Facebook crush is now a facebook friend

So I accepted the dares and sent a facebook friend request.  I waited until after Mother's day because I had a family vacation pic, from Mexico, and I didn't want him to flat out think I was straight.  Bahahaha... probably one of the first times in life I wanted someone's first impression of me to be a gay man.

So I posted this iPhone self-portrait...

 cause it's just an everyday pic of me really.

And within probably 12 hours I had a new friend.  To say that I instantly got a huge smile on my face was an understatement.  Not because I'm delusional and think that there's any sort of mutual attraction, but because the dare and subsequent risk paid off.

I emailed Jody and she gave me a few words of inspiration "You never know what might happen if you don't take a chance. We often don't regret the things we do, it's the things we don't that leave us wondering 'what if'"

And so I took a bit of time to draft an email that explained the reason he got my request... but without (hopefully) sounding psycho.  I left out the crush part.  And kind of asked him to look me up next time he's in town, in a passive way.

He replied almost instantly, thanking me for the explanation and telling me to let him know if I ever make it to Montreal.  And strangely, or maybe a little fate could be intervening, a couple of days ago my cousin asked me to drive with him to TO when he moves at the end of the month and we planned on staying in Montreal one night to live it up.  Now I guess I might get to at least have a coffee if he's not tied up.

What am I? A 15 year old girl?

It's that time of the year when animal instincts take over and people start hooking up like they're the only one in the world responsible for the survival of the species.  Around these parts two couples have broken up recently and from accounts of last Saturday night there was a lot of hook up activity going on in Halifax.  

Me on the other hand?  I'm like that 15 year old insecure girl.  I spent my weekend with a sick little boy at home watching reality television and checking out homes on MLS, trying to keep my financial goals in check.  Oh right, the 15 year old girl part... I've become the expert at having facebook crushes.  And my favorite are those guys who leave albums open so I can get multiple looks at friends of friends... or even just friends in one case.  

Anyway, today, while checking out the guest list of an upcoming gathering (that one of the recently broken up gents is throwing Friday night) I noticed one person has declined the event.  Since he was cute I decided to check out his profile.  Turns out that I quasi know this guy.  Well in reality I don't know him at all, but we have multiple friends in common, and he attended a rival high school.  And oddly enough, a couple of summers ago, while partying in Montreal with a cousin and some friends I saw him at a gay bar.  We had one of those awkward moments where you lock eyes and realize you recognize each other but not sure where.  And being that 15 year old girl, I'd never be brave enough to have said hello.

And in order to emphasize my immaturity, I emailed a common friend, who lives in London, England to confirm he went to that rival high school and she actually encouraged me to contact him... which I would never do.  Instead I'll just check out his profile pics a few more times over the next week and try and move on.  Hahahahaha.

That being said, if your name is Andrew and you some how found this blog, please contact me... I'm all over having a conversation.  

33

So just under a month ago I turned 33.  And when I say that number I feel like I should feel older and have more accomplished in my life but for some reason I embrassed turning 33 this year even though maybe it doesn't feel like the number that truly represents my age.

If I had to look at my life and assign it an age I'd either be 28 or 19.  I say 28 because I feel like that's the stage of responsibility that I am at.  I have a career that still needs some development to reach the final plateau.  I have a son and maintain a home.  I am very active and am constantly striving to improve my health because I know what the future can hold.  And because I dress and resemble someone in their late twenties.  And I say 19 because lets face it, I have drank and partied more this summer than I have in many years.  I have a circle of friends who are constantly planning the next event; to the point that we now have a private facebook group exclusive to our group that we post things in, so we're all always up to date on pending events.  Yeah, we're that cool.  Ha!

So what did I actually do on my birthday, you may ask?  Well I spent the day with my Mom and William.  We kind of had a slow easy start to the day at home, not really doing all that much.  Then in the afternoon we went on a little adventure that William decided on.  He's wanted to go on the Harbour Hopper for a long time and we decided that Daddio's birthday was probably a great time to go.  Sadly, William fell asleep five minutes into the ride and was disappointed that he missed the water portion of the tour (and being the good Dad I am, we went a second time about a week later).  While on the tour I started getting texts from my friend Ashley asking what my evening plans were.  I told her none, since it was a Tuesday, and none of my other friends were on vacation like I was. 

Mom, William and I then met up with a girl I grew up with, Kelly, who is more like a younger sister than friend and we all went for Chinese food at May Garden.  We enjoyed a quiet dinner and made plans to go visit her later in the week at her home on a lake, near where we grew up.  Then we just went back to my house to blow out some candles, cut a cake and open a few presents.  It was a great day.

But then, my friend Ashley asked if I wanted to go for a drink on one of the many great patios in our city.  We ended up at the Bitter End, which are known for their assortment of martinis.  I accepted the offer and made my way for around 8pm.  To my surprise Ashley was not alone.  She had arranged and secured 12 of our friends for a last minute meeting.  We sat on the patio and shared drinks, nachos and stories and laughed for a couple of hours.  I got a few cards, many hugs and well wishes to the next year of my life.

To say that I'm a lucky man is an understatement.  I have an amazing family that support me.  I have an amazing circle of friends, most of which I have only known for a year.  And I have my health and a future that is mine to decide.  So bring on 33 and all the new experiences!

Love at first sight

I am going to sound all kinds of crazy here for a minute, but just humor me, okay?

I have mentioned before my unhealthy obsession with facebook… well I wouldn’t say that it’s unhealthy but would someone who is asylum crazy, think they are crazy? Anyway I love facebook because I’m nosey, I guess. My friends and I admit our creeping ways on facebook. It is a fairly open book of my friend’s lives… status updates with too much information about how their boyfriend cheated on them with a waitress, pictures of drunken moments, relationship status changes; it’s all there for their inner circle to find.

And then there is the tagged photo where you can see into completely random stranger’s photo albums depending on their privacy settings. THANK YOU to those of you who don’t filter your content. The people with completely open profiles: You are my favorite!

Well I was going thru one of my friend’s albums and found this person of interest. A person of interest because their looks blew me away. I clicked on the person’s name below the picture and BAM, I’m at the home page for their profile. I move the cursor over their profile picture and YAY it shows that I am able to click thru all of their profile pictures. Hoping for more, I go over to the photo tab and their albums are open for public viewing.

You can definitely learn a lot about a person from the pics they post on facebook. This profile in particular didn’t have any embarrassing photos that I wouldn’t post myself. Instead they show a sense of humor and confidence… and did I mention good looks?

In all honesty, when I saw this person’s profile I was slightly intoxicated by their looks. It was like in a movie when someone says… I knew when I saw you the first time that we would get married. Well that’s kind of how I felt… not the married part, but just blown away.

But then I thought about the fact that I don’t live in the same city and they probably only come home to Nova Scotia to visit family during the holiday season … and could I really be with someone who is better looking than me? Haha… see… back to the crazy.

Facebook might be taking over my life

I guess I could be called a bit of a facebook addict.  It was more of an issue when I was a civil servant, because I had access while at work, and less work to be done, but I still find it hard to go a day without logging in at least once and catching up on what everyone has been up to.

One thing I don't like about facebook is the fact that when someone unfriends you for any reason, including them closing down their facebook account, you don't have any notification.  I know it's probably to avoid a certain level of conflict that people may start if someone unfriends them in a time of anger or just doesn't care, but part of me wants to know who leaves my friend list.  I think it would be my need to try and correalate the reason for the departure with a recent event.  I don't like it when I lose a friend, according to my friend count, and I can't figure out who is gone.

And another part of facebook that is rather strange is the ability to recognize people that are friends of friends, but because of seeing them in photos with friends, you almost feel like you would know them.  You somehow get this vibe from them that they would be a great friend, all because they know how to pose in front of a digital camera.  Strange.  What is even worse is being drunk, seeing one of these friends-of-a-friend and for some reason introducing yourself to them on the dancefloor.  What was I thinking??  At least two of the people around this friend-of-a-friend found me attractive... although one of them was a little too grabby for my liking.  Oh the fun of drinking public in Halifax.