That’s Stella

The whole weekend drunken bar hop fest is already wearing thin.

Last Saturday night I cooked dinner for friends - Thai chicken green curry with carrots, peppers, broccoli and basil with coconut rice. We drank vodka, got the guitar out and sang Nancy Sinatra songs.

After 11, we headed out to a friends birthday on the Lower East Side. Admittedly I love the Lower East Side because there are great music bars that play good music, the area is still a bit gritty and the boys that hang out there are usually plaid shirt wearing, skinny leg jean wearing indie boys.

We went to Gallery Bar, and 15 minutes after getting there, I was ready to go home. I got super grumpy - it was such a meat market. The girls there really pissed me off and I just felt like everyone had no substance. It was depressing. I was ready to get a cab and go home and watch HBO, but my friends kept plying me with alcohol and lured me to stay with the promise of using the photo booth at the back of the bar. We bar hopped to Grotto where we talked to lots of random people. I love chatting to strangers - ask my friends and they’ll tell you I seem to attract conversation from randoms, but ever since Ed Norton, the whole speaking to strangers who you’ll never meet with again feels so pointless and soul sucking.

I crave friendships and relationships with people, not just a one off conversation I’ll forget the next day.

I am having a blast right now. Admittedly a lot of the fun that’s been had revolves around rounds of gin and tonics, seeing lots of bands, discovering bars in my favorite PM area - the Lower East Side - and meeting lots of silly boys and making new friends.

Last night I went to this great HBO party. There was free booze and it was really easy to wind up in a conversation with randoms. My girl friend and I were at the bar and I ended up talking to this cute Edward Norton look alike next to me and his friend. I had seen Ed earlier in the night and well, I love to milk my accent as much as I can - it’s a novelty here. He and his friend certainly loved it. Hah! Anyway, three hours later, I’m still at the bar talking to Ed, and the bar is shutting down, the lights are coming up and everyone is slowly shuffling out. We end up walking to the West Village and having a really late dinner at this BBQ joint. Conversation was amazing and had substance. Every band I mentioned, he knew and loved (!!!!). We talked about the perfect ‘other half’ and I told him - all I wanted was a guy who could look after me and had good taste in music so he’d be my gig buddy. He joked it was impossible. That all guys who had my music taste tended to be starving artists and all guys that could ‘look after me’ had bad taste and worked on Wall St. He said he was the only guy I’d meet who could fulfill both criteria…. but he was taken! I should’ve known. Ed was way too much of a catch to be single. Really good looking. Had a creative well paid job. Had similar interests. Deep and meaningful. Passionate and had a point of view. It would’ve been too easy to get together with him.

When the restaurant asked us to leave, we walked outside and stood on the corner of the street and it was awkward. It was 2am, and I had just spent 6 hours with this guy. I didn’t expect us to swap numbers. I don’t know what I wanted. I didn’t want it to be goodbye forever? We hugged and he kissed me on the cheek and well it was really fucking sad to say goodbye to this really seemingly perfect guy who I wouldn’t see again. This guy who in any other situation, had he been single, I’m sure it would’ve gone further than it did.

As I walked home, I wondered if I would meet another guy just as great as Ed. I thought about New York and how strange this city was. How New York could bring together so many strangers, but how many of them you would actually get along with, how many would you actually have a connection with…

I wrote a long essay about what happened today but erased it all so I could cut to the chase.

Today, I went on a date.

I met this guy a few months ago and thought there was just something really cool about him. And of course I was really attracted to him. But I never thought we’d ever go out on a date and actually have a chance at romance because…

He’s married.

But before you send me abuse and holler our “home wrecker!” he and his wife had been having issues way before I came on the scene. Today he confirmed he would be single sooner then later. And I’d just like to point out that whilst of course this is good news for me, I think it’s fucking awful this is happening for him and his family. As much as I like him, I’m not going to actively pursue anything. If he likes me as much as I like him, I don’t want to be the one that makes it easier for him to end a marriage.

Oh… and the other reason I never ever thought there would be a future, let alone a date, is the fact the guy is 49!!! Just in case you didn’t get that, that is FORTY NINE YEARS OLD. I mean, that is kind of disgusting that there’s a 2 year age difference between him and my mom, and to really put it into perspective, he was born in 1959, which not only means he saw the 60’s, but also the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, OMG. There is a 25 years age difference between us.

It’s not like I haven’t tried to talk myself out of liking him. It would help if he wasn’t a creative (you know I’m a sucker for them) and if he actually looked his age instead of looking like a man in his late thirties…

Thoughts? Good arguments to end this is welcome. Calling me a home wrecker is not a good argument because the same could be said for the guy who cheated with his wife.

I was in a Brit mood on Friday night and have been contemplating watching Ghost Town with Ricky Gervais. I’ve been particularly enjoying Little Britain USA (I know it’s particularly uncool to admit you like any Brit American knock off but seriously, funny.) Anyway Friday night I fed my Brit craving by watching Shaun of the Dead. I am particularly attracted to famous English men who are no George Clooney’s by any means, yet still ‘make it’, which is why I love Simon Pegg and David Walliams.

Anyway on Saturday, after running around doing work things (Yes, on a freakin weekend) I decided to treat myself to a shopping trip to Soho. I rarely venture into Soho - it’s not really my scene and it is tourist galore and boutiques are so overpriced and over rated. However, despite this, I am particularly fond of the fact that all I have to do is walk around the corner from my apartment, walk a few blocks downtown and 5 minutes later, I am in Soho.

On my walk to Soho, who do I bump into but Simon Pegg! Bizarro. I was crossing the street and noticed him straight away. He was wearing a hat, walking hand in hand with his chick and was probably trying to be incognito. I wasn’t so much as star struck but really surprised to see him.

Based on my encounter, that night I watched High Fidelity and Being John Malkovich, but no John Cusack or John Makovich sightings on Sunday. Boo!