Putting Myself Out There

I went to 341's last night and was feeling pretty good. I like to go to the Eagle because it's a relaxed atmosphere where people have a good time and I can watch videos and get 3 drinks for the price of one. So, loves it! Although it seems like the more I go, the younger the crowd gets (EEK! What could that possibly mean?) Not to imply that there aren't older guys there..there are plenty of those, but none of them are very interesting looking.

Well, anyway, I'd been given the advice that I needed to start "putting myself out there" if I ever wanted to make good on my desire to meet someone and settle down. So, after having thought about that for a while, I decided that that was probably truer than I would like to believe. So, as mentioned in a previous story, I set up a profile on a dating site, and actually have gotten a few hits, most of them not really very interesting. But, anyway, I'm putting myself out there. That's what important.

Anyway, I digress. So I went to 341's last night, feeling good, feeling cute. For some reason, my skin really looked nice yesterday. I feel like it always does though when I have a fresh hair cut. So anyway, I was wearing my new snug corduroy pants and one of my favorite new t-shirts with a design over the left shoulder and my skin was glowing and my hair was fresh and I was feeling good. The crowd was OK, I really wasn't blown away by anyone. There were a very few Blacks beside myself there, but this is Minnesota, right? Anyway, I stood in my usual spot, right in front of the huge video screen and drank vodka/grapefruit juices and scoped the crowd. One blah dude posing after another, and then I saw this one dude who I thought was by far the best looking man in the place, but he was one of those people who had that air about him like "Don't talk to me, you fags. I'm better than you, so back off." Of course, I made that whole dialogue up in my head, so whatevs. What I'm trying to say, is he appeared very aloof and unapproachable.

He was dressed in some longer plaid shorts with a white t-shirt, and a cap and flip-flops. He had a nice slender body and big feet, which looked well manicured. He was light-skinned and for a second I wasn't sure if he was Black, mixed or what, but again, this is Minnesota, so I'm sure there's some White in there somewhere. I thought he was quite sexy with his goatee, but needless to say he was walking a few feet away from me, so he never noticed me. But then again, you never know. People in a club have mastered the art of noticing everyone in a room right away and then completely avoiding those that they don't wanna see, always ready with the line "I didn't even see you over there!" Which for me, is bullshit! I'm usually the tallest guy in the room. I would probably be the first person you notice, right? Anyhoo....So, it "appeared" that he didn't see me as he walked on by.

I continued with my drinks and had a prime spot, the only seat available in the video room and I didn't wanna leave it, but eventually my cup no longer runneth over, as a matter of fact, it runneth on empty. What to do...what to do? "Well," I told myself, "you're not putting yourself out there by sitting in this dayum chair the whole time!" So, I thought to myself that myself was absolutely right, and I left that chair high and dry, thinking that I'd get out there and walk around and see what I see. I'm always in the same spot and it hasn't yielded any fantastic results, so moving on.....

So, I'm at the bar, ordering my drink when all of a sudden someone walks up and stands directly behind me, body to body. I'm thinking to myself, "Oh, really". Felt good, though, so I turned around and who should it be but "aloof and unapproachable". This must have been a couple/few drinks in for him because he was smiling like the Cheshire cat.

"That was him!" he laughed, pointing to his tall Black friend standing next to him.

"Naw, that was him," the friend said.

Well, it was obvious who it was because the guy hadn't backed up one inch and was still standing behind me, snug as a bug.

"You are so hot!" he says. "I just thought you should know that".

He looked really good up close, but something about his face made him look mean though. Maybe because his features were so dark, or something. I don't know. But he looked nice when he was smiling.

"Thanks," I said. "You're hot yourself." I know, smooth, original. I'm such a player. Eeeesh.

"I'm Darald," I offered.

"I'm Gary," he said, and we shake, awkwardly. He's still standing pretty close, ya see.

He kept smiling at me, and giving me the sexy eye and he hadn't budged a bit.

My drink was ready by this time, so I picked it up and turned and smiled at the guy and left the bar. Then I thought to myself, "why would you leave a perfect opportunity like that?" Then I said to myself again that myself was right, so I planted myself right there and decided I'd wait for him to come back. I didn't have to wait long.

"Hey, so you single?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah! You?" he replied.

"Yep. So can I get your number?" Bold! Put it out there, buddy! LOL

"For sure!"

As I take out my cellphone, he leans in and kisses me on my neck. YUM!

"A'ight, what is it?" I asked, a little bit tingly from the neck-kissage.

"612-552-1717," he says and leans in again for another kiss on the neck. By this time, I'm feeling quite flattered and a little bit goosy.

"A'ight, cool. So, I'm gonna call you soon, a'ight?"

"I'll be waiting," he says and goes off with his two beers.

So, I felt pretty darned pleased after that. I met up with Jeremy and a couple of his friends after that and we hung for a while and laughed and chatted. They're planning a trip to Canada and want me to come along. Probably just so they can flirt most of the trip. I told them I'd think about it. It could be a good time. I've never been to Canada.

Anyway, so after chatting with them for a spell, I left and ran into Dr. Potter in the parking lot, and gave him my parking spot. He said that he was just leaving work and wanted to come out to see if I was hanging out. Too late for me, though. So, I left, went to the video store, picked up a couple movies, went by the grocery store and came home.

I logged onto my computer and Dr. Potter called saying that he left immediately because there wasn't anyone interesting in the place. We chatted only briefly and then I let him go. Then Steve called and said that he was in Palm Springs, CA and that there was far more vanilla than there was chocolate in that town and he was thinking about heading out that night. By the way, he sent me the sweetest email last night, but I didn't get it til this morning because I past out fairly early. But, I'm getting ahead of myself here. So, after I talked to Steve for a little while and got up the nerve, I gave Gary a call. Got his voice mail, of course. I wasn't surprised by that at all. His voice mail sounded like some business number and he works for Mystic Lake Casino. I didn't know how to feel about that, but I wasn't making it mean anything. I honestly just felt good about having put myself out there and at least meeting somebody.

And get this, it was a real good night for me, because I'd gotten a friend request on Facebook from this guy who said he didn't even have a reason for requesting me as a friend, except that I was really hot! He was kinda cute, too, so I added him. Come to find out, after looking at his profile, that he's probably done that often to cute guys, cause I don't even know if he knows half of those guys. He'd added several guys that I know, including Larry Jones and Paul Klosterman, both who he probably gave the same spiel. Anyway, I'm hot. That's the moral of that story.

AND, I gotta hit on my profile from a guy that said he was fascinated with it. He's a white guy, nice looking, blue-collar and seems interesting. He left me his email address and said that he'd love to hear from me, so I emailed him this morning. We'll see what happens there.

Anyway, I was going to cap the night off with a movie, but when I sat down on that sofa, I knew there was no way I was gonna make it through an entire two hour flick, so I turned the TV off in the living room, turned the one in the bedroom on and laid it down. It was 9:32 pm. 35 seconds later it was lights out! All that excitement musta caught up with me!!!