Dateline Strumpetville

Where are we at then, gentle reader? Well, so far I’ve had one of my dates – and have been asked out by another guy whom I shall have to squeeze in (oo-er) at some point.

Thursday I met my date at The Village. I’m always slightly anxious about picking the venue for a date as I’m no so into the scene that I know where-it’s-at and always run the risk of making a selection on which I shall be judged poorly, and our decision to move on to The Yard after one drink perhaps bears that anxiety out. Nevertheless, after The Yard we went on for dinner (pizza) and then after that onto The Edge for a couple more drinks before calling it a night.

And as dates go it wasn’t too bad. I’ll confess that my date spent the entire evening talking about himself. He put on his profile that was 30 but his expansive stories about himself led me to doubt it, as all the years of work, travel, university etc he described added up to more than that… but not much so I’m not quite sure what that was about. I managed to squeeze in two things about myself in – German; and I used to work regulating advertising. He also tried this cheeky-chappy persona that strayed into the obnoxious more than once. Not quite my cup of tea.

We left it at the usual, insincere, “How nice; we must do this again” stage… and that, I think, is that. It was a nice enough evening, to be sure. Just not what dreams are made of.

But as one door closes another opens; for on Guardian Soulmates someone who had contacted me a few months ago, whilst I was between subscriptions (and thus unable to reply), got in touch again.

We’ve been chatting for a while and seem to get on well enough but it’s only now he’s asked to meet. Well, as a reward for sheer persistence, I’ve said yes. He is very nice; I just wasn’t really looking for more dates. As it is we’re either looking at lunch on Wednesday (before another date that every evening) or the weekend of 8th May. My initial instinct, actually, is why not both?

Oh, the ennui of Strumpetville. Must not look a gift horse in the mouth! No, he is nice. He plays the clarinet and the saxophone and the piano for a living and travels up and down the country hence the tightness of both schedules. And after my initial hesitation he charmed me off the fence. I hope he thinks it’s worth his while!