Not the way to start a Friday

Seen in the subway station:
A man with his pants down, about to wipe his butt.

I averted my gaze as soon as my brain registered vaguely what was going on.

I didn't want to process it anymore.

Yucky!

Like mixing oil and water: a review of Chemistry.com

Dating is tough. Especially where I live, so I turn to my friend the internet to make torture a tad less torturous.

I shelled out close to $100 for three months of Chemistry.com. The way it works, you take a bunch of tests and then get assessed a personality type, like builder or whatever. Since I hate contacting strangers randomly, I was hooked in by the site sending you matches and the "guided communication process." You can join for free, but you can't communicate with people unless you fork over the megabucks.

Each day, you get 5-10 matches. Even though you set your preferences, you receive a lot of people who don't fall into that. And Chemistry also sneaks in peole from Match.com too. For each person, you either say yes or no. The no button was certainly getting a lot of use from me.

For three months on the site, I communicated with less than ten guys and met only two. Those kinds of figures are disheartening. Also disheartening are men who seem to vanish randomly. Gee thanks. If interest is mutual, you can send your "relationship essentials" (how you rate aspects such as being neat, open, liking pets, and so forth) to review. If that's acceptable, you send the other person questions, and he answers, and you answer his questions. If those are a go, then you can exchange messages.

The people I met
Boy 1 was nice, but we didn't really click. It was okay talking to him, and I could see him as maybe a friend, but when I never heard back, I can't say I was too crushed.
Boy 2 was much better, and I thought he had much potential. He expressed interest in hanging out again and said he would message or call me, and natch, I never heard from him again, and his profile disappeared into thin air. That's lovely.

All in all, it started off promising, but then it fizzled out.

I'm going to try a new avenue and will report on that in the future.

Time to show this blog some love

Parker and I are both sick of winter, though it sounds like she has it worse than I do. Spring, where are you? And go away rain. I don't like you all that much.

Earlier today at the gym, I caught the latter part of "Womanizer" by Britney Spears, reminding me of how much I love this song. Britney's definitely one of my guilty pleasures, though I don't quite feel as ashamed as I should about this since she barely writes the music. So very catchy. I debated about buying a scratch-off instant lotto game but decided not to, not only because the machine was busted, but because I weighted the cost-to-benefit ratio and decided that caving and purchasing the Britney track would bring me more happiness that one minute of scratching off grey squares only to be let down but winning $0.

I'm tempted to blog about my experiences with dating in the city, but I dunno. In the meantime, here's a link to check out that is vaguely academical.
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/200808/being-in-the-friend-zone
Can you ever bounce out of the friend zone? Is there a time limit? Stupid friend zone!
This makes me cheer up:

In fact, the reality is that being in the friend zone is an honor: it means you are well-respected, have formed an emotional connection with that person, and are thought of as nice, considerate, and dependable. These are really valuable traits. And I really mean that.

Worth skimming and for the graphic at the top.

Okay, this post was all over the place.

I'm just not that into you

A man in my neighborhood, who I bump into more often that I would like, keeps saying hi to me and telling me I should call him/Myspace him. Look dude, it's been weeks since you gave me your business card. If I'm not reaching out, I'm not all that interested. And now I am almost embarrassed for you. Can't wait for spring when I can ditch my brightly colored heavy coat which unfortunately can be a magnet for attention.

This situation reminds me of the upcoming chick flick He's Just Not That Into You. That movie seems annoying. It's probably about people struggling to comedic effect and then having happy endings at the end. Plus anything with Drew Barrymore is bound to be bothersome. Especially when she talks about Myspace. Myspace is so dead! When was this movie made? It would have made more sense it were released closer to when the book came out.

My friends saw Drew Barrymore's mother. That's all I got.

I hate it when....

People sign you up for stuff you didn't really want to do in the first place. This has happened to me twice in the past month! First, I was signed up for a committee that I really didn't want to do. This committee basically does a bunch of party planning, and the committee members decided I would be good so they just put me on the list. I would love to attend the parties....I could care less about the planning. Then this week my co-worker is on a literacy committee, and she signed me up to work the book fair tomorrow night. Did she ask if I could even do it, or if I already had plans? NO! And to top it off...she didn't even tell me about it until this afternooon!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRR! Mind your own business folks!

No wonder those stairs reek

Last night I saw a vampire movie. But what truly frightened me was seeing a man peeing at the base of the subway entrance/exit stairs. Hey dude, stairs do not equal urinal! Nastiness.

Have a nice trip, see you next fall

Why are people so mean? Ill-bred dregs of society, guffawing loudly as I stumbled on the pointy sidewalk. Useless fake apology.

I don't watch Gossip Girl (should I?), but I know who Chace Crawford is due to all my gossip blog reading. Agent99, I think he might be a tad cuter than Zac Efron, but yeah, they could pass for brothers! Chace is a bit rumpled looking while Zac is almost too precise.

A Harry Wednesday

The trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is out now, and you can watch it here (the one on Yahoo is of better quality than ones on YouTube). It looks creepy, with Tom Riddle being the not so normal lad. Man, I don't remember much from the book since it was years ago when I read it.

The three of us are looking forward to November 21, 2008!

In other news, this fruit vendor on the street was really rude to me when I was scrutinizing strawberry packages. I saw some mold in one and he abruptly whisked that box away from me, tossed out the offending berry, and put the box back. Now that's just shady because strawberries are sold by weight. I walked away from the man after he was rude, telling me to hurry up and buy because I've touched every box there was. Please. I'll keep my $3 then. There's no excuse for rudeness in any customer service position, especially when I was not rude. It's not like I was damaging the fruit or anything. What a butt.

Viral is like a virus

What's up with the word "viral" popping up all over the place to describe hot internet things? I don't like it and refuse to use it. It seems wrong. Maybe someone can enlighten old fogey me. When I see "viral video," I think about a video you can watch that will give you a computer virus. Am I the only one? Yeah, probably.

The shades? The headphones? Let me pass!

I love my neighborhood, but I've had the experience frequently of being harassed on the street. OK, harassment is a strong word, but I don't like when people stop me to ask me to donate money/join an organization/sign a postcard/give directions. This seems to be happening more lately. Even if I have sunglasses on and my headphones in, I've been getting stopped. The kind lass I am at heart, I've stopped anyway and have ended up frustrated. No, I don't want to give you money for your basketball team to get uniforms! I dislike basketball anyway. And bothering me when I'm late to meet someone doesn't score points with me. Bah.

Please change diapers in private

A woman was changing her baby on the bench right in front of my building. I thought that was inappropriate, but my roommate didn't think so. I still think that was wrong, but maybe I'm wrong, but I'm still going to think it's wrong.

There used to be a lot of (and probably still a lot of) controversy about mothers breastfeeding their babies in public. I'm not particularly hip on that either, but the millions of mothers in my neighborhood would tend to beat down on like-minded folk. Somehow breastfeeing doesn't seem quite as bad, probably because dirty diapers and poop and pee are not involved. Yes, I have a pottymouth.

Unreal estate

I saw an ad for an apartment for $100,000. Wow, I thought to myself, maybe even I can afford that!

Then I looked closer and realized it was for a PARKING SPACE.

The hell?

Why am I not wealthy?

Jellies rock my socks.

I was trying on garments at Target, and this girl was chatting on her cell phone, in the dressing room stall, on speakerphone. Freak. That's almost as worse as using the bathroom and talking on the phone (a pet peeve of mine).

Bought a pair of jellies today! They are not purple or blue alas (smoke), but I'll cope.

Why is Jenna Bush all over the news? No one gives a damn about her wedding. Anyone with Bush blood needs to move to Antarctica. Doesn't anyone else get the irony of her promoting some literacy book when her dad can barely read?

The dangerous world of room finding

I'm not a super expert of roommate finding/apartment finding, but here are some things I've picked up while immersing myself in this crazy business. My co-bloggers might be amused to read these thoughts. I've been using Craigslist which I love and have been told that is the best way to find a housing in my metropolis.

Interpreting lingo
"Up and coming neighborhood" equals ghetto
"Cozy" equals shoebox
"Garden" is first floor

I get irked when people misrepresent the neighborhood the place is in. It's not like we won't notice when we actually visit. Pretending the apartment is in the nicer adjacent neighborhood is trickery. And when commuting times are mentioned, keep in mind that they're probably exaggerated and on a good day.

All folks want a clean person. That would be funny to find an ad that wants a dirty slob roommate who is irresponsible and makes lots of noise and does illegal drugs and has different strangers over every night of the week.

Then there are weirdos who want girlfriends and other icky situations of that nature. One guy wanted a girl to walk around in her underwear. Losers. And I hate ads where the man claims he's "good looking." Can we say, "full of himself?" And ads which request a photo. There's no need and you just prove yourself vapid.

A good chunk of ads are posted by couples looking for a roommate for a spare room. Who wants to live with a couple? They'd just gang up on you with discrepancies, and there are other negatives that come to mind.

The bottom line is that you're going to pay more for good stuff. Make sure you vibe with the other roommate. Ask questions. Take a friend along to provide an honest opinion; he/she is looking out for your best interests. Go at night too to asses the safety situation. Respond to as many ads that catch your eye; a lot of posters won't even respond.

And that's that. Wish me luck.

Mini-complaints, served hot

You know it's a bad day when you forget to reset your alarm and are almost late but aren't and then what you were almost late for began well after the appointed time anyway. Then it goes over and you are tired.

There's a guy who sits in front of me, and he needs to invest in a magical device called a belt. I don't want to see his hirsute lower backside (with crack!) all the time. Ew.

And my roommate, who has been not doing terribly much as of late, needs to take out the garbage. The stuff is 95% hers. I would, but it's the principle, ya know?

Two wrongs don't make a right, three lefts do

I spend too much time thinking about internet invitation protocol. I was invited to two parties by girls who I invited to my party, and neither had RSVPed. I've decided not to RSVP to one girl's party (she lives in the boonies anyway), but I put down a maybe for the other girl. Maybes are always safe. And I still prefer Evite over Facebook for invites. I'm just too thoughtful and polite!

A little bit o' random

1. If you are hanging out with two couples and a single person of the opposite sex, are you both fifth wheels? Or a fifth wheel and a six wheel? It's just still slighly weird.

2. My roommate's sister needs to stop living here.

3. Dear man in a Ferrari with the top down in winter, you are a tool. Sincerely, Me

4. People who wear thin clothes when it's below freezing outside aren't fooling anyone.

5. The laundry room is a circle of hell.

Advice to guys

The incident I'm about to describe hasn't happened to me, but I felt the need to write about it. How come when you are at a bar/restaurant and a guy approaches you who you aren't into, and you turn down his advances by saying you have a boyfriend, he still persists? Guys, "I have a boyfriend" translates to "Go away!" Learn it, live it, love it.

Oh yeah, if I can smell you before I see you, that's too much cologne. Less is more.

bus and sidewalk etiquette

It was one of those days when all the buses and trains are going in the direction you're not going. If you ride a bus and it's crowded and you're in a two person seat, sit by the window. Don't be an ass! You're not special! Argh. And don't have obnoxious cell phone conversations if you have a loud irritating accent. On the bus, I saw a youngish Asian-American father and his daughter talk about eyebrow waxing. The daughter was around older elementary or middle school, I guess. I don't think my dad knows what eyebrow waxing is.

Oscar nominations come out January 22. I hope they don't screw them up.

Poor tannenbaums

I feel bad for discarded Christmas trees, just lying there on the cold dirty sidewalk. They only get their day in the sun for a few weeks, and then they're tossed out. Poor things.

Also, I am convinced that someday I will meet my maker via death by bicycle. No, I won't be riding the bicycle, but I will crash into a psycho delivery person on one. Those guys are nuts. Anyone who wants to ride a bicycle in the city, usually without a helmet, is out of his mind. Traffic light? What's that? Pedestrian? Eh, whatever. Yes, mark my words: death by delivery person on a bicycle.

Now that Christmas and New Year's are over, we have Valentine's Day to look forward to. Sarcasm. Shopping is annoying, especially at places like drug stores and Target/Wal-Marts because of all the holiday product pushes. Ugh.