Friday, August 31, 2007

Riptide got me...

[Pardon the analogy]

So there I am, sitting blissfully on my surf board and chatting up with the new surfer, both seemingly admiring the view when *BAM!* I'm sucked into a riptide. "Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water" you get blindsided.

Talk about feeling like a loser! Your flirting and laughing and having a great time, all the while you can't help but think to yourself, "He thinks I am clever and funny and cute". That's when it happens, you fall off your board and all that's left is some hands and feet flailing about (yeah, real graceful!).


Well, I am a strong woman and I know how to recover. I am a pro at dusting off my scraped knees. My final message to surf board boy:

"Isn’t it funny how two people can have the same experience and get completely different things from it? I had a great time talking to you and I am really going to miss your emails. I had other “get to know you” questions but I didn’t want you to feel too bombarded so I held back for a little while (looks like too long, hahaha). I am sorry I couldn’t email you last night but I was having internet problems. I can’t help but feel like I said something wrong (perhaps I should have sent naked photos… Do you think it would have helped?). I of course wish you the absolute best of luck. I hope you keep reading my blog and comment now and then. It will be a true delight to hear from you again. Please take care"
.......

Hey look at that, the surfs up again. I guess it is time to go back out and get my feet wet!


Gods Blessings to you all.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Dating Evolved Part II




So a little (and I do mean little) research was done and here goes:







"Courtship in America"
Dating in the 20th Century

Dating, a new form of mixed-sex socializing, arose in the nation's growing cities during the second decade of the twentieth century. It replaced earlier kinds of socializing that had been found in small towns and rural areas, both casual forms of mixing - such as church outings, picnics, sleigh rides, hay rides, and community dances - and also the formal process of calling, in which a young man paid a visit to a young woman's house and was entertained in her parlor.

Both casual mixing and calling were overseen by adults - parents, kin, church members, and others in the community - and took place in mixed age settings.

The word dating entered the American language during the 1910s. It was connected to the emergence of new kinds of commercial amusements, such as amusement parks, ice cream parlors, and especially the movies, and to the rise of the automobile. As early as the 1890s, young people in the rapidly growing cities had begun to spend more of their leisure time in commercial settings, such as amusement parks, dance halls and nickelodeons.
......
Dating, unlike calling, was not about finding a mate. It was about having fun with a member of the opposite sex. At a time when gender relations were particularly distant, dating provided a way to bridge the gap. Also unlike calling, which was monitored by adults, the dating system was overseen by peers and set rules for dating. Through gossip and teasing, it helped determine who one could go out with and how much sexual intimacy was allowed.

Dating was highly gendered. A boy was expected to ask a girl out, pay for a date, and provide the transportation. In return, he expected physical intimacy: a good-night kiss or petting. A young woman was responsible for resisting any inappropriate sexual advances.

During the '20s and '30s, a young woman's popularity was measured by how frequently she was asked out on dates. ....Sociologist later discovered that those young woman who dated the most were the least likely to pursue an advanced education and were especially likely to marry young.
......"



The question I pondered was "what happened to courting". I guess since courting had a lot to do with "responsible" adults in the community and mature parents chaperoning events and gathering, and there has been a breakdown of that in the community and the community itself, courting has possibly become extinct to most.

So now dating has become, like most things, on-line. There are plenty different websites to choose from. There are chat rooms galore. I wonder if I am too old fashioned for this new dating method.
But a gals gotta get here feet wet sometime and the fishin' hole I am in seems to be all out of good bass and full of little perch.





I am learning how to "surf" the web and choose only the "righteous waves". Let's hope I can find a good one without being sucked in by rip tides or fall prey to lurking sharks.

(man I am pretty good with these analogies, wouldn't ya say)


Well, for those out there ridin' the waves, have faith that a good wave will come in eventually. You just kinda have to ride out a few little ones till your right one comes along. (I don't much about surfing so this may not be a good analogy). In the meantime, enjoy the view and wave hello to me out there waiting with ya!



Thursday, August 23, 2007

High School Drama


Question: What people still care about what their high school classmates think....?

1. Their glory days were in h.s. and their life seems down hill from there.

2. Some never left the small town so their horizon didn't grow past the city limits.

3. They didn't see themselves as "popular" and despite their accomplishments, they still seek the (perceived) "cool kids" approval.

Admittedly, I was in the 3rd category.
(start dream sequence)
I used to want to go to my h.s. reunion in a stretch limo with a stud on my arm, in a fabulous dress and knock 'em all dead...
(bubble pops)


Recently I have joined the new pop culture "MySpace" club. One of it's great features allows you to be a part of you schools alumni. Just one click on your schools link and you can see all the faces from past to present!

So as I said, " I was in the 3rd category." I used to think I wasn't much of anybody and no one would even remember me. I looked through those faces and hardly recognized any of them. Then I saw 1 familiar friend. Of course you must add each other as friends to your page! (note the sarcasm)
Well as MySpace goes, I start getting all these "friends" request from complete strangers wanting me to "Add" them (or buy something). I'm thinking, "Who Are YOU?" Why would I add you to my friends? No offense folks, but I don't know you. All these people seeking acceptance (or just commercialism). Call me old fashioned or even intimate but I don't see the need to paste complete strangers on MySpace at some desperate attempt for others who view my page to think I'm cool because I know hundreds of scantly clad women or men posing with dead animals, drunk women, or their cars, trucks, dogs or bikes.

So one day I get a message from a girl who went to my ol' "Almamator" asking me to "add" her as a friend. She looks vaguely familiar. We were never friends, we never hung out, so again I wonder "Why add you to my friends?"

So back to the "was" part. I have realized that don't care what those people from h.s. think. I don't care to ever go to a reunion. I've grown, I've moved past those days, h.s. is over. I've kept the friends that mattered and I've made new ones that sculpted me as a better and wiser person. I don't have to seek their approval, they love me just as I am.

*********************************
So those of you who just gotta know what some of us have been doing.....








Some of us have a followed a dream and never let it go:







***
Some have served well and still found a way to express themselves:






*****


Some of us really know how to just enjoy the view:









***
As for me, I am doing it all!

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Dating evolved?

Some recent frustrations I have experienced with Internet on-line dating:
1. People who do not post pictures....!!!!
A. Pictures of groups or more than one girl/guy (Which one are you supposed to be?)
B. Pictures that are more than 2 years old
C. Pictures without a visible face
D. Not even people (i.e. pet, cross, cartoon, graphic... the list goes on)

2. Improper Grammar!!!
A. Misspelled words
B. No Capitalization
C. No punctuation
D. Obvious disregard for proofing all together (words they have grouped and make absolutely no sense)

3. Sites that talk about their 21 points of interest and matching you with people of similar interest ...
But then you put in your Must Haves/Can't Stands; these are the matches they give (distance, children, etc)


So what happened to Courting? How did people meet before? How has dating evolved???
Sounds like a good topic for my next blog. I think this calls for a little research. I could take a poll and this would be a good way to meet some folks... ya know, (cockney accent:)"two birds and a stone and all that"
So my journey for answers begins....

What do you think? I value my readers insight....send me your thoughts.