Just noticed I could cross two items off my wishlist— I toured the Yuengling Factory in Pottsville and I got hardwood floors in my parlor and dining room. Yeah, these things were accomplished awhile ago but I plum forgot to cross them off the list.

Thinking about it, I do think I need to go through and update the list. There’s certain things that are missing… things that I am aiming for currently that weren’t in my thoughts when I first compiled the list. Gosh has my life changed since I made up that list.

Yesterday was the Newtown Original Brewfest. I went with Lisa and her friend Christina and we met up with my two favorite German teachers. One had been my German teacher back in 1989. The other is the older brother of an old schoolmate of mine. I also met a Colombian man named Julian. I do love beerfests. I love how it starts off all stuffy yet by the end, everyone is hugging each other, taking insane pictures and dancing in that inimitable, white, drunk way.

I am trying to enjoy October. It’s my favorite month and yet it just screams past me. That might be why I agreed to go for a ride in an ex’s convertible and walk with him in Tyler. No worries people… it wasn’t PB. PB has seemingly ceased to exist. The only thing that remains is an occasional impersonal email about upcoming technology workshops and the odd Facebook status message. Gosh has my life changed.

The nice thing is I’ve started speaking German again. Horribly.

I went to spin class yesterday. Tonight I went to Zumba. I need to keep this exercise up. It’s the right thing to do… for the body but especially the mind.

I read an interesting article, All the Single Ladies. Let’s say it hit close to home. Here’s a few of my favorite parts:

But what transpired next lay well beyond the powers of everybody’s imagination: as women have climbed ever higher, men have been falling behind. We’ve arrived at the top of the staircase, finally ready to start our lives, only to discover a cavernous room at the tail end of a party, most of the men gone already, some having never shown up—and those who remain are leering by the cheese table, or are, you know, the ones you don’t want to go out with.

But while the rise of women has been good for everyone, the decline of males has obviously been bad news for men—and bad news for marriage. For all the changes the institution has undergone, American women as a whole have never been confronted with such a radically shrinking pool of what are traditionally considered to be “marriageable” men—those who are better educated and earn more than they do. So women are now contending with what we might call the new scarcity. Even as women have seen their range of options broaden in recent years—for instance, expanding the kind of men it’s culturally acceptable to be with, and making it okay not to marry at all—the new scarcity disrupts what economists call the “marriage market” in a way that in fact narrows the available choices, making a good man harder to find than ever. At the rate things are going, the next generation’s pool of good men will be significantly smaller. What does this portend for the future of the American family?

There are millions of women who live alone in America. Some of them are widows. Some of them are divorced and between connections, some of them are odd, loners who prefer to keep their habits undisturbed.

When I embarked on my own sojourn as a single woman in New York City—talk about a timeworn cliché!—it wasn’t dating I was after. I was seeking something more vague and, in my mind, more noble, having to do with finding my own way, and independence. And I found all that. Early on, I sometimes ached, watching so many friends pair off—and without a doubt there has been loneliness. At times I’ve envied my married friends for being able to rely on a spouse to help make difficult decisions, or even just to carry the bills for a couple of months. And yet I’m perhaps inordinately proud that I’ve never depended on anyone to pay my way (today that strikes me as a quaint achievement, but there you have it). Once, when my father consoled me, with the best of intentions, for being so unlucky in love, I bristled. I’d gotten to know so many interesting men, and experienced so much. Wasn’t that a form of luck?

All of which is to say that the single woman is very rarely seen for who she is—whatever that might be—by others, or even by the single woman herself, so thoroughly do most of us internalize the stigmas that surround our status.

Just in case you are worried, I got home just fine from St. Louis. Didn’t see the arch, but whatever. Yesterday I went to the Newtown Beerfest and had an amazing time. Who woulda thunk standing around drinking beer would be so much fun?

I have a slew of things I must do and I can’t get myself to do them. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I do it? I am torturing myself. If I could just sit down and finish my to do list the items would be done and off my back. This is just insanity.

Anyone located in St Louis?

Lisa and I went to the Warminster Micro Blues Brewfest yesterday. We ran into my old German teacher from High School. This is the second time I’ve seen him at a beerfest. It was fun talking to him again. It’s odd but I can’t seem to call him by his first name… I am compelled to call him Herr H.

In the middle of the festivities there was a kiosk set up and they were selling spices, t-shirts, and cigars. The t-shirts made no sense to me. One of the t-shirts read: 4acebook
I couldn’t figure out the reasoning behind replacing the 4 with an F. I asked the guy behind the counter and he said, “It’s for the 4 Aces.”

“Ahhh, okay, thanks!” I had no idea what he was talking about but to ask him to elaborate seemed useless… kinda like when you ask someone to repeat themselves twice and rather than ask a third time it’s just easier to smile, nod your head, and say, “Yeah, you got it.”

Lisa then piped up, “Donna! Admit it… you still have no clue what he’s referring to… 4 ACES?!?”

The guy looked at us like we were stupid and said it had something to do with the Phillies. No wonder I had no idea. I don’t follow football.

Lisa decided to buy a cigar. The girl selling the cigars told us to get the cigar with the naked black chick on its sleeve. She said it tasted like chocolate. Somehow I was reminded of this song and dance number from the movie, Hair:

At any rate, I once tried to smoke a cigar a number of years ago and found the entire experience unsettling and off-putting. This time was different. I didn’t mind it. Can’t say I will ever do it again but it wasn’t nearly as disgusting as I remember.

Lisa went back towards the end of the event and bought 3 more cigars. Rather than giving her just the 3 cigars, the girl filled up the bag with an additional 4 cigars AND a bottle of curry spice.

“Do you think she liked me? Why else would she give me so many free cigars?”

“Lisa, she’s a pusher! A dealer! She wants to get you hooked so you will keep buying from her.”

“Gosh, I feel so dirty and used now.”

After the event, we went to New Hope to buy a cutter for the cigars. I am wondering if Lisa really has plans to take up smoking cigars? The girl who sold them to her had said that she smokes 3 – 5 A DAY! I find that incredible. Honestly, I didn’t get any pleasure or relaxation from it. I don’t get it. Whatever.

I just got off the phone with an eHarmony match.  I was surprised to receive a call so late on a Friday but since he got my number from a dating site, he clearly figured I was free… and I was.  At any rate, what a conversation!  After finding out what high school I attended (a rival of his) he became beligerent and accused me of vandalizing the rock in front of his school.  I was so confused and wasn’t sure how to behave.  Was he teasing?  If so, why did he seem so serious?  Could he really think I was responsible? He seemed very obsessed with High School which is odd since he’s now in his forties. He then got on the topic of his sister having four children.  He seemed to think it wasn’t right even though her husband was a lawyer and made good money and she loved kids.  I told him I am a Libertarian and believe in live and let live.  He then started bashing Ron Paul and the Liberty movement. 

“You know, I’m just not feeling it.  It was nice talking to you but I gotta go.”

He then called me a bitch and slammed down the phone. 

This is the second time I’ve been called a bitch and hung up on.

My eHarmony membership expires today.  I am not renewing.  It’s not because of tonight’s a$$hole.  It’s mainly because the matches are physically incompatible with me.  Dating a man who is 5 foot 4 is not an option for me regardless of our other 27 dimensions of compatibility.  Besides, I have begun to suspect most of the men are not active.  They allow you to see who has viewed your profile and my profile is viewed by very few men.  It’s time to move on and reinvest the 50 dollars in a different company. 

So… Catholic Match or just regular Match?  Which one should I join?  There’s something so nice about Catholic Match.  Yes, I am a horrible Catholic but I do seem to get on better with Catholics.  I chalk it up to common background.  But how can I join as a lapsed cafeteria Catholic?  It seems so hypocritical. 

And Match seems to attract men who aren’t all that serious. 

What to do, what to do?