Whatever Happened To My Rock N Roll [Punk Song]

What up, 24 Hour Party People. Yeah, I know, it's been four days since the date with Liberal Chick and nary a peep from me in the Blogosphere. Most of my unplugged friends know the 411 and have given me their various thoughts ranging from "She's protecting herself from getting hurt" to "She's tellin' you you're not the one." OK, so we don't do the non-chronological Memento thing, let's rewind a bit.

Thursday night, the bar of the Regent Beverly Wilshire. Lighting is dark, furniture is all old wood with black varnish. There's a guy crooning away at the grand piano belting out the good ol' tunes -- Bobby Darin, Chairman of the Board. So in she walks and she looks just a tad older than her pic, but no biggie, she has a nice smile and great gams. We order mojitos and for the next two and a half hours, we just sit talking and laughing. Our music tastes are so similar it's on the verge of "Get outta my head, now!" (Her photo on match.com was taken while a compilation from Hed Kandi records was playing, a compilation I have - I only know two women who've heard of Hed Kandi, one of them is in London and one is in Florida). She laughed at almost everything I said, not just a petite tight-lipped smile chuckle, but the type that laughs that makes you squeeze your eyes, open your mouth and lean forward trying to catch your breath type of laughs.

So I'm thinking this isn't a bad first date at all. Then, out of nowhere, Liberal Chick says, "So, I think you're a great guy, we share the same tastes in music and you've made me laugh. I know someone I can see live music with. Who knows where this will lead, you might fall in love with one of my friends or find someone else. I don't know where this will lead, I might find someone on match.com and so might you. We've just met, so I don't know. Let's just take this a step at a time."

Ummmmmmmmm, OK. I was weirded out because, hell, I thought all of the above was the unspoken default on first dates. My weirded out state must have shown, cuz she looked concerned.

I told her that frankly, I was in shock because, well, I thought what she said was understood already.

In my head, I thought, crap, if she was actually interested in pursuing this further, there'd be no reason to bring this all up.

I said, "Hmmm, is this a 'nice guy but . . .' speach, or a 'let's take it slow' speech?"

She said, "I'm very honest, and my friends say I don't have much tact. I'm saying how I feel, and I'm telling you we just met so I don't know where this is going to lead." (Errr, again, I'm thinking, yeah, isn't that the case with all first dates though?) "Um, I'm kinda new at this." I didn't press that last comment.

Anyway, I got the check shortly thereafter (parking garage closes at 11 so I needed to leave lest I be stuck in Beverly Hills). I walked her to her car and gave her a hug. She said, "So, find out what bands are playing around the area in the next couple of weeks." I said, "Sure, I'll call or e-mail you soon."

I e-mailed her the next day just in case she may have felt embarrassed by her little weird outburst, let her know I had a wonderful time and I'll be checking the live music scene to find a gig to catch. The same day, she e-mailed me back and said she had a nice time too and would also be checking the local band scene. I guess the fact she e-mailed me the same date instead of not responding shows some interest.

So the theories:

1. "[T]hat she was saying that outloud more for herself than for you. [S]he was having a great time with you and suddenly realized that since it was a first date, who knows what would happen afterward...so to protect herself in case you didn't want to see her again, she said that stuff."

2. "She had a fun time, but it was the first date. She didn't want to give you the impression that it wasn't anything more than a first date."

3. "She had a fun time, but she didn't think of pursuing it romantically. She probably shouldn't have said what she said."

Anyway, I have found a musician who's playing locally in the next couple of weeks. We'll see what happens.