damn you chris harrison!

i really try to avoid getting sucked into reality shows.
especially ones about dating.
but that damn bachelor/ette franchise always gets me. aarrgghh.

i only watched the finale of the most recent bachelor, where the handsome london suitor chose the anna nicole smith look-a-like actress from LA. does anyone smell a cliche here?

the ending did get me thinking though. the woman who was a little older, perhaps a little wiser (yet of course at least as pretty and with an equally amazing body) didn't win, it seems, because she held back her feelings a bit and didn't completely throw herself at the guy from the get go. well, i think once you've loved and lost, you are a little more reluctant to make yourself vulnerable the next time (and i can't even imagine what that would feel like under the constant scrutiny of a tv camera!!). so maybe that show is a little biased toward younger women in that way? just a thought.

i must admit i do enjoy watching the bachelorette a lot more. first of all, there is WAY too much testosterone in that room. my goodness, 25 guys competing for the attention of one female? they lose their sh*t! i'm totally fascinated by the distinctions between the guys who try too hard, those who don't try hard enough, and the ones who get it just right. i even decided to make it a game for myself by trying to guess who she would send home on the first night...it was actually fun! i did pretty well, too, she picked 7 of the 8 guys on my "yes" list, 5 of 7 guys on my "maybe" list and 3 of the 10 guys on my "no way" list. i looked around online to see if there were any bachelorette tv show pools out there i could join to "make it interesting" as my bro would say, but couldn't find any. but if there is one out there, put me in for graham and the over! (hey, whatever gets you through, right? : )

still feeling excited about the changes a' comin'. as a very sweet (my age, handsome, male, taken) co-worker recently said to me, "you will be appreciated in Chicago." not that i haven't been appreciated in some ways in SD (by my friends, my family, my work colleagues) but i am looking forward to going to a place where maybe the range of things that matter in a partner might be a bit wider, and maybe because there are seasons people are more willing to commit so they have someone to snuggle and eat homemade soup with during the winter. just a hunch, i could be wrong and back here on the beach in a few years....but I wouldn't bet on it.

but if anyone wants to bet on the bachelorette, send me a note! ~md

a hopeful hookup

well, i've just returned from a four-day trip to chi-town. met and did some work with several new colleagues...looked at several apartments (thanks Jill!)...spent QT with a few friends there.

i am SO excited to begin this new chapter of my life!

although i know there is no guarantee that this change in location will change my dating luck, i did have some good signs this weekend...including a new *friend* whom i encountered after the cubs game (i didn't go to the game, but met up with friends who did...let me tell you, bars in wrigleyville after a game are positively MAN-tastic!). it felt good to be flirted with, and i almost thought someone put him up to it when he made a comment suggesting that i would forget about him well before i moved there in july because there would be so many other guys on my t-i-p. i'm not mentioning this to sound self-aggrandizing, i'm just saying it because i think it was exactly what i needed to hear! and i don't think i'm going to forget S. anytime soon. ; ) as it said in my free will astrology horoscope for last week: "It's finally the right time for you to hear a piece of advice you weren't ready for before. If I had told you this any earlier, you would have at best misinterpreted it and at worst had no idea what I was talking about. But in recent weeks you've recovered a portion of your lost wildness, which means I can confidently reveal the following truth, courtesy of poet Charles Simic, 'He who cannot howl cannot find his pack.'"

Thanks, S, thanks Rob Brezny and thank you Chicago! See you in July! : ) ~ md