What's your score?

A few years ago I used to play a game with a friend. We would score people we knew based on his/her physical attractiveness. I'm ashamed to say that we could entertain ourselves with this game for hours. We had detailed descriptions of what the different score ranges meant:

5 = Completely average. Someone you would not notice on the street for being attractive or unattractive.
6-7 = Reasonably good looking (I want to date someone in this range)
7-8 = Hot
8-9 = Super hot. Not many every day people fall into this range
9+ = reserved for famous people only.


We had different scales, a relative score (relative to their age mainly), and an overall score. We proudly gave accurate scores to all of those girls who were 'fake hot', mostly meaning that they dye their hair blonde, get a fake tan and wear tons of makeup, and then for some reason people start to perceive them as being more attractive than they really are. We were true revolutionaries!

We played this game for months, but it kind of puttered out when it became apparent that I was starting to give everyone a score in the 6-7 range because I didn't want to hurt their feelings. Even though they couldn't hear me.

Now you may read this and think, "Wow, Christi is the most shallow person alive!" Which may be true, but not because of my participation in this game. I just really liked quantifying the unquantifiable. I'm a numbers geek, and things don't really make sense to me until I can assign some sort of numerical value to them.

This post is kind of rambling, and you may wonder, What was the point of all of this? The truth is that there is no point. I was just sitting at the food court in the mall, and seeing all of the people walk by made me remember the game we used to play. Those were the good old days!

Confessions of a Cougar

***Disclaimer*** I am definitely not trying to make this blog solely about guys and dating. I do have other interests in life, it's just that you have to admit that guys and dating make for good reading!

Today at church there was an extremely hot guy sitting on the bench behind me. I noticed Elizabeth talking to him, so later on I wrote her a note (yes, I'm 28 and still writing notes in Church) asking her how old he was, and she informed me that he is 19. Her exact words were "19!!! Ha!" Then she said, "He's over 18. Go for it Cougar!"

Is this what my life has come to? It seems like all of the guys I want to date are younger than me. I guess a few years doesn't matter, but when they start hitting 23 or 22 (let alone 19), I start to get worried. Worried that is, until I came across this AMAZING article on MSN.com. Apparently, I'm not even considered a Cougar until the guy is around 15 years younger than me. Considering that in Michigan, the legal age is 16, I couldn't even date anyone young enough to make me a Cougar. At least not without going to jail. Also, according to the article, being a Cougar is really awesome and every woman should try it. So there you go. 19 year-old, here I come!

So I'm starting a blog...

I have several friends who have started blogs recently. I've often thought of starting my own blog, mainly because I like to hear myself talk, but I haven't for several reasons:

A) No one will read it
B) People will think I'm stupid (or confirm suspicions they already had).
C) I won't have anything to say, or I'll think of things to say but forget them once it's time to blog
D) This is just another passing fad, and I'll quit after three weeks just like the time I vowed to give up sugar. (I lasted 4 weeks on that one, which if you think about it is a pretty long time).

But then I figured, why not. It could be fun, and at least I can kind of pass this off as a journal, so when they give that lesson in Relief Society I don't have to feel guilty.

So the first official topic of my blog is flirting, and my inability to do it. This topic comes up because I went on a date last Saturday that, if I'm being honest, went pretty horribly. I gave a play by play of the date to my friend Ryan (if you want details too just ask, I'm happy to discuss my pathetic endeavors), and he explained to me that the reason I am such a horrible dater is because I have an inability to show interest and flirt with guys. He's quite sure that every guy who has ever gone out with me has felt like, after the date was over, that I was not interested. And I have to admit that I've gotten this feedback from the few guys who stuck around long enough to get comfortable with telling me that. So what to do?
It's not like I don't want to flirt, I just literally do not know how. Subtleties are completely lost on me. I'm the kind of person who can be totally in love with a guy friend for months and he would have no idea. Then eventually I get frustrated and blurt out something stupid like, "Because I'm in love with you, you moron!" I'm not sure, because I've never tried it, but I don't think that would go over so well on a first date.
So, any flirting tips for me? My friend Ryan thinks that I won't ever be able to change, and that I just have to stick it out until I find a guy who has enough self confidence to keep asking me out even though he can't be sure I don't hate him so...pretty sure that's not the way to go.


Anyway, suggestions are welcome!