Let's date, let me introduce you to all my ex's...

Here's the setting: I was hanging out with friends a little over a week ago and we made a rare appearance at the Red Chair. It's an upscale gay bar in Atlanta known for projections, plasma's, and obsenely expensive furniture and decorating. Smokers know it as a place they can't smoke unless they head outside.

I was there with a couple of friends, both of whom I had dated before including my best friend; he's my most recent ex from a little over 6 months ago. Then a friend of mine walks in with a really cute guy. Naturally, being single now, I need to check this out.

Well, long story short on that part of it. I meet the cute boy, he's very nice and very shy ( big turn on for me), and I have a way to contact him. I do and we go out a few times in the last week. It goes well and we determine that we're going to just date each other exclusively after our 3rd date and see where it leads us.

Now, to the topic at hand. I often try to put myself in the shoes of people I date. I wonder what they must be thinking and how things must strike them. He seems to roll with my eccentricities pretty well, but there's one that has struck guys differently. Most of my close friends are ex's of some sort. My best friend by far is my most recent ex; he was my best friend before we even dated. Then there's people I went out with once or twice who constitute the majority of my friends in some way. My friend Brandon pipes up upon meeting the guy that he "only got one date" so I'm relieved that Chris (the new boy's name) didn't appear to hear that.

So now I'm dating this cute guy. He's going to meet some people in my circle of friends and soon realize that they are mostly ex's. What would you think? I only have one ex that I"m not friends with; and frankly he had to work extremely hard to make sure that we couldn't be friends. The others will line up, Chris has already met Rich, one date Brandon, will meet Jonathan, Dave, Chandler, Will and likely a host of others that are friends but failed attempts at something more. How he will respond, I"m not sure.

I have one ex who freaked out about it. He would constantly try to compare himself to the others and feel inadequate. One time I had a party while dating him and 4 out of the first 5 people to rsvp were people I had dated before; I panic'd because I knew the repercussions when he figured that out. My ex, Jonathan, thought it was "cute" and something I should be proud of.

So I ponder. Should I just let it play out? Should I go to the trouble of pointing out ahead of time that so many of my friends are ex's? Is that something that should wig him out? Or is it a positive statement about my character? HMMMMM, I dunno.

Why are people such bandwagoners

It's human nature. But why? Is there no objectivity in people or a sense of perspective? This is a basketball post, so my queenier friends might want to tune out.

My alma mater's team started out 13-2 against a mostly easy schedule. There were some real highs there and the team performed well even against the number one team in the country, Illinois.

But the realist in me said "we're waxing some bad teams". Most other Hog fans seemed to think we were ready for a return to being a Top 10 fixture and Final 4 threat like we were in the 70's, 80's and 90's. They went WAYYY overboard.

Now, we've lost a road game at Florida ( a preseason ranked team), a close 3 pt loss to Alabama at home ( a Final 8 team and nationally ranked team now), and a horrible blowout loss to MSU ( top 10 team ) on the road. The fans now think we will lose all our games and the coach should be fired. The SAME people that extolled our return to dynasty status now think the coach should be sent packing.

I won't bore people with my in the middle feeling about the Hogs prospects this year. But I will say that it amazed me that there is such a phenomenon from supposedly smart people. When has anything ever been as good as it seemed when you were on a high, or as bad in retrospect as you felt when you hit a bottom?

You see this is all aspects of life I think. NOt just sports. But often in politics, social circles, etc.. It seems that a wave of sorts takes hold of people where they no longer think objectively or for themselves; they get caught up in the up and down and who or what's on it.

A serious subject

Due to the nature of this entry, and the people who read it, I have taken it down. The point it made was relevent, but it got out to friends causing some discomfort. I have it saved for strangers or what have you, but have taken it down for the time being.

Clark

Manufactured celebrities

Everyone in our office is buzzing about the Orange Bowl. Some of us like me love football and tuned in for the game. Before moving to the main topic at hand, I have to point out that Auburn should have been playing, not OU and the Sooners getting their asses wacked was fun for me to watch. Now please, Matt Leinert, go pro; my Hogs play Southern Cal next year and I'd like to see him in the NFL, not facing my beloved Razorbacks.

My main rant this week is this. WHYYYYY do we have to deal with untalented jokes for stars like Ashlee Simpson? Her sister Jessica is a travesty too. But please folks. For those who didn't watch, I'll catch you up. There were 3 performers for the Orange Bowl halftime. They were Kelly Clarkson, Tracie Adkins, and finally Ashlee Simpson.

Now in defense, all 3 had the same problem with sound. Kelly's mike didn't even work for half of her first verse; she was visibly frustrated. The difference though is that she worked through it and actually sang her song. Her voice was evident and she largely overcame the issue and sang well. Tracie Adkins also had sound problems and was up next; he has considerably less vocal talent than Kelly Clarkson though. Fortunately, he's old and seasoned and could just work with what he had; his performance wasn't any lamer than you would normally expect.

Then comes Ashlee Simpson. Remember the SNL incident; she should have lip synched this again in spite of it all. She was soooo bad that most karaoke I've heard was MUCH better. I mean by people who don't get paid to do it. She screamed and wailed a vulgar song and dance, looked like a tramp, and ended the song saying " you make me want to scream", which she in fact did scream. The crowd at the Orange Bowl boo'd her heartily like I've never seen an artist get boo'd before. She deserved it. Or did we deserve it?

Why is it acceptable for record companies to prop up a manufactured artist with no talent? There are artists out there that we listen to that have real talent. But many don't. Britney Spears cannot sing or write a note; I'll give that her showmanship (dancing and demeanor) make up for much of that. But there are soo many people that have real talent that can't get heard. They write actual songs that say something, sing them well, and most of us don't have access to them. Go to Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA and watch Michelle Malone play sometime and tell me why she never "hit it big", but Ashleee Simpson did. Michelle sings well, has an awesome stage presence, writes her own music.... etc... I hope that the market punishes Ashlee's studio for bringing her to us. It's not her fault, she's just doing what we'd all do. But enough is enough. Her performance gave me flashbacks of William Hung from American Idol.

The Orange Bowl attracted a lot of celebrites. Will Farrel, Shaq, and USC alumni OJ Simpson. I think the comedian I saw last night on the Best Damn Sports show said it best. "Ashlee screamed so much and so horribly last night that I thought OJ was stabbing her. "