Fresh Meat – My Dating Hangovers

The Calm. Too Good To Be True. The Artist.

Last week I began exchanging messages with a man who probably had one of the most detailed profiles I’ve encountered thus far and yes (gasp), one that was grammatically intact. If you’ve ever been able to read the words written by a person and feel like you have a pretty good idea what they’re about, this was one of those instances. I struggled with what I would call him and initially hinted that he would be “The Calm”, but that was before we met.

His profile tells the world that he works hard and plays hard, about his interest in different types of movies from Star Trek to Finding Forrester to Enter the Dragon. He is descriptive with his words, open and direct about where he came from, what he was looking for in his future and who he was interested in meeting. Best of all, he is a man of many talents.

Our messages began with the basic getting-to-know-you type of questions and comments and once we each passed the screening process, agreed that we wanted to communicate by telephone. A few conversations later, a meeting was arranged.

Allow me to introduce to the fresh meat of the week whose pesuedonym means: A comforting or hopeful aspect of an otherwise desperate or unhappy situation.

On a mild Sunday afternoon at one of the most popular meet up places, Starbucks, Silver Lining (hereafter known as “SL”) and I enjoyed good conversation over his regular coffee and my Grande Macchiato. Although his flight had just returned to LA, he was still on time, and soon I’d met up with a nicely dressed, clean cut and shaven man with great teeth, a nice warm smile and hallelujah – someone who looked just like his profile pictures and acted like the man behind the words. Insert sigh of relief here.

SL and I talked for nearly two hours and touched on nearly everything including our children, his previous marriage and our past relationships, to the types of people we can’t deal with, family backgrounds, education and work. Our lifestyles, likes and dislikes, hobbies and aspirations, my actual name.

Just about anything you can think of was discussed as we sat on that bench while enjoying the breeze blowing on a mild spring day. So refreshing to be in good company, so pleasing was the openness of the conversation.

Surely I could go on and on about the details of this meeting and the things I’d learned, but instead I’ll share my highlights:

12 Things I Like about Him (So Far)

Is not still searching for himself
Seems to understand parenting
Speaks eloquently
Has a diverse background
Is very intellectual
He’s driven
Still interested in marriage
Direct and to the point without being an a-hole
Loves to write
Is a photographer
Favorite movie is Love Jones (bonus)
Believes in chivalry

The saying goes if it seems too good to be true, it probably is so I won’t jinx myself. This was only the first meeting and while he passed with flying colors, I’ll have to see how he acts in different situations, different surroundings.

Something I found interesting was what SL said to me at the conclusion of our meet up – “I’m looking forward to seeing you again soon, though I’ve not yet figured out in what capacity that will be in”. I raised an eyebrow and chuckled at the vagueness of this statement, but left it at that.

I’ll sit back and observe and see how things play out and while I probably shouldn’t add him to the Hangovers tab just yet, his bio will be posted shortly.

Stay tuned…..

Carmen ~

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