general mayhem.

So we've got a couple of big presentations coming up at work, my weekend involved volunteering at the zoo twice, going to a 13 inning baseball game (GO SOX!), lunch and shopping with the folks, wrestling two air conditioners into windows, melting a coffeepot, and a bad date with a boy.

After much discussion with some folks at work, I'm giving e-harmony a try - yes, it's started by a religious zealot, and they won't match homosexuals, which bothers me. There are a couple of things I like about it. The big one is that they do all the work, there's no searching through tens/hundreds/thousands of profiles - they send matches every day who are (according to them) compatible. Having gone through the questionaire involved in joining, I'll say that they asked some good questions, which would come to bear on mutual... I don't know that values is the right word, but lifestyle choices? Anyway, the "guided communication" is a lot more involved than other sites, but it is interesting. The other thing I like about it is that there seem to be a lot more people on the site - I've found that different sites are better in different geographic areas. I know the folks aren't thrilled with this as a way of meeting people, but I don't come in contact with a lot of eligible guys in the day to day.

So there was Good-on-Paper, who I'll just call Paper, who's emails were articulate, well thought out, and while not funny, were interesting. Paper looked cute, in a dorky way, and it seemed promising, especially when he suggested we get together at an art exhibit. The man carried a tote bag. He took the elevator down one flight of stairs, twice. When I suggested we take the stairs he said, "If the elevator doesn't come soon, there aren't many people here." Not the point, buddy. Not. The. Point. So there we are in the exhibit, and he expresses a wish for more "scientific" art. We round a corner and come across a series of geometric prints - "not patterns," Paper says, "science." I don't know what that means. Finally, we get to the part of the exhibit where the Peeps dioramas are - the dioramas that were in the Washington Post around Easter - complete with Reservoir Peeps, and the soundtrack playing in the background! Little Green Bag!! That was my favorite Peep diorama, naturally, something about a marshmellow bunny with an ear cut off is just hilarious. So there I am smiling at murderous Peeps, when Paper says, "um, yeah, I don't like this art." That was the longest sentence he said that wasn't a complaint about DC not being as good as San Francisco. The rest was monosyllabic answers followed by silence. Awkward silence. Luckily I'd shown up late due to forgotten Metro repairs, and he had to go meet up with friends, so we weren't there that long - I kind of want that 40 minutes back.

Tomorrow night I'm meeting another guy, who's answers were more terse, but who I've actually spoken with briefly on the phone and seems capable of full sentence responses. I call him Mr. Eyes, because in one of his photos his eyes are quite piercing. I'll keep you posted.

Others? There are a few, but none that have yet earn monikers. I'm debating with myself as to whether an affinity for Dan Brown is a justification for not communicating with a boy - it sure feels like it. Seriously? Those books are horrible!!

Then there's the guy who I was trying to be open minded about as we went through the form questions, his responses were lackluster, but it also seemed that English was his second language, and that would make this a tougher forum. However, tonight he sent me an email and got my name wrong. He wrote an email to "Alexi." I don't know who that is, but it is not me. And yes, it's close, but it's not my name; I am nothing that ends in "i" or any such nonsense. If you can't be bothered to check the spelling on a girl's name, then you deserve to be single. I'm trying to decide if it's mean to send him an email saying, "dude, you spelled my name wrong" before I close the match - and even if it's mean, I'm tempted to do it, anyway.

So if nothing else, there's some promising material for funny stories in the near future.