It doesn't feel like fall

September in Arizona: When you desperately try to make it feel like fall, even though it's still 105* at 9pm.

So, I painted this to get in the spirit of autumn.

Acrylic on 12x12 canvas

#8 My Date Played Me... Hard

Photography: Dalal on Deviantart
That is me in the front, awkward no?

The Meet-Cute: Who says once you're in the friend zone that you can't get out? Ok, sometimes - but not the case here. We met freshman year in class. I noticed him first the day that he leaned his chair up against the back wall during class and fell asleep, causing his chair and himself to crash to the ground. Nice introduction huh?

The In-between: We stayed friends all through out college; getting lunch, playing sports, hanging out at bars, hanging out as a group with our significant others. Anyway, there came a time when both of us were single at the same time and we decided to date. Movies, dinners, hang outs, bars, all that jazz.

The Date: I decided to ask him to Formal (my senior year formal - in my opinion, kind of a big deal in sorority land. It costs as much, if not more, than a wedding) as my date. We weren't "exclusive" because he told me he wasn't quite ready for a relationship. Which I understood and respected. He'd been with his ex for several years and we started dating a few weeks after they broke up.

Formal = awesome. We all had tons of fun. Dancing, gambling, eating, drinking.

The Aftermath: We hang out a few times after Formal but just that same casual/dating atmosphere. Though I don't want to undermine the fact that he made it clear that we were more than friends. About a week after Formal, his Facebook status changes to "in a relationship". Damn social networking. Strange right? I mean, we've been continuing to date this past week but he just told me it was too soon, and why would he change his status without asking me first? Maybe because he wasn't suddenly in a relationship with me but with another girl that he was dating at the same time. And the icing on the cake? She was my roommate's co-worker. Awkward.

Dream Date

So, as I was watching American Idol and drooling over Paul McDonald I decided to change up the Dating Disasters blog for one post. I've been called out on being negative lately (though the date blogs are never negative, just hilarious and stupid in my opinion), so here's a positive post for my sister-in-law-to-be!

Who would I love to get a chance to date? Probably the same men in Hollywood that you have set as your desktop backgrounds. So why not ogle at some more photos of them? Here are my top 6 (Gerard Butler and Tom Hanks were ties for some of these men).

Ryan Reynolds

The Entire Package - Newly single and the most gorgeous body (and face) on earth

Paul McDonald

The Musician - Just a little bit of strange and a lot of musical talent

Bradley Cooper

The Badass - Plays some cocky roles but can get away with it because of those baby blues.

Will Ferrell

The Wild Card - Weirded out right now? I can't resist a funny man.

Hugh Laurie

The Reverse Cougar - He might be twice my age but I've got a soft spot for him. Did blue eyes get me again?

Zac Efron

The "Most Fitting" - He's less than a month younger than me. That's enough reason, isn't it?

They say that people with blue eyes are programmed to be attracted to others with blue eyes (for the purpose of passing on the gene). Ryan Reynolds seems to be the only exception! I guess my body is very strong willed when it comes to genetics.

#7 This Date Is Not Playing to My Heart

Serenading me and playing the piano? Yes. (plus it's the Biebs)
Singing the notes and playing an air piano during lunch? No.

The Meet-Cute: An old acquaintance. We bumped into each other at the University near the student union.

The Date: It is a beautiful February day, so we decide to get lunch at one of the restaurants on University which allow you to sit outside and watch other collegians that are meandering around instead of going to class. We talk very easily with each other - actually he talks a lot, and every few minutes I get a word in. But he does enjoy that one word. About two hours into this date (just realizing that my dates are notoriously long) we are discussing music. He is very talented in this department. He plays something like 4 instruments and has a beautiful singing voice. We are discussing his favorite artist - who I won't name, but think along the lines of Elton John - and all the sudden he is playing an air piano and singing. What was he singing? Well, it doesn't matter what song, it matters that he wasn't actually singing the lyrics, he was singing the notes. You know, like how people will "sing" a guitar solo? Yeah. Like that. Except it's NOT a guitar solo, it's not even a piano solo, it's just the piano's part. I'm all for having fun and doing dorky things in public, so when he started I was into it and laughed and bobbed my head to the beat. After 10 seconds pass my smile turns into that awkward situation where your mouth is in the shape of a smile, but your eyes are almost frightened looking. At the 1 minute mark my cheeks are flush and I begin fidgeting and sifting through my purse to avoid eye contact with any and everyone, because at this point there is nobody within a 30 ft radius that is not staring at us. When he finishes I say something similar to, "Wow, you really know piano". Awkward right?

Post-Date: So, even though the air piano freaked me out a little I decided it wasn't a deal breaker. We had a second date and THAT was the deal breaker. And now you have another post to look forward to.

#6 The Clap-Out Date

The pledges weren't this old, or dressed in business attire,
but they did have similar expressions.

The Meet-Cute: Remember the guy from date #3?

The Disaster: It is Halloween night (which on its own is another story for another time) and the girls and I are dressed as the Village People - because why wouldn't we do an amazing group costume? Our night is absolutely insane; we get split up and I wander to Guy #3's (from now on referred to as Lover-boy) room and... it's morning. Ta-da! We get up and it is pretty early, so I figure no one will see me walk home with feathers in my hair and war paint on. Did I mention I am the Indian? As I gather my things Lover-boy stops me to tell me that it is tradition for pledges to turn their attention to us as we walk out. Now, it is not the first time I have stayed over, but it is the first time I have stayed over when they have hosted a party. Lover-boy leads me out of his room and into the courtyard where there are 20 or so pledges cleaning. They all stop working, stand up straight, turn towards me and start clapping - the whole time grinning, whistling and screaming cheers of approval. I smile and bow, only being cavalier because I was forewarned, otherwise I probably would have died of embarrassment. Not to say I wasn't blushing. We get to the front lawn, Lover-boy kisses me goodbye and I do the "walk-of-shame" home, tomahawk in hand.

Just For Laughs: Remember how I said Halloween night was crazy, to say the least? Well about 5 minutes after I wander in, the sailor to our YMCA walks in with one fishnet stocking on, heels in hand, fake blood stains on her arms and hands and with the bottom button of her shirt two holes up from where it should be with the rest of the buttons following suit. Did I mention it was a crazy night?

Not so much a horrible date as it is a funny and embarrassing story. Isn't this stuff supposed to only exist in movies?

#5 This Date Started With Love - If That's Not Fast I Don't Know What Is

Photography: Chibis Can Rule on Deviantart

The Meet-Cute: I'm in college and it's Valentine's Day. Just like every year, couples are packing into restaurants to re-kindle their love. So me and two of my friends decide to go to La Salsa - the least romantic "restaurant" within walking distance of our dorm. Our predictions were right, besides three straight-looking guys, we are the only ones to choose this semi-fast food chain. Perfectly low key for a bunch of singles to escape on this day of love. I notice one of them is cute and smile as I walk by. I face their table and as I sit to eat I see Guy look up and smile at me; you know, the type of smile that would make any girl swoon. I blush and goofily grin back. We're about to leave when I mention to my girls that I want to stop and say something to this guy because I he's pretty adorable. It just so happens one of my girls knows him - what a great introduction! We chat for a second and he says we should hang out, so he asks for my phone and puts his number and name in with a :) after it.

Our too-happy journey: We start talking later that night, and soon after begin hanging out once a day.We have the same kind of "fun-loving but aware of our responsibilities" personality and click immediately. About two weeks in, he starts talking about becoming an official couple. I basically say, "Why rush things when we are still getting to know each other?" We continue along and a few days later we're walking through campus holding hands (funny how when you're on the outside you ache at any declaration or manifestation of love no matter how small; the tables can turn in the blink of an eye) and he squeezes my hand. I squeeze back. He says, "every time I squeeze your hand three times it means I love you. It can be our secret way of reminding each other how much we mean in the other's life." Now, I'm not sure if he felt entitled to feeling this way so early because we met on the most romantic Hallmark holiday of the year or not; either way it freaked me out. I had just pulled back a few days earlier and now he's hitting me with the L-word. Needless to say, later that night I told him it was moving too fast and I just wasn't comfortable with it.

This is the type of "dating disaster" that I look back on and think, "Was it really so bad that he liked me that much that soon?" After all he was athletic, polite, played an instrument, was smart enough to be in the geek clubs and leadership clubs on campus AND went through a surgery to save his sister's life - your everyday Superman. Oh, and did I mention he was hot? I must have some issue with wanting to be fairytale happy.

#4 The Mute Date

Photography by: SlevinAaron on Deviantart
Photoshopped mouth by me

The Meet-cute: Bartending school. Kind of a fun "creative" way to meet, right? Learning about drinking, and pouring fake drinks at a fake bar is completely different from meeting at, say, a real bar. I'm 19, he's 23.

The In-between: After chatting in school we exchanged numbers. He would text me for hours straight, which I loved! He was a baseball player who was interested in film production and liked guitar hero - he was a go-getter and that gave us a lot to talk about. Not to say he was infected by a ME monster (Brian Regan anyone?) because he always kept engaged with the conversation by asking me questions too.

The Date: He drove to my side of town to pick me up in his ultra-lifted white Ford that I could barely get into, awkward. I started the conversation and asked how he was, he said good... And then we went to Macaroni Grill. We got a buzzer for a table and had to wait 30 minutes, at which point I asked him if he missed baseball, he said kinda... You think I'm joking, but I'm not. There were so few words said that night that I can't remember if there actually were any. I remember it felt like pulling teeth. And then there was a beautiful white light when he dropped me home and we didn't speak again.

#3 The Ex Causes Trouble on A Date

Photography by: Amarand on Deviantart
"Psycho" is a little harsh... but oh how well this photo represents this post

Scenario: After breaking it off with my highschool sweetheart, I started to get serious with the new guy I was dating.

The Date: He took me to dinner, opened every door I came near to and was a complete gentleman as he had always been. We got back to his fraternity house and watched a movie. Sweetheart was texting me all night, so to avoid him and avoid being rude I turned off my phone. The next thing I know it's morning, well actually I don't know that, his room had a blackout curtain in it. So really, the next thing I know is I'm waking up in a pitch black room. The clock says 10 something, which had already passed from the night before, which means I've slept in waaaay later than I usually do. He wakes up when he hears me moving around so we decide to get up and get ready for the day. As I'm putting on my shoes I pick up my phone and see 34 notifications - simultaneously there is a knock on the door. Date goes to open it and Sweetheart is standing there, red-faced and tear stained. Date knows who he is, and Sweetheart can see me sitting on the bed behind him. I think the only words said were, "Glad to see you're alive".

After sufficiently freaking Date out for more than one reason, he dropped me home to have one of the worst days in my life. Definitely on the top 5 list. To make a long story short, Sweetheart had spread the message that I was on a date and not picking up my phone to every human being that has ever come in contact with me. Voicemails of crying family members thinking I was dead in a dumpster somewhere will forever be burned in my memory.

The Outcome: Date and I were on and off for more than a year (meaning a few more of these stories involve said Date)! He's a great guy who has found his true love... Just waiting for them to announce the engagement!

#2 Your Nickname is Killing This Date

Adorable look for a baby, not a prospective date

Scenario: A formal for one of the sports teams at the university.

What went wrong: His nickname was fetus.

End of story.

The meaning of life

How many times has the question, "What's the meaning of life? Why are we here on this earth?" been asked?

Has anyone ever gotten an answer?

Here's mine: to create happiness

I can't figure out the overall picture - life advances... Towards what? We work to make the world go 'round,  to help others (some, and not enouh in my opinion) and to advance our technologies, all for the improvement of our quality of life. Do you agree? So shouldn't what we strive for daily be happiness? After all, doesn't the highest quality of life in most ways equate to complete happiness? And if that's the case, why can't we do the simplest thing to achieve this daily; smile.

Now I ask you, why are so many living their lives willingly unhappy? Is it to make others happy? I feel like happiness should have a rule similar to oxygen masks on airplanes - you must apply yours before helping others.