A Somewhat Elusive Date...
I apologize for keeping you in suspense for so long. R, the non-IJL man from Zaytinya, does exist, and as a result, so does my sanity. He emailed me a few days after we met on that fateful dark & stormy night. He jogged my memory by referring to himself as "tall R from Zaytinya" (aww, so cute), and asked if I wanted to get together. I was naturally delighted that my uncharacteristic boldness had yielded such a pleasing and ego-boosting return. I haven't been so smug since the evening at the Luxor when I was offered several stacks of poker chips if only I would join the owner in a bottle of champagne ("only" should probably be encapsulated in quotes, I'm just speculating here...).
Unfortunately, I had left for Vegas almost immediately after I met R. Well, nothing involving Vegas should really utilize language like "unfortunately"; in fact, my location contributed to my satisfaction when he contacted me, as the perception of any agreeable event is amplified when in Vegas. As a result of my absence, we arranged instead to meet the following week. Sadly (and also uncharacteristically), I had to cancel on him because of a work function. I tried to be clear that I was still interested, and proposed that we choose another date to meet up.
Then came Memorial Day weekend; I was in New York, he was...well...somewhere with a beach. My complexion forces me to live in great fear of the sun, so I'm not really sure which beach he was visiting. I regret this lack of familiarity a bit, as I imagine I could have discerned something from his choice of beach. Can beach selection quantify one's character in the same way as a Vegas vs. Atlantic City smackdown?
So now, the weekend after Memorial Day, we still haven't met up. We've been emailing back and forth, but haven't been able to nail down a time to meet. During this gap, I've noticed one thing about his emails that I find disturbing. Now, I understand that many people choose to employ the smily face :) at the end of (or throughout) emails, and occasionally the wink -- ;). These are fine; the inevitable outcome of the instant messaging generation, though I admit to a mild objection to the utilization of anything that has been pioneered by teenagers. However, I've noticed that at the end of every email, R takes the smile one step further and adds a bulbous nose, like so -- :0). For some reason, I find the use of this embellished emoticon alarming, particularly in a man. I liken it to constructing an bubble in place of the dot atop an i, or worse, a heart. In further support of my dismay, I noted that Yahoo IM, which elaborates each traditional shortcut smily into a funny artwork or animation, has chosen to transform :0) into a clown, a symbol of all that is evil and frightening about childhood.
Anyway, we'll see if we manage to meet up next week, which will undoubtedly reveal if my apprehension is justified.
Unfortunately, I had left for Vegas almost immediately after I met R. Well, nothing involving Vegas should really utilize language like "unfortunately"; in fact, my location contributed to my satisfaction when he contacted me, as the perception of any agreeable event is amplified when in Vegas. As a result of my absence, we arranged instead to meet the following week. Sadly (and also uncharacteristically), I had to cancel on him because of a work function. I tried to be clear that I was still interested, and proposed that we choose another date to meet up.
Then came Memorial Day weekend; I was in New York, he was...well...somewhere with a beach. My complexion forces me to live in great fear of the sun, so I'm not really sure which beach he was visiting. I regret this lack of familiarity a bit, as I imagine I could have discerned something from his choice of beach. Can beach selection quantify one's character in the same way as a Vegas vs. Atlantic City smackdown?
So now, the weekend after Memorial Day, we still haven't met up. We've been emailing back and forth, but haven't been able to nail down a time to meet. During this gap, I've noticed one thing about his emails that I find disturbing. Now, I understand that many people choose to employ the smily face :) at the end of (or throughout) emails, and occasionally the wink -- ;). These are fine; the inevitable outcome of the instant messaging generation, though I admit to a mild objection to the utilization of anything that has been pioneered by teenagers. However, I've noticed that at the end of every email, R takes the smile one step further and adds a bulbous nose, like so -- :0). For some reason, I find the use of this embellished emoticon alarming, particularly in a man. I liken it to constructing an bubble in place of the dot atop an i, or worse, a heart. In further support of my dismay, I noted that Yahoo IM, which elaborates each traditional shortcut smily into a funny artwork or animation, has chosen to transform :0) into a clown, a symbol of all that is evil and frightening about childhood.
Anyway, we'll see if we manage to meet up next week, which will undoubtedly reveal if my apprehension is justified.
posted by Katie S @ 11:47 PM
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