Category: dating

  • The Misplaced Text

    Texting: You either love it or hate it. On the one hand, it’s easy to zap or receive a quick message when you can’t talk on the phone. Last night, for example, I received a text wishing me a happy Fourth from a guy who’s just started to show some interest in me. I was…

  • Worst of the Worst from the Front Dating Lines

    “You talk a lot about your girlfriends, you know, how great friends they are and all. So, do you, um, you know, like them a whole lot? You know, like that?” “I mean, so, I just want to be your friend. I like you and all, just not like that. So, can we be friends,…

  • Let’s Do Lunch

    A former grade school teacher of mine and I reconnected what seems like a hundred years ago when she and I were substitute teaching in an elementary school. Turned out, she subbed in both my kids’ classes and loved regaling all the other students about how, “I taught sixth grade to their mother!” It also…

  • Stumbling Along the Roads Less Traveled

    I do not feed stray cats, especially in the Keys. Billions of them lurk around every corner, and someone (many someones) is always putting food and water out for them. They amble between tables at all the bars and restaurants, they wander neighborhood streets like they own it all, and they sprawl across sidewalks daring…

  • Gluten Clarity

    I haven’t been poisoned by gluten in a long time. I am beyond careful about what I eat, especially when I’m out. At my closest local bar/restaurant, I only eat fish tacos because I know they’re “safe.” Of course, the staff there totally gets the Celiac thing, and they stock a pretty decent gluten-free beer…

  • Keys Dating Pool

    I knew my rent was not enough to cover anyone’s mortgage. I knew it was too good to be true. And it is. My landlord’s house–my home–is in foreclosure. I am faithfully sending rent payments to someone who is not faithfully making her mortgage payments. “Don’t worry,” said the handsome lawyer who showed up at…

  • Boys to Men

    A boy texts you everything you hope to hear. A man tells you what he thinks in person. A boy always has an excuse why he can’t see you, which he delivers via text. A man makes plans and keeps them. A boy tells you he is falling deeply for you and wants to live…

  • Wine Service

    I am at the Key West bar where I met and befriended the band a few weeks ago. RG Daughter is interviewing folks for her thesis, which gives me several hours to kill. It is quiet in Key West in the middle of this December week before the holiday season and the other “season” kicks…

  • You Are So Beautiful

    They were the beautiful couple, the couple that smiled and cuddled and clearly loved each other. They were the couple that defied the beach bar odds of random hook ups, ruthless players, ex-girl- and boyfriends, and the usual drunken debauchery. In our casa, where the drama incessantly churns, this couple floated above the fray, happy…

  • My Flock

    They are beloved, my flock. They hover on a daily basis, swooping in tandem one minute, alone the next. They are the sweetest of the sweet, the nicest of the nice. Believe me, I know how lucky I am to have such a flock. I kiss and tell each one of them. Some days, however,…