Re: Home At Last

1

So this one you'll ask on a date?

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2

Nah. But for friendly, sure, I'll email her.

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3

You know, if she's a massage therapist ... well, you might get something good out of the deal.

And women don't just give out their email if they're looking for the friendly. Not to panic you about that or anything, ogged. :)

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4

I'm pretty sure this woman would give out her email address just for friendly. She was wacky (in a mostly good way): measuring on her stopwatch how long it took the airplane from the beginning of the acceleration until we got airborne, pointing out in A Shark's Tale the difference between DreamWork's and Pixar's and Disney's animation styles, complaining at length about her boss and the correct way to rear children, chatty chatty. Still, you might be right. Hard to tell.

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5

Hey, I give out my email just for friendly!! Remember that Tortilla Guy?

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6

There ya go, pg. Though, as I recall, Tortilla Guy didn't quite get it either.

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7

bphd, shhhhhhh. I was trying to have some fun and make ogged paranoid again. Then we could have another "how to compose a friendly email that makes it clear I'm just not that into you" thread. :)

But yeah, I gave out my email just for friendly to lunchguy back in October.

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8

You evil woman! I was thinking of asking you about a "just not that into you" email! That's it, straight political blogging from here on out. Only I'm allowed to make me an object of amusement around here.

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9

Oops, my bad....

Tortilla guy didn't get it precisely because he figured friendly woman = dating material. I should have reminded you of him earlier, Ogged. Don't be like that...

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10

I'm trying to take these case by case. The Grad Student might have been interested in dating (though I haven't heard from her...ahem). Massage Girl, didn't quite get that sense.

And I have no tortillas.

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11

Maybe you should start telling them outright that you have no tortillas ...

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12

There is a need for a phrase that means "Let's get together as friends," that doesn't primarily connote sexual disinterest in the way "friend" has come to.

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13

"Let's get together in a way not just friendly, but also not strictly romantically or with an eye to sex, but rather let us cleave to a middle path [let our gnomon be a metron, even] and let the situation develop as it may."

Of course you're not allowed to say that overtly means what you want to communicate—that would be to easy.

I suppose I misapprehended the meaning of "doesn't primarily connote sexual disinterest", but now I can't bring myself to delete the above.

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14

Maybe include a link to "He's Just Not that Into You" at the bottom of your email?

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15

You're right. I need new dating cards.

Ogged of Unfogged

ogged [at] unfogged [dot] com

Into You, But Just Not That

By the way pg, I think some guys do say "I have intimacy issues." (I'm rereading your review...) And if you watch Real World or some other such show, you'll find that even the meatheaded frat boys are conversant in that weird psychological relationship language. Having "been hurt," having "scar tissue," being "afraid of how much I like you..." are pretty common phrases, and sometimes they mean "I'm just not that into you," but more often, they're excuses for "I'm kinda stupid and inconsiderate."

Somebody needs to write a book about the peculiar failings of relationships between smart/liberated women and smart/considerate men.

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Further evidence to confirm that which need not be confirmed, which is that I'm "wacky" is that this: "She was wacky (in a mostly good way): measuring on her stopwatch how long it took the airplane from the beginning of the acceleration until we got airborne, pointing out in A Shark's Tale the difference between DreamWork's and Pixar's and Disney's animation styles...." strikes me as sharp-eyed and interesting, rather than "wacky." If you e-mail her, feel free to recommend my blog. ;-)

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Glad you're feeling better enough to comment, Gary.

That's why I said "in a mostly good way." Definitely sharp-eyed and interesting, but stopwatching the takeoff is pretty unusual...wacky, even. And, as we were walking off the plane, turning back to me to complete a sentence she had started literally two hours earlier...come on: wacky.

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turning back to me to complete a sentence she had started literally two hours earlier

I do this all the time, except with longer time lags.

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19

So, ogged, you wanna be my co-author? We can do the tour circuit (Oprah, The View, etc.) and maybe even strike it rich.

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20

I don't know how serious you are, PG, and you have a full-time job (as, nominally, do I), but yeah, I would do it. Let me know if you're serious. In fact, something you posted recently, about your relationship with your ex, and you feeling that you always had to take responsiblity, has had me thinking about this, because I thought, "Christ, how many times did I hear that complaint from my ex?" Chapter One: Self-consciously Anti-patriarchal Passivity Drives Your Chickie Nuts.

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21

I do this all the time, except with longer time lags.

QED on the wackiness.

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22

You kidding? I'm so in. There is a need for this book.

Funny that you would hear that complaint from your ex.

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23

Not kidding. In fact, I'll email you, but don't think I'm fresh, 'k?

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24

Ooh. I can't wait to find out what line you use on me to communicate that you want to talk but just as friends ;)

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25

So how's the book project coming?

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