Weekly Musings

2015- Week 5
'There's more to living than being alive'
(Anberlin - Alexithymia)

This lyric is from one of my all time favourite bands, who I always seem to return to on my iPod, and has been relevant this week as I feel that I have taken a few chances, which I think is important to do now and again.

After a double whammy of Country Club food on Tuesday, the first instance of taking my chances was a date I went on on Wednesday. The man in question (who will remain unnamed) stopped me in the street whilst I was on my way to the gym. After the initial shock of being asked out whilst makeup-less, frizzy haired and in gym gear had worn off, I had a decent conversation with him, and agreed to meet up with him. I don't make a habit of accepting date offers from random men, but thought I'd give him a chance bearing in mind he'd had the balls to flag me down in public. Two weeks later I met him in a bar called Embrace in Altrincham.

There were, however, warning signs. Firstly, I need to point out that on the morning of the arranged date, he had messaged asking if I wanted to go to his for dinner instead of a bar due to the awful weather. I politely declined as thought that pretty inappropriate for a first date, and gave him the benefit of the doubt. But then, on the night, though conversation was flowing and it seemed to be going well, he had a habit of touching my leg whilst we were sat down. Now I am far from being a prude, but fondling on a first date when I barely knew the guy is a little OTT. When I pointed this out, he agreed that it was forward, yet didn't apologise or remove his hand. Awkward. 

At the end of the night I made a point of seeming disinterested, and didn't send a followup text, yet the following afternoon I received a (very much unwanted) sext, causing me to reply with sarcasm and delete the guy's number. From this experience I have reached the conclusion that people who stop you for dates in the street aren't so blown away by your good looks that they HAVE to pluck up the courage to ask you out, but are in fact probably just stark raving bonkers. At least I gave it a go!

The second (much more successful) instance of me pushing my boundaries was on Thursday, when I went to Common in the Northern Quarter to meet with all the people I have been working with through Matter of Sound that I have previously only spoken to via email. I am by no means shy, but going to a bar I had never heard of, alone, to meet a bunch of people I didn't know was still slightly daunting. However, we got cider and Mexican food and had a good chat and it was all lovely (which is probably a good thing as I'm not sure I would continue leaving my comfort zone having two bad encounters in a row!).

 

After present shopping and a nice meal at Tampopo in the Trafford Centre on Friday with Tasha, and an awesome night out last night for Abi and Dave's birthdays, today I ventured out for my third and final try at something new - a roller derby. I watched groups of hotpant-clad ladies skate around in circles, jostling and fighting each other to stay on their feet for a couple of hours at Manchester Academy with my mate Amanda. Not your typical hangover cure, but enlightening. Two out of three ain't bad.