Author: Couch Monologues

Couch Monologues
Couch Monologues's avatar

So what do you do…

So what do you do when the activities you like all involve people at least 50 years older that you? Today I went to a knitting group at the library and it was so.much.fun. Until we all started reminiscing about where we were when Kennedy was shot, revealing they were not only older than me but had children that were 30 years older than me. Ignore the fact that I’m a person who goes to libraries and knits. The fact is it was really fun because everyone was so welcoming, and you go and do your thing and chat when you feel like it. No ones asking what you do or if you have kids. They talk about how pretty the colors you picked are as ask if this is the right cast on and laugh when you don’t know because they don’t either. Yeah yeah, suck it up and join a kickball team despite the crippling anxiety each day leading up to the game. For real though, is everyone else just hanging out doing things they don’t want to do because it helps meet people? There cannot be that many people Out there that love kickball and jenga. (Ps jenga is terrible).

Again…

Here’s the trajectory of this relationship:

Friday: we connect! We have a mutual friend! Fun! He asks me for Saturday but I have friends in town

Wednesday: he texts in the morning and asks me if I want to get lunch. I’m unavailable. He texts throughout the day with notes about his activities

Thursday (today): the pictured texts and apparently deletion of my number.

The part cropped (ok I haven’t really figured out the snapshot stuff) says “How are you…” at 5:57pm same day.

Two winners in one week!

A) am I a bad person because I sometimes just mess with dating people for my own amusement?

B) This escalated quickly.

C) Soo I kinda want to see what he meant? My next comment was “seriously?!” and he didn’t respond. $1000 could buy a lot of ice cream. And when I say hook up I mean like make out in the parking lot of a Dave Matthews concert…is that not what it means anymore?
D) Someone said cops hang out on dating sites looking for hookers. Is that true? If it’s true, do they target people whose profile is 3/5 dog pics? I will not be pleased if I made it to my 30s without being arrested and a online hooker sting is what takes me down.

Gallery

New Frontiers

As if Tinder wasn’t enough of a pain before, now I’m gonna have to start carding my dates.

This guy said he was 32. His pictures were totes from a high school dance. Maybe prom, but he even looked to young for prom.

PS: Are MILFS really a thing? Do people sleep with their teachers as much as Amy Schumer says they do?

PPS: Congrats to me on figuring out how to blur out stuff on photos. A whole new world of tinder screenshot posts awaits.

+0

I saw this article this morning right on the heels of getting a guest-free invite to one of my closest friends’ weddings. In another state. On the weekend something else major in my life is happening.

The comments I read on this article were almost universally outraged. It’s the bride’s day! It’s not about you! Suck it up for a day! An extra person is so expensive!

All of which are true. And I’m not going to go through and dispute the anti-guest reasons as the article does that well. But I still don’t want you arbitrarily deciding whether I get to come to your wedding with a guest.

Why are you having a wedding if you don’t want to have your friends around having fun? And why does etiquette tell you it’s ok for me to be forced to show up alone but you have to invite a girl you’ve met twice because she’s living with your friend? I get that you don’t want a random person at your wedding and in your pictures, but I’m pretty sure the people whose wedding I was at in 2005 because I was seriously dating their friend aren’t happy I’m in those pics, yet they weren’t going to not give him a +1 because maybe we would break up some day.

I’ve never had a serious boyfriend at the time of a friend’s wedding so it’s sort of always been a bonus when I got a +1, and I’ve never taken taken a date anyway. But this invite came and I was capital P Pissed. There are 10 of us who are all really close and vacation together several times a year. 8 of us are married or in a long-term relationship; it’s already kind of getting to a point of discomfort when we’re all together, and this only emphasizes it.

If you’re 25, 26, even 30, that’s one thing. There will be a lot of single people at that event. That’s where your “making out with the bridesmaids” options fall. But when you’re 35, it’s a different story. First (and only) of all, we’re adults. There aren’t 5 of us carpooling and sharing a hotel room anymore. If I don’t have a date, I’m going to get to the wedding alone, stay alone, sit alone during slow songs, and go back to my room alone. All those married people with kids will chortle about how they haven’t been up this late in years(!) and go to bed right after the reception.

There’s a 50% chance your marriage won’t even work out, and you’re the one deciding whether my relationships are significant enough to bring someone with me? The fact is I’m not going to bring a random person to your wedding, but I should be able to choose, and you should be considerate enough to give me that choice.

PS:  They’re actively encouraging CHILDREN  to attend this wedding. So a date for me is too much of an inconvenience, but go ahead and bring your small, drunk humans.

No one tells you turning 30 comes with 10 extra pounds.

I swear the day I turned 30 I gained weight. In truth it happened over time one small pound at a time and I didn’t quite realize it. I gradually stopped going to the gym every day (even though I never worked out hard) and eating a little less healthily. Then all of a sudden I realized I was about 10-15 lbs heavier than I wanted to be. Nothing crazy, but heavier than I wanted to be.

The problem was, once I realized and made some changes, I wasn’t losing weight. I trained for and ran a half marathon. When not training, I ate 1200 calories a day. I switched to quinoa and spinach and whole wheat everything. I came to the conclusion that it was my antidepressants. It happened so gradually I didn’t make the connection, but I’m confident that was it given the weight gain+pill taking time frame. And once I thought about it, I realized how much my appetite had changed since being on meds. I used to eat half a sandwich and chips and be full all day and I ended up needing a whole cheesesteak plus fries plus still hungry by my peak weight time.

So I weaned off the pills with the help of a doctor and confidence I didn’t need them and there went the weight. About 5 lbs pretty quickly. Then another 10 over the next 6ish months with the help of an excellent diet: crippling depression. Turns out I did need the pills. Right as I reached the perfect weight I lost the will to live (I’m being flippant but for real…) and decided I had to do something, so after a few months with a psychiatrist I’m back on them. And back up 5 lbs.

Is it all a coincidence? Did I start taking pills around spring when I’d be out more eating and socializing? Does not hating life just  mean I’m out of bed more and able to eat? All those are possible/likely, but I’ve also increased my exercise time, so shouldn’t those balance out?

All of this is to say, I have to figure out if I’m going to be happy or skinny, right? Any first hand experience with this or post-30 weight loss tips?

Halfway to Invisible

I don’t even know what to say about this dialogue. Should I have ignored this guy since he was an ass from the get go (even in his profile)? Probably. Did I go out of my way to be kind to him? No. Is it my duty as a women to go out of my way to be kind to every guy who says hi to me through the interwebs? Apparently it is, and the rest of my life will be a struggle because of my refusal to do so.

PS: This guy is 15 years older than me and lives over an hour away.

Him: I would love to talk with you about […] and why you prefer the company of your dog over most people Sent from the OkCupid app June 3

Him: But it looks like you don’t want to…. Which is also ok Sent from the OkCupid app June 3

Me: I just hadn’t gotten a chance to respond, but your impatience makes me lose interest in chatting.

Him: I just noticed that you read and didn’t respond. It was an observation, not impatience. Had it been me, I would have responded “read your message, I’m busy right now but I’ll get back to you soon”. Every body handles things in their own way Sent from the OkCupid app June 3

Me: I’ve just noticed that guys will send a message, check visitors, and if they see I’ve looked but not responded within a few hours they’ll write back something pointed. Maybe I checked at a red light, maybe I checked at work and got called away. Regardless, it’s a turn off to immediately question me like that. Sent from the OkCupid app June 3

Him: People ask questions. Sorry if you’re turned off. That’s an over reaction to me

Him: If you react that harshly over the smallest things…. I can’t imagine how you’d react if something important happened. Sent from the OkCupid app June 4

Me: It happens constantly–as in several times a week–that I get a passive aggressive or aggressive message in this situation, and it shows a level of self absorption I’m not interested in. Sent from the OkCupid app June 4

Him: Sometimes an observation is an observation. And sometimes people just want to close the loop. Sent from the OkCupid app June 4

Me: Ok. I’m going to focus on the beach now. I love the beach. [as a dig at his comment that people shouldn’t put loving the beach in their profiles.]

Him: Can we meet before you go? Sent from the OkCupid app 1:37am

Me: eh

Him: Eh? Sent from the OkCupid app 10:27am

Him: Wth is eh? Sent from the OkCupid app 10:28am

Me: Eh is I’m not interested

Him: Ya know… You could at least be polite, since you’re obviously kindness challenged. But it makes me laugh. Your already halfway to invisible and you’ve learned nothing. I wish you the best. It doesn’t get easier for women like you. Sent from the OkCupid app 11:56am

Me: You’ve questioned me since the very first message you sent, and I have shared that I did not care for your responses. I am not invisible or unkind to the literally dozens of people I encounter each day with whom I actually have relationships. I don’t need to spend my time stroking the ego of strangers on the internet. But thanks for the snap assessment of my entire being. I’m sure you’re a treat in person.

Dear Eharmony:

Are you for real?

He's just outside your match preferences!

He’s just outside your match preferences!

HE LIVES IN WISCONSIN.

It would only cost $474 and/or 11 hours of my life to have our first date.

It would only cost $474 and/or 11 hours of my life to have our first date.

That’s over 674 miles outside my match preferences.

And you know why we’re such a great match? Because we both like sports, and music, and books, and dogs. I bet he also likes breathing and food. (Nothing against you personally, Andrew, I’m sure you’re a swell guy and would make an actual great match for someone within 100 miles of your home.)

The only reason I signed up for eharm was because I saw a great deal during an especially low (aka drunk) point in my evening and thought who can put a price tag on love. I’ve decided it’s not so much the high cost that makes eharm the worst but the love shaming they put you through. I got 10 new matches today; 6 of them are “great matches that happen to be just outside my settings.” Then there’s the “what if” section with more great matches just outside my settings. It should be called the “if you really wanted to find love you’d be less picky” section or the “are you sure you’re really putting yourself out there?” section.

Thanks, but I don’t need the internet to remind me I’m alone along with everyone else.