So this isn't gonna be the best written entry you could think of.

If you haven't already, check out the comments section on my last entry - Brian and Brian and I have a fun soda related discussion. Has anyone else ever had celery flavored soda ? It's very New York.

So, update a bit with the roomie stuff. I left Cynthia a note this AM asking her to stop by to discuss this month's rent check, and when she came home tonight, she came to my room, and we agreed to talk this weekend (I'm freakin' tired, and she looked none too ready to have this big conversation at one in the morning herself.) We haven't gone into any more detail than that - I suspect she may know what's going on, since I left the rent bill on the kitchen table, instead of leaving it under the door, so she must know I saw it - but everything was quite friendly and civilized. A good sign.

But that's not what I spoke too soon about - I'm not that naive.

Remember me mentioning talking to that online personal ad guy and how he was so cool in email and so dull on the phone? Well, I decided to give him a chance and agreed to meet tonight after work. I was tired - I've been working really hard at the office lately (though not quite at these levels) - and all the ID fraud and rent stuff and little sleep made me one cranky Aimee. I just was NOT feeling this date. As I was stuffing envelopes for our big old mondo mailing I was talking to two of my coworkers (and it was actually a ton of fun, they're really great to chat with) about the date, and they kept telling me to just go into it with a more relaxed attitude (instead of the dread I was feeling!), and then I told them, hey, if nothing else, I'll consider it NaNo material. That lightened my mood considerably.

So anyway, I went and met Ben (that's his name), and yeah, it was pretty awkward at first, but you know something? The awkward, while it didn't ever completely go away, eventually softened into something endearing. We began to laugh a lot, and he made me smile, and our body language changed where we turned toward each other, getting imperceptibly closer (we were sitting at the bar), a slight mirroring, even, maybe. I am probably making more of it than is necessary or accurate. But I was really caught off guard and surprised by what a really enjoyable time I had. He really loosened and lightened up by the end of the evening (and definitely got more attractive too - he's geekycute in a bit of a Matt Frewer way) - and he even walked me to my subway platform (I was going uptown, he was going downtown) and as my train was pulling in we did that awkward almost-dance as we shared a sweet short kiss.

Wow. Surprised. Dragging myself to things I might not be immediately in the mood for is sometimes a very good thing. So we'll see where this goes.

(He's a smartie, too - getting his Ph.D. in some kinda engineering/physics-y kinda thing. I keep meeting all these really bright brainy guys from really accomplished families and here am I, I'm a smartie too, but I'm the first person in my whole family to get a college degree. More on this disparity and my struggle with it later.)