he is who i thought he was

just a warning: i will now commence using my boys-esque metaphor.

i waited on the train platform for the r______ ready for a friendly slow pitch softball game. and that's how it started out. the walk to the air & space museum was practically whiffle ball. But then at the national gallery he pulled out the 16" softball. Yes, indeed he had broken up with the girl, and the oh, so casual "so, are you still single?" But it didn't stop there. As we walked through NMAI the balls got smaller and harder, the pitches went from underhand to overhand. I tried to ignore the "I thought when I met you, you would be the type of person I'd like to date." But by the time we were marveling at the Lincoln Memorial, there were 100mph fast balls coming straight at my cheek in the form of a kiss.

So why am i so disappointed? I did kinda like this guy 4 months ago. But something changed this summer. I guess most of it is probably that he was the only straight male i saw regularly for quite some time. And then this summer, I realized there's a whole world of men out there. Not that any of them were interested. But at least a little exposure made me feel like there were other teams that might be worth a trade. So, now i've got a date lined up. my first one in a while. But i'm not giddy and excited. I'm not nervous. I'm not really even looking forward to it. I'm already concocting break up lines in my head.

And worst of all is, he's so nice. Charming even. And he wants to have a picnic. and he says my spanish is very good. Hell, he even pulled out the one compliment that really gets to me (for a clue, see Buchlotz, Mary. 1999. “Why be normal?”: Language and identity practices in a community of nerd girls. Language in Society 28: 203-223. ). And not just out of nowhere, but after a somewhat lengthy discussion of my research topic.

Maybe its the fact that he's already trying to convince me I should be studying pain in amazonian indigenous communities of Peru. Maybe its the fact that he mentioned I should try to catch the bouquet at Gordo's wedding. Maybe its that he's already singing to me en espanol. But its so disappointing to spend all summer hoping for some sort of romance, and then when it finally comes along, its well....disappointing.

Then again, maybe he's the perfect slump-buster.