The Chronicles of Normia

So, last night, I took the pill and jumped down the rabbit hole. My feet were definitely dragging, but I knew I had to try going out with my physical therapist for at least my family and friends sake. Plus, she asked nicely. The girl is a physical therapist who tutors high school kids in Algebra in her free time from work. She is the female equivalent of a boy scout in heels. She likes to cook, loves her parents and is well versed in pop culture. It's absolutely frightening for me. I don't do the traditional date thing. This was more like a job interview.

So, I met her at her work downtown and we just walked a few blocks to a place that had the baseball game on and wasn't too loud that had good food. We were not going out to party. The girl weighs 85 pounds and can't do more than one drink. It's good on my credit card, that's for sure.

We talked about whatever for a bit and then we hit the elephant in the room. After our second date about 8 months ago I was convinced that she didn't like me because she yawned while we were hanging out. Apparently, she is an insomniac, too. We share a similar non-sleeping pattern. She has a pharmacological background, though, so she knew a thing or two about pill cocktails that she shared in the event that I ever want to go that route. She then explained to me that after we hung out she had a bout of disillusionment with her place in life and was going to pick up and leave California because she missed her social network in Philadelphia and just kind of withdrew. It's funny because after I hung out with her I realized I had a ton of hangups and rushed my head to therapy to get repaired. So, that was kind of eye opening. Then, she called me out when I yawned. Irony.

So, we watched the ball game and she actually called both home runs in the game as the batter came up to bat. It was freaky. This is definitely different than I'm used to, though. I'm used to reckless abandon and tragic romance. In this case, it's two kids with walls up against each other trying to figure out if they can trust the other person and I think I actually intimidate her, but she made two Aldous Huxley references and followed that up with an Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged reference, which is awesome. She is well read. If she makes a Pynchon reference I'll be amazed.

We had dinner and then chased a beer with water while the game finished out and I walked her to her car and gave her a hug goodnight. She said she wanted to hang out again next week. I said "No problem. That would be good" and then went home to catch hell for it. That's none of anyone's business, though.

So, drinking the Kool-Aid of the Bed, Bath and Beyond set. Trying to live how the other half lives, but it seems kind of healthy. Not fun, but healthy. Is this giving up or growing up? Is normalcy okay for me? I'm severely conflicted by the whole thing and definitely have some cobwebs lingering from very recent wounds. The jury is definitely out on this one, but I'm doing my best. I feel like a guy staring at the menu who knows that a salad is better for him, but that steak looks pretty fuckin' good even if it's going to wreck my heart, but everyone knows that a fool thinks he can have his cake and eat it, too. Sometimes, though, it's good enough just to have the cake and not eat it. Sometimes. A steak every once in a while is fine, too, by the way.