It's been awhile since I've done a real entry about what's going on in my life, and truthfully I'm not entirely sure where to start on this one.

I guess first and foremost, the new relationship is really going well for me. I finally had an opportunity to put my own advice into practice with myself, instead of simply suggesting it as a course of action for my friends. As a general guideline, I recommend that my friends not get into relationships with men/women they've been dating for less than three months. When my friends have taken my advice, they've on average been happier and been in better relationships than those friends of mine who rush into things.

How did I arrive at this decision? I did it the other way first, and it didn't work well. It worked well enough at first, sure, but had I taken the time to really get to know the girl before I made any sort of committment to her, I would never have gotten involved. It was most decidedly NOT a personality match once you got past the surface layers. And that's really what the 3-month guideline is about: Getting past the surface layers. You force yourself to take it slow, and you develop a stronger friendship basis for what may eventually turn into a relationship.

Okay, tangent over. I'm happy in the relationship because the basis for it is a strong friendship that developed over time. We think along the same lines as far as communication goes, and we're willing to talk with each other about the kinks and wrinkles in the relationship due to the newness of it as they come up. If one of us does something that the other is uncomfortable with, we don't sit on it and let it fester, we tell the other person calmly and with no anger or trepidation on either person's part. We both know that we're not mind-readers, and can't possibly know that what we do may anger the other person unless we're told. So it's working out great. A few wrinkles along the way, but that's part of the fun, and working out the wrinkles has been unbelievably easy.

And yes, the relationship is the primary reason that I'm not posting online as much as I was before. I value real live human interaction more than online banter, and as such I spend time with her and my real-life friends whenever possible.

We're actually planning a camping weekend sometime in Spring out to the Big Bear area. Should be a blast. :)

*sigh* What else...

I'm going to sign up for a creative writing course at one of the nearby community colleges, and probably a lab science course as well. Or maybe a language. Either way, balancing those two courses with my massage course should eat up a lot of my free time during the weeknights, so that'll change my life a good deal. I'm looking forward to it, though. Especially the writing course. I'm a good story teller, but I need to learn about structure if I want to ever be a good writer.

In the meantime, I'm slowly figuring myself out all over again. When I decided that I didn't want to do theatrical directing--or anything theater--anymore, it forced me to look not only inside myself but also at the world around me and figure out where I wanted my place in it to be, and how I can best get there. I may not have every piece of the puzzle yet, but I'm starting to get the idea of what I want it to look like. And every few days another piece fits in.

What else is there to really talk about? Rocky is still Rocky, my friends are still awesome, and life in general is treating me fairly well.

Work could be a bit better--seeing as how I'm currently not doing any of it until next week--but really, that's just little stuff. And you don't sweat the little stuff.

not to sound gay... but I feel like I know you a tad better now

your 3-month advice is a solid piece of thinking, glad you put it to use

life throws all of us curveballs, when we're old and gray we're going to look back on them as the "fun" part of it all

Yeah, I've done things completely backwards so many times. I've met girls, slept with them within three or four hours, moved in after a few weeks, and then got to know them at the deeper level, and them me.

I've gotten involved with married women, and some who were seperated, yet not divorced. Unhappily married women are the easiest. They're unhappy at home, and just a little bit of attention and flattery can get them very interested, very fast, and they'll risk their marriages and families without much thought of the consequences. It usually doesn't work in the long run, and I'll NEVER, ever take any of these approaches again.

Even three months isn't a very long time, but it beats the hell out of three hours.

The last girl I actually became good friends with led me to the conclusion that I in no way wanted to get into a deeper relationship with her. Regardless of our initial attraction, we are definitely not right for one another at any deep and important levels. Had we followed our initial instincts, it would have been a painful disaster. To this day, we're still friends, which is much better than being enemies. I can call her any time, she can call me, and we can vent to each other about anything at all, without having to even think about the whole sex thing, or hurting our relationship. We can trust each other as well, and niether of us would ever break one another's confidence in any way.

When those phermones are running high, niether party is in their right mind, and the younger we are, the worse that condition can be. That's why they call it "crazy" in love, and the odds of making really bad decisions are extremely high for anyone in that state, regardless of sex. It "feels" great to be in that state, but we really can't fully trust our judgement, or our feelings all of the time. It's like being under the influence of a drug.