New developments

It's official: I'm going to Italy in Septmeber. My mom went and ordered all our airfare over the weekend. So the entire Veneto family is going. Mom, pops, me, Ali and her boyfriend, Julie and Jorge. 10 days in Tuscany, Venice, and Rome. In fact, here's where we'll be staying in Tuscany: www.ricavo.com. Looks pretty sweet. Don't know what we're doing for Venice or Rome yet. I've even gone so far as to order a book/CD to help me learn some Italian. At the very least I'd like to be able to order from the menus without feeling foolish. Anyway, even though it's months away, I'm pretty damn psyched.
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Could I play metal?

Krista's boyfriend's band will be looking for a new guitar player soon. I've heard this separately from both Krista and Joe (her boyfriend), and a third time while we were all out to brunch on Saturday. Joe said that they had thought about asking me. And to be truthful, I had thought about offering when I heard. I probably have time for another band. But do I really want to play metal, that's the question? Because that's what they are. And I'm talking "I'm not kidding, they're really metal" metal. They are good, though, which is the only reason I'd consider it. Of course there's also the issue that I don't really have any metal playing or writing skills. That'd would probably be a problem.

Either way, I don't think I'm going to do it. It's an interesting thought to entertain though, playing something so out of my comfort zone.
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OK, so I went on a date with someone I met on Craigslist. If I'm going to stay true to my slogan of Sexy In '07, I figure I need to at least make some effort. So, I meet this girl on Friday night after work. Now first things first, when you meet someone through Craigslist, there's a pretty certain flow to it. They answer your ad or you answer theirs, you email back and forth a bit, exchange pictures, and if everything still seems good at this point probably meet up. Now, if you're going to be exchanging pictures, why would you send one that is not up to date? Well, I know why, because the current version is not as good. But if it gets to the point where you're going to meet up, that clever ruse falls right apart. I mention this because, yes, that was the case here.

Anyway, we can categorically describe this date as a failure, in the sense that there was no interest in a follow-up. Conversation, which started out OK, ground to a screeching halt (for whatever reason) when we got to Pizzeria Uno, which is where we had dinner. (VMan's note: This would not have been my choice, but I was meeting her near her house down near the Cape, which I don't know at all, so I left the choice of venue up to her.) I mean, we're talking painfully, half minute or more lulls in covnersations while I thought of new things to talk about screeching halt here. To be honest, based on our emailing back and forth, which is another story in itself, I had gotten the impression that we might not be that compatible. But I figured what the hell, if nothing else it'd be good practice. But after about 5 minutes of awkward silences at Uno's I knew this would be a short evening. That is partly why I scheduled it for right after work, so that if it was not a success, I could probably salvage the rest of my evening (which I did by going out with some friends later, having some neat mixed drinks, and discovering a new pretty cool album in the process---Nobody's Darlings by Lucero, if you were wondering.)

But here's the rub, I found myself annoyed the next day. Not at the date or the girl, because of course I know not everything is going to be silver lining. And despite the absolute lack of compatibilty between us, she was a rather nice sort. But I found myself thinking, "I just wasted $40." Silly thing to be thinking, but it's true. I don't exactly have $20s hanging out my pockets or anything here, and I realized that unsuccessful dating could be a proposition too expensive for me to undertake all gung-ho.

Either that, or I just have to be more selective. But rest assured that any further adventures, mis- or otherwise, will likely be reported in exacting detail for your reading pleasure.