When I last wrote, I was deciding what to wear for my date. Shortly after uploading the page, I thought I was ready, and had almost an hour free to lie down on the sofa and rest. I was tired as usual - I guess I'm building up a formidable sleep deficit.

I recently bought a bunch of new CDs, and I unwrapped the first of them to listen to while I rested. I don't know why they make CDs so damned difficult to unwrap. Or maybe it's just me that doesn't have it figured out. First you have to somehow find a loose edge of the plastic wrap, and then there's that plastic tape along the top of the box with the little tab that says "Pull". With each new CD I try a different approach to getting that tape off in one go, and I still haven't mastered it. Help me, please! :)

The first piece I played was one I've only heard once before, at the symphony in Chicago about five years ago. It's a very short piece by Charles Ives called "The Unanswered Question". It's one of the most atmospheric and evocative pieces you can hear in a concert hall. The strings hover throughout, quiet, and shifting , while seven times, at intervals, a short and varying phrase asks the questions using different instruments.

I guess I was more tired than I expected, because by the seventh question, I'd fallen asleep, which was unfortunate because the next piece was Ives' Fourth Symphony, which woke me up with a shock. I got up to check myself out in the mirror - and decided to change. By the time my date appeared, I'd changed three more times! I guess I wanted to make the right impression on this, our first real date. Should I go with the smart, conservative look? Okay, that's not me :) What about a tight, black t-shirt. Or is that trying too hard? Jeez - something loose that hints at hidden depths? Okay, Keith, this is a date, not a romance novel. In the end, I settled on my favorite green tshirt.

Ten minutes later, my date showed up ... wearing something smart and conservative. Oh well, too late to change again!

We went to XYZ, a fancy restaurant in the brand new W hotel, nearbye. It was more expensive than I expected - $130 for the two of us, which is way more than I'm used to paying for a second date. I guess he's not a cheap date :) - wait a minute, it was my idea to go there! For those prices, the food was not that special - nowhere near as good as my old favorite, 2223. But we had great conversation, as we both tried to get to know a little more about each other. One of my "red flags" about him had been that he seemed a little business-like - I'm not the kind of guy who gets his jollies from discussing stock-prices. In my experience, (wizzened old girl that I am), men who like to talk business in their leisure hours, do so because they don't feel comfortable talking about things closer to their hearts. Although some would argue that the stock market is a subject pretty close to the hearts of many men these days. But when I asked the guy about how he related to the people he worked with, he surprised me by veering off into something which suddenly showed to me a vulnerable side after all.

So the evening was a success, eventhough we didn't get to first base :) Actually, I'm not sure of the bases, but we didn't even make it to kissing - which base is that? When it came time to say goodnight, we both gave each other searching looks and ... said goodnight. We're planning on seeing each other tomorrow.

Friday was a slow day for me. Mid-morning, the hard-disk on my work laptop crashed. It proved to be fatal, and since the nearest replacement hard-disk was in snow-bound our headquarters in the south, I have no computer until Tuesday. And without a computer there's not too much I can do in the office, so I'll have to "work at home" until Tuesday - what a shame :) My working at home on Friday afternoon began with some measured thought, strategizing for the next project. I always find that easier to do while lying down, especially on the couch in my living room, which catches the sun until mid-afternoon.

During the afternoon, my work was helped immensely by going for a long run - that's when I do my best thinking, don't you know :)

On Saturday afternoon, I called up Brett to plan our evening. We always act as if we're not sure what we're going to do.

"What you want to do Brett?" There's a couple of beats of silence.

"How about a movie?"

"Hey that's a great idea!"

Yeah, we've only done it about ... oh, let's see, 90 out of the last 100 saturdays? :) Tonight, we went to see "The Big Tease", a great fun, feel-good, manic movie about a gay Scottish hairdresser competing in the Platinum Scissors haircutting championship in Los Angeles. It was a laugh!