left with me and walked me back to my parking garage. 

How sad it is that my best date in a long while was with a married guy? 

Actual Live People

Last night I went out to a Happy Hour party hosted by the Partymeister (he'd actually be pissed I think if he knew I called him that). It was held at his favorite bar, which... to be perfectly honest.. isn't a good bar for mingling. The mingling space they have contains tables that are bolted to the floor and too close together for people to actually mingle around them. So it was kinda annoying.

After the first half-hour of attempting to mingle, I ordered & ate some cheap food, paid my bill and planned to leave.

Just as I was about to say "Goodbye"... In walks Carl.

I'd met Carl several times, and none of those times did we talk much.. but I knew he was funny and talkative.. so I went over to say Hi.

Carl asked how I was doing and how the group was (you know wanting an FYI on everything he'd missed so far).. So I told him it was boring, all the interesting people had left, and so I'd planned to leave...

Without skipping a beat he interrupted, "But now I'M HERE!!" and his face broke out with a huge smile.

I couldn't help but laugh. Shortly after that, Chris came and joined our conversation. We were all friends of Partymeister, and had met several times. Most of the rest of the group were new to us, which is good but sometimes you just want the comfort of people you know.

With Chris and Carl, it became an hour of laughing. Carl loves to make up silly things as if they really happened. Chris was more than willing to join in. At one point, they were explaining to me their Mexican mafia business (Carl is Mexican, Chris is as pasty white as they come) and how many people they could fit into shipping containers and that Chris was waiting for an email confirmation that the container had arrived. (Chris was actually waiting for an email, but from a girl he was non-date-date going to watch the meteor shower with)

About an hour or so later, Chris got his email (came to tell us by saying "The container's arrived, I've got to go") and ran out the door to prep for it. He was making a picnic lunch, packing a bottle of wine, an airmattress, and a sleeping bag. It sounded way too romantic to be a non-date-date, but hey.. ya know..

So that left me and Carl. After tonight, I'm starting to love Carl, at least as a party buddy maybe more. He's just as sick-twisted-demented as me, and we have the same humor. So yeah we had a blast.

Unfortunately he's also at least 3 inches shorter than me, and very skinny. I could twirl him over my head like a baton, but his personality and our connection tonight.. well I'm almost thinking of him as a man and not a baton... which is progress for me right?

At the happy hour though there were two men that were really hot. One was on a date. The other was .. well.. an extreme sports person. Both were 6'-6'2, well built, ruggedly handsome face... *sigh* Now if you could just put Carl's personality into that kind of package..

Yeah.. he'd already be married or be gay. Yeah I know.

But it was a fun night, and despite my exhaustion on returning home, it was good to get out and meet actually live people. I really should do it more often.