I left my relationship with Stringbean amicably and re-reading what I wrote I'm glad to know I wasn't being a crazy after all, but that our shared interests are truly unique to our relationship. I'm glad to have him in my life and for the summer I shared with him, but alas all things end.
So my life of online dating came to a quick crash and burn with my first rejection and then the onslaught of work that is architecture. I am by no means suffering. Life's pretty great, but my own love life is something I'm not willing to externalize at the moment to anyone let alone a possible public audience, though I'm sure that too will change.
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For now what I'm chronicling is no longer the online relationships I make, but the relationships my gay friends are making and the friends I'm developing in the process of their crazy adventures.
If you do online dating right, it's just that - a crazy adventure. It's an excuse to meet new people and do exciting new things. As it is whenever you meet anyone interesting, meeting a "stranger" is giving you a key into someone's life, a new perspective, a few subsets of specific knowledge. (I'm looking at the men in my life who've taught me sports, languages, software, beer, and sex)
So let's start with my friend crush of the week.
Prince Charming
My buddy is the definition of a serial dater. What I did last summer doesn't even compare. Okcupid and Grindr have become his tools for pleasure-seeking. I often find him half-listening to the things I'm saying but deeply focused on his phone. When I see his finger flick the screen, it's a dead giveaway he's cruising for whatever is in a 500 feet radius (1000 if they're really good looking).
Being ignored really isn't the problem though. It is keeping track of all the men he's meeting and falling in love with, falling out of love with, fucking, or fucking with. There's only so many blowjob stories a mind can retain! So when another week began with him gushing on and on about Prince Charming I thought nothing of it. I did my dutiful Ooo-ing and Aaa-ing and "he sounds great", but really I knew this guy would be yesterday's news just as the past 20 have become. I have to admit I was surprised when my friend invited me out to dinner with him.
Arriving at Prince's house, I was already enamored. The guy let out a loud giggle when we came and as I went about touching everything in his house. Anecdote: Architects are supposed to be the masters of space, but are infamous for living in the shittiest of places. If dating Stringbean did nothing else, I gained an appreciation for making the space you inhabitat a well thought out one. I think about his apartment a lot- maybe more than I think about him. That's how important a space is huh. His small living room was furnished perfectly. Every article was carefully chosen and place in its own special spot. Cluttered enough that you felt at ease lying on the couch, but so well furnished you know this guy has a distinct aesthetic - a guy confident about the choices he makes.
The next part I couldn't have scripted any better. He ran into the kitchen and returned to put a Bell's Two Hearted in my hand while wearing a Tribe shirt. I don't think anyone in the history of mankind has been wooed so quickly. I needed to know everything about this man and I needed to know now!
Prince, like myself and every gay man, is a schmoozer and we got along immediately. I even threw in some dirty jokes here and there to gauge his level of comfort. By the 7th joke I was saying things that would make my mother want to "shove me right back in there" as she often threatened to do with my sister.
Prince took me out for what might be in my top 10 best meals of all time (definitely in my top 10 priciest), and we had a blast the two of use talking about architecture, music, Pittsburgh politics, and food. It was like my friend wasn't even there! I was completely at ease and loving every minute of our back and forth wit and wordplay. Sidenote: I swear people that enjoy hiphop have a different appreciation for words.
I guess I'm leaving out the bits that make him so special. It doesn't hurt that he's really good looking and has this great mane of thick salt and pepper hair that's dying to be stroked (and alright the next day I might have gotten a little drunk and spent an inappropriate amount of time pulling my fingers through his hairs). Besides the looks he's a guy completely at ease with himself.
Meeting the dozens of new people per week that I do, that's been something I've recently confirmed. There is nothing sexier than a person completely comfortable with himself. They're generally happier wiser people that others want to be around.
Very much like the people I meet online, the relationships I make with these gay men are unpredictable and have no set course or timeline. If my friend breaks up with this guy, it will most likely mean the end of my relationship with Prince Charming. I don't think either of us would actively try to rid of one another, but that's the way things go.
Here's to hoping I get to run my fingers through that hair a few dozen more times.
Prince Charming
My buddy is the definition of a serial dater. What I did last summer doesn't even compare. Okcupid and Grindr have become his tools for pleasure-seeking. I often find him half-listening to the things I'm saying but deeply focused on his phone. When I see his finger flick the screen, it's a dead giveaway he's cruising for whatever is in a 500 feet radius (1000 if they're really good looking).
Being ignored really isn't the problem though. It is keeping track of all the men he's meeting and falling in love with, falling out of love with, fucking, or fucking with. There's only so many blowjob stories a mind can retain! So when another week began with him gushing on and on about Prince Charming I thought nothing of it. I did my dutiful Ooo-ing and Aaa-ing and "he sounds great", but really I knew this guy would be yesterday's news just as the past 20 have become. I have to admit I was surprised when my friend invited me out to dinner with him.
Arriving at Prince's house, I was already enamored. The guy let out a loud giggle when we came and as I went about touching everything in his house. Anecdote: Architects are supposed to be the masters of space, but are infamous for living in the shittiest of places. If dating Stringbean did nothing else, I gained an appreciation for making the space you inhabitat a well thought out one. I think about his apartment a lot- maybe more than I think about him. That's how important a space is huh. His small living room was furnished perfectly. Every article was carefully chosen and place in its own special spot. Cluttered enough that you felt at ease lying on the couch, but so well furnished you know this guy has a distinct aesthetic - a guy confident about the choices he makes.
The next part I couldn't have scripted any better. He ran into the kitchen and returned to put a Bell's Two Hearted in my hand while wearing a Tribe shirt. I don't think anyone in the history of mankind has been wooed so quickly. I needed to know everything about this man and I needed to know now!
Prince, like myself and every gay man, is a schmoozer and we got along immediately. I even threw in some dirty jokes here and there to gauge his level of comfort. By the 7th joke I was saying things that would make my mother want to "shove me right back in there" as she often threatened to do with my sister.
Prince took me out for what might be in my top 10 best meals of all time (definitely in my top 10 priciest), and we had a blast the two of use talking about architecture, music, Pittsburgh politics, and food. It was like my friend wasn't even there! I was completely at ease and loving every minute of our back and forth wit and wordplay. Sidenote: I swear people that enjoy hiphop have a different appreciation for words.
I guess I'm leaving out the bits that make him so special. It doesn't hurt that he's really good looking and has this great mane of thick salt and pepper hair that's dying to be stroked (and alright the next day I might have gotten a little drunk and spent an inappropriate amount of time pulling my fingers through his hairs). Besides the looks he's a guy completely at ease with himself.
Meeting the dozens of new people per week that I do, that's been something I've recently confirmed. There is nothing sexier than a person completely comfortable with himself. They're generally happier wiser people that others want to be around.
Very much like the people I meet online, the relationships I make with these gay men are unpredictable and have no set course or timeline. If my friend breaks up with this guy, it will most likely mean the end of my relationship with Prince Charming. I don't think either of us would actively try to rid of one another, but that's the way things go.
Here's to hoping I get to run my fingers through that hair a few dozen more times.
