2004-03-22 | 12:20 a.m.

corduroy licorice insisted on eating a square meal every day at lunch, which consisted of a sandwich and a handful of graham crackers. sometimes he craved pizza, but there was no room for triangles in his diet regimen.

***

"the great object of life is sensation--to feel that we exist
--even though in pain--it is this "craving void" which drives us to gaming--to battle--to travel--to intemperate but keenly felt pursuits of every description whose principal attraction is the agitation inseparable from their accomplishment."
--lord byron

i wonder if lord byron was talking about online dating. i mean, technically he probably didn't imagine that one day mankind would hunt and gather love interests through a marriage of electronics and digital technology, but his description above fits the undertaking so swimmingly.

perhaps needless to say, i had my first online date in about a year. which pretty much qualifies as my only date, period, in about a year. i was more nervous than a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs, as the saying goes.

after the first five minutes, i felt as if hyperventilation was no longer a threat and settled into an interesting conversation with "my date."

by strategically planning my approach to our selected barista-bearing establishment, i was able to get first glimpse. his online profile's posted photo had promised a bit more, to my libido's disappointment, but he was a nice enough bloke and even bought my coffee--an act i had learned not to take for granted from a previous online dating offline encounter.

we didn't click. we didn't clunk. we just kind of bumped along and then bid adieu in a pleasant manner. i don't anticipate a date number two, but at least i am more fully prepared to face more date number ones.

agitation is job one.

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