the one about commuting

you may have noticed i've been posting less. that would be because i'm perpetually exhausted thanks to my 2+ hour (roundtrip) commute each day. the good news is i'm making money - working as a temp attorney doing document review. the bad news is the commute makes me ready for bed by about 7:30pm. boo to the commute. i don't know how people do this on a regular basis. once i get a permanent job (still working on it, but am beginning to schedule interviews) i'll be looking for a place in the district. i am supposed to be moving in with LS BFF in august but i don't think i can wait that long, unfortunately. i feel like an old lady! i need to reclaim my life! damn you, commute! 

oh, but i will say that the metro provides for some interesting experiences. this afternoon i was almost up close and personal w/some dude's junk. GROSS. luckily he moved before i had to say: "um, excuse me, sir? do you mind removing your penis from my eye? thanks." if it sounds gross to you, imagine how i felt sitting there. yuck. 

the one where i confess

i have a confession to make. i'm a single 26 year old who has been living at home since feb. 1... and i've kind of enjoyed it. there. i said it. i thought that living at home temporaily was going to suck, to be honest. but it's been a pleasant surprise. the Parents have helped out with the dog, given me money (holla!) and in general been cool. my mom and i have done a ton of touristy things around the city, which is fun. and i think it's given mom and i a chance to really improve our relationship. not that it's ever been awful, but it's no secret that i've always been a daddy's girl. 

so, all in all, it's been a pretty good deal. of course, the second i get a permanent job -- i am OUT! :) after all, i can't be at home forever, right? :)

the one that's kind of depressing

yesterday while reading the wapo, i came across this great article. about 3% of d.c. residents are known to have hiv/aids. that's a higher rate than west africa. and that's just known cases. that's horrifying. 

but, lucky for me, i'm not sharing beds with anyone other than my puppy. :)

the one about the anatomy of a breakup

there is this line in a pink song where she wonders: "how did we get so mean? how do we just move on?" i was listening to it this evening and i started wondering the same things. how do you go from thinking you could marry someone to refusing to take their phone calls? is it as simple as saying that they simply were not the "one"? or is it deeper than that? is it that they somehow betrayed your trust or let you down just too many times? and even so, why do thing sometimes get so ugly? 

i used to pride myself on the fact that i stayed friendly with people that i dated. i figured there was something about them that i like initially and even if things didn't work romantically, there was no reason we couldn't maintain a friendship.  however, i've recently begun to change my philosophy on that. after the loser and i broke up, i had NO desire to see him, talk to him, or even here how he was doing. to be painfully honest, i was just pleased to be done with him. and though it took a little longer, i now feel the same about the Banker. 

how did i get to that point? am i getting cynical and bitter as i get older? or, am i getting smarter by putting distance between myself and the men i've dated? who can say what the best method of dealing with a breakup is? 

the one about dating

i just read this excellent article speaking about steve harvey's dating tips for women. i actually really like steve harvey and think he's super funny. i enjoyed the article and i think that steve is right. one of the main things that stuck with me was about standards and expectations. men will rise to the standards you set if they really want you. and if they don't, you don't want em anyways.

i recognize that in the past i probably wasn't picky enough and i'm actively changing that. the Banker is an asshole? he's cut off. match guy doesn't walk to the metro and then texts me (and you all KNOW how i feel about text message dating) thursday to ask about plans for friday? no way. i told him i was busy all weekend. and for him, i am. 

not to sound like a jerk. i'm not. but, as i've said before, i don't think it's too much to ask for a man to not ask me out via text message. and to not ask me out on a thursday for a friday evening. of course it isn't. and my future husband won't ;)

the one about my date!

so last night i went on my date with match guy.  we met here (well not at ben's actually, but at ben's next door, their new lounge which doesn't have its own website yet). so we were supposed to meet at 8. well, i actually specified 8ish, to give myself a few minutes breathing room b/c i've never metro'ed it to the u street station. i was told by some friends that it was probably the easiest thing.

so, dressed in skinny jeans, brown boots and a cute red sweater top, i headed off. to begin with, just as i was dashing up the steps at the new carrllton station, i missed the freaking train. ugh. so i had to wait 12 minutes to catch the next one. at that point, i was pretty sure i was going to be late. luckily match guy texted me and said he was running a little late. i was like, excellent. although i was really hoping to beat him so i could down a drink before he got there. yeah, that didn't happen. i was about 25 minutes late. which sucked, but i couldn't help it. when i missed that train i was fucked. however, i did manage to catch some howard university frat guys doing a little mini step show on my way out of the train station. that was pretty cool.

once i arrived at next door, i was  in love...with the venue. it was really cool, and nicely done. there is some interesting portraits on the back wall, a long bar, some tables set up and 4 nice size flat screen tvs facing the bar. match guy was waiting for me at the bar and he was drinking what looked to be an appletini....hmmm...

match guy looked like a skinnier version of his picture. he looked nice, but i thought he was hotter on the internet. oh well. he was excited to see me and very friendly. his voice was strange, though. kind of high pitched, it was little weird. once i got settled and had a drink, he started asking me some general questions. we got the preliminary stuff out of the way and then he wanted to know if he looked like his profile picture. i said, "well...in your picture you're wearing a hat and you look a little...different now because you're not wearing the hat, but i guess you look pretty similar". then he wanted to know what i remembered about his profile and i almost choked on my drink. i wanted to say "um, you used 4 in place of for..." but instead i just recited his tagline and hoped he didn't ask me any more questions, because to be honest i had forgotten. 

luckily, my q&a session was done. he was super flirty and kept touching my leg and things like that. all in all, he seemed like a nice guy. very open and fun. he's originally from baltimore, went to school in pittsburgh (but hadn't seemed to have heard of this place which is supposedly one of pittsburgh's most famous restaurants. i digress.) and works for homeland security. we had good  conversation and he was insistent on paying for my drinks. i'd probably hang out with him again, but there wasn't any spark on my end. he's cool though - we can definitely be friends.

oh, one final thing. i know that d.c. is not the south and certainly not the  deep south where i was formerly living. however, i would have liked it if he had walked me to my train station. sure, it was two blocks, but it was 10:30 p.m. and more importantly, i think it's the gentlemanly thing to do. aside from that, he seemed like a good guy.

the one about the "conscience" rule

recently, the obama administration has moved to undo a last-minute bush administration rule that provided safeguards for doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, etc who refused to take part in abortions, provide access to birth control options or provide other health care options that went against their conscience. you can read more about it here. i for one, am pleased. while i do understand that some doctors aren't comfortable with birth control, abortion, etc., i think that access to those services is so important that there can not be a rule that allows them to refuse to perform these services with no consequences.

i can't imagine if my lady doctor refused to issue me a prescription for birth control. what i really can't imagine is my niece deciding someday that she wants to take control of her sexual health and her not being able to get birth control or the cervical cancer vaccine. 

i applaud the obama administration for taking quick action on this issue. it's important and yet another example of why our president matters. i know a lot of people who say things like it doesn't matter who the president is, and it doesn't affect their everyday life. at least for me, this is a very real example of why who our president is matters. i'd be willing to bet that if john mccain had won in november, this last minute rule would remain.