I watched Death Proof for the first time. It has to be the best porn I've ever seen. It's fanboy porn, T&A porn, Kurt Russell porn, horror movie porn - it's fantastic.

So, I've been thinking about dating a lot lately. More as an abstract than of me actually engaging in the act of...It's not a fun thing to me, really. Never really has been. Mainly because I think you either know how to do it the right way, the fun way, or you don't. And I don't. Back to the concept. I've been specifically thinking about the climate of dating in this day and age, and specifically in my town.

Frankly, my city sucks for dating. It's too jaded. Too quick and slick to be anything but people looking mainly for immediate gratification. There are times when it works for people here, no doubt - relationships can be developed and succeed (you know who I'm talking about, you). My opinion is definitely a generalization, and there are exceptions to every perception.

Here's a story about some people I know who will remain nameless, though, that I heard, that left me feeling incredibly disappointed and disgusted . They get introduced, they start texting and emailing back and forth (ahhhh, the digital age - intimacy without the necessity of ACTUAL intimacy)and he says to her, Okay, let's do this. I want to get together with you - but here's how it's gonna work. I'm gonna come over, we're gonna fuck, but you're not allowed to talk. Not hello, goodbye, nothing. No talking.

And she agrees to it. And it happened.

This is just amazing to me, and not just because the male individual involved in the transaction is unbelievably not sexy. I have literally thought of him as asexual since the day I met him. I just don't understand how this is it - this is the dating pool that I would be diving into should I choose to do so. People do this.

But there are nice moments sometimes, even when you land directly in the middle of the bullshit that swirls around this town. I was at a new club last night, and it was horrendous, and me and the SSLP were so over it. We walked outside to a poolside area that was actually a breath of fresh air. It was huge and considerately furnished with large round poolside lounge seats. I sat down on one and apologized to a fella laying there. He was awake, not intoxicated, just looking at the sky waiting for his dumb drunk buddy to wander back around from wherever he disappeared to. My feet hurt (the first time back in real shoes since surgery) and he looked quiet and uninvested in all the madness, so I laid down with him. Didn't ask. Just spooned up to him, and he put his arm around me - and we talked. Talked about nursing as a very practical career choice (his) and the massive uselessness of an English degree in this economy (mine) and France and the beach and tattoos, and it was just...nice.

It was random, and surprisingly not skeevy, considering our surroundings and the fact that I laid down with a complete stranger. It kind of reminded me of the plot for this movie coming out called The Girlfriend Experience. The main difference being that we both got an interesting sort of momentary companionship at no cost to either of us. (And two side notes: a.) I was almost completely sobered up from the horror show of trying to get into the place so my actions could not be blamed on alcohol, nor would I want them to be, and b.) it shocked the hell out of my friends who were with me, who bounced over as my committee to grill him for information and also to take pictures to prove that, yes, I co-mingle with boys every once in a while.)

That's it really. I was still relentlessly cautious, didn't give or get a number. And I don't have any deep thoughts about it, other than I don't want to get all jaded too - I don't want to begin believing that everyone's got an angle, that every person I meet is just handing me some sort of line. I want to believe that people mean what they say.