Jan 1, 2005

What was wrong with the old year?

Another year gone. This means I must retire to my library to spend time with my hunting trophies, enjoy a pipe of finest tobacco, and reflect ponderously. OK, I only do that last thing. I do have a Musk Ox skull in my basement though!

I've never been much for New Year's Eve. I find the celebration artificial, and would rather just have a regular quiet evening with someone special. This year I was by myself and planned to simply relax. After all Mary was in Phoenix with her girls, Chelle was doing the Sex and the City thing in the Big Apple, Retro Girl was preparing party food in Illinois, and young Amanda was with her husband in London. It turned out that I did spend the evening with someone though. Sort of...

I've been meeting people (well, women) through an online dating service for two years now. Sometimes the connection gets made in a day or so, other times it takes months to meet. Well yesterday afternoon I got a "smile" from an interesting girl that lived nearby. I smiled back and then sent her a message. Pretty soon we had arranged to chat online once her boys were asleep. We ended up having a lively conversation for most of the evening, chatting on MSN, Yahoo, and AIM as we tried to get our web-cams to work together. I could see her, but she couldn't connect to my camera. I felt bad about that, but I really enjoyed see her reacting to my chat messages. It was the first time I'd actually used my web-cam, and it really adds a dimension to the conversation. We switched to telephone after a while, and were so engrossed in our conversation that we missed "the moment". So call it a virtual New Year's party...

Listening to: The Man Comes Around (iTunes Store link) by Johnny Cash from American IV: The Man Comes Around.

Posted by: Ben at 1/01/2005 06:13:00 p.m.

6 comments:

  1. slow poke kateSaturday, January 01, 2005 7:53:00 p.m.

    Your New Year celebrating sounds like my kind of party. ;) Just for the record, the whole soul searching online can work out. I am proof of that one. My husband and I met online nearly ten years ago. I was fifteen at the time. Darren is seven years older than I am, so naturally my father didn't go for the whole "meeting in person idea" until I was eighteen. Yet, we finally made it work. Nine years later. So, here is to you *raising my glass of Mimosa* and your online dating scene! Best of luck to you.
    PS- You let me know when you are "grown up" and I will see about sending you "shortbread Christmas tree cookies with sprinkles ALL over them. ;)

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  2. slow poke kateSaturday, January 01, 2005 7:54:00 p.m.

    Are you a Diana Krall fan? Something tells me that you might just be. Let's just say my intuition is normally spot on....

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  3. BenSunday, January 02, 2005 1:12:00 a.m.

    Amanda: That's an interesting history! Your Dad must have been pretty concerned at first. I "met" my ex-wife by e-mail back in 1988, so I know it can start that way, but I don't think I could have maintained it as a purely on-line thing for so long. Thanks for the words of encouragement though. Yes, I do own Ms. Elvis Costello's CDs. You may be clever, but you still owe me cookies!
    l.a.h.: If this blog's rockin' don't bother knockin'. And I've decided that I don't need an iPod after all. I'll just turn up the voices in my head. Thanks for 'rolling me though. I still haven't found a pleasing way to list blogs that I like, but when I do you'll be there.
    Retro Girl: Maybe I can put in an order for Easter? Let's start the menu planning. :-) Seems like you had a good New Year's Eve to me. A great TV show, and someone to keep your toes warm....

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  4. MarySunday, January 02, 2005 2:59:00 p.m.

    I'm glad you had a fun night! Happy New Yeeeeeeeeeear! (for the one you missed)

    And I was sober NYE, by the way. Most everyone was from out of town so I opted to be the DD.

    :)

    Chat with you soon and fill you in.

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  5. BenSunday, January 02, 2005 3:17:00 p.m.

    Sheri: Welcome! Too bad you were working, but glad your man showed up... I guess your hotel doesn't have a hoppin' bar to keep things lively. Re: the BoB awards - did I win something?!? Doubt it, but I guess I should tell every one to "vote early, and vote often". What category was I nominated in?
    Turns out my New Year's Eve acquaintance was just momentarily lonely and has already moved on. Why are girls so insensitive? :-)

    Mary: I've been wondering where you've been, sweetie. Hope you had a good time on New Year's Eve. Some times I have the most fun of all being the sober person observing the drunk people! I look forward to chatting with you later tonight. Maybe we can try my web-cam now that I've discovered that it works sometimes...

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  6. slow poke kateMonday, January 03, 2005 7:10:00 a.m.

    I dig the new 'title graphic' on your site!

    Enjoy your week!
    -A

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