Hey guys, since board game night was cancelled this week do you want to come over and watch a movie at my parent's place? For those of you that think hanging with parents isn't cool, they may be at the coast this weekend, but no guarantees.

6pm or so? I'll order Pizzicato or something if people rsvp what they want or say they're fine with me just picking stuff.

I've got Son of Rambow from netflix, feel free to bring over something else if you'd prefer.

Some internet meme about food adventurousness. Bold what you've eaten, strike-thru what you wouldn't touch. I fully admit this is an exercise of foodie snoberishness. I apologize. But only a little.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (gotta love a cheese so stinky it's banned on French public transportation!)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (do jello shots count?)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (yogurt yes, milk not yet)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (another stinky one, banned in hotels in Malaysia)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (2 stars, yes, 3 stars, not yet!)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate (Holy cow new levels of snobbery exist! And I call myself a chocolate lover...)
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

67/100...I may try to get a few more of these next year. None are crossed out, because supposedly I'll try everything...though whether that's because I don't know how to strike things through in HTML(thanks Adam!) or because I don't know wtf they are in the first place I'll leave to your contemplation. Explanations can be found here because I'm too lazy to transfer over the wikipedia links. :)

Poutine looks delicious. Road trip to Canada!

I ran my first marathon today! "Ran" = walked a few miles after my knees felt like they were going to rip apart. I need some serious ice and ibuprofen - I'm always surprised at how much pain the body is capable of, though it's no Irukandji. Although it was self-inflicted...

Anyways, props to everyone for finishing! I'm going to bed!

The parents meet Cliff for the first time Saturday. I am kind of hoping they don't take another 5 years to warm up to him like with previous versions. And by they, I mean dad.

I should take bets on how long it takes. Figuring out the odds for this stuff can't be that hard.

+'s
workaholic
treats me well
suitable age
college-educated (same school even!)
stable (i.e. not the depressed, artistic type)
polite
parents still together (it matters to them)
daughter nearing age 30 (not that this is really a plus, but it does soften the edges doesn't it :)

-'s
white
male

Hmm...

Anyone want to go see the Kooks at the Crystal on Oct. 22nd with me? 9pm...let me know. I'll probably grab tickets when I'm in Portland next week to avoid the 1/3 ticketmaster charge.

It's too meta for me to blog now about the boy. I never should have told him I had a blog! I don't have much else to write about on here besides my dating life - which was so much easier with J since he didn't care about the internet.

I could tell you that I've been trying really hard not to argue politics with my Republican parents, but how completely common is that? Or that I'm super excited to have my brother/sister-in-law/nephew visiting for Xmas and am already trying to plot out presents and decorations, but it's hard to present yourself as a wild, free spirit when you're secretly making plans for your next gingerbread creation (Alhambra or Eiffel Tower?) and whether the tree needs a color theme. I think this contributes to the fact that I've felt inept talking small talk for years. I'd much rather dish out huge statements/questions like "How the F do I know if this guy is right for me?" or "What's a career and how do you know you care about it?" or I've got nothing. I mean, small talk with friends ends up being unnecessary, and small talk with strangers I find pointless on a few levels (which isn't saying that I don't enjoy the occasional party and forced socializing on some level anyways). So I'm either simply becoming quieter or I'm spending too much time in my head. I can't tell.

In terms of projects, I recently put together a home carbonation system. It was simple and fun, and has provided hours of entertainment and shaking, and gallons of fizzy water which I have recently become addicted to imbibing. First beer...now fizzy water...what other strange adult things am I going to start liking next? Scotch?

(The boy is great, by the way. He makes me laugh in completely unexpected ways. It's delightful.)

I don't get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

I think the only thing one really needs to know in dating is how to convince the person you're with that he/she is the most beautiful/intriguing creature in the world. The best part about it is that whether or not you actually believe it's true falls second to the joy of suspended disbelief for both parties. Before this guy, the rational part of me would never have been able to believe it possible.

I may be completely delusional. I know one thing however - I am never dating someone that doesn't make me smile this much in the beginning ever again.

I've been dating a new guy. (Not the other guy - he got dropped like a hot potato after claiming 4 years experience lead climbing and then failing the lead test...) Met him on okcupid and then found out he's a friend's roommate - apparently the friend sent him my profile and he was going to message me but I'd seen he'd looked at my profile and pre-empted him by messaging him. (So Typical - still have never actually been asked out since I just ask them...)

Every fricking thing he says aligns.

"I just can't see getting old and valuing anything I've done like being able to say that I've raised some awesome kids."

Gawd. I'm so trying to take this a day at a time but I've Never felt like This before and Never thought I could. Here's hoping he doesn't read the internet and get scared away, but omg I'm crazy about this guy! I've got the goofiest smile on my face after 3 dates and how many emails and good GOD I was supposed to be single for a year Ali's gonna be so MAD at me!

Even if this goes south...I have so much more faith in my sister-in-law's advice/testimonial that every guy she dated before my brother just got better and better. I Know what I like and want now, and even though I thought there was a shadows chance in the desert that I'd find it all in one package I'm completely spooked out when things look like I have.

Seriously. How do people who date multiple people simultaneously DO this??? I need flow charts! Venn diagrams! State diagrams! This unsettled aspect of meeting people makes me extremely antsy. Are we friends? Does he want to be more than friends? Do I want to be more than friends? What does that mean? And what about that other guy? What am I even looking for?

It's funny, because 2 days ago I was all sad about my lack of prospects.

Summary: my first "date" with someone I met online went well. He was much nicer than his profile would have suggested, and I think we got along pretty well. I had been hoping for that big neon sign above his head along with some lightning bolts, but I'm happy it wasn't 2 hours of agonizing awkwardness. He kinda reminded me of Peter, which dropped my guard. Damn you Peter! Stop making me feel so comfortable with strangers!

It's all kinda confusing though. Part of me is pretty happy not playing this dating game and just being single.

How do I make a decision where to live? I love my life in SF...right now. I could see being much less happy were certain cool people to graduate or go back to school or find different jobs. Or possibly more happy were certain ones to relocate here too. It works both ways. I can't make a decision based off of friends, right?

And yet, that somehow becomes my argument for returning to Portland. I've already got the friends, the know-how, the activities to do. There's enough new to explore but the comfort of the old, and the housing market is ripe for a hostile takeover. This is also a decent argument for going to Boston, or trying out Austin (whoa 100+ degree temperatures might be a big no on that one). So why change? Why move? And when? I do want a house...eventually. Maybe I don't actively want one now, but I could take on the responsibility right now. Should I do so just because I can? Should I change just because I've gotten comfortable?

Let's not even pretend this is about my career. I like my job. It affords me an excellent life full of travel and soccer and friends and being active and outdoors and eating good food. That's what I like about it. I have to work at being ok with that sometimes, but I'm ok with that.

Maybe I'm just uncomfortable not having any more goals to have. I don't really need the house, I'm ok without the man, I want a dog but that's still in the future. The job seems to be running itself. So now what?

Unquestionably it was the right decision. I feel happier, more free, almost elated sometimes with the options/opportunities out there. I'm re-thinking graduate school, I'm open again to moving elsewhere, and I'm closer to grasping that ever elusive concept of "knowing what I want". I see friends more, I work out more, I'm camping/hiking/climbing more, and I'm even almost ready to start meeting this first batch of online characters that I've been messaging.

Crazy how expectations can change so suddenly and permanently when you finally accept the truth.

I still miss him though. I miss the flowers, the smiles, the playful glances, the cuddles, the chivalry. The constant shopping even though it drove me crazy. The music that I never liked. Mostly the companionship - that we were in this together, and the mutual understanding of each other's needs. Stuff that I can see after 50 years completely shattering me, though it hasn't happened yet.

May Day
by Phillis Levin

I've decided to waste my life again,
Like I used to: get drunk on
The light in the leaves, find a wall
Against which something can happen,

Whatever may have happened
Long ago—let a bullet hole echoing
The will of an executioner, a crevice
In which a love note was hidden,

Be a cell where a struggling tendril
Utters a few spare syllables at dawn.
I've decided to waste my life
In a new way, to forget whoever

Touched a hair on my head, because
It doesn't matter what came to pass,
Only that it passed, because we repeat
Ourselves, we repeat ourselves.

I've decided to walk a long way
Out of the way, to allow something
Dreaded to waken for no good reason,
Let it go without saying,

Let it go as it will to the place
It will go without saying: a wall
Against which a body was pressed
For no good reason, other than this.

Pollan's latest piece hit home for me. Stolen from Amrys.

Strain 2+ cups yogurt
1/2 cup heavy cream + 1/2 cup sugar
combine and freeze in ice cream maker.

delicious.