Usually I can crank out a post fairly quickly, better as its fresh. Today was different. It needed to marinate all day. There are obvious categorical words about Guy 14 as a person that I could have used in the title rather than, well, those (although they’re true 
). But my date with G14 is a good example of how I think I’ll feel when I have follow-up dates later this week: hey! mind your own business! Seriously, I’m still excited about the 30Dates project – its really been fantastic – and I’ll more or less continue sharing my adventures and observations to the end.
Guy 14 and I had a very nice lunch in Lincoln Square (both of our Monday schedules were flexible- thanks Casimir Pulaski). Newly single and salt-n-pepper handsome, G14 is getting back into the swing of dating and seemed nervous for the first several minutes. But I think I’ve gotten pretty good at making the other person feel comfortable fairly quickly. You nudge the mood this way, turn the conversation that way, until suddenly – we’re in tune. Plus the food was great – and who knew that tomato bisque could be orange? More relevantly, we talked about seeing each other again, and I hope that we do.
Yesterday I completed the American Community Survey I received in the mail, where you are required to provide detailed personal and household information. Even for me it was unclear how I fit into the pre-set checkboxes, and I think it could also be a challenge to other people I know, including G14. Categorizations – obviously they help in many ways, but its unfortunate that in other ways they institutionalize discrimination, exclusion and fear. It is telling for me, personally, that it can take an unorthodox “project” like this to be reminded of something as basic as what a Commenter recently observed. So in describing G14, who am I to categorize? I don’t even think Uncle Sam properly accounted for me. Do you really want me?
