And obviously it had good decor and interesting lighting, or else mine and Reed's conversation over it wouldn't have lasted so long. Or no, it still would have since we had nothing else to discuss.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
2223 Restaurant
I went to 2223 Restaurant with Reed and it was the BEST. Actually, I don't really remember what I ate or drank here, but I'm pretty sure it was good. It looks good right? I thought about going in and trying it again as I wandered alone and hungry down Market Street looking for a sandwich shop that didn't exist, but the idea of returning to the scene of an awful date while still single was too depressing.
And obviously it had good decor and interesting lighting, or else mine and Reed's conversation over it wouldn't have lasted so long. Or no, it still would have since we had nothing else to discuss.
And obviously it had good decor and interesting lighting, or else mine and Reed's conversation over it wouldn't have lasted so long. Or no, it still would have since we had nothing else to discuss.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Reed
Poor Reed. He was more of a pity date, an experiment. He had messaged me long before I had paid for match.com (if you don't know, match doesn't allow you to see the messages you get until you pay. Lame. It does however let you see the multitudes of "winks" received from 43 year-old men, shorter than 5'3" Filipino boys, and the occasional thirty-something that lives in Chicago sending his smiley emoticon with the intent of getting some booty while on business in SF.) But I finally did pay, and he had sent me a nice message about how we like the same tv shows (Skins, 30 Rock, etc.) so I decided to give him a try even though he looked nerdy and balding in his photos, and inexplicably wearing a suit and standing in front of a promotional backdrop at a red carpet event for most of them.
And he was. Nerdy. Terribly nerdy. We went out to this nice restaurant in the Castro (2223 Restaurant) and things were immediately awkward. I can't even remember what we talked about except that there were talks of the lighting in the room. Instant. Bad. Date. Online he made it seem like he had a high paying tech consulting job, but it turns out that job was only temporary and now he was unemployed. He still paid for my meal and wine even though it was a bit expensive. He offered to drive me home and my conscience flickered between guilt versus the 20 minute bus ride home, because I never intended to see this guy again, but late night bus rides in date clothes through the Castro and Western Addition are keep-your-hand-on-your-pepperspray fear inducing. I took him up on his offer because though wary about driving in cars with strange boys, I honestly thought I would be safer in his car than on a dirty muni bus at 10pm (in hindsight and more city experience I would have been fine on the bus and it would have been better than the awkward ride home.) In front of my building I thanked him for the ride and meal, and not knowing how to say goodbye with the intention of never seeing him again, I jumped out of the car and panicked and blurted out "let's do this again sometime!" But that ended up being for naught since apparently I was as much a disappoint to him as he was to me, as he never contacted me again. Maybe I was too stylish and hip for his nerdy tastes. Or at least that's what I try to tell myself. But that was not the last time I saw him. There is nothing like seeing an ugly guy you went out with once on a date with an uglier girl than you as you're awkwardly trying to save a seat for a guy in yellow water-resistant overalls that will end up ignoring you the entire night at an outdoor screening of JAWS to really make you question your self-worth. But that's a story for another time...
And he was. Nerdy. Terribly nerdy. We went out to this nice restaurant in the Castro (2223 Restaurant) and things were immediately awkward. I can't even remember what we talked about except that there were talks of the lighting in the room. Instant. Bad. Date. Online he made it seem like he had a high paying tech consulting job, but it turns out that job was only temporary and now he was unemployed. He still paid for my meal and wine even though it was a bit expensive. He offered to drive me home and my conscience flickered between guilt versus the 20 minute bus ride home, because I never intended to see this guy again, but late night bus rides in date clothes through the Castro and Western Addition are keep-your-hand-on-your-pepperspray fear inducing. I took him up on his offer because though wary about driving in cars with strange boys, I honestly thought I would be safer in his car than on a dirty muni bus at 10pm (in hindsight and more city experience I would have been fine on the bus and it would have been better than the awkward ride home.) In front of my building I thanked him for the ride and meal, and not knowing how to say goodbye with the intention of never seeing him again, I jumped out of the car and panicked and blurted out "let's do this again sometime!" But that ended up being for naught since apparently I was as much a disappoint to him as he was to me, as he never contacted me again. Maybe I was too stylish and hip for his nerdy tastes. Or at least that's what I try to tell myself. But that was not the last time I saw him. There is nothing like seeing an ugly guy you went out with once on a date with an uglier girl than you as you're awkwardly trying to save a seat for a guy in yellow water-resistant overalls that will end up ignoring you the entire night at an outdoor screening of JAWS to really make you question your self-worth. But that's a story for another time...
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Fat Angel
Since this blog/diary is a documentation of my experiences dating in San Francisco, I'm also going to include reviews of the places I go, since that can be just as important as the guy. Sometimes the location is the best part of the date.
With Ryan I went to this Korean BBQ place which is now closed. I know since I pass it everyday on my way to the gym, and wistful think of what could have been. But what an accurate representation of that relationship. So I'll first review Fat Angel, which we ended up going to under my recommendation in between our dinner and show at the Boom Boom Room, which is also awesome. Later I saw my friend Betsy's band, The Inciters play here after some swing dancers held lessons there, (actually I didn't go to the swing dancing as I was breaking up with another guy at the time. Wow, really on a roll.)
Anyways, Fat Angel is great little libation station with lots of interesting beers on tap. They also have the BEST mac and cheese. I went there with my roommate and her bf and my roommate got this beer called "Brother Thelonious." IT WAS SO DELICIOUS. I have been back for other dates, and I want to go and fatten myself up after ever trip to the gym, but it really isn't a place to go as that loner drinking beer by themselves in gym clothes on a Saturday afternoon. But nonetheless its a little gem of faux dive-bar deliciousness packed between the Fillmore and Western Addition.
With Ryan I went to this Korean BBQ place which is now closed. I know since I pass it everyday on my way to the gym, and wistful think of what could have been. But what an accurate representation of that relationship. So I'll first review Fat Angel, which we ended up going to under my recommendation in between our dinner and show at the Boom Boom Room, which is also awesome. Later I saw my friend Betsy's band, The Inciters play here after some swing dancers held lessons there, (actually I didn't go to the swing dancing as I was breaking up with another guy at the time. Wow, really on a roll.)
Anyways, Fat Angel is great little libation station with lots of interesting beers on tap. They also have the BEST mac and cheese. I went there with my roommate and her bf and my roommate got this beer called "Brother Thelonious." IT WAS SO DELICIOUS. I have been back for other dates, and I want to go and fatten myself up after ever trip to the gym, but it really isn't a place to go as that loner drinking beer by themselves in gym clothes on a Saturday afternoon. But nonetheless its a little gem of faux dive-bar deliciousness packed between the Fillmore and Western Addition.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Ryan
To be completely honest, Ryan was the reason I decided to fully commit to online dating. At least the reason I chose match.com. My online stalker tendencies went into full force. I saw his profile and his pictures and he seemed absolutely perfect. I hoped beyond hope that he would answer my plea (my plea was simply asking what kind of music he liked beyond Radiohead and The Dead, but I rather be melodramatic here since I thought he was just so beyond my dream man.) After I sent out about 5 messages to guys on match.com that I thought were cute and interesting (after getting about a million messages and the even worse "winks" from creepers) one guy finally answered. And it was Ryan.
After some online message banter we set up to meet for Korean BBQ and a show near my apartment. I wore my new cute shiny gold skirt from H&M (which would become my default date outfit) and I walked down the street with apprehension, then I saw him and there was that instant thrill, like when you go to the museum and see a painting by an artist you love and you just well up with thought that "this is something great." In his ray-bans and military-esque jacket he removed his headphones and closed his book; I swooned. He had little grey flecks in his hair, even though he was my age, but it just made him all the more swoon-worthy. He was dressed impeccably well (meaning, that is how I would dress if I were a boy), probably because he worked at J.Crew, which would normal be minus points, but he couldn't find a job as a construction manager yet, so I gave him that break. He was from Georgia but his whole family lived in SF now. Unfortunately, he lived with his parents at the time but again, he couldn't find a job! and had only just graduated college! thus, still perfect in my head. I was surprised how easily I could converse with him. We had a few awkward moment involving some tough meat, but that was entirely on his part, as I was barely touching our strange array of dishes because 1) I had never had Korean food before and frankly it was scaring me, and 2) I didn't want be get sick as I usually do with new foods and my temperamental stomach, so the embarrassment was just on him, not like I cared; it made him more endearing. I suggest we go to Fat Angel afterwards (a delightful gastropub, and I love the beer there) and we talked about our love of Party Down and Freaks & Geeks. I was falling, HARD. Then we went to the Boom Boom Room for a Jeff Beck tribute show, though normally wary of tribute bands and having no idea who Jeff Beck was, I went along like I knew until he finally explained to me who the hell Jeff Beck was and why he was important. We really didn't end up watching the show at all but talked the whole time. He revealed that his brother and his fiancee had met on match.com, on their first date. God the pressure was on. At the end of the night he walked me a few blocks to my cross-street and at 1am we kissed on the street corner in the misty San Francisco fog. It was the perfect cliche.
I think I went a little gung-ho after that first perfect date. Early the next morning I sent him a message with every conceivable way to get ahold of me, friended him on facebook, and then persisted in setting up another date. We had a couple great conversations on facebook chat, then finally he agreed to a second date. I suggested we go to the California Academy of Sciences "Nightlife" event about beer brewing since he mention he brewed his own beer. We got Ramen and then went to Nightlife, where we had to wait in a long line to get in. At Nightlife the museum opens up for only 21+ and serves alcohol, which in theory sounds awesome, but it really wasn't that cool when we got there and was super crowded (though I have been back to the museum during the day since then, and it was equally as crowded, but with children and no alcohol, which is probably the time when you need alcohol most.) Though he got really excited about explaining the brewing process to me, he still didn't seem pleased about the whole event. But when he took me home and we had a couple more beers he kissed me goodnight. Apparently that doesn't mean he liked me since I never saw him again. I tried to ask him out a couple more times before finally giving up and getting the hint that he wasn't interested. I finally deleted him from facebook when I discovered he had a girlfriend. They had lovely picture of them hiking. He is probably still perfect, but some other girl is living in the glow of that perfection.
In hindsight maybe he wasn't that perfect. Our interests didn't match up entirely. Wait, who the hell am I kidding, he was great, he was perfect, end of story.
After some online message banter we set up to meet for Korean BBQ and a show near my apartment. I wore my new cute shiny gold skirt from H&M (which would become my default date outfit) and I walked down the street with apprehension, then I saw him and there was that instant thrill, like when you go to the museum and see a painting by an artist you love and you just well up with thought that "this is something great." In his ray-bans and military-esque jacket he removed his headphones and closed his book; I swooned. He had little grey flecks in his hair, even though he was my age, but it just made him all the more swoon-worthy. He was dressed impeccably well (meaning, that is how I would dress if I were a boy), probably because he worked at J.Crew, which would normal be minus points, but he couldn't find a job as a construction manager yet, so I gave him that break. He was from Georgia but his whole family lived in SF now. Unfortunately, he lived with his parents at the time but again, he couldn't find a job! and had only just graduated college! thus, still perfect in my head. I was surprised how easily I could converse with him. We had a few awkward moment involving some tough meat, but that was entirely on his part, as I was barely touching our strange array of dishes because 1) I had never had Korean food before and frankly it was scaring me, and 2) I didn't want be get sick as I usually do with new foods and my temperamental stomach, so the embarrassment was just on him, not like I cared; it made him more endearing. I suggest we go to Fat Angel afterwards (a delightful gastropub, and I love the beer there) and we talked about our love of Party Down and Freaks & Geeks. I was falling, HARD. Then we went to the Boom Boom Room for a Jeff Beck tribute show, though normally wary of tribute bands and having no idea who Jeff Beck was, I went along like I knew until he finally explained to me who the hell Jeff Beck was and why he was important. We really didn't end up watching the show at all but talked the whole time. He revealed that his brother and his fiancee had met on match.com, on their first date. God the pressure was on. At the end of the night he walked me a few blocks to my cross-street and at 1am we kissed on the street corner in the misty San Francisco fog. It was the perfect cliche.
I think I went a little gung-ho after that first perfect date. Early the next morning I sent him a message with every conceivable way to get ahold of me, friended him on facebook, and then persisted in setting up another date. We had a couple great conversations on facebook chat, then finally he agreed to a second date. I suggested we go to the California Academy of Sciences "Nightlife" event about beer brewing since he mention he brewed his own beer. We got Ramen and then went to Nightlife, where we had to wait in a long line to get in. At Nightlife the museum opens up for only 21+ and serves alcohol, which in theory sounds awesome, but it really wasn't that cool when we got there and was super crowded (though I have been back to the museum during the day since then, and it was equally as crowded, but with children and no alcohol, which is probably the time when you need alcohol most.) Though he got really excited about explaining the brewing process to me, he still didn't seem pleased about the whole event. But when he took me home and we had a couple more beers he kissed me goodnight. Apparently that doesn't mean he liked me since I never saw him again. I tried to ask him out a couple more times before finally giving up and getting the hint that he wasn't interested. I finally deleted him from facebook when I discovered he had a girlfriend. They had lovely picture of them hiking. He is probably still perfect, but some other girl is living in the glow of that perfection.
In hindsight maybe he wasn't that perfect. Our interests didn't match up entirely. Wait, who the hell am I kidding, he was great, he was perfect, end of story.
Dear Diary,
Let's get something clear. I'm not really "angry" or a "hipster," though I've been called both. I probably just complain too much and like fashion and indie music and wear skinny jeans. But for the past 10 months and 4 days my friends have had to endure my complaining about online-dating in San Francisco. If that doesn't scream "angry hipster" I don't know what else does.
San Francisco is apparently the best place to live for singles and the biggest home to online dating. I have only lived here for a little over a year and I was very quick to join the online dating bandwagon since I literally only knew my roommate, who got back together with her boyfriend as soon as we moved into our little Victorian-era apartment. My "Sex and the City" dreams dashed, I turned to the one place I knew best: the internet.
At the ripe old age of 24, I had never really dated. Unless you count making out with randoms in Europe and college friends, which I certainly don't count. I was extremely shy in high school, in love with my gay best friend through half of college, then lived with my parents for a year and a half after graduation. Thus summing up why I have a history of being very bad at meeting boys. I am also picky and have stuck with the same group of friends for years, so there is not a lot of going out and meeting people. Its just not one of my skills. But with the internet you don't really have to meet anyone. You have time to formulate sentences and think of witty things to say. You have the freedom of looking at cute boys without the awkward flirting and making eyes across a sticky bar. As oxymoronic as it sounds, the internet was the perfect place for me to meet someone without actually meeting them.
So last summer I signed up for a couple dating sites (eharmony, match.com, chemistry.com), the only ones I had heard of. I was unwilling to pay $60 for eharmony, though the creator graduated from my alma mater. Actually I would like nothing more than to not have anything to do with my alma mater again as since moving to probably the most liberal city in the country, judgement has been passed upon me millions of times for it. Plus they only have hetero dating, and while I'm not gay, I don't really want to associate with a company that doesn't support homosexual lifestyles. Also, I couldn't see any profile pictures without signing up (I went through reading one guy's profile until I got to the end where he stated "I tried to make it clear in my pictures that I use an electric wheelchair..." FAIL.) Chemistry.com had really creepy logic test to find your matches and I couldn't find one cute person on it. So I ended up signing up for match.com. For $29 the world was my oyster. For one month.
After perfecting and preening my profile, picking the most attractive and cute pictures of me, I was ready to jump into online-dating, taking the plunge into starting my life as an angry hipster in the city...
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